Rush Cygnus tracks clash

[WildRanger]

Which Cygnus track you like better: first part from the album A Farewell to Kings or second part from the album Hemispheres?

I like first Cygnus better, it's just musically more interesting.

[Metro]

I swear someone has posted this exact question before, but Book I

[ProfessorPeart]

Book I for me. Never understood the crazy love for Book II. Not that it's bad, but it's not their best epic by any stretch, in my opinion.

[TAC]

Crazy lover of Hemispheres here.

[Lowdz]

Love book 1, it’s a top 5 Rush track on my favourite Rush album, but just don’t love book 2 - I like it but it’s only ok. Hated the lyrics tbh.

The rest of Hemispheres is awesome though.

[The Walrus]

Book 1 is booooring. Hemispheres is magic.

[The Walrus]

Book I for me. Never understood the crazy love for Book II. Not that it's bad, but it's not their best epic by any stretch, in my opinion.

Definitely their best epic imo and it isn't even close. 2112 pales in comparison!

[TAC]

I have never ever in my entire life referred to Hemispheres as Book II. I mean ever.

[WildRanger]

Book I for me. Never understood the crazy love for Book II. Not that it's bad, but it's not their best epic by any stretch, in my opinion.

Definitely their best epic imo and it isn't even close. 2112 pales in comparison!

You don't find Cygnus II Hemispheres to be repetitive? I do.

[The Walrus]

Book I for me. Never understood the crazy love for Book II. Not that it's bad, but it's not their best epic by any stretch, in my opinion.

Definitely their best epic imo and it isn't even close. 2112 pales in comparison!

You don't find Cygnus II Hemispheres to be repetitive? I do.

Not in the sense that the entire 18 minutes is the same idea, but the individual sections are just fine. Repetition is a necessary component of music and I don't think there is excessive repetition in there

[TAC]

The only repetition is its awesomeness every time I hear it.

[King Postwhore]

I have never ever in my entire life referred to Hemispheres as Book II. I mean ever.

You know what, neither have I.  BTW, Hemispheres gets my vote.

[Setlist Scotty]

The only repetition is its awesomeness every time I hear it.

This. Hemispheres for me.

[Cool Chris]

I am not sure I ever thought of them as Books I and II but I am not a huge Rush head. I own and love both albums though. Book I for me. Or whatever it is called. Hemispheres, while amazing, is not in my top 10, maybe even top 15 Rush songs. I'm tempted to use the dreaded "O" word but will refrain.

[TAC]

I am not sure I ever thought of them as Books I and II but I am not a huge Rush head. I own and love both albums though. Book I for me. Or whatever it is called. Hemispheres, while amazing, is not in my top 10, maybe even top 15 Rush songs. I'm tempted to use the dreaded "O" word but will refrain.

Orgasmic??

[Cool Chris]

No. The word you are not supposed to use when describing how you feel about music, or any other form of art.

[TAC]

Otherwordly?

[425]

I am also not really a Hemispheres fan. My hot take is that Rush got much better when they stopped writing epics.

Cygnus X-1 is probably my favorite Rush epic, certainly miles ahead of Hemispheres.

[The Letter M]

Not voting until both options are uniformly titled. Book I is missing it's subtitle "The Voyage", and that upsets me way more than it probably should for any normal human being.

-Marc.

[TAC]

Not voting until both options are uniformly titled. Book I is missing it's subtitle "The Voyage", and that upsets me way more than it probably should for any normal human being.

-Marc.

 


-TAC

[Stadler]

Crazy lover of Hemispheres here.

Agreed.

I have never ever in my entire life referred to Hemispheres as Book II. I mean ever.

Add me to that list too.

[pg1067]

They're equally awesome, so Hemispheres gets the vote simply because of length.

[cygnusx1jg]

IMO, Hemi is a 10 and Cyg is a 9.99.

[jammindude]

 Until I heard Suppers Ready, I believed that Cygnus X-1 books one and two (together as a single piece) were the greatest recorded music in rock history.

