Rush
On November 16, the UMe/Anthem/ole label group will continue its extensive Rush 40th anniversary album series with a new, expanded edition of the band’s 1978 release, Hemispheres.
Rush’s sixth studio album, Hemispheres was originally released in October 1978. The album’s first track, “Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres,” encompassed the entirety of side one on the original release. Side two commenced with “Circumstances,” followed by the FM radio hit “The Trees,” and concluded with the instrumental “La Villa Strangiato.”
A Super Deluxe Edition includes two CDs, one exclusive Blu-ray Audio 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 June 1979 Pinkpop Festival performance in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, informs a press release, the Pinkpop recording engineer failed to capture the first several minutes of “2112,” so an unreleased performance of the song during the Hemispheres tour from Tucson, Arizona, in November 1978 appears here in its place. The third bonus disc is the album newly mixed from the original multi-tracks in 5.1 surround sound on a Blu-ray Audio 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.
Related: Rush was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Which acts still haven’t been?
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 U.K. tour program; a 24×24-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.
The second configuration of Hemispheres—40th Anniversary will be released in a two-CD Deluxe Edition digipak that includes the newly remastered Hemispheres album; the Pinkpop Festival performance and “2112” from Arizona; a 28-page booklet with unreleased photos and new artwork by Syme; and an edited, 5,700-word version of Bowman’s aforementioned essay.
The third Hemispheres configuration will be offered as an audiophile black vinyl 180-gram three-LP Deluxe Edition featuring the same audio content as the two-CD edition housed in a slipcase with double-gatefold packaging, along with a 24-page booklet with unreleased photos and Syme’s new artwork and the 5,700-word version of Bowman’s liner notes. Gatefold 1 features the original album with Syme’s 40th anniversary artwork, while Gatefold 2 contains the Pinkpop Festival and Arizona bonus content. A 5×5-inch digital download card sticker of Syme’s new 40th anniversary art is also included.
Watch the unboxing video for the Hemispheres Deluxe Edition
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