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Is Hemispheres the Best Rush Album?


winter17
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The problem with choosing the best rush album is so many albums are rush at their best, like they so dlbrilliant in any era, however developed they are

 

Obviously nothing better than Hemispheres, is superb, but take Counterparts for example, fantastic album completely different sound but no different really the standard equally as exceptional

 

I can personally choose any one of ten rush albums as their very best at any given time depending on how i'm feeling

 

This is how cool this band is, hardwired into the Universe

 

I agree 100% with you...Counterparts is my least favorite though :P

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'Hemispheres' may be the most influential RUSH album, but it isn't the band's best.

 

Recording the album took a toll on the band, especially Geddy with trying to sing the songs in keys that were beyond his vocal capabilities.

 

When the band revived 'Circumstances' on the Snakes & Arrows Tour, the band didn't perform the song live in it's original key. This was probably to help Geddy sing the song without straining his vocal cords.

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I think it’s their best. The multipart first side is their most cohesive long form attempt. The playing is absolutely stellar.

 

The production is awesome - raw and live sounding. On headphones they’re playing right next to you.

 

Even the Trees, which is just so poorly written and trite - full of contradictions and nonsensical passages, sounds huge and cinematic. Where was Pie Dubois for that one?!

 

Hemispheres blends old Rush with its emerging nu rock leanings. Lots of dynamic shifts, killer synth sounds and sound effects.

 

GREAT singing by Geddy too - taking some ham fisted lyrics and creating some great melodies.

Edited by chemistry1973
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I think it’s their best. The multipart first side is their most cohesive long form attempt. The playing is absolutely stellar.

 

The production is awesome - raw and live sounding. On headphones they’re playing right next to you.

 

Even the Trees, which is just so poorly written and trite - full of contradictions and nonsensical passages, sounds huge and cinematic. Where was Pie Dubois for that one?!

 

Hemispheres blends old Rush with its emerging nu rock leanings. Lots of dynamic shifts, killer synth sounds and sound effects.

 

GREAT singing by Geddy too - taking some ham fisted lyrics and creating some great melodies.

 

The Trees is my favorite song on Hems, and 2112 is easily the best of their sidelong epics. However, I don’t care to debate about those two things. You have your opinion and I have mine.

 

What I want to know is, what is “nu rock?”

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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.

:goodone:
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I think it’s their best. The multipart first side is their most cohesive long form attempt. The playing is absolutely stellar.

 

The production is awesome - raw and live sounding. On headphones they’re playing right next to you.

 

Even the Trees, which is just so poorly written and trite - full of contradictions and nonsensical passages, sounds huge and cinematic. Where was Pie Dubois for that one?!

 

Hemispheres blends old Rush with its emerging nu rock leanings. Lots of dynamic shifts, killer synth sounds and sound effects.

 

GREAT singing by Geddy too - taking some ham fisted lyrics and creating some great melodies.

 

The Trees is my favorite song on Hems, and 2112 is easily the best of their sidelong epics. However, I don’t care to debate about those two things. You have your opinion and I have mine.

 

What I want to know is, what is “nu rock?”

 

Adding new wave elements to rock music. Ultimately it was Permanent Waves saw Rush embracing what was hip - sounds of the police and talking heads and blending with the band’s forward thinking musical ethos. Hemispheres is the towering achievement of old Rush: combining their old style bar band riffage with prog, while utilizing the emerging technology. It’s a fantastic combo of old and what’s coming. But it’s also the last hurrah of their serious side long prog leanings.

 

As far as a statement on progressive music of the 70s, it serves as that genre’s swan song- delivering the ultimate statement on the prog music form, while lyrically demanding balance and a measured musical approach.. The theme of side one is a meta statement on the whole prog movement: a cry for balance in music and all things. LVS on side 2 is literally subtitled “an exercise is self indulgence”. Which is meta as well- and poking fun at prog at the same time.

Edited by chemistry1973
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I think it’s their best. The multipart first side is their most cohesive long form attempt. The playing is absolutely stellar.

 

The production is awesome - raw and live sounding. On headphones they’re playing right next to you.

 

Even the Trees, which is just so poorly written and trite - full of contradictions and nonsensical passages, sounds huge and cinematic. Where was Pie Dubois for that one?!

 

Hemispheres blends old Rush with its emerging nu rock leanings. Lots of dynamic shifts, killer synth sounds and sound effects.

 

GREAT singing by Geddy too - taking some ham fisted lyrics and creating some great melodies.

