Rush hemispheres,the cygnus x-1 saga continues!!!
Paul Mcguinn | chicago il usa. | 12/08/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"rush,s hemispheres was released in 1978 and was the follow up to the farewell to kings album the year before.hemispheres continues the tale of the space traveller caught up in the fearsome force of cygnus x-1,the black hole.in fact track one is called cygnus x-1,book 2.this epic song seems to tell the tale of the struggle of the gods of love and reason in the mind of man to rule the fate of man. as the drama in the song continues the space traveller now a disembodied spirit comes before the gods of olympus after the battle of the gods and the traveller is made the god of balance bettween the forces of love and reason,in their eternal struggle.the traveller is called cygnus bringer of balance.through out track one rush masterfully creates a multifacetted soundscape perfect for the concept of the story.in my opion rush perfectly show case the amazing muscianship on this great album!also on this album are the songs that are independant from the over all concept theme of hemispheres circumstances which is good,the trees which is very cool and finally la villa strangiato again showcasing rush,s amazing muscianship!in my opinion hemispheres closed chapter one of rush,s musical story and so very well after hemispheres rush wanted to record more radio friendly shorter more accessable songs...so begins the next chapter with permanent waves!!if you like rush,s progressive concept theme era hemispheres is a good addition to the collection!!"
My favorite Rush album.
Bill | Houston TX | 08/17/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have every Rush album on CD from the first album to Moving Pictures. I don't like the new mainstream Rush from Signals on. All 4 songs rock hard on this one except a couple of slow boring parts on Cygnus X-1 Book II-Hemispheres(track 1). La Villa Strangiato is a killer 9+ minute insturmental. The Trees lyrics add some comedy. My only complaint is the lack of bass. Many albums recorded before the 90s don't have much low frequency deep bass. I have subwoofers on the car and home stereo and the Hemispheres CD does not feed them. I re-recorded this to a CD heavily boosting the 31 and 62Hz controls on the EQ(and leaving out those boring parts of track 1). Now I've got a winner CD to listen to."