Working Man: A Tribute to Rush

[Rickenbacker]

Thoughts on this album? I never bought it.

I stumbled onto the "Analog Kid" cover while looking for a totally different tribute & had to grudgingly admit liking it. I guess I avoided it for 2 reasons: I recall it didn't get great reviews & remembering the "tribute" album trend of the 90s, I knew most were crap.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCuo1Kqn_3Y

[The Letter M]

Actually, of all the Rush tribute albums, I find this one the most enjoyable, if only for 4 or 5 songs, including the Working Man/By-Tor combo (which covers the 2nd half of the song, which hasn't been played since the AFTK Tour, I believe), Jacob's Ladder, and La Villa Strangiato, all featuring Mike Portnoy on drums! Fellow DT members James LaBrie and John Petrucci also appear on the album, as well as many other famous rock/metal performers.

It's one of the better Magna Carta tribute albums, and the changes done to LVS are tastefully done, especially the bass solo before "A Lerxst In Wonderland".

-Marc.

[80s were ok]

wasn't this the one that was actually produced or co-produced by Portnoy?

[mellotron storm]

wasn't this the one that was actually produced or co-produced by Portnoy?

I know he was the creative consultant for this project and of course plays on it.
I have i think three tribute albums and this one is my favourite of those with Mannerisms the Geoff Mann tribute album my second favourite.
I love the Natural Science cover with Devin Townsend on vocals. Priceless ! We get the CYNIC rhythm section on Red Barchetta which is cool.

[ThomasKDye]

I love the Natural Science cover with Devin Townsend on vocals.

I'll have to take your word for it, because Townsend's vocals annoyed me so much that I avoided all Vai albums with him on it, not to mention his own Biomech or whatever the heck it is albums.

Townsend may be an acquired taste, but I have no interest in acquiring it.

The rest of it's good, though, including the "Analog Kid" cover referenced above.

[bondegezou]

I like it too. The early Magna Carta tributes were often pretty good (see also their Yes and ELP tributes). Didn't Rush kick up a huge stink about this release?

Henry

[Scott Bails]

I think Peart voiced displeasure at the time, but has since realized what a "tribute" album actually is. He was very annoyed at Portnoy, but I believe that they worked things out and now have a pretty good relationship.

Re: Working Man, I bought it immediately when it came out, and like Henry, enjoyed it as much as their Yes and Genesis tributes. But it hasn't left the shelf much in the last few years. Fave tracks definitely include "Analog Kid" and "Mission," but I'm going to have to revisit this one.

[Wisdomview]

I thought it was horrid, but I bought it for the Fates Warning cover of Close To The Heart. I guess tribute albums just aren't my thing. Glad that others enjoy it.

[Gruno]

I received this disc from Mark Slaughter, who is a good friend of mine. He had a track on there. I listened once or twice. Some songs were better than the originals. I'm definitely not a fan of Rush.

Useless post. :)

[ProgScape]

I love the Natural Science cover with Devin Townsend on vocals. Priceless !

It might be my favorite Rush "cover" ever done. Devin just KILLS it.

[The Letter M]

I think Peart voiced displeasure at the time, but has since realized what a "tribute" album actually is. He was very annoyed at Portnoy, but I believe that they worked things out and now have a pretty good relationship.

http://mikeportnoy.com/aboutmike/faq/answers/18.aspx#128

That link, and the 2 questions below it, provide great insight from Mike's end regarding this album and what REALLY happened with Neil Peart!

-Marc.

[mellotron storm]

^ So Neil thought the tribute was done by a bunch of bar bands ? Ouch ! I just read Portnoy's interview with Neil in Rhythm magazine from 2007 which was good. I was surprised to read how influencial Michael Giles was to Peart.

[The Letter M]

^ So Neil thought the tribute was done by a bunch of bar bands ? Ouch ! I just read Portnoy's interview with Neil in Rhythm magazine from 2007 which was good. I was surprised to read how influencial Michael Giles was to Peart.

I think what happened was that Neil confused the "Working Man" tribute with another (maybe it was the Red Star one? I didn't much care for that one anyway), and Mike read it to think Neil meant HIS album, so there were some bad words exchanged in interviews and other such places. Eventually, they worked out their differences after Cygnus the god of Balance came by and sorted things out, and now they're best buds! Mike even got to hang out with Neil on the Time Machine Tour (there's some good pics of this around the net).

-Marc.

[mellotron storm]

Ahh that makes more sense. I don't know anything about the Red Star album but Working Man sure has a lot of talented musicians on it.

