Hemispheres 40th Anniversary Now Available

The long expected 40th Anniversary Edition of Hemispheres is now available.  Hitting store shelves November 16th, the new edition features new album art by Hugh Syme, and includes a second disk featuring the complete "Live At Pinkpop Festival, Netherlands/1979" as well as "2112" from the 1978 Tucson Arizona show. Unlike the 2112 and A Farewell to Kings releases, there are no cover songs from other artists included.

Hemispheres 40th Anniversary is available in three physical formats: Super Deluxe, 2CD Deluxe and 3LP Vinyl.

Related News and Reviews:

• Review: Rush’s ‘Hemispheres’ Reissue Celebrates Band’s Prog-Era Peak - RollingStone.com, November 16, 2018

From the Press Release:

"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.”

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.”

Click below for full tracklists for all editions.


SUPER DELUXE EDITION

CD - DISC 1
Original Album – Produced by Rush and Terry Brown
1. Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres
2. Circumstances
3. The Trees
4. La Villa Strangiato

CD - DISC 2
Live at Pinkpop Festival – June 4, 1979
1. A Passage To Bangkok*
2. Xanadu*
3. The Trees*
4. Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres – The Sphere A Kind Of Dream*
5. Closer To The Heart*
6. La Villa Strangiato*
7. In The Mood*
8. Drum Solo*
9. Something For Nothing*

Live in Arizona – November 20, 1978
10. 2112*

BLU-RAY AUDIO – DISC 3
96kHz 24-bit 5.1 Surround Mix
96kHz 24-bit Original Stereo Analog 2015 Remaster
1. Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres*
2. Circumstances*
3. The Trees*
4. La Villa Strangiato*

Bonus Promo Videos
48kHz 24-bit Stereo Only
1. Circumstances (1978 Promo Video)*
2. The Trees (1978 Promo Video)*
3. La Villa Strangiato (1978 Promo Video)*
4. La Villa Strangiato (Live at Pinkpop Festival: June 4, 1979)*

3-LP VINYL EDITION

LP 1 - SIDE A
Original Album – Produced by Rush and Terry Brown
1. Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres

LP 1 – SIDE B
1. Circumstances
2. The Trees
3. La Villa Strangiato

LP 2 – SIDE C
1. Live at Pinkpop Festival – June 4, 1979
2. A Passage To Bangkok*
3. Xanadu*

LP 2 – SIDE D
1. The Trees*
2. Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres – The Sphere A Kind Of Dream*
3. Closer To The Heart*
4. La Villa Strangiato*

LP 3 – SIDE E
1. In The Mood*
2. Drum Solo*
3. Something For Nothing*

LP 3 – SIDE F
1. Live in Arizona – November 20, 1978
2. 2112*

2CD DELUXE EDITION / DELUXE DIGITAL EDITION
DISC 1
Original Album – Produced by Rush and Terry Brown 1. Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres
2. Circumstances
3. The Trees
4. La Villa Strangiato

DISC 2
Live at Pinkpop Festival – June 4, 1979
1. A Passage To Bangkok*
2. Xanadu*
3. The Trees*
4. Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres – The Sphere A Kind Of Dream*
5. Closer To The Heart*
6. La Villa Strangiato*
7. In The Mood*
8. Drum Solo*
9. Something For Nothing*

Live in Arizona – November 20, 1978
1. 2112*

*Previously unreleased