Hemispheres, Rush’s sixth studio album, was originally released in October 1978, and it built upon the adventurous sonic template the band established on its acclaimed 1977 effort, A Farewell To Kings. The album’s first track, “Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres,” encompassed the entirety of Side 1 on the original release and was the logical, heady continuation of the epic album-ending Kings track, “Cygnus X-1.” Side 2 commenced with the hard-driving commentary on English culture “Circumstances,” followed by the socially aware and environmentally conscious FM radio hit “The Trees,” and concluded with the instrumental tour de force and longtime concert favorite, “La Villa Strangiato.”
The Super Deluxe Edition includes two CDs, one exclusive Blu-ray disc, and three high-quality 180-gram black vinyl LPs. The set encompasses the Abbey Road Studios 2015 remastered edition of the album for the first time on CD, along with previously unreleased and newly restored bonus content consisting of the band’s masterful June 1979 Pinkpop Festival performance in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the Pinkpop recording engineer failed to capture the first several minutes of “2112,” so an amazing, unreleased performance of the song during the Hemispheres tour from Tucson, Arizona in November 1978 appears here in its place. The third bonus disc contains audio from the album newly mixed from the original multitracks in 5.1 surround sound on a Blu-ray disc, along with four bonus videos: three shot in 1978 as promo videos, and one of “La Villa Strangiato,” originally shot at Pinkpop with newly restored stereo audio.The Super Deluxe Edition of Hemispheres-40th Anniversary will also include several exclusive items, including a 40-page hardcover book with unreleased photos and new artwork by original album designer Hugh Syme; an extensive, 11,000+-word essay by Rob Bowman; The Words & The Pictures, a replica of the band’s rare 1979 UK tour program; a 24x24-inch wall poster of the newly created Syme art; a Pinkpop Festival replica ticket; a Pinkpop Festival replica cloth VIP sticky pass; and a replica 1978 “Rush” Hemispheres iron-on patch.
“Hemispheres was one of our most challenging and demanding records to make,” says Alex Lifeson. “From its inception in a Wales farmhouse where it was written over a 4 week span,” Lifeson continues, “to the very difficult mixing sessions in two London recording studios, it stands as a key transitional album in Rush’s long recording history.”

1. Cygnus X-1 Book 2 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 Dream
2. Circumstances
3. The Trees
4. La Villa Strangiato
Bonus Videos
5. Circumstances (1978 Promo Video)
6. The Trees (1978 Promo Video)
7. La Villa Strangiato (1978 Promo Video)
8. La Villa Strangiato (Live At Pink Pop Festival: June 4th, 1979)

Cast and Crew:

Acoustic Guitar, Guitar [6-string Electric, 12-string Electric, Classical], Synthesizer [Roland Guitar, Taurus Pedals] – Alex Lifeson
Bass, Synthesizer [Mini-moog, Oberheim Polyphonic, Taurus Pedals], Vocals – Geddy Lee
Drums, Bells [Orchestra, Bell-tree], Timpani, Gong, Cowbell, Percussion [Temple Blocks, Wind Chimes], Cymbal [Crotales] – Neil Peart
Engineer – Pat Moran