As requested, as part of the extensive RUSH 40th-anniversary album series, here’s the deluxe, expanded edition of the band’s groundbreaking 1978 release “Hemispheres” fully remastered, plus a bonus disc of previously unreleased material.
“Hemispheres”, RUSH’s sixth studio album, was originally released in October 1978, and it built upon the adventurous sonic template the band established on its acclaimed 1977 effort “A Farewell To Kings”.
The album’s first track, “Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres”, encompassed the entirety of Side 1 on the original release and was the logical, heady continuation of the epic album-ending “Kings” track “Cygnus X-1”.
Side 2 commenced with the hard-driving commentary on English culture “Circumstances”, followed by the socially aware and environmentally conscious FM radio hit “The Trees”, and concluded with the instrumental tour de force and longtime concert favorite “La Villa Strangiato”.
“‘Hemispheres’ was one of our most challenging and demanding records to make,” says RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson. “From its inception in a Wales farmhouse where it was written over a four-week span,” Lifeson continues, “to the very difficult mixing sessions in two London recording studios, it stands as a key transitional album in RUSH’s long recording history.”
“Hemispheres – 40th Anniversary” will be available to fans in four distinct configurations, including the Super Deluxe Edition, two-CD Deluxe Edition, three-LP Deluxe Edition, and Deluxe Digital Edition. The Super Deluxe Edition includes two CDs, one exclusive Blu-ray Audio disc, and three high-quality 180-gram black vinyl LPs.
The release encompasses the Abbey Road Studios 2015 remastered edition of the album for the first time on CD, along with previously unreleased and newly restored bonus content consisting of the band’s masterful June 1979 Pinkpop festival performance in the Netherlands.
Unfortunately, the Pinkpop recording engineer failed to capture the first several minutes of “2112”, so an amazing, unreleased performance of the song during the “Hemispheres” tour from Tucson, Arizona in November 1978 appears here in its place.
Alongside the original artwork, “Hemispheres 40th Anniversary” includes a commemorative new artwork by Hugh Syme – excellent if you ask me – and a nice book.
Classic RUSH, with a superb audio quality.
Tracklisting:
CD 1:
1. Cygnus X - 1
2. Circumstances
3. The Trees
4. La Villa Strangiato
CD 2:
1. A Passage To Bangkok
2. Xanadu
3. The Trees
4. Cygnus X - 1: Book II Hemispheres - The Sphere (A Kind Of Dream)
5. Closer To The Heart
6. La Villa Strangiato
7. In The Mood
8. Drum Solo
9. Something For Nothing
10. 2112
RUSH – Hemispheres – 40th Anniversary (Deluxe Edition) 2018, MP3+FLAC
 |
