HEMISPHERES

My second experience from Rush. After the great success, Farewell to Kings, this album rises to power at the end of 70's. Excellent album, really good. Neil, Geddy, and Alex impresses me again. Moving Pictures is very good, but for me, this album is better. Slightly. There aren't many flaws, only good stuff. Every track is great, where Moving Pictures had couple of average songs. I enjoy listening this album very much. What I like especially is the structure of the album. The songs are located brilliantly. That is big advantage. The epic 'Cygnus X-1 Book II' starts the album and give a blastful welcoming ceremony. This song is the core of the album. The two following tracks are short, impressive prog rock tracks. The interlude before the diamond. Masterfully planned structure. In this album, Geddy and Alex is the main composers and Neil writes the lyrics.

(The next paragraph will contain some information about the storyline of the first track) The first track, 'Cygnus X-1 Book II', really is great. It begins with four and half minutes lasting 'Prelude', which introduces almost everything that are used in the song later. This song is well structured, as well. When first time listening, you must concentrate and listen focused. The parts change constantly in the 'Prelude'. About three minutes and Geddy Lee's vocals comes fort. For me, his voice needed little time to get used to. After two albums, I begin to like his voice, and vocal style. The second part, 'Apollo; Bringer of Wisdom' tells about what Apollo has to give for the people. The next part, 'Dionysus; Bringer of Love' does the same for Dionysus. This song is about these two Greek gods (Apollo and Dionysus) and their battle of the people and their hearts. Rather interesting concept. The fifth part, 'Cygnus; Bringer of Balance' begins with calm moment, when Cygnus comes and brings balance, as the title promises. The track ends with good, calm outro. Brilliant track.

The second track, 'Circumstances', is very rocky song with catching chorus and some calm parts. Strong, prog rock track. After this, comes 'The Trees'. "There is unrest in the Forest, There is trouble with the trees". This song begins with good acoustic guitars and starts rocking rather quickly. This is same kind of song than the previous one: Rocky song with catching chorus and some calm parts. That is not a bad thing. While these songs does not unite and create one, great interlude, they create this great eight minute entity between the diamonds. They are the same kind, but not entirely. These tracks, alone, are only good, but the structure of the album boosts these songs and makes them great. It is very hard to explain the reason why, precisely. After this great entity, the final instrumental track finishes this brilliant album. 'La Villa Strangiato' begins with calm, Spanish guitarring. This song is influenced little by classical music and it includes great instrument playing. The talent shines in this song, great, dynamic drumming, marvellous, swift guitarring, and fiery, but light bass handling. Great track. Only problem is that this song ends very quickly (as well as the album). Usually that is no problem, but I'm left missing some outro.

That, and the fact that this album sometimes feels little short are the only minor things that I don't like about. The brilliant structure is great, but fails very tinyly. It makes the album feel short, which is of course somewhat true, but it intensifies it little. Despite the extremely minor flaws, this album is full of great music. Very good album, but it still is not a masterpiece of progressive music. But I can say very freely that this album is excellent addition to any prog music collection. I recommend this album with my (black) heart. 4/5 stars.

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