- Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres (18:08)
- Prelude (4:27)
- Apollo Bringer of Wisdom (2:35)
- Dionysus Bringer of Love (2:05)
- Armageddon The Battle of Heart and Mind (3:06)
- Cygnus Bringer of Balance (4:05)
- The Sphere A Kind of Dream (1:05)
- Circumstances (3:41)
- The Trees (4:46)
- La Villa Strangiato (9:35)
- Buenas Noches, Mein Froinds! (0:37)
- To sleep, perchance to dream... (1:37)
- Strangiato Theme (1:16)
- A Lerxst in Wonderland (1:59)
- Monsters! (0:26)
- The Ghost of the Aragon (0:36)
- Danforth and Pape (0:36)
- The Waltz of the Shreves (0:41)
- Never turn your back on a Monster! (0:26)
- Monsters! (Reprise) (0:11)
- Strangiato Theme (Reprise) (0:14)
- A Farewell to Things (1:04)
Alex Lifeson - Six and twelve string electric and acoustic guitars, classical guitar,
Roland guitar synthesizer, Taurus pedals
Neil Peart - Drums, orchestra bells, bell-tree, tympani, gong, cowbells, temple blocks,
wind chimes, crotales
Geddy Lee - Bass guitar, Mini Moog, Oberheim polyphonic, Taurus pedals, vocals
Produced by Rush and Terry Brown
Arrangements by Rush and Terry Brown
Recorded at Rockfield Studios, Wales, during June and July 1978
Engineered by Pat Moran
Vocals recorded at Advision Studios, London
Engineered by Declan O'Doherty
Mixed at Trident Studios, Soho, London, August 1978
Engineered by Terry Brown with invaluable assistance from John Brand
Tape Operators (Trident): Simon Hilliard, Mike Donegoni, and Reno Ruocco
Mastered at Trident by Ray Staff
Graphics by Hugh Syme
Art Directions by Hugh Syme and Bob King
Cover photography by Yosh Inouye
Inner sleeve and poster photography by Fin Costello
This album was processed through the Duffoscope!
Management by Ray Danniels and Vic Wilson, SRO Management Inc., Toronto
Executive Production: Moon Records
Roadmaster and Lighting Director: Howard (Herns) Ungerleider
Concert Sound Engineer and Crew Co-ordinator: Major Ian Grandy
Stage Manager: Michael (Lurch) Hirsh
Stage Right technician: Liam (Leaf) Birt
Stage Left technician: Skip (Slider) Gildersleeve
Centre Stage technician: Larry (Shrav) Allen
Guitar and synthesizer maintenance: Tony (Jack Secret) Geranios
Concert sound by National Sound and Electrosound (U.K.)
Concert Lighting by See Factor
Concert visuals produced by Rush and Nick Prince
Projectionist: Harry (keep the change) Dilman
Those daring drivers!: Bruce (The Pin) Aldrich (Howdy howdy!), Jwerg (Ah think Ah see the problem!) Hoadley, Mike (Say Guy!) Morrison, and Tom (Zig-Zag) Whittaker
The Wonderful Persons List: Austen Fagen, Abe Schon, The UFO'S, the Max Websters, the Pat Travers Band, the Monks, Bert the driver, Fin Costello, Ruke Bernstein, Joe Bombase, Young Ward, Jerry Mickelson, Arny Granat, Bubble and Squeak, all at SRO and all at Rockfield, Advision, and Trident
© 1978 Mercury Records © 1978 Anthem Entertainment
Notes
- Canada red vinyl edition: October 10, 1978; U.S.: October 24, 1978
- Highest Billboard Chart Position: 47 - Certified Gold by RIAA: December 14, 1978 - Certified Platinum: December 1, 1993
- Hemispheres was Phonogram/Mercury's first commercial picture disk, released in December 15, 1978, with 50,000 units produced.
- Reissued September 17, 2013 as a Audio Fidelity Sound Labs Gold SACD edition
- Reissued May 19, 2015 by Universal Music Enterprises on 200-gram, heavyweight vinyl with a download code for a 320kbps MP4 vinyl ripped Digital Audio album as well as high resolution Digital Audio editions in DSD (2.8mHz), 192khz / 24-bit, 96kHz / 24-bit.
- On April 22, 2017, UMe/Anthem/ole released a 5000 copy limited edition 12" single of Cygnus X-1 (Books I and II) on 180g vinyl for Record Store Day, with new artwork by Hugh Syme. Featuring "Book I: The Voyage" on side A and "Book II: Hemispheres" on side B, this was the first time these tracks were released as a single. The new artworks were later included in the linernotes of their respective 40th Anniversary Editions.
- On April 13, 2019, a reproduction of the original 1978 Hemispheres 12 inch picture disk was released in the US & Canada for Record Store Day.
- Reissued November 16, 2018 as the Hemispheres-40th Anniversary Edition in various packaging options which include the original album remastered by Abbey Road Studios in 2015, and additional rare and previously unreleased material.
In Their Own Words
"'[Circumstances]' was written right at the very end, in my hotel room. While we were mixing, we were recording the vocals. It was a little bit bastardized from another song that I had which was about a really personal type conflict, and I tried to make/take it out of that with the choruses, because the verses are from an old song and the choruses were brand new." - Neil Peart, Hemispheres Radio Special
"'The Trees'...was a parable about collectivism." - Neil Peart, Roadshow
"We spent more time recording 'Strangiato' than the entire Fly By Night album. It's recorded in one take but it took 40 takes to get it right! It was our first piece without any vocals at all. So each section had to stand up with a theme and musical structure of its own." - Geddy Lee, Visions
"As the song [La Villa Strangiato] developed, we decided to flavour certain sections after some cartoon ideas." - Alex Lifeson, A Show Of Fans, Summer 1996
"'La Villa Stangiato'...It's epic. There are so many parts to that song, and everybody shines on it. My recollection is that it was only a few takes to record the song. In fact if you listen closely during the guitar solo you can hear the previous solo ghosting underneath. I remember us playing the whole song in one piece and then we dropped in for that solo." - Alex Lifeson, ClassicRock.com, May 2015
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This is a collection of transcripts of magazine and newspaper articles and other media related to this release or coinciding with the time frame surrounding it. This is an ongoing work in progress; feel free to email any suggested additions.