HEMISPHERES

OMG! What a great record! Upon hearing this at least 7 to 8 times since I bought it a few days ago, I haven't put it down. I'm of the belief that Rush were the only one in '78 (nay; in the latter half of the 70's...) who were still doing "prog-rock": What else did you have? "Tormato"? "...And Then There Were Three"? "Love Beach"? No thanks.

Why do I like it? To start, the production is just class. Nice and warm sounding, natural and organic. That ALONE should make it at least 4 stars, but wait! There's more!

Neal has seen fit to create his own Greek myth, set to music that plays out like a "rock opera", if you will. "Cygnus X-1 Book II" is linear storytelling of the higest order; the battle of heart and mind raging as our hero "Cygnus" (Neal?) attempts to make some sense of the whole mess. He finally ends up telling Apollo and Dionysus to either shit or get off the pot. What do they do? They listen to him. And they make him a god as well. I might also add that there's great interplay from the trio, with Lifeson's guitar at the forefront. Peart's pounding drums provide a rock-solid foundation for Lee's throbbing bass and wailing vocal style. The synths are used mainly as a textural device, and also to ease listeners into the next section.

"Circumstances" floored me. How much catchiness and soul-searching can one put into a song of less than four minutes? (Well, there IS "Closer To The Heart...). And there's even some French lyrics! (Too bad for you, "Tales From Topographic Oceans".)

"The Trees" is total socio-political criticism from Neal, and devastating at that. But rather than attack his prey with churlish, puerile lyrics, Neal sets his plea for tolerance in the forest (Good job, Peart!) and pits the short maples (the "have-nots") against the taller oaks (the "haves"). The story ends with BOTH species being put flat on their backs (...by hatchet, axe and sword).

Now we have the "piece de resistance", the 9-minute-plus instrumental "La Villa Strangiato" (subtitled "An Exercise In Self-Indulgence"...hehe.) A classical guitar opens up the piece, and in the background, Neal and Lee are slowly working their magic, and teasingly so, at that. I want them to come crashing in, to abate my curiosity, but they don't. They take their time building, building, builiding...til the bottom drops out and they start to jam out righteously. Hot damn! And Alex delivers one of the jazziest, yet WEIRDEST lead tracks known to man. Those aren't so much notes he's pulling out as they are odd sounds and weird, shrill ringing, almost as if he's trying to channel Tom Morelle (Rage Against The Machine/Audioslve) through Ornette Coleman. Guess what, kiddies? IT WORKS! It comes crashing to a halt 9:34 later, and I have to take a DEEP, shuddering breath. MAGIC is all I can say. It's worth your time to pick up the re- master (for better sound quality) and let it quell your battle of heart and mind.