 

The Trees is my favorite song on Hems, and 2112 is easily the best of their sidelong epics. However, I don’t care to debate about those two things. You have your opinion and I have mine.

 

What I want to know is, what is “nu rock?”

 

Adding new wave elements to rock music. Ultimately it was Permanent Waves saw Rush embracing what was hip - sounds of the police and talking heads and blending with the band’s forward thinking musical ethos. Hemispheres is the towering achievement of old Rush: combining their old style bar band riffage with prog, while utilizing the emerging technology. It’s a fantastic combo of old and what’s coming. But it’s also the last hurrah of their serious side long prog leanings.

 

As far as a statement on progressive music of the 70s, it serves as that genre’s swan song- delivering the ultimate statement on the prog music form, while lyrically demanding balance and a measured musical approach.. The theme of side one is a meta statement on the whole prog movement: a cry for balance in music and all things. LVS on side 2 is literally subtitled “an exercise is self indulgence”. Which is meta as well- and poking fun at prog at the same time.

 

I agree it functions as a swan song for the general 70s prog movement, but that doesn’t make it better than what came before it. Also ty for the explanation; I’ve never heard new wave referred to as “nu rock” before.

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In my opinion, you can't beat Moving Pictures. The songs, the sound quality... It's just a perfect album.

 

Same!

 

Here's an old thread about the two albums. It used to be in this section, but was transferred to the poll section.

http://www.therushfo...hl__hemispheres

 

 

:oops:

 

Wrong two albums. :facepalm:

 

This is the one:

http://www.therushforum.com/index.php?/topic/95762-hemispheres-vs-moving-pictures/page__hl__hemispheres

Edited by Lorraine
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I can't even read this thing. Not sure if I even responded but really?

 

"IS?????"

 

You mean....

 

"Hemispheres IS the best album on the planet!

 

FIXED!

 

 

DUHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

 

 

RUSHHHHHHHHHHHHemispheres

 

 

It's not just the greatest RUSH album of all time.

 

It's the greatest album on the Earth ever recorded and performed by humans.

 

 

 

Even Geddy, Alex and Neil had to chill after "Hemispheres."

 

It's amazing they wrote "Permanent Waves" after their apex achievement.

 

Best band ever on the Earth.

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In my opinion, you can't beat Moving Pictures. The songs, the sound quality... It's just a perfect album.

Most of the world agrees with this.

And this was a SCIENTIFIC poll of the world's population, I assume.... lmao
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In my opinion, you can't beat Moving Pictures. The songs, the sound quality... It's just a perfect album.

Most of the world agrees with this.

And this was a SCIENTIFIC poll of the world's population, I assume.... lmao

I suppose one could choose to ignore sales, airplay, requests, a late-career full-album resurrection tour... lmao Edited by goose
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With so many albums and so many stylistic changes both musically and lyrically it’s impossible to say which is their best.Hemispheres was my first Rush album I owned not long after it came out and I love it.But I might like Counterparts tomorrow,GUP the next day,etc.All their albums show brilliant musicianship so it’s up to the songwriting and other nuances to decide which is the best.If you asked the band if Hemispheres was their best album they would say no way(mainly because it was like pulling teeth to make it).I am just happy I have such a heap of Rush albums to choose from and nearly all of them is their best
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In my opinion, you can't beat Moving Pictures. The songs, the sound quality... It's just a perfect album.

Most of the world agrees with this.

 

People, who haven't, and maybe, don't have all of Rush's c.ds, and albums, and listened to all of their music, and are only familiar, with "Moving Pictures" might say it's "Moving Pictures".

Edited by Derek19
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Best epic

Best short song

Best instrumental

Good thread idea that I haven't seen in a while. Poll worthy, even.

 

Goose, Maybe, for, and of Rush, you should be the one to make, and put a poll up of that.

Edited by Derek19
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Hemispheres for me... Just the musicianship alone does it. but, the songs... it's a perfect example of prog rock. Not progressive rock like early Yes or Genny, but one of the first prog rock albums. I remember first playing and thinking how great it was. A good step up from AFTK.
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In my opinion, you can't beat Moving Pictures. The songs, the sound quality... It's just a perfect album.

Most of the world agrees with this.

And this was a SCIENTIFIC poll of the world's population, I assume.... lmao

I suppose one could choose to ignore sales, airplay, requests, a late-career full-album resurrection tour... lmao

You let me know when they decide to do away with the word "best" and subsume it into the word "popular" LMFAO
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