Go to the main Rush page ... yo Blemishers Overall Album Score: 8.5 out of 10 Look, I don't do this sort of thing on purpose just to mess with all of you guys. But I'm serious. Kick Fly By Night in the pants, flush Farewell to Kings down the toilet and divide "2112" by infinity. Hemispheres is better than all of that! With only four songs this time, Rush is starting to take this prog-rock thing pretty seriously. If you were paying attention to the Rush albums I've been writing, you'll know that I basically gave their previous work A Farewell to Kings a bit of a panning and dismissed it as too boring for me to care about. However, I also said that the album showed a mark improvement in song structure for Rush, but the melodies and entertainment factors were somehow lost. They found much of that again in this album Hemispheres! Huzzah! Plus, the songs are structured better than ever. Rush has for the first time in their career released an entertaining and non-awkward progressive rock album. Good for them. Let us talk about the major progressive rock song, the 18-minute title track. All of the elements are finally together in that track. It not only has excellent musical transitions (an art that Rush developed with A Farewell to Kings) but it's musically interesting. It's fair to say that the music still isn't quite as compelling as Genesis or Emerson Lake & Palmer, but "Hemispheres" is the group's best attempt thus far in their discography. The other lengthy prog-rock attempt is "La Villa Strangiato," isn't quite as good, but I found it to be pretty entertaining nontheless. It's a good showcase of the virtuosos by the end of the track as Peart continues to do great drumming (without the need to resort to a full-blown drum solo though he comes close a few times) and Lifeson delivers a truly shattering electric guitar solo. The middle two tracks are less than five minutes long, and they're not bad. The weak link is easily "The Trees," which tends to jump around genres too much. But it remains an entertaining piece. Now let me congratulate Rush for creating their first studio album that I truly like! Overall Album Score: 8.5 out of 10 (Finally, this is a Rush studio album that I truly enjoy.) Average Song Score: 8.4 (Well written songs and good production. Finally, Rush as I've always wanted them.) Album Tilt: 8.5 (It has its weak moments, but this is usually fun to hear.) Artist Rating: 8.5 (Very good stuff. This band is willing to improve.) Track Reviews Hemispheres 18.5/20 I can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Rush's progressive rock has never been this good in the 18-minute "Hemispheres." They've been trying to create great progressive rock songs since Fly By Night, but they were always marred by too much sloppiness or not enough melodies. They start the song with goofy ambient music (well, there's a little bit of that, but it only lasts about eight seconds). The song starts up very well and entertaining. There are some very solid chords and good balance in between the guitar chords and the drums. The transitions in between sections are even smoother than what it was like on their already smooth previous album. What really gets me is that the section that starts up around the two minute mark sounds almost like real progressive rock! Geddy starts singing at the three minute mark, and he doesn't sound unwelcome this time. I must also commend Rush on their use of choppy chords. I always hated it when they did that so much on their previous albums (especially when they would spend 2 minutes doing it). But they restrain themselves here, and it's actually pretty constructive. Alex Lifeson delivers a FACEMELTING electric guitar solo in here, which was one aspect sorely lacking from their previous effort. Even that goofy synth-ballad thing at the 13-minute mark is pretty good, although I'd have to say slightly misguided. All in all, however, their prog-rock is actually beginning to mean something musical. It didn't seem to long ago that their prog sections consisted mostly of three chords. This is also enjoyable for me to listen to. I can keep my attention on this song 100 percent without ever wanting to wander away from it. Rush has finally come of age! Circumstances 8/10 Ah yes, Rush is supposed to be a hard-rock band at their roots. "Circumstances" is a guitar heavy song but with an odd time signature or something. (I'm not musically astute enough to pick out weird time signatures, which I guess is why I've never been a huge Rush fan.) But this song is pretty good anyway. I like the guitar crunches and strange chord progressions. The important thing in all this is that they didn't forget that they were instrumental virtuosos, and they all turn in good performances. The quiet bit in the middle of this is curious, but in a good way. The Trees 7/10 This song starts out sounding like it's going to be a folky song, but then it jumps to hard rock. The transition wasn't that good, but it is better than I remember it being in the past. The quiet part in the middle is OK in some respects, but it does get a little boring in there. Then, at the two minute and 30 second mark, we get some synthesizer exclamations that catchy my interest again. The song is complex and OK but all in all the weakest song of the album. Good thing it was only four minutes and 40 seconds. La Villa Strangiato 8.5/10 I wonder where they got the name for the nine-minute-30-second "La Villa Strangiato." It sounds like a name some 10-year-old writing fantasy stories would come up with on looseleaf paper! The beginning of the song sounds Spanish, and there's some very impressive playing on that acoustic guitar. That stops and some ambient synths start to play. This slowly gets louder as Peart delivers some pretty impressive drumming and Lifeson contributes with some electric guitar. They get a little ponderous (and slightly boring) by the four minute mark, but I'm never fully lost from it. Lifeson delivers a very impressive solo around the five minute mark but that stops when Lee, for some reason, brings in a bass solo. Lifeson returns his ground when he gives a very complex little solo around the six minute mark. Peart takes an opportunity to show off his drumming around the six minute 30 second mark, and then Lifeson really delivers an impressive guitar solo. I anticipate your ants here and your comments, too.

All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. The California Raisins is the greatest band.