Hemispheres "too high"?

[GeddysMullet]

Tried this song again or the first time in forever for the thread. Made it a little past 5 mins. Those vocals. Is it a good thing when your only thought during a song is......SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!!!!!!! didn't think so. ok it was more like over 10 mins in, lol

 

Mick

 

Sucks for you! :D

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

They did Prelude on the Counterparts tour. I have a boot from one of the shows (which is also on YouTube now). That was 94 and you could see him struggle trying to hit "The struggle of the ancients first began..." making a pained face and all.

 

Still Hemispheres is their most creative record and pushes the bounds of what rock could be. To me it is their best record. La Villa is good, the Trees and Circumstances are great short tunes but Hemispheres is a masterpiece. It is their truly final long form effort. Couldn't have Permanent Waves or Moving Pictures without it.

[Rushman14]

Tried this song again or the first time in forever for the thread. Made it a little past 5 mins. Those vocals. Is it a good thing when your only thought during a song is......SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!!!!!!! didn't think so. ok it was more like over 10 mins in, lol

 

Mick

 

you're crazier than a blue fox.

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

I don't think the band's opinion is that "Geddy f'd up". Reading between the lines, I think Geddy felt Terry Brown screwed up and threw Geddy under the bus. Brown had a lot to do with the recording and the direction it took. He chose to go in the key they went it.

 

I have always looked at Hemispheres as the equivalent of Tales from Topographic Oceans for Yes. Hemispheres would be the album I would give someone if I wanted to show them what the sound of Rush is all about. If you like Hemispheres, you will like just about all Rush. It is not easily accessible and it takes a while to "get", but once you do, forget about it. I must have listened to Side 1 1000 times during my "experimental" period. It is Rush at their progressive peak. 20 Minutes of the masters doing their thing. It's epic Rush. I think the vocals are perfect and the best Geddy has ever done. It's damn near a perfect album.

 

You want vocals that are way too high, I'd give you Caress of Steel or Cygnus X-1 the song.

 

"Spinning, whirling, still ascending, like a spiral sea unending!!!" Now that is HIGH!

[jamie]

there's no such thing as too high when it comes to Rush. that's just what Geddy is known for.

[The Analog Cub]

They did Prelude on the Counterparts tour. I have a boot from one of the shows (which is also on YouTube now). That was 94 and you could see him struggle trying to hit "The struggle of the ancients first began..." making a pained face and all.

 

Still Hemispheres is their most creative record and pushes the bounds of what rock could be. To me it is their best record. La Villa is good, the Trees and Circumstances are great short tunes but Hemispheres is a masterpiece. It is their truly final long form effort. Couldn't have Permanent Waves or Moving Pictures without it.

 

Yeah, it was on the View From The Palace concert I think. You think he had trouble singing Hemispheres during the Counterparts tour, I doubt he would've been able to pull it off without that kind of pain on even the Moving Pictures tour.

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

If you listen to the Black Forest or Pink Pop boots you can hear him struggling with it on the Hemispheres tour.

 

There is no way for Terry Brown to know what keys Geddy can comfortably sing in. It's not his problem other than to keep moving forward. Geddy is responsible for vocal melodies and because they wrote it in the studio they probably didn't have finished lyrics to sing when they were writing the music. They probably had the structure before all the lyrics were completed. There are Neil interviews where he talks about changing lyrics for Hemispheres a lot, especially early on. After Hemispheres they began writing more around the lyrics than around riffs. Also if you listen to the riffs on Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures they are not as dense and lend themselves to lyrics more rhythmically. This all because of Hemispheres.

 

If you listen to the Rush album you can hear loads and loads of riffs that were stuck together to make songs. Fly By Night is similar, but the songs are more focused. Even 2112 is really riff oriented but more thoughtful and deliberate and song structure is becoming more of a focus.

 

Hemispheres is an iconic record. It is the Rush Fan's Rush Fan favorite where Moving Pictures is a more mainstream accessible piece. Caress of Steel is much harder to listen to for non Rush fans I think. Anyone who grew up during the 70s would know how ubiquitous Hemispheres was, in part because of the popularity of 2112. Topographic Oceans not so much.

[tas7]

Reckon 'No One at the Bridge' is the highest; "Ssssccreeeeaaaam out desperation."

[The Analog Grownup]

It was an instant like the first time I heard "when the weary world was young"

[JARG]

I don't think the band's opinion is that "Geddy f'd up". Reading between the lines, I think Geddy felt Terry Brown screwed up and threw Geddy under the bus. Brown had a lot to do with the recording and the direction it took. He chose to go in the key they went it.

 

Wow, talk about your specific claims! Can you cite some source to back that up?

[KennyLee]

I don't think the band's opinion is that "Geddy f'd up". Reading between the lines, I think Geddy felt Terry Brown screwed up and threw Geddy under the bus. Brown had a lot to do with the recording and the direction it took. He chose to go in the key they went it.

 

Wow, talk about your specific claims! Can you cite some source to back that up?

 

Yeah, I never heard, nor do I believe, that Broon had anything to do with the choosing of the key of this song or any other.

[JARG]

I don't think the band's opinion is that "Geddy f'd up". Reading between the lines, I think Geddy felt Terry Brown screwed up and threw Geddy under the bus. Brown had a lot to do with the recording and the direction it took. He chose to go in the key they went it.

