This Day in Music History (10/29): Rush/Hemispheres

On this date in 1978, Rush released Hemispheres. Following themes going back to Rush's second album, Fly by Night, lyricist Neil Peart continues to heavily use fantasy and science fiction motifs. Similar to their 1976 release, 2112, the album contains a single song separated into chapters as the first side of the album ("Cygnus X-1, Book II: Hemispheres") while the second half contains two more conventional tracks, "Circumstances" and "The Trees", as well the nine-and-a-half-minute instrumental, "La Villa Strangiato".

The album contains examples of Rush's adherence to progressive rock standards including the use of fantasy lyrics, multi-movement song structures, and complex rhythms and time signatures. In the 2010 documentary film Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, the band members comment that the stress of recording Hemispheres was a major factor in their decision to start moving away from suites and long-form pieces in their songwriting. That change in philosophy would manifest itself in the band's next album, the considerably more accessible Permanent Waves. The band's seventh album would mark their commercial success, paving the way for the multi-platinum Moving Pictures.

Although Hemispheres received good reviews and became Rush's fourth consecutive gold album in the United States, it proved to be a weaker seller than many of the group's other albums. It peaked at #47 on the Billboard 200. It would not reach U.S. platinum status until December 1993, over 15 years after its initial release.

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