Album
Hemispheres
Hemispheres is Rush's sixth studio album, released in October 1978 on Mercury Records. It followed A Farewell to Kings, and the band went back to Rockfield Studios in Wales with co-producer Terry Brown. Unusually for them, they spent several weeks writing and arranging in the studio rather than arriving with finished songs, and the sessions were gruelling.
Side one is given over to the 18-minute "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres", which picks up the space explorer's story from the previous record and drops him into a clash between Apollo and Dionysus. Hugh Syme's cover art plays on that theme of duality. Side two brings the shorter "Circumstances" and "The Trees", then closes with the instrumental "La Villa Strangiato", which the band found their hardest recording task to that point. The exhaustion left by these sessions fed directly into the tighter, more concise approach of Permanent Waves.
Hemispheres: tracklist, credits and charts
4 tracks · 36:11Tracklist
- 1Cygnus X-1, Book II: Hemispheres: I. Prelude / II. Apollo: Bringer of Wisdom / III. Dionysus: Bringer of Love / IV. Armageddon: The Battle of Heart and Mind / V. Cygnus: Bringer of Balance / VI. The Sphere: A Kind of DreamLee, Lifeson, Peart18:07
- 2CircumstancesLee, Lifeson, Peart3:42
- 3The TreesLee, Lifeson, Peart4:46
- 4La Villa StrangiatoLee, Lifeson, Peart9:36
- Produced by
- Terry Brown, Rush
- Recorded at
- Advision Studios, Rockfield Studios, Rockfield (Rockfield, Wales, United Kingdom), Advision (London, England, United Kingdom)
- Recorded
- June–July 1978
- Mixed at
- Trident Studios
- Engineered by
- Terry Brown, Pat Moran, Declan O’Doherty
- Labels
- Mercury Records, Anthem
- Length
- 36:11
Singles
- “Circumstances" / "The Trees” · January 1979
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1978 | 14 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1978 | 47 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2018 | 3 |
| UKProgressive · 2018 | 5 |
| US Tastemaker · 2018 | 6 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1978 | 14 |
| US Hard Rock · 2018 | 19 |
| Scottish Albums · 2018 | 48 |
| Dutch Albums · 1978 | 178 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada | Platinum |
| United Kingdom | Silver |
| United States | Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
79.8
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.3k
ListenBrainz listeners
193k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
14k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Also released on 24 October
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Full discography →
Rush
1974
Fly by Night
1975
Caress of Steel
1975
2112
1976
All the World’s a Stage
1976
Cygnus X‐1
1977
A Farewell to Kings
1977
Archives
1978
Rush Through Time
1979
Permanent Waves
1980
Moving Pictures
1981
Exit… Stage Left
1981
Signals
1982
Grace Under Pressure
1984
Power Windows
1985
Grace Under Pressure Tour
1986
Hold Your Fire
1987
A Show of Hands
1989
Presto
1989
Chronicles
1990
Roll the Bones
1991
Counterparts
1993
Test for Echo
1996
Retrospective I: 1974–1980
1997
Retrospective II: 1981–1987
1997
Different Stages Live
1998
Vapor Trails
2002
The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974–1987
2003
Rush in Rio
2003
Feedback
2004
R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour
2005
Gold
2006
Replay X3
2006
Snakes & Arrows
2007
Snakes & Arrows Live
2008
Retrospective 3
2009
Working Men
2009
Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland
2011
Clockwork Angels
2012
The Studio Albums 1989–2007
2013
Clockwork Angels Tour
2013
R40 Live
2015
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The label →
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David Bowie · 1970
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1978-10-24 vs 1978-10-29 (wikidata)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | November 1978 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 24 October 1978 | |
| Wikidata | 29 October 1978 | |
| US release | 1978 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 1978 | earliest UK or European date |
36 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | US | Mercury Records | other | |
| — | JP | Anthem Records | 0602547243829 | other |
| — | XE | Mercury Records | 042282254726 | other |
| — | US | Mercury Records | 042282254726 | other |
| 1978 | GB | Mercury Records | other | |
| 1978 | US | Mercury Records | other | |
| 1978 | US | Mercury Records | other | |
| November 1978 | CA | Anthem Records | original | |
| 21 April 1981 | JP | Epic | other | |
| 1985 | US | Mercury Records | 042282254719 | other |
| 1986 | US | Mercury Records | 0208314249237 | other |
| 1987 | CA | Anthem Records | 06682510142 | other |
| 1989 | US | Mercury Records | 042282254726 | other |
| 28 November 1991 | JP | Atlantic | 4988029032041 | other |
| 28 November 1991 | JP | Epic | 4988010232658 | other |
| 1997 | CA | Anthem Records | 066825108024 | remaster |
| 1997 | US | Mercury Records | remaster | |
| 6 May 1997 | GB | Mercury Records | 731453462922 | other |
| 6 May 1997 | US | Mercury Records | 731453462922 | remaster |
| 10 June 2009 | JP | Anthem Records | 4943674090532 | other |
| 2013 | — | Island Mercury | 602527893518 | other |
| 2013 | — | Island Mercury | 731453462922 | other |
| 1 October 2013 | US | Audio Fidelity | 780014216221 | other |
| 18 May 2015 | US | Mercury Records | 602547243812 | remaster |
| 18 May 2015 | XE | Mercury Records | 602547118066 | other |
| 19 May 2015 | CA | Mercury Records | 602547118066 | remaster |
| 2017 | CA | Anthem Records | 066825218464 | other |
| 2018 | CA | ole | 848818002102 | other |
| 2018 | CA | ole | 848818002133 | deluxe |
| 16 November 2018 | — | Mercury Records | 602577081767 | deluxe |
| 16 November 2018 | JP | Anthem Records | 0848818002102 | deluxe |
| 16 November 2018 | XW | Mercury Records | 602577081804 | deluxe |
| 16 November 2018 | CA | Anthem Records | 602567955740 | deluxe |
| 16 November 2018 | US | Anthem Records | 602567955818 | deluxe |
| 16 November 2018 | XE | Anthem Records | 602567955740 | deluxe |
| 16 November 2018 | CA | Anthem Records | 602567955771 | deluxe |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 350×350 | upscaled |