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Textbook
Forum Senior Member
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Topic: Hemispheres vs A Farewell To Kings Posted: October 12 2011 at 20:45 |
How do people rate Hemispheres as better than A Farewell To Kings? AFTK is in my opinion a five star classic. It has cheese prog (Xanadu), cool prog (Cygnus X-1), three shorter but enjoyable pop tunes and one more piece sort of inbetween them all, A Farewell To Kings. Good lyrics too. No fat on that.
Hemispheres on the other hand... well... it's not terrible, but it's no five star classic and it's clearly not as good as AFTK imo. The Trees is just about one of the worst lyrics I've ever heard. Cygnus X-1 Book II is mostly good but has some dead air, not dynamic enough and the lyrics are kind of "almost", like there was potential for something great there but they stopped a few revisions short. La Villa Strangiata is nice but not even close to the titanic awesomeness of closing with the original Cygnus X-1.
And yet Hemispheres is rated higher than AFTK on PA. Tsk. You people.
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Horizons
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Posted: October 12 2011 at 20:53 |
Well. I personally like Cyngus x-2 more than Cyngus x-1. La Villa Strangiato is fun and incredible instrumental. The Trees have dated lyrics, but great music. Circumstances is a short and underrated song by Rush, it's really a great song overall.
Do i like Hemispheres more than Farewell to Kings? No. Are they rated the same by me? Yep, both 5*
This is all coming from a fanboy btw.
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Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
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TopographicTales
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Posted: October 12 2011 at 21:05 |
Horizons wrote:
Do i like Hemispheres more than Farewell to Kings? No. Are they rated the same by me? Yep, both 5*
This is all coming from a fanboy btw. |
This.
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richardh
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 18 2004
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 01:39 |
I much prefer A Farewell To Kings and would go along with the idea that it was a 5 star masterpeice (their only one in that decade imo)
Hemispheres saw them take the ideas developed on AFTK one stage further although I don't feel there is any great improvement (assuming that makes sense!). La Villa Strangiato is magnificient but thats the only track I love on that album. Rush were in bad need of a change and the punk/new wave movemnt ironically worked in their favour as they streamlined their sound and rose even higher in my eyes. The run of albums from Permanent Waves to Power Windows was one of the best of any band.Progressive in all the right ways.
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Atavachron
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 01:56 |
Hem is sublime, Kings is not.
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Jbird
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 15:07 |
I like 'em about the same.
My one critizism of Hemispheres is there wasnt enough different musical ideas in the title track, otherwise it's a great album.
A Farewell To Kings has alot of different-sounding songs though. IMO Closer To The Heart, Xanadu, A Farewell To Kings, and maybe Cinderella Man, are 'classic' sounding Rush songs. Cygnus X1 is quirky, quite good musically but one of the few songs that I, as an old school Rush fan (pre- Permanent Waves) didn't like Geddy's vocals on that song.
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Tuzvihar
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 15:24 |
I like AFTK very much. And I really can't get into Hemispheres. The only song I can remember and like from it is The Trees.
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"Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent."
Charles Bukowski
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Gerinski
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 15:31 |
Love them both about the same, they would have made one of the best double albums in history had they had the patiente to wait and release them together as a double. They fit and flow very nicely together, they feel like made for a double. And if they would have then added a final 10 min epilogue-reprise with recurring themes from several of its songs, it would have been the cherry on the cake
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Catcher10
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 15:36 |
^ I actually play them back to back all the time.......and I created a separate folder for all the songs as a double album
" A Kings Farewell to Hemispheres" is what I call it.......5+ Star dbl album.
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lucas
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 16:24 |
Tuzvihar wrote:
I like AFTK very much. And I really can't get into Hemispheres. The only song I can remember and like from it is The Trees.
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this.
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"Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood)
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Epignosis
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 16:32 |
I love both, but I love Hemispheres more.
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Andy Webb
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 17:05 |
Epignosis wrote:
I love both, but I love Hemispheres more.
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Ditto.
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iluvmarillion
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 17:15 |
Catcher10 wrote:
^ I actually play them back to back all the time.......and I created a separate folder for all the songs as a double album
" A Kings Farewell to Hemispheres" is what I call it.......5+ Star dbl album. |
My thoughts as well. Sister albums, it's like comparing a cappuccino to a cafe latte. Put the two albums together as a double album, you still have an album shorter in length than a typical Neil Morse album.
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criticdrummer94
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 17:28 |
I love both of them. To me, they are Rush's best albums but AFTK is my favorite album of all time
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MY IDOLS
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criticdrummer94
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 17:32 |
Catcher10 wrote:
^ I actually play them back to back all the time.......and I created a separate folder for all the songs as a double album
" A Kings Farewell to Hemispheres" is what I call it.......5+ Star dbl album. |
How about "A Farewell to Hemispheres"
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MY IDOLS
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Fox On The Rocks
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Joined: February 10 2011
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 18:29 |
Well AFTK has Xanadu which is my favourite Rush song but the songwriting on Hemispheres is a lot more cohesive and I find it overall more appealing. I think that the first Book of Cygnus X-1 meanders too much near the middle of the song and I don't really care for Cinderella Man that much.
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sideburndude...
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Joined: October 13 2011
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 19:24 |
I think hemispheres is just more consistent than a farewell to kings. All tracks on Hemispheres are gold. While A Farewell to kings has Xanadu and Cygnus X1 (some of Rush's best) Cinderella man and Madrigal do nothing to progress the album. hemispheres sounds more focused and cohesive.
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AutumnWanderer
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 21:19 |
Haven't heard Hemispheres yet, but Farewell To Kings is a favourite out of the albums that Geddy and that do.
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Textbook
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Joined: October 08 2009
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 23:14 |
While we're creating fantasy Rush albums I have always hoped the gang would do a 2112 redux in which the song is expanded to album length as it always should have been. No matter how many times I play 2112, going from that to Passage To Bangkok never feels right.
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KingCrInuYasha
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Posted: October 13 2011 at 23:51 |
Have to give it to Hemispheres, mainly due to the fact that it doesn't have a track like Cygnus X-1 Book I.
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He looks at this world and wants it all... so he strikes, like Thunderball!
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