10 Best Progressive Rock Albums Of All Time
4. Rush - Hemispheres
Prog rock never got quite so conceptually insane as the 18-minute intro track on Rush's 1978 LP. 'Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres' kicks off where preceding album, 'A Farewell to Kings' closed on 'Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage'. Both tracks more than live up to their rather ridiculous titles. The multi-part sci fi epic is a magnificent showcase of Neil Peart's incomparable drumming talents.
After two considerably more conservative rock tracks in 'Circumstances' and 'The Trees', Rush unveil another multi-part, mythological marvel in 'La Villa Strangiato (An Exercise in Self-Indulgence)'. The near-10 minute track isn't quite as mind-boggling as the LP's opener but is still an epic, unconventional conclusion to the group's headiest album.
Most curious of all is that the final chapter of the song (it's subdivided into 12 parts) is titled 'A Farewell to Kings', tying this album up in a full circle bow with the one that came before it. The mix of faster-paced, smaller scale rock tracks with obscenely long rock operas allows 'Hemispheres' to serve as a collage of Rush's earlier and later styles.
As the '80s rolled in Rush bid farewell to the more over the top set pieces of their earlier years. 'Hemispheres' is a near-perfect showcase of their ambitious '70s run before they arguably reached their peak in the decade after.