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Let's spark the great debate again!


Entre_Perpetuo
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Things have been pointed out as a bit slow around here in some other threads, so I thought, what's something that might get everyone going again, at least for a bit? Well Rush of course, but more specifically the great debate...is Hemispheres their best album or not?

 

It's been proven in the past that Hems is a record many a fan adores more than all the rest. It's been cited as perfection, a masterpiece, the highlight of their career...I'm still not convinced.

 

Hemispheres is a great record, sure, but better than PeW, MP, Signals, PoW, 2112, CA, CoS, AFTK? Not in my book, no siree. It's kind of lifeless in some ways, missing the thrilling punches of the three records that immediately precede it and the two or three immediately following it. Where's the fire? The passion? I hear three guys playing their limbs off and one dude screaming his vocal chords out, but I don't hear that punch, that drama, that passion that usually drives their work. The material is excellent and the technical execution flawless, but I think it's really very audible how hard of a time they had making Hems and how fed up they were with the whole process by the time they were finished. I think it's also very audible how the production was barely saved at the last minute by some genius mixing job from Terry or something, cuz while the sound in crystal clear, it is extremely produced and not very direct.

 

This is a controversial shred of my opinion. What's yours?

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For the longest time i've always wondered why I never had the love for Hemispheres that everyone else on here seems to have. Great playing for sure and two great songs with the title track and La Villa. But I never realized it until I read your post what was missing for me from it and that's the passion and fire.

 

Damn, almost 25 years and as fan and it took this post from one of the younger fans here to make me notice that.

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For the longest time i've always wondered why I never had the love for Hemispheres that everyone else on here seems to have. Great playing for sure and two great songs with the title track and La Villa. But I never realized it until I read your post what was missing for me from it and that's the passion and fire.

 

Damn, almost 25 years and as fan and it took this post from one of the younger fans here to make me notice that.

 

Lol, wow glad I could help you figure it out! Also glad to find someone else who's not so in love and adoration of Hems as a lot of people. At this rate we might just get a lively debate up and running by tomorrow! :)

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Things have been pointed out as a bit slow around here in some other threads, so I thought, what's something that might get everyone going again, at least for a bit? Well Rush of course, but more specifically the great debate...is Hemispheres their best album or not?

 

It's been proven in the past that Hems is a record many a fan adores more than all the rest. It's been cited as perfection, a masterpiece, the highlight of their career...I'm still not convinced.

 

Hemispheres is a great record, sure, but better than PeW, MP, Signals, PoW, 2112, CA, CoS, AFTK? Not in my book, no siree. It's kind of lifeless in some ways, missing the thrilling punches of the three records that immediately precede it and the two or three immediately following it. Where's the fire? The passion? I hear three guys playing their limbs off and one dude screaming his vocal chords out, but I don't hear that punch, that drama, that passion that usually drives their work. The material is excellent and the technical execution flawless, but I think it's really very audible how hard of a time they had making Hems and how fed up they were with the whole process by the time they were finished. I think it's also very audible how the production was barely saved at the last minute by some genius mixing job from Terry or something, cuz while the sound in crystal clear, it is extremely produced and not very direct.

 

This is a controversial shred of my opinion. What's yours?

 

Side two always was better to me; the title track sounded a little forced and the lack of passion I think can be attributed to a)they had taken the prog thing as far as they could and they knew change was in the air; and b) they wrote everything too high and Ged was very unhappy with what it was doing to his voice.

 

Having said that, it's still a strong album but not a top 5 for me at all. The two albums before it and the 3 after it are all better to me.

Edited by Wil1972
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It's kind of lifeless in some ways, missing the thrilling punches of the three records that immediately precede it and the two or three immediately following it. Where's the fire? The passion? I hear three guys playing their limbs off and one dude screaming his vocal chords out, but I don't hear that punch, that drama, that passion that usually drives their work.

I'm not sure what you're hearing, but I hear lots of fire, passion, drama and "thrilling punches" throughout the whole album from the first minute of Book II til the last minute of La Villa Strangiato. And I can't say that most of the other albums you mentioned hold up to it in that regard.

Edited by Irenicus
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It's kind of lifeless in some ways, missing the thrilling punches of the three records that immediately precede it and the two or three immediately following it. Where's the fire? The passion? I hear three guys playing their limbs off and one dude screaming his vocal chords out, but I don't hear that punch, that drama, that passion that usually drives their work.

I'm not sure what you're hearing, but I hear lots of fire, passion and drama throughout the whole album from the first minute of Book II til the last minute of La Villa Strangiato. And I can't say that most of the other albums you mentioned hold up to it in that regard.

