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I listened to this album non stop for weeks in 1978 , i was 17 and had bone cancer ended up having my leg amputated . Rush helped get me through that tough time
You said you'd never heard anything like this. And you won't again. This is RUSH, the best rock orchestra in the world. Things like this is why RUSH will still be played a hundred years from now.
A masterpiece that broke them, in a way. Geddy has said that the key this is written in made it nearly impossible for him to sing, even with his range at the time. When you look at the four years of work and touring prior to this, the musicians that wrote this were obsessed with perfection. A wonderful chapter of an incredible novel called Rush.
Seeing this performed live in 1979 was greatest experience of my life related to music. Totally solidified my lifelong love of Rush. This was concert #3 of the 35 times I saw them.
They were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame as the godfathers of progressive metal and the high priests of high concept. This song is one of the reasons why. 😊
In Neil’s book, he describes Hemispheres as the hardest recording experience for Rush. You guys mentioned how high Geddy is singing; well, they had recorded all of the bed tracks before they did the vocals, and that’s when they discovered they’d written it all in too high of a key; this forced Geddy to sing at the top of his register throughout the song. He and Alex had a huge fight about the whole thing, while Neil slowly backed away and made himself scarce. Eventually, they accepted the situation, Geddy got the job done, and Alex had the opening guitar chord of this song officially named after him, the “Alex Lifeson Chord”: F sharp major with the added 4th and flat 7. Great reaction guys, glad you enjoyed it as much as I did when I heard it for the first time, probably around 1982.
The trippy part is from Cygnus X-1 from a Farewell to Kings - you'll need to go back and catch the thread. About Neil's stick speed: it is said he could hold a quarter against the wall with rapid taps - incredible!
Thinking the music is good is only a start. Wait until you fully comprehend the story then put the two together and then listen for another 40 years and find new surprises every time through.
I’m 64 my son is 24. He asked me which RUSH album to buy first.. permanent waves is my favorite.. but I said u gotta get Hemispheres, it’s their masterpiece. He loves it. My favorite Alex moment is in the song u just listened to- the solo after “to find out what they had lost”❤️❤️❤️
It interesting how Rush first achieved a peak period with the real progressive hard rock epics, and then achieved, as you stated, a peak period in terms of commercial success. That is very rare, and that is what is so astonishing about them, they could take such incredible risks and change their sound from album to album without even blinking, and still keep the fans onboard, while gaining even more success with each release..
Still think this is one of the most difficult songs ever to sing. The sustained highs for 20 minutes is freakin brutal even when youre in your mid 20s like geddy was here.
This right here… Lifelong fan, but this piece remains my very favorite of theirs. It all comes together so beautifully, but Ged is a MONSTER on the bass the entire way through.
The one you all have missed is “ The Necromancer”… I think it will blow you away…..very hard with a sabbath feel, kind of strange with Neil reading narration about lord of the rings type story. Alex soloing is from another world and goes throughout the song , they admittedly smoked a lot weed for the album.
Truly enjoyed your reaction. This whole album is a masterpiece! This song is like a symphony with all the incredible change ups. This is the 2nd part, I would recommend listening to part one. It is also amazing. 2 songs that join together from two different albums. Cheers
It's always enjoyable, watching your discovery of Rush songs. This is an absolute epic story/song, that I listened to day and night. It was years later, that I discovered that it's "part 2"(Book 2). You definitely have to go back and check out "part 1" or Book 1. It will make more sense. Another great reaction, keep checking out Rush.
If I could have only one album from any band, it would be Hemispheres. They are just astounding here. My favorite of all of Alex's prodigious and amazing guitar work. Every time I listen to this, I can imagine what Jimi Hendrix's (my other guitarist favorite) reaction to Lerxst's first solo in this would be. Grinning from ear to ear I think! Outstanding!
If you haven’t already, you should listen to this again - and again and again and again :) - while reading and feeling the lyrics. It will reveal to you how truly epic and philosophic this “song” is. To paraphrase from 2112: “All the secrets of life, are held within this song”!
Happy belated Holidays to both of you! As a 60 year old Rush fan I was introduced to this amazing band early in their career. I've been blessed to have seen them live 47 times , the best 47 concerts I have ever attended. Rush fans some anyway, like to choose their favorite era of Rush since their music is so diverse. Let me state , I love every era of their music from their 1st album to their last. I can find Gems on everyone of their albums! In my personal opinion the release of A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres and Permanent Waves is the trifecta to me with Hemispheres being my all time favorite. Just my opinion , any Rush is better then anything else out there. Good to see you both back , thanks jeff!
When I met other Rush fans, it was a great experience to share memories. When I used to wear a Rush tour shirts, I did get approached by fellow Rush fanatics. Nobody, had the fan loyalty of the Grateful Dead but most of their fans didn't have jobs. Rush fans were devoted but they had families to support and were responsible people.
Should've done book 1 to know what the weird sound effects were and most importantly.... You should have red those beautiful lyrics. The battle between heart and mind, art and logic, that rages within every human being ! Brilliant ! Happy new year to you guys !! Please check out Available Light. One of Rush's most beautiful and underrated song. That song became my all time favourite after Neil passed away as it gives such insight on who HE WAS rather what his view of the surrounding world as we got used to. YOU WILL BE MOVED NO DOUBT !!!
