Editing Hemispheres (Rush album) (section)

==Reception==
{{Music ratings
|title=Contemporaneous and retrospective reviews
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">{{AllMusic |class=album |id=hemispheres-mw0000650730 |label=Rush: ''Hemispheres'' > Review |access-date=5 January 2019}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Martin Popoff|Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal]]''
| rev2Score = 6/10<ref name="collectorheavymetal" >{{cite book |last=Popoff |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Popoff |title=The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies |publisher=[[Collector's Guide Publishing]] |location=Burlington, Ontario, Canada |section=Rush — Hemispheres (Anthem '78)|date=October 2003 |page=238|isbn=978-1-8949-5902-5}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev3Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|year=2007|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|edition=4th|isbn=978-0195313734}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Martin C. Strong|The Essential Rock Discography]]''
| rev4Score = 6/10<ref name="Strong">{{cite book |last1=Strong |first1=Martin Charles  |title=The Essential Rock Discography |edition=8th |year=2006 |publisher=Open City Books |isbn=1-84195-860-3 |page=938–939 |chapter=Rush }}</ref>
| rev5      = ''[[MusicHound Rock]]''
| rev5Score = {{rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Graff|editor1-first=Gary|editor2-last=Durchholz|editor2-first=Daniel|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=Visible Ink Press|location=Farmington Hills, MI|year=1999|section=Rush|isbn=1-57859-061-2|page=965}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev6Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}} (2018)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/rush-hemispheres-reissue-album-review-757032/|title=Review: Rush's ''Hemispheres'' Reissue Celebrates Band's Prog-Era Peak|last=Shteamer|first=Hank|author-link=Hank Shteamer|website=rollingstone.com|date=16 November 2018 |access-date=1 February 2019|archive-date=1 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201120207/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/rush-hemispheres-reissue-album-review-757032/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev7Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/rush/albumguide |title=Rush: Album Guide |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=February 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704223108/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/rush/albumguide |archive-date=July 4, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Sound & Vision (magazine)|Sound & Vision]]''
| rev8Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.soundandvision.com/content/rush-hemispheres-40th-anniversary-super-deluxe-edition|title=Rush: ''Hemispheres'' – 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition|last=Mettler|first=Mike|author-link=Mike Mettler|website=soundandvision.com|date=9 April 2019 |access-date=9 May 2019|archive-date=18 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518150649/https://www.soundandvision.com/content/rush-hemispheres-40th-anniversary-super-deluxe-edition|url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]''
| rev9Score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name = "Soundsrev"/>
|rev10 = ''[[Colin Larkin|The Virgin Encyclopedia of 80s Music]]''
|rev10Score = {{rating|2|5}}<ref>{{Cite book|author=[[Colin Larkin|Larkin, Colin]]|year=2003|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of 80s Music|ISBN=1852279699|publisher=[[Virgin Publishing]]|section=Rush|pp=414–415}}</ref>
}}
[[Geoff Barton]] gave ''Hemispheres'' three stars in ''Sounds'' in an article where he pondered if it "is a masterwork or a mistake". On one hand, he said the album is "a lovingly crafted, highly complex album ... brimful with profound lyrical statements" and "music with a message (trite but true)". But on the other, Barton thought it finds Rush "wallowing way, way out of their depth ... it seems impossible to think that this band were once honest, unpretentious purveyors of straight-forward, hard-hitting heavy metal music. Now, having forsaken basic beginnings. Rush sound ambitious beyond their musical means."<ref name = "Soundsrev">{{cite web|url=http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19781021sounds.htm|title=It Could Be a Meisterwerk (But It's More Like a Terrible Mistake)|first=Geoff|last=Barton|work=Sounds|date=October 21, 1978|access-date=May 18, 2024}}</ref> In a review for ''Circus'' magazine, Bart Testa wrote the band plays "stupendous fanfare music" and noted their positive sentiments in the songs. He favoured "Cygnus X-1 Book II" over the side-long suite on ''2112'' as it showcased a better performance from the band, noting their ability to "interlock metal whirlwinds" driven by Peart's drumming. However, Testa noted "Circumstances" was the only one true "song" on the record, "and it's not very good, either."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19781212circus.htm|title=Rush Concludes Cygnus Cycle
|first=Bart|last=Testa|work=Circus|date=December 12, 1978|access-date=May 18, 2024}}</ref> Joe Nick Patoski gave a positive review in American rock magazine ''[[Creem]]'', who thought Rush "lay their cards on the table" to much success with "timely and illuminating issues" in the lyrics. He summarised: "Just the stuff America needs to nudge its way into the 80s."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19790200creem.htm|title=Ride, Mush You Rushkies|first=Joe|last=Patoski|work=Creem|date=February 1979|access-date=May 18, 2024}}</ref>

The album gained further critical acclaim retrospectively. In a poll held by ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' titled "Readers' Poll: Your Favorite Prog Rock Albums of All Time" in 2012, ''Hemispheres'' was ranked at {{Numero|8}}.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-your-favorite-prog-rock-albums-of-all-time-20120725/8-rush-hemispheres-0015975 | title = Readers' Poll: Your Favorite Prog Rock Albums of All Time | magazine = [[Rolling Stone]] | access-date = 2012-07-30 | archive-date = 2012-07-29 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120729035807/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-your-favorite-prog-rock-albums-of-all-time-20120725/8-rush-hemispheres-0015975 | url-status = live }}</ref> Reviewing the album for the magazine, Michael Bloom stated, "Overall, especially in 'La Villa Strangiato', Lifeson, Peart and Lee prove themselves masters of every power-trio convention. In fact, these guys have the chops and drive to break out of the largely artificial bounds of the format, and they constantly threaten to do so but never quite manage."<ref name="rollingstone">{{cite magazine | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/hemispheres-19790322 | title = Rush – Hemispheres | access-date = 2011-11-20 | last = Bloom | first = Michael | date = 22 March 1979 | magazine = [[Rolling Stone]] | archive-date = 2014-03-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140328101708/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/hemispheres-19790322 | url-status = live }}</ref> In the review for [[AllMusic]], Greg Prato favourably compared the album to the band's previous work, "While the story line isn't as comprehensible as ''[[2112 (album)|2112]]'' was, it's much more consistent musically, twisting and turning through five different sections which contrast heavy rock sections against more sedate pieces."<ref name="AllMusic"/> ''[[PopMatters]]'' ranked ''Hemispheres'' the 12th best progressive rock album of all time.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/25-best-progressive-rock-albums-2495470374.html |title=The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums - PopMatters |date=17 November 2015 |access-date=2019-10-16 |archive-date=2019-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191004081836/https://www.popmatters.com/25-best-progressive-rock-albums-2495470374.html |url-status=live }}</ref>