Hemispheres

This fabulous, inspirational recording is the greatest Rush album of them all, a supernova in a constellation of bright stars.

It caught me quite by surprise, in the autumn of 1978 - I had been nervously awaiting its release when, following an evening of moderate post-adolescent alcohol-related activity at a local hostelry, my drinking companion and I called in at the house of an acquaintance. His dad had just returned from the States, or the Far East - I forget which - where Hemispheres had already been released, and had brought him back a copy. It was already on his turntable when we called in. I listened intently for a few minutes. My jaw dropped, and I felt the sting of tears in my eyes, for I was witnessing a triumphant, spectacular return to form. It was simply fabulous. The dark cloud cast over my life by the bitter disappointment of A Farewell To Kings was lifting.

I hardly know how to begin to describe this album (but I'll give it a shot). The 2112-style, side-length epic which kicks off proceedings is, I suppose, really what this album is all about. Like 2112, it's dramatic and atmospheric - but much more stylised, harmonically ambitious and distinctive. And where its predecessor, A Farewell To Kings, was awkward and ill-conceived, Hemispheres is statuesque, graceful, majestic, spellbinding - utterly convincing.

Peart provides a purposeful, powerful yet subtle (and very nearly jazzy in parts) backbeat while Lee and Lifeson weave a melodic tapestry of sonic splendour. Guitar and bass intertwine enticingly across a luscious, panoramic soundscape in a beautifully choreographed ballet of harmonic majesty. There's so much light and shade - Lifeson's guitar slashes like a maniac's razor one moment, soothes like a lover's touch the next - (witness the intense yet delicate, heartbreakingly poignant guitar refrain which makes its first appearance at 1:20 or so, and which in many ways is the signature of the title piece) - this is electrifying, breathtaking stuff, rock music's equivalent of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Lyrically speaking, Hemispheres' title piece is Peart's very last episode in the grandiose, sci-fi and sorcery style which had been his preferred modus operandi up to this point. However, unlike former works in the same style, (and in particular, Cygnus X-1, to which formally speaking, Hemispheres is a sequel) it's allegorical, not intended to be taken purely at face value. It's really about the balance between the rational and the emotional, not a battle between Gods on Mount Olympus. So that's alright then.

The three shorter tunes which (used to) form side two are no less accomplished in their own right. Circumstances is a deceptively simple but eccentric and inventive piece and The Trees, of course, is a classic - with an engagingly plucked acoustic intro, a catchy, powerful, thrilling chorus and some delightfully quirky, staccato guitar work from Lifeson. Again, it's a surprisingly simple tune on careful listening, but like Circumstances, wonderfully distinctive and original.

La Villa Strangiato, deservedly a highlight of live performances for many years to come, is an intoxicating cocktail of diverse styles and influences. Their first entirely instrumental piece, it's a patchwork of several quite different short pieces which complement each other superbly and segue together into something even greater than the sum of its parts. Mesmeric stuff, this, and it's all performed with consummate skill. Some absolutely captivating, dramatic guitar work here too, yet it's as lighthearted as it is assured (and more generally, I feel that Hemispheres is the album where an offbeat sense of humour and lighthearted take on life started to be reflected in Lifeson's music - not just here, but in Circumstances and The Trees too - the guitar part seems somehow to be wearing a confident, wry smile in places).

Hemispheres is the new start for chapter two that Rush were groping for, but which eluded their grasp, in the conception and execution of A Farewell To Kings. Yet in a sense, with the benefit of hindsight, and in the context of their whole career, I think it's instructive to consider it the conclusion of chapter one. This was as far as they could possibly come within the progressive rock paradigm whose waters they had charted in the early phase of their career, and they must have known it. For their next album, they would reinvent themselves with a highly-charged, more straightforward sound - but, that's a story for another day.

Marks out of ten? Like Nigel Tufnell's custom-built Marshall amplification, I have no option but to go to eleven. This magnificent record just may be the absolute peak of human artistic achievement in the last millenium.