 I honestly have no comprehension of everybody’s criticism of not sounding cohesive or not sounding like a single piece of music.   To me, both “books” blend beautifully into a giant 28 minute epic that stands to this day as the 2nd greatest recording in rock music.

Though...if I had a gun to my head...I’d pick book 2 over book 1.

EDIT - I will add. It literally changed my life. I was such an extremist as a kid, and sometimes I still tend to default that way. But at a very young and impressionable age, this song stressed the importance of balance...and that happiness was not not possible without balance. It remains a “life creed” even now as I close in on 50.

[Lowdz]

When I heard AFTK, and particularly Cygnus X1, I’d never heard music like it in my life. It was my first exposure to Rush and I became an instant fan.
Had I heard Hemispheres first I don’t think I would have had the same reaction. And as I said earlier, the lyrics 🤮

[WildRanger]

Until I heard Suppers Ready, I believed that Cygnus X-1 books one and two (together as a single piece) were the greatest recorded music in rock history.

Would you put Shine on You Crazy Diamond and Close to the Edge in the same league with those epics?

[KevShmev]

Until I heard Suppers Ready, I believed that Cygnus X-1 books one and two (together as a single piece) were the greatest recorded music in rock history.

 I honestly have no comprehension of everybody’s criticism of not sounding cohesive or not sounding like a single piece of music.   To me, both “books” blend beautifully into a giant 28 minute epic that stands to this day as the 2nd greatest recording in rock music.

Though...if I had a gun to my head...I’d pick book 2 over book 1.

EDIT - I will add. It literally changed my life. I was such an extremist as a kid, and sometimes I still tend to default that way. But at a very young and impressionable age, this song stressed the importance of balance...and that happiness was not not possible without balance. It remains a “life creed” even now as I close in on 50.

I still don't get this.  Not only are the two songs not a single piece of music, making it bizarre to refer to the two songs as a single recording, the difference in production of the two albums makes them sound dissimilar.  It would be like calling Metropolis and Scenes from a Memory all one recording.  It doesn't pass the smell test.

[Lowdz]

Until I heard Suppers Ready, I believed that Cygnus X-1 books one and two (together as a single piece) were the greatest recorded music in rock history.

 I honestly have no comprehension of everybody’s criticism of not sounding cohesive or not sounding like a single piece of music.   To me, both “books” blend beautifully into a giant 28 minute epic that stands to this day as the 2nd greatest recording in rock music.

Though...if I had a gun to my head...I’d pick book 2 over book 1.

EDIT - I will add. It literally changed my life. I was such an extremist as a kid, and sometimes I still tend to default that way. But at a very young and impressionable age, this song stressed the importance of balance...and that happiness was not not possible without balance. It remains a “life creed” even now as I close in on 50.

I still don't get this.  Not only are the two songs not a single piece of music, making it bizarre to refer to the two songs as a single recording, the difference in production of the two albums makes them sound dissimilar.  It would be like calling Metropolis and Scenes from a Memory all one recording.  It doesn't pass the smell test.

I think that was my biggest problem with it - they have virtually nothing tying them together..

[pg1067]

Until I heard Suppers Ready, I believed that Cygnus X-1 books one and two (together as a single piece) were the greatest recorded music in rock history.

 I honestly have no comprehension of everybody’s criticism of not sounding cohesive or not sounding like a single piece of music.   To me, both “books” blend beautifully into a giant 28 minute epic that stands to this day as the 2nd greatest recording in rock music.

I still don't get this.  Not only are the two songs not a single piece of music, making it bizarre to refer to the two songs as a single recording, the difference in production of the two albums makes them sound dissimilar.  It would be like calling Metropolis and Scenes from a Memory all one recording.  It doesn't pass the smell test.