 

For me it's just not there. Nothing on Hems surprises me or shocks me or leaves my head spinning. The 2112 does, AFTK Xanadu and Cygnus Book I do, TSOR Freewill and Nat Sci do, TS RB YYZ Limelight do, TFOL and BD do, TAK does. That factor is at least part of it. Everything on Hems sounds more forced and less natural than usual, and the production only saves that from being too obvious.

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but more specifically the great debate...

There's nothing like a good mass debate :yes:

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since when is hemispheres considered to be rush's best album? i thought the general opinion was that it was moving pictures.

 

neither is my favorite, that title goes to clockwork angels!

 

Since this at least. And there are many others who share Lorraine's opinion.

 

Yes. I do think Hemispheres is their best album. Alex outdid himself on Hemispheres. I regard Hemispheres as his album. Only my opinion. Not speaking de fide.

 

Alex's work and writing may be excellent, but I fail to head much of his usually passion and spirit (leaving aside the one solo in LaVilla obviously).

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since when is hemispheres considered to be rush's best album? i thought the general opinion was that it was moving pictures.

 

neither is my favorite, that title goes to clockwork angels!

Hemispheres went on to win last years "Most Glorious Rush Album" award, as voted by the members of this forum, when it was the last album standing following a long series of grueling polls. http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/happy/happy0005.gif
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Alex's work and writing may be excellent, but I fail to head much of his usually passion and spirit (leaving aside the one solo in LaVilla obviously).

 

This is why I usually stay out of threads like this.

 

Just because you fail to hear it, doesn't mean that I don't hear it.

 

As has been pointed out on here too numerous times to count, we really are all different.

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Not my personal favorite, but a Top 3. The beauty of Rush's music is that it's all so different you can pick one depending on what kind of rock you want at the time.
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i've discovered there are two ways you can decide your fav rush album:

 

the first being purely on an intellectual level. to sit without any Rush playing and go over the issue in your own mind. when i do this i nearly always arrive at a Permanent Waves/Vapor trails decision. If i had to pick one with a gun to my head I'd probably have to pick Waves, as it's utterly flawless, perfect in every way - whereas VT does have a couple slightly weaker moments i suppose (although make no difference to overall brilliance).

 

the second way is to decide while actually listening to the albums concerned, at which point i personally could fill the top slot with at least ten or so of them. albums such as Counterparts, Caress of Steel, AFTK and yes of course the magnificent Hemispheres come into play. I mean how can anyone listen to hemispheres, and even look at the packaging of it, without thinking it an absolute masterpiece and probably the best rock album of all time?

 

seriously though, i can listen to Counterparts and still get the feeling i had on its release so long ago, that it's Rush at their finest. but if i had to think in the cold light of day, as i am now with no music playing, which album amongst so much almost divine work is their very best, i suppose i have to go for Permanent Waves. it's really just Hemispheres, with an upgraded and classically modern feel to it.

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Moving Pictures, Signals, Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows are their best work

 

and that's indisputable :)

Edited by fraroc
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I find HEMIspheres to be an appetizer before the main course of Permanent Waves. The album also reeks of leftovers from being in the same fridge with AFTK, 2112 and COS. Depending on my mood HEMIspheres is sometimes in my Top Five Rush Album Rotation, sometimes not.
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I personally dislike side one of Hemispheres, so I'm going to go ahead and say no, it is far from their best album. Side two is excellent, but there are so many other albums that I enjoy fully, like Moving Pictures. Heck, even Presto.
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Yes. I do think Hemispheres is their best album. Alex outdid himself on Hemispheres. I regard Hemispheres as his album. Only my opinion. Not speaking de fide.

 

I also think it's their best album. Definitely one of their most creative. I hear passionate playing from all of them all over it.

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Alex's work and writing may be excellent, but I fail to head much of his usually passion and spirit (leaving aside the one solo in LaVilla obviously).

 

This is why I usually stay out of threads like this.

 

Just because you fail to hear it, doesn't mean that I don't hear it.

 

As has been pointed out on here too numerous times to count, we really are all different.

 

To clear up the point of this thread, I don't actually want to trample all over your opinion and try to make you believe anything different about your favorite Rush album, that would be mean. I only mean to try to get some conversation going again, and this topic always seems to light some fire in the forum.

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It's kind of lifeless in some ways, missing the thrilling punches of the three records that immediately precede it and the two or three immediately following it. Where's the fire? The passion? I hear three guys playing their limbs off and one dude screaming his vocal chords out, but I don't hear that punch, that drama, that passion that usually drives their work.

