Ed’s Letter

Where does Rush’s Hemispheres sit in their impressive canon of work for you? I know for a fact that it is both Steven Wilson and Les Claypool’s favourite Rush album. And if I remember correctly, Prog readers rated it just behind the twin behemoths of 2112 and Moving Pictures as the band’s greatest work.

Whatever your thoughts, it stands as a bastion of creativity at a time when musical values were being questioned and re-evaluated. Upon its release in October 1978, punk had already burnt itself out, the strains of new wave were starting to sound distinctly old wave and the NWOBHM was about to blow in, carrying Rush as one of its prominent bands.

Hemispheres itself, as Geddy Lee himself says, felt like the end of an era. It represents the band at their most flamboyantly creative (Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres and La Villa Strangiato) and their most rockingly forthright (Circumstances and The Trees). Acknowledging their past and looking towards their future. As ever, restlessly progressive.

That’s why it’s a delight to celebrate the album’s 40th anniversary this issue. To look back and admire how these albums of our youth have held up over the years. And in this case, I’d say remarkably well.

We’ve a strong supporting cast, too. Can’s Irmin Schmidt, the story of the Kscope label, Twelfth Night, Anneke van Giersbergen, England, The Flower Kings, Sanguine Hum, Antimatter and loads more.

I hope you enjoy it all. We’re back with the last issue of the year on December 28. Which means, even though I am writing this in November, I really should wish you all a happy and suitably proggy Xmas.

Peace and love to all…