Agree.  They're not a single song or a single piece of music.  They weren't recorded together (like "In the Presence of Enemies"), and I'm not even sure they were conceived at the same time.  It's always been my understanding that none of Hemispheres was written before they got to the studio in Wales.  Probably most importantly, I don't think any of the band members has ever said that they are intended to be pieces of a single song.

I wouldn't say they're not cohesive, but the two songs have almost nothing in common musically.  They're not in the same key.  Unless I'm overlooking something, about the only common element is the chromatic ascent at the end of the "Dionysus" segment of Hemispheres, which mimics the music underneath when Geddy sings "until the black hole takes control" in Book I (I'm not including the two bits of Book I that are sampled in the "Armageddon" segment).  While they lyrically connect, the lyrics of the two pieces have nothing to do with each other.  Book I is simply about a black hole and a guy who flies his spaceship into it.  Book II is about a far more abstract concept...and oh, it just happens to be that the guy from Book I is observing the conflict between heart and mind and is ultimately declared to be "Cygnus, Bringer of Balance."  It's pretty much a manufactured connection.

[KevShmev]

Yep, the connection of two is superficial at best. 

[The Letter M]

Out of curiosity, I decided to check the Power Windows website to see if there were any articles or notes regarding the creation of the Cygnus Books, and here's bits that I found:

From the AFTK Tour Book: http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/afarewelltokings.html

"A quick change of setting and atmosphere, and we find ourselves in the farthest reaches of outer space, in the middle of the black hole of "Cygnus X-1". This is the first part of an epic story which is to be continued and concluded on our next album. The music was almost entirely created right in the studio, and it was a very satisfying accomplishment for us all. It has to be one of the most powerful things we have done. If it doesn't give you goose bumps, you're not playing it loud enough!"

From this interview: http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19780225sounds.htm

On the inner sleeve to 'Kings', beneath the lyrics to 'Cygnus X-1', it says 'to be continued'. Will this be on the next album?

"Hmm...it's still in the works. It's a really big subject, it's going to be an immense thing. At first, we were very slow about it, we made sure even before we wrote anything that we all agreed what the concept should be - it's important that it's well thought out. At the moment we're doing other things, getting back into the rhythm of writing, meanwhile keeping 'Cygnus X-1' in the backs of our minds.

As for "Hemispheres", here's a tidbit from that tour's tourbook: http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/hemispheres.html

"Away from the bustle of city life, RUSH came up with a pastoral yet powerful album, its by now traditional 'epic track' present in the form of the space opera "Cygnus X-1", a story about a spaceship pilot plunging through a black hole in space. And if you thought that RUSH might have exhausted all areas of inspiration, then lend an ear to this, their latest album "HEMISPHERES", in which -- to borrow a phrase -- they boldly go where no band has gone before. Again recorded at Rockfield, the album contains just four tracks, two short, straightforward and sensitively rendered ("The Trees" and "Circumstances") the other couple high-powered, hot-blooded and often mind-blowing in their complexites ("La Villa Strangiato" and "Hemispheres"). It is these latter two numbers that show just how greatly RUSH have developed over the years. The band call "La Villa Strangiato" a "musical reconstruction of some of Alex's nightmares" (apparently the guitarist is often plagued by the most vividly bad dreams) and appropriately it's totally unlike anything they've ever attempted before. It's many parted, multi-faceted and definitely deserving of careful scrutiny and many plays. Meanwhile "HEMISPHERES" itself brings an end to the story of "Cygnus X-1", which had its beginnings on the previous album "A FAREWELL TO KINGS". It had, if you remember, a cliff hanger ending when our hero disappeared through a gapin black hole...never to be seen again? The "2112"-length "Hemispheres" number concludes the tale in unexpected, unorthodox fashion -- if you expected RUSH to cop out and go for usual science fiction stand-by explanations of "other dimensions" or "matter transportation", think again. "HEMISPHERES", through hard-hitting and dynamic, evocative lyrics, tells the tale of a battle between the gods Apollo and Dionysus, of the intervention of the deity Cygnus and of the "balance" he eventually manages to achieve.

