40th Anniversary 180g 3LP-Set Featuring Original Album Remastered, Previously Unreleased Live Material & 24-Page Booklet! The 40th anniversary celebrations of the revered catalogue of Canadian titans Rush continues with new, multi-format editions of their classic 1978 album Hemispheres. This audiophile 180g 3LP deluxe edition features the newly remastered Hemispheres album, a previously unreleased 1979 Pinkpop Festival performance in The Netherlands and a previously unreleased performance of "2112" from Tucson, Arizona 1978. Housed in a slipcase with double-gatefold packaging, also included is a 24-page booklet with unreleased photos featuring Hugh Syme's new artwork, the edited, 5,700-word version of Rob Bowman's essay from The Words & The Pictures, and a replica of the band's rare 1979 UK tour program. A 5 x 5-inch digital download card sticker of Syme's new 40th anniversary art rounds out the package. Hemispheres, Rush's sixth studio album, was originally released in October 1978, and it built upon the adventurous sonic template the band established on its acclaimed 1977 effort, A Farewell To Kings. The album's first track, "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres," encompassed the entirety of Side 1 on the original release and was the logical, heady continuation of the epic album-ending Kings track, "Cygnus X-1." Side 2 commenced with the hard-driving commentary on English culture "Circumstances," followed by the socially aware and environmentally conscious FM radio hit "The Trees," and concluded with the instrumental tour de force and longtime concert favorite, "La Villa Strangiato." "Hemispheres was one of our most challenging and demanding records to make," says Alex Lifeson. "From its inception in a Wales farmhouse where it was written over a 4 week span to the very difficult mixing sessions in two London recording studios, it stands as a key transitional album in Rush's long recording history." Features: • 40th anniversary Deluxe 180g 3LP reissue • Original album newly remastered • Previously unreleased 1979 Pinkpop Festival performance in The Netherlands • Previously unreleased performance of "2112" from Tucson, Arizona 1978 • 24-page booklet with unreleased photos featuring Hugh Syme's new artwork, the edited 5,700-word version of Rob Bowman's essay from The Words & The Pictures, and a replica of the band's rare 1979 UK tour program • 5 x 5-inch digital download card sticker of Syme's new 40th anniversary art • Double-gatefold packaging
