Hemispheres

Album Context

Hemispheres was the album that nearly broke Rush — not commercially, but physically and creatively. Returning to Rockfield Studios in Wales, the band entered without preconceived ideas and spent two agonizing weeks writing and arranging new material while struggling over the album's direction. The process was the longest they'd ever endured — recording stretched through June and July 1978, compared to five weeks for 2112 and four for A Farewell to Kings.

Geddy Lee later described the experience in vivid terms: "We were like these monks. At one point we stopped shaving, we turned into these fucking grotesque prog creatures in this farmhouse making this record, working all night, sleeping all day." Lifeson, frustrated by a faulty studio door latch, took matters into his own hands — removing it, installing a hydraulic door opener, and building a new handle. The studio conditions were basic, lacking even a sofa.

Peart introduced timpani and gong to his percussion setup for the first time, feeling the epic scope of the title track demanded them. The vocals had to be recorded separately at Advision Studios in London because the schedule at Rockfield ran out. For a brief period, the album was released on red vinyl — now a collector's item.

Despite the difficult birth, Hemispheres was Rush's fourth consecutive gold album and eventually went platinum. But the exhaustion was real. The band was in considerable financial debt at the start of the 137-date supporting tour and didn't turn a profit until the next album cycle. More importantly, all three members agreed: they would never make another side-long epic. "We didn't want to do side-long pieces, the overblown arranging, anymore," Peart said. Hemispheres was both the apex and the endpoint of Rush's progressive era.