HEMISPHERES

There are many reasons to consider Hemispheres as the best album coming from Rush and a five star grading deserver as well. From that very fresh beginning when I started hearing music, Rush was a kind of preferred band dueling strongly with Pink Floyd. But, strangely, Hemispheres is not my preferred one; this belongs to Grace Under Pressure; but this is another way of discussion?

I do believe we must put clearly the reasons why an album deserves five stars; these must be strong in order to direct this grading for those truly fantastic works. Let´s see why this is the case of Hemispheres :

1 ? The epic "Hemispheres" is one of the most well integrated epics I have ever heard. Sometimes, epics just seem to be a bunch of songs too different to be an epic or too similar to last for the normal long time of an epic. These two problems were clearly avoided by Lee&Lifeson. Each part of it has concise connections and integrations; a very defined melodic theme repeats itself in the right moment and for the right times. Variations between each part are sufficient to prevent our desire of having the song shortened; and on the other hand they are close enough to be part of a cohesive whole.

2 ? Mr. Peart´s lyrics are over average as always. It matches a more than 18 minutes song which does not rely in long instrumental parts. There is no strong epic without strong lyrics ! If it is hard for you to write them, so go to instrumental song.

3 ? Side two completes side one giving us a very delightful diversity. The Trees is enchanting and has a very decent chorus; and so does Circunstances, though in a slightly lower level. To complete the party, there comes La Villa Strangiato, which in my opinion is the best instrumental piece recorded by Rush. This is where we can see all three guys shining as bright as in no other moment in their guitars, drums and basses.

With Hemispheres, Rush achieved maturity as a band. They were no more just a promise of a band, they showed a lot of evolution on each album after another until reaching their masterpiece. And they would go now to changes, many other good works were yet to come, prior to a long decline. But this is also another story?