 

Wow, talk about your specific claims! Can you cite some source to back that up?

 

Yeah, I never heard, nor do I believe, that Broon had anything to do with the choosing of the key of this song or any other.

 

I can't imagine him giving a f**k what key a song was in, much less choosing it.

Edited May 1, 2014 by JARG

[andreww]

Sorry, I just cant picture a band like Rush recording a song like that without rehearsing it with vocals and probably recording a demo of it first. The song itself doesn't strike me as being any higher than any of the other stuff they were doing back then, and as it was a sequel to Cygnus X1, it needed to have that same strained vocal quality. The songs were done back to back in concert, so it would have been weird to play Hemispheres in a lower register.

[KennyLee]

Singing for a Rush tribute band, I can tell you that it is really high but what makes it so tough is that it is relentlessly so. It just goes and goes and goes without a break. It stays at the top of your range and can be very fatiguing. You get that little keyboard break for a minute and then, "THEN ALL AT ONCE THE CHAOS CEASED".

 

In pieces it's hard. All the way through it is brutal!

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

Sorry, I just cant picture a band like Rush recording a song like that without rehearsing it with vocals and probably recording a demo of it first. The song itself doesn't strike me as being any higher than any of the other stuff they were doing back then, and as it was a sequel to Cygnus X1, it needed to have that same strained vocal quality. The songs were done back to back in concert, so it would have been weird to play Hemispheres in a lower register.

You obviously have little knowledge of the production of Rush through this period. They were touring so much at the time that they booked time in the studio without having written anything then ended up eating the studio time getting little done. Then going back on the road, booking more time getting little more done and going back on the road until they blocked out enough time to write and record. They built on what they had done already, but scrapped a bunch of stuff then started over almost completely. They wrote this album as they went which is one reason why there is a 9 minute instrumental. Because of the way they made this record they changed their mode of operation moving forward with Permanent Waves which was written as part of sound checks then later blocked time to write before going into the studio which they still do.

[canadianice]

Being high always makes this sound better( stunning album) :rush:

[KennyLee]

:goodone:

[KennyLee]

Sorry, I just cant picture a band like Rush recording a song like that without rehearsing it with vocals and probably recording a demo of it first. The song itself doesn't strike me as being any higher than any of the other stuff they were doing back then, and as it was a sequel to Cygnus X1, it needed to have that same strained vocal quality. The songs were done back to back in concert, so it would have been weird to play Hemispheres in a lower register.

You obviously have little knowledge of the production of Rush through this period. They were touring so much at the time that they booked time in the studio without having written anything then ended up eating the studio time getting little done. Then going back on the road, booking more time getting little more done and going back on the road until they blocked out enough time to write and record. They built on what they had done already, but scrapped a bunch of stuff then started over almost completely. They wrote this album as they went which is one reason why there is a 9 minute instrumental. Because of the way they made this record they changed their mode of operation moving forward with Permanent Waves which was written as part of sound checks then later blocked time to write before going into the studio which they still do.

 

:goodone:

[Babycat]

The most incredible voice I've ever heard on that record! :haz:

[troutman]

there's no such thing as too high when it comes to Rush. that's just what Geddy is known for.

 

Damn right! :haz:

 

That's one major reason why I became a fan. His vocals fit the band perfectly. :rush: :7up:

[Babycat]

there's no such thing as too high when it comes to Rush. that's just what Geddy is known for.

 

Damn right! :haz:

 

That's one major reason why I became a fan. His vocals fit the band perfectly. :rush: :7up:

 

Yep! :ebert:

[KennyLee]

there's no such thing as too high when it comes to Rush. that's just what Geddy is known for.

 

Damn right! :haz:

 

That's one major reason why I became a fan. His vocals fit the band perfectly. :rush: :7up:

 

Yep! :ebert:

 

Correct! :geddy:

[ytserush]

They did Prelude on the Counterparts tour. I have a boot from one of the shows (which is also on YouTube now). That was 94 and you could see him struggle trying to hit "The struggle of the ancients first began..." making a pained face and all.

 

Still Hemispheres is their most creative record and pushes the bounds of what rock could be. To me it is their best record. La Villa is good, the Trees and Circumstances are great short tunes but Hemispheres is a masterpiece. It is their truly final long form effort. Couldn't have Permanent Waves or Moving Pictures without it.

 

The "evil Geddy" face....I know it well.

[goose]

Sorry, I just cant picture a band like Rush recording a song like that without rehearsing it with vocals and probably recording a demo of it first. The song itself doesn't strike me as being any higher than any of the other stuff they were doing back then, and as it was a sequel to Cygnus X1, it needed to have that same strained vocal quality. The songs were done back to back in concert, so it would have been weird to play Hemispheres in a lower register.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vk4tcYOsYo4

[Narps]

Sorry, I just cant picture a band like Rush recording a song like that without rehearsing it with vocals and probably recording a demo of it first. The song itself doesn't strike me as being any higher than any of the other stuff they were doing back then, and as it was a sequel to Cygnus X1, it needed to have that same strained vocal quality. The songs were done back to back in concert, so it would have been weird to play Hemispheres in a lower register.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vk4tcYOsYo4

Thanks for the post Goose. Still gives me goosebumps (no pun intended). Was my first tour attended. It was a big moment in my youth and I will never forget it.... :) Edited May 4, 2014 by Narpski