I'm not sure what you're hearing, but I hear lots of fire, passion, drama and "thrilling punches" throughout the whole album from the first minute of Book II til the last minute of La Villa Strangiato. And I can't say that most of the other albums you mentioned hold up to it in that regard.

I hear overcooked. The vocals are a setback. However, there's priceless music here
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Things have been pointed out as a bit slow around here in some other threads, so I thought, what's something that might get everyone going again, at least for a bit? Well Rush of course, but more specifically the great debate...is Hemispheres their best album or not?

 

It's been proven in the past that Hems is a record many a fan adores more than all the rest. It's been cited as perfection, a masterpiece, the highlight of their career...I'm still not convinced.

 

Hemispheres is a great record, sure, but better than PeW, MP, Signals, PoW, 2112, CA, CoS, AFTK? Not in my book, no siree. It's kind of lifeless in some ways, missing the thrilling punches of the three records that immediately precede it and the two or three immediately following it. Where's the fire? The passion? I hear three guys playing their limbs off and one dude screaming his vocal chords out, but I don't hear that punch, that drama, that passion that usually drives their work. The material is excellent and the technical execution flawless, but I think it's really very audible how hard of a time they had making Hems and how fed up they were with the whole process by the time they were finished. I think it's also very audible how the production was barely saved at the last minute by some genius mixing job from Terry or something, cuz while the sound in crystal clear, it is extremely produced and not very direct.

 

This is a controversial shred of my opinion. What's yours?

 

Comparing emotion and passion of "today's Tom Sawyer mean mean pride" to the way GED sings the pinnacle of Hemispheres below, cmon, there is no comparison..

 

 

 

Then all at once the Chaos ceased

A stillness fell, a sudden peace

The Warriors felt my silent cry

And stayed their struggle, mystified

 

Apollo was atonished

Dionysus thought me mad

But they heard my story further

And they wondered, and were sad

 

Looking down from Olympus

On a world of doubt and fear

Its surface splintered

Into sorry hemispheres

 

They sat a while in silence

Then they turned at last to me

'We will call you Cygnus,

The god of Balance you shall be'

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Things have been pointed out as a bit slow around here in some other threads, so I thought, what's something that might get everyone going again, at least for a bit? Well Rush of course, but more specifically the great debate...is Hemispheres their best album or not?

 

It's been proven in the past that Hems is a record many a fan adores more than all the rest. It's been cited as perfection, a masterpiece, the highlight of their career...I'm still not convinced.

 

Hemispheres is a great record, sure, but better than PeW, MP, Signals, PoW, 2112, CA, CoS, AFTK? Not in my book, no siree. It's kind of lifeless in some ways, missing the thrilling punches of the three records that immediately precede it and the two or three immediately following it. Where's the fire? The passion? I hear three guys playing their limbs off and one dude screaming his vocal chords out, but I don't hear that punch, that drama, that passion that usually drives their work. The material is excellent and the technical execution flawless, but I think it's really very audible how hard of a time they had making Hems and how fed up they were with the whole process by the time they were finished. I think it's also very audible how the production was barely saved at the last minute by some genius mixing job from Terry or something, cuz while the sound in crystal clear, it is extremely produced and not very direct.

 

This is a controversial shred of my opinion. What's yours?

 

Comparing emotion and passion of "today's Tom Sawyer mean mean pride" to the way GED sings the pinnacle of Hemispheres below, cmon, there is no comparison..

 

 

 

Then all at once the Chaos ceased

A stillness fell, a sudden peace

The Warriors felt my silent cry

And stayed their struggle, mystified

 

Apollo was atonished

Dionysus thought me mad

But they heard my story further

And they wondered, and were sad

 

Looking down from Olympus

On a world of doubt and fear

Its surface splintered

Into sorry hemispheres

 

They sat a while in silence

Then they turned at last to me

'We will call you Cygnus,

The god of Balance you shall be'

 

Maybe not in that bit of TS, but certainly in these lines:

 

Spinning Whirling

Still Descending

Like A Spiral

Sea Unending!

Sound And Fury

Drown My Heart

Every Nerve Is

Torn APART!!!

 

Or these...

 

Cry out desperation but

No one's there to hear!!!

 

Or these...

 

Just think of what my life might be

In a world like I have seen

I don't think I can carry on

Carry on this cold and empty life!

Woooaaaah!!

My spirits are low in the depths of despair

My lifeblood...spills over...

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