Hemispheres was an album that was so addictive, I think I listened to it everyday after school for months and months and with Rush, you can pick out all of the details in the mix, so i would listen to the whole thing just listening to the bass, then again just guitar, then just drums. I tbink this was intentional on their part. They were staying true to the power trio format in the production, kudos to Terry Brown!!
I first heard this the year it came out, 1978, and I still find something new 46 years later. The other day, I discovered the last second bend down that Alex does at the very end of his first big solo. It so quickly and effectively transitions your ear to that radical chord change. It's little things like that that makes him my favorite guitarist, even over the likes of Jimi, SRV, Jeff Beck and EVH. His work on this album is just otherworldly to me. My favorite guitar solo ever is the big one about a third of the way through La Villa Strangiato.
@@GoblinGuy333Is it just me or do the chord arrangements for 'The Sphere- a kind of dream' bear a close relationship to the ambient middle 'Cygnus' section? If so, then I didn't notice until my last couple of listens, Lol!
This was a “Swan Song” Of sorts because they Turned their backs on This chapter of their Career. They really Squeezed the Orange On this album 😁 Love It!!❤️❤️❤️
You're hearing callbacks to Cygnus X-1 Book I in the ambient section, you should check that one out too, now that your ten minute cherry has been popped. You might be open to other longer masterpieces as well like "2112", "The Necromancer", and a few Dream Theater tracks like "The Count of Tuscany", "A Change of Seasons" and "Octavarium".
Holy hell.. you guys have really taken on a major work this time and I have to say as soon as I saw this come up in my feet I was very excited because your take on Rush are always so enthusiastic and you let yourself get caught up in the music and this is simply their magnum opus when it comes to Progressive indulgence. It is a Masterwork and it says something that they never tried to recreate another album this dance again because it took so much out of them. Can't wait to dig in guys Happy New year.
iGot this album the day it came out and saw them this tour and a farewell to kings a tour before.They're connected with 2112.Those 3 albums are kind of a trilogy.
It was after this album that the boys decided to chart their own new course (much like this song's protagonist did in Cygnus X-1, Book II at the end of Farewell to Kings). They began a shift towards shorter, more accessible songs - having recognized that their compositions had become so long and complicated that it had become difficult - even for them - to perform them each night. The next album up after Hemispheres was Permanent Waves, and after that Moving Pictures and Signals - with these three albums arguably constituting "peak Rush," at lease from a commercial perspective.
Great story about Rush's long musical pieces... After "Caress of Steel" didn't perform well, their record label told them to stop making those long pieces and stick with short, rock songs. So, their next album was...2112. 🤦 😂😂😂😂😂 Up yours, record label. And thank you to Geddy, Alex and our DEAR, departed Professor. Rock in Peace, Neil.
Rush siad this was the hardest song to perform I saw this tour in 79 they never played it again in concert. just too hard took too much out of them A masterpiece of prog!
Cygnus X-1 was the first black hole discovered due to it being a very bright source of x-rays coming from an otherwise empty part of the Cygnus constellation, thus the X-1 designation. It was speculated to be a black hole, but at the time of discovery, we didn’t even know if black holes really existed or not.
You should have started with the original cygnus X-1 .. part one, if you will.. there are a few chord progressions in here that you would have recognized if you had. No worries great reaction always love to see you two and keep up the great work👍🍻🇨🇦
It's too bad that they didn't do some work where they just said, we are never going to tour this because it's too complex, we just want to do some 'unrestricted' work, so that they could have continued further down this path.
The short version the album before this had a song called Cygnus X-1. About a astronomer flying a starship called the Rocinante into a blackhole called Cygnus X-1 Hemispheres is a war of the Olympian gods till the astronomer time travels back and saves the day becoming a god of balance
Music and lyrics are dense, here. Can see why it'd take a listener multiple times to let it all sink in. But that's what albums were all about - especially Rush 70's prog rock! An experience to be appreciated... all... weekend... long! Then tell your friends about it Monday morning by your high school locker, whether they like it or not, bewildered and all ;-)! LL
I was 13 when this album was released! I couldn’t stop listening to it and it came with a small poster of each band member which I promptly hung in my school locker😂 As an amazing musical song as this is we should never overlook the simple message in the lyrics…the battle of heart and mind…love and logical. The two can certainly exist together but right now this world needs lots of love❤😊🇨🇦
Crazy things to think about regarding this album and the state of their professional career: Just 4-ish years earlier, no Peart. Instead, Working Man, Need Some Love, debut Album. Just 6 years prior to this album, Geddy was a 17 yo struggling, with Alex and others, to just get some gigs to play around town.
The music is the first experience. The Lyrics ( the story) deserves another listen to get the understanding of the musical progression. Then thirdly this picks up and continues the story from X1 from the previous album starting with a back story and ending with what was really on the other side of the black hole. Mind Officially blown. ( Lyrical 2nd listening experience)
That part that you said was trippy and the two guys were having a conversation...and rewinded that part to hear that music that faded in for a few seconds was from Cygnus X 1 Book !.