[JIF]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEIl2RYwOLM
What does everyone think of this cover? I'm listening to the original version now.

[julioscissors]

Not crazy about the drumming in the "Analog Kid" cover, or the singing in the "Jacob's Ladder" cover. Production is pretty nice, though.

[BravadoNJ]

i think Terry Brown produced this CD, which is why the production was good. most of the covers are true to the originals.

[Phlakaton]

For a band with such a unique sound and especially in the vocal department --- this just sounds awful to me. The vocals ruin it. I just see some rocker metal head wippin' his hair around in circles sneering. I'll pass.

[Wounded Land]

Just finished listening to the "Analog Kid" cover for the first time. I liked the way they personalized it, especially Romeo/Pinnella trading 4s at the end.

I'm not sure if it's something that I'd like to own, but it's interesting for what it is.

[iguana]

just terrible. listened to it once and found it unbearable, a horrid throwback to late80s overplaying, which is something that RUSH never did, despite their unargued virtuosity. pass.

[gearHed289]

I had a cassette of it. Didn't care for it. As stated above, the vocals just weren't working for me. Rush is a hard band to cover. Their stuff is so precisely orchestrated, and the fans are so used to hearing them played a certain way. The only Rush cover I can think of that I've liked was Xanadu by Silver Sun because they COMPLETELY f'd with the arrangement.

[ronmac]

These covers mostly end up just reminding me how fucking great the originals are.

[Rufus]

i thought it was very good ! I actually like some songs better than the originals , probably cos the singers are all better than Geddy !

[mnprogger]

I've always enjoyed it, even though I probably only listen to it once every couple of years now. When it came it though, I was more or less floored by it. Although, I wish Enchant had appeared as they were notably huge fans of Rush and of course on the Magna Carta label at the time. They even opened for Dream Theater at 1 point, and appeared on both the Yes and Genesis tributes on MC.

[JIF]

i think Terry Brown produced this CD, which is why the production was good. most of the covers are true to the originals.No, the CD was produced by Mike Varney and Peter Morticelli. Btw, Jack Russell sounds great on Analog Kid.

[TheLoony]

I had a cassette of it. Didn't care for it. As stated above, the vocals just weren't working for me. Rush is a hard band to cover. Their stuff is so precisely orchestrated, and the fans are so used to hearing them played a certain way. The only Rush cover I can think of that I've liked was Xanadu by Silver Sun because they COMPLETELY f'd with the arrangement.

Never heard of Silver Sun, have no idea what they are all about, but that cover is, um, interesting, to say the least.

This is the only one of the Rush tributes I have. It's ok, I did enjoy the version of YYZ on it, thought that was cool.

[Rufus]

Most of the songs are by a future super group 'The Winery Dogs'.

[JIF]

Most of the songs are by a future super group 'The Winery Dogs'.??????? What are you talking about?

[Plasmatopia]

I have this tribute album and it's mostly pretty well done. I don't think the point was to ape the originals - it was to do something a bit different with them. Which was fun to listen to once or twice.

[3RDegree_Robert]

Always thought Rush was one of the hardest bands to take a song and do something fresh with. They are so unique it's tough to go somewhere with their music.

[UnephenStephen]

Not crazy about the drumming in the "Analog Kid" cover,agree. the double bass drums were overkill in the spots they appeared. Peart's original version was as usual just right.

[Phlakaton]

agree. the double bass drums were overkill in the spots they appeared. Peart's original version was as usual just right.

I suppose that's why I never had a problem with them doing all their material spot on live. The Weapon might be one of the few songs they let loose a bit.

[progholio]

Thoughts on this album? I never bought it.


I found a cheap used copy a looooooooooong time ago, listened to it once, found a couple of interesting moments on it but didn't really care for the metallic sheen that most of the songs had. Overall I found it mostly boring and never understood why anyone would want to listen to this over the real deal. haven't touched it since.
Now if there were a Rush tribute of artist coming from different genres other than prog-metal like Smashing Pumpkins, Dinosaur jr, Flaming Lips or even Brad Paisley (you know, like the Bad Plus killer arrangement of Tom Sawyer) that would be far more interesting imo.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gGR-lbiFQk

[Mr. Grizzly Bear]

This is at least one reason I avoid tribute albums like the plague. Totally pointless, added NOTHING new to the songs, mindless note-for-note sound-for-sound Xerox copies, why bother. WORTHLESS with a capital W.