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Over a year after
A Farewell to Kings’
Cygnus X-1 left fans with “To be continued”, RUSH released
their follow up, Hemispheres. First track, as promised is Cygnus
X-1 Book II. Unfortunately the energy level part one left with is
missing from this sequel song. While the first part echoed the musical
superiority of 2112, this song feels more like something released
after
Caress of Steel.
It almost feels as if RUSH was becoming so progressive, they walked
away from music and into their own world. Or perhaps they tried too hard.
Regardless of the cause,
Cygnus Book II is just not as good, and is perhaps the first low point
for the band in years. It is bearable to listen to, but after the pleasure
of the last two albums, side A is off to a bad start until a musical echo
of the part one shows up two thirds through. Part V of this song is the
sweet spot. Ethereal in nature, filled with texture it is an interesting
RUSH to listen to. A return to the main musical theme of this
version makes the remainder of the song bearable.
Circumstances
is a decent song, but unfortunately nothing remarkable. It passes by
relatively quickly to The Trees, by far the best song on this four
track album. The Trees is a beautifully crafted, lyrically pleasing
work. This song would have felt more in place on
A Farewell to Kings;
it has that same grace to it. The Trees is a great commentary on
the discrimination among social classes. The break in this song is
beautifully accented by Peart’s woodblocks and chimes. This is a great
song.
La Villa Strangiato
is cleverly sub-titled an exercise in Self-Indulgence, which is probably
what I would have called it. This twelve part instrumental is filled with
echoes and reprises of itself and is surprisingly pleasant. This
composition is a great example of all of RUSH’s skills. This is a
delightful pleasure to listen to, and is RUSH’s first all
instrumental track.
In all Hemispheres in an extremely
interesting album. It will never be a contender for outstanding albums,
but RUSH did develop quite a bit in this work. Strangiato is
crown jewel that would influence the band in the future. |
