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Is Hemispheres the Best Rush Album?


winter17
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Rush - Take a Friend. Alright music, lyrics are painful at times.

 

At times??

 

Hey, I love Take a Friend. I think it's fun, and I like the guitar riffs, and the rhythm section.

 

So, you know...all of it!

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Assuming that the OP's question / topic is about song quality and not sound / mixing quality, my answer is no. Definitely not. Not really close.

 

To paraphrase what other have said, side 2 is darn good (The Trees being the weakest song on that side - which is saying something as it is a strong song.). Side one however is really not special. At least not to my ears. Its ok. That all. So you have half the album which is just ok, Given the quality of many of Rush's other albums, it leaves Hemispheres trailing many of those albums.

 

For example, I would rank FBN, 2112, AFTK, MP, PoW, HYF & S&A all well above it.

 

Albums I rank higher than Hemispheres:

 

Fly By Night

Caress Of Steel

2112

A Farewell To King's

Permanent Waves

Moving Pictures

Grace Under Pressure

Hold Your Fire

Presto

Vapor Trails

Snakes And Arrows

 

Wow!! Glad to hear others feel the same way I do about Hemispheres.

 

Good point about Presto & Grace Under Pressure. Yes, I would rank both above Hemispheres. Somehow I also overlooked Signals which I would rank above it as well.

 

Permanent Waves is a hard one to call. Its has some of Rush's best songs (e.g. Freewill & Spirit of Radio) but it also has Jacobs Ladder which does nothing for me. Also, the studio version of Natural Science is decent but not great. Live is another matter however (love it live). I would say the 2 albums are roughly on the same plane. Same with Counterparts.

 

CoS & VT - no thanks. Bottom of the barrel stuff (IMO).

 

You know...I'm gonna be honest...I also like Counterparts and Test For Echo more than Hemispheres.

 

I would put Hemispheres above Signals and Roll The Bones, and about the same as Clockwork Angels.

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No but close enough. In my view third to fifth depending on the day...

Narps! Don't mean to sound too sappy...but I've missed you on here, man!

Much appreciated my friend. As I have posted recently, I will never be the posting machine I once was but will chime in from time to time... :cheers: Edited by Narps
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Rush - Take a Friend. Alright music, lyrics are painful at times.

 

At times??

 

Hey, I love Take a Friend. I think it's fun, and I like the guitar riffs, and the rhythm section.

 

So, you know...all of it!

 

Right there with ya Blue J

 

!!

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No but close enough. In my view third to fifth depending on the day...

Narps! Don't mean to sound too sappy...but I've missed you on here, man!

Much appreciated my friend. As I have posting recently, I will never be the posting machine I once was but will chime in from time to time... :cheers:

 

Personally, I prefer the posting machine, but, chiming in is good too

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My Top 5 Sides

 

- Rush Side Two: What You're Doing, In The Mood, Before And After, Working Man

 

- 2112 Side One: 2112

 

- Hemispheres Side Two: Circumstances, The Trees, La Villa Strangiato

 

- A Farewell To Kings Side One: A Farewell To Kings, Xanadu

 

- Caress Of Steel Side One: Bastille Day, I Think I'm Going Bald, Lakeside Park, The Necromancer

 

 

Tough to choose ... Side Two of 2112 could easily be there too, and Side One of Fly By Night too .. Also hard to leave out the Cygnus family, as both could conceivably be number one on any given day

 

And I'll beat the dead horse ( again ) and say that Caress Of Steel could have had the greatest side ever had it been Bastille Day, Garden Road, Lakeside into The Necromancer

Edited by Lucas
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Hemisphere was the first Rush album I bought not long after it came out so I have a sentimental love of it,but i feel every Rush album goes somewhere different which is why I like them so much.So any Rush album could be my fave this week.If I could nitpick Hemispheres it would be that Side one gets a bit muddled in the middle and the lyrics made them favourites with Dungeon & Dragons geeks of the day(I was one!).The Sphere is beautiful though.Circumstances is OK but not earth shattering.The Trees and La Villa Strangiato are perfect.
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I'd put up the original Vapor Trails, Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels up against any other three Rush studio albums out there.

 

:facepalm:

If I had to give up either Hemispheres OR those 3 for the rest of my life, it'd be an easy choice. Strangiato would be safe and sound.

 

I never said anything about giving anything up, but if you put it that way my decision is probably that much easier.

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Hemi is my favorite; side 2 is beyond belief good and side 1 is good enough to hold up its end, but most of all it just has a magical quality about it... but "best"? Objectively, I'd give that to MP, PeW, and 2112 before Hemi. Still, a solid fourth place in Rush's catalog.
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Top five sides... good idea.

 

1. Hemi side 2

2. MP side 1

3. PeW side 2

4. 2112 side 1

5. AFTK side 1

Edited by Rutlefan
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The riffs in Hemispheres are strong enough and unusual enough to hold my interest, even if some small part of me may occasionally find the story goofy.

 

Like all great music, it transports me back to when I was younger, and those great guitar sounds and the amazing interplay between all of them still seem like magic to me. (And when I was younger and awash in imagination, it was a great story, too.)

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I'd put up the original Vapor Trails, Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels up against any other three Rush studio albums out there.

 

:facepalm:

If I had to give up either Hemispheres OR those 3 for the rest of my life, it'd be an easy choice. Strangiato would be safe and sound.

 

I never said anything about giving anything up, but if you put it that way my decision is probably that much easier.

I never said you did. I was referring to how easy it'd be for me.

I'll say this at least:

VT, S&A, CA > RTB, Counterparts, T4E

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all rush albums are great, there is no best one. it boils down to what your favorite one might be. my favorite rush album is a farewell to kings.

 

I would agree with this just cross out AFTK and insert Grace Under Pressure on any given day.

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I'd put up the original Vapor Trails, Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels up against any other three Rush studio albums out there.

 

I'd put the remastered Vapor Trails, Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels up against any other three. The remaster is far superior.

 

But I like the sentiment! Later Rush is good Rush!

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I'd put up the original Vapor Trails, Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels up against any other three Rush studio albums out there.

 

I'd put the remastered Vapor Trails, Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels up against any other three. The remaster is far superior.

 

But I like the sentiment! Later Rush is good Rush!

 

Those three albums were recorded too loud. Vapor Trails in particular, which has so much clipping and so much low frequency overlap it's almost unlistenable. There is also too much compression on all three albums, which reduces the dynamics and breathable airspace to the music, making all of them (though SA's is the least offensive of the three) very fatiguing to the ears.

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Hemispheres is a masterpiece of innovative playing and production for its time. Probably always be their best album for me. You know, the one that you currently reach for when you are down a bit. But, damn, there are probably (8) Rush albums that I could say that about over the decades. For this old guy, I have decided that ranking Rush albums is futile. Depends on time and place in your memory.

 

These days, I listen to CA more than the others. (and Counterparts for some strange reason)....they are all pretty darn good.

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