All this, plus no small amount of rock and roll as well. What more could you wish for?"

From this interview: http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19780930sounds.htm

The other side of the album is taken up by the 'Fountain Of Lamneth'/'2112'-style, 20 minutes long title track 'Hemispheres'. And, as expected, it's the conclusion to the story begun by the number 'Cygnus X-1' on the previous platter. If you remember, the 'first episode' ended with Our Hero plunging his spaceship the Rocinante through a Black Hole in the constellation of Cygnus... never to be seen again?

'Hemispheres' ties up the tale in totally unexpected fashion. Even though Peart, in his own words, racked his brain, but still had 'no idea' how to end the story even when the band started recording, I think you'll agree that he's managed to concoct a convincing conclusion. And no, he hasn't copped out with any 'matter trans-portation' or 'other dimension' schtick... it's far more complicated than that.

I won't give too much away here and now as it'll spoil the enjoyment of you finding out for yourself, so for the moment suffice to say that Rush's full-blown 'Hemispheres' flight of fancy introduces two new characters into the scheme of things (Apollo, god of the mind; Dionysus, god of the heart), relates a battle between these two that brings a world to its knees and to the brink of armageddon, and includes the appearance of a 'shapeless spirit' that emerges from a Black Hole to act as mediator. And, as ever, it's not all as cut-and-dried as it may seem at first.

"I hope that whoever buys the album will feel moved to delve beneath the basic storyline," says Peart, "and find a real truth. It'll be worth the effort, believe me. I think it's something worth bringing to people's attention".

From another interview with Neil: http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19781200musicexpress.htm

For Farewell to Kings, a new phase for the band, Peart carne up with Cygnus X-1, a spaceship delving into one of the infamous Black Holes of outer space.

He left that song hanging, in true adventure style - "hanging over my head" he now admits. "To finish the tale of Cygnus X-1, book II, took me hours of tearing my hair out.

"I hadn't even begun to write it until three weeks before we went back to Wales (to record Rush's latest album, Hemispheres, at Rockfield studios). It was only half written when we went into the studio. It came half close to killing me!"

His own imagination didn't fail. Hemispheres takes a few time leaps back and forth in history, to emerge through the "timeless space" to the city of immortals, where the warring symbolic Gods of Apollo (mind) and Dionysus (heart) are resolved, the splintered Hemispheres brought together by Cygnus, the God of balance.

Peart doesn't know what will come out in the way of stories for the band's next album. "I can never predict what will come out," he says. "It usually is panoramic. I tend to dismiss every idea until I find one that's suitable.

And finally, one more interview with Neil: http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19791103musiciansonly.htm

"We did "Cygnus X-l" without any idea how we'd finish it - it just seemed it would be nice to have "to be continued..." after it and pick it up on the album after next, but Geddy had this idea for "Hemispheres" that was totally unrelated to "Cygnus" until we'd worked it out further when it felt right to link the two. With sci-fi we can put across our thoughts in understandable terms. I don't read much sci-fi myself, though."

So, there ya go. Neil had the idea to put "To be continued" after the purposely-subtitled "Book I - The Voyage", knowing he'd get to a sequel SOME DAY, but it looked like he wasn't going to do it on their next album, but it all happened anyway. The Cygnus Books were DEFINITELY NOT CONCEIVED AS ONE PIECE FROM THE GET-GO. From the man himself...

-Marc.

[jammindude]

 For the record, I never claimed that the band *wrote* it as one single piece of music. I said that they fit together as a single piece of music. So much so that I made a mixtape with the two blended together all the way back in 1983. It was my favorite tape.

[TAC]

Nice job Marc putting all that together!

[The King in Crimson]

Book 1 easily.

Book 2 just feels like a jumbled patchwork of musical ideas all crammed together with little coherence.

[New World Rushman]

I have no idea how to post a video here, but:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4jLHZf_yQw