Subdivisions: A Tribute to Rush

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 15, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Magna Carta
• ASIN: B0007R8EC2
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,007 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

"Since Zebra is also a 3-piece band, we were always interested in what Rush was doing to add to their music. They used a lot of synths and although they used them differently than we did, I got a lot of good ideas for adding to our sound by watching them perform live.

I think Rush goes down as one of a handful of bands that managed to stay on top throughout their careers. Their music is as fresh and valid today as it was when it first came out."

-Randy Jackson (Zebra)

"Rush is proof that it is possible to be a success in rock by being the most unlikely to succeed. They never had screaming teenage girls as the core of their audience. They never sounded like they were trying to write hits. They never fit in with any other mainstream rock movement. They were average, normal looking guys who managed to find a sound that was different and exciting. They've also lasted longer than most rock bands and managed to maintain a loyal cult-like audience that exists to this day."

-Alex Skolnick (Alex Skolnick Trio, Testament)

Product Description

Pre Mix Editing by Terry Brown Artwork by Hugh Syme

Featuring Performances By: Sebastian Bach (Skid Row); Robert Berry ("3", Ambrosia); Dave Brooks (Slammin' Gladys): Dominic Cifarelli (Pulse Ultra); Jeff Feldman (Pulse Ultra); Stu Hamm (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai): Daniel J. (Solo Artist, Jordan Rudess); Randy Jackson (Zebra); Andreas Kisser (Sepultura); Jani Lane (Warrant); Mike Mangini (Extreme, Steve Vai); Vinnie Moore (Solo Artist, UFO); Alex Skolnick (Solo Artist, Testament, Tran Siberian Orchestra, Attention Deficit); Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan); Kip Winger (Winger)

Tracklist: "Distant Early Warning" - Lead Vocals: Randy Jackson; Guitar Solo: Daniel J. "Lakeside Park" - Lead Vocals: Sebastian Bach; Guitar Solo: Daniel J. "Limelight" - Lead Vocals: Kip Winger; Guitar Solo: Andreas Kisser "Subdivisions" - Lead Vocals: Randy Jackson; Guitar Solo: Dominic Cifarelli; Keys: Jeff Feldman "Different Strings" - Lead Vocals: Robert Berry; Guitar Solo: Robert Berry "Tom Sawyer" - Lead Vocals: Sebastian Bach; Guitar Solo: Dominic Cifarelli; Keys: Jeff Feldman "Bastille Day" - Lead Vocals: Jani Lane; Guitar Solo: Alex Skolnick "A Farewell To Kings" - Lead Vocals: Randy Jackson; Guitar Solo: Andreas Kisser "Spirit Of the Radio" - Lead Vocals: Kip Winger; Guitar Solo: Jeff Stinco "Didacts and Narpets" - Drums: Mike Mangini "2112 Overture/Temples Of Syrinx" - Lead Vocals: Jani Lane; Guitar Solo: Vinnie Moore

Rhythm Guitars Tracks - Vinnie Moore Bass Tracks - Stu Hamm Drum Tracks - Mike Mangini Keyboards - Robert Berry Keyboards - Jeff Feldman Keyboards - Trent Gardner

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good intentions, but...., June 2, 2005

By 

F. Quintanilla (TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Subdivisions: A Tribute to Rush (Audio CD)

I really want to believe that this album was produced with the best of intentions. I truly want to believe that they are (for the most part) all Rush fans who are just trying to show they're appreciation for Rush's music and the influence it had on their own careers as musicians. I really REALLY don't want to believe that this was just a quickly slapped together piece of "tribute bait" to lure in Rush fans.

Here are my main beefs with this album:
- The Mix: Oh, man! I see that Terry Brown did the "pre-mix" of this album (whatever that means). Did he intentionally sabotage the mix of this album just to make his previous work with Rush sound that much better? Seriously...they've got one of my favorite drummers (Mike Mangini) and his drums sound like garbage...often like the mics were set up about 10 feet away from his kit. Also...they had the privilege of having the great Stu Hamm do the bass on the entire album...but the keys and GUITARS are so dominant in the mix that you can barely tell that ANYONE is playing bass. What a waste!!!
- Which guitar solo are you playing?: So, in several songs ("Red Sector A" seems to be the worst), the guitar solo often seems to be meant for some other completely different song. Since the guitars are so high in the mix, it's like you're listening to two completely different songs simultaneously.
- Mandatory keyboards: So, is it Trent Gardner who mandated that there be excessive, unnecessary, out-of-place "keyboard doodles" at the beginning and end of nearly every track on this album? I'm all for changing the song from the original, but throwing in some random bits of keyboard junk here and there just screams "Look at me! Here I am! I can play keyboards!"
- Randy Jackson: Did we really need three tracks with Randy Jackson on vocals? Did we really need even one track with Randy Jackson on vocals?

What I liked about this album:
- "Different Strings": Wow! What an excellent interpretation of this great Rush song. Their interpretation of the chorus is especially good. A couple more tracks like this and this album would be worth buying.
- Kip Winger, Jani Lane, Sebastian Bach: I'm probably going to Heavy Metal hell for saying this, but I thought that Kip Winger, Sebastian Bach, and Jani Lane really did a good job with the vocals. Their meaty, straight ahead delivery was a welcome change from some prog rock singer trying to pull off these songs like he's singing an aria.
- Hugh Syme!!!! Yeah, I'm a big fan of Hugh Syme's artwork. The work he's done for Rush, Megadeth, and Queensryche (to name a few) has been as much a part of the album that it represents as the music. Too bad the music on this album doesn't match the caliber of Hugh's artwork. The work he did here deserves to be on a REAL Rush album.

So, all in all, this is a pretty weak record. More importantly, it was a huge waste of potential, considering the really talented musicians who were involved. Next time (and you know Magna Carta will milk this at least one more time), how about they keep the musicians to four guys: Sebastian Bach, George Lynch, Stu Hamm, and Mike Mangini? If not that, then at least no Trent Gardner, and no Randy Jackson.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Insulting, April 9, 2005

By 

C. Parsons "toolznstrings" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Subdivisions: A Tribute to Rush (Audio CD)

trib·ute
n. A gift, payment, declaration, or other acknowledgment of gratitude, respect, or admiration. I'm sure Rush's response to the "gift" would be "a..gee...thanks guys....you shouldn't have...no, really you shouldn't have!". If the arrangements weren't just so terrible, I would be less critical. A variation on the original arrangement, or even one personalized to reflect the spirit of the "artist" paying tribute would be acceptable, maybe even interesting. Instead, these arrangements a hodgepodge of faithful reproductions (ie. during the vocals) and inappropriate trilling and synth (trust me, they're inserted at every available instance) that completely break the coherentness of the song.

To comment on the artists performances - Jani Lane tore it up on Bastille Day, Stu Hamm (bass) and Mike Magini (drums) stay true to the originals, but are unfortunately smothered by speed guitar (you know, in the spirit of Rush).

As for Magna Carte, they're brilliant. They know that the devout Rush fans will buy anything to do with Rush, even if we only listen to it once, and then bury it with the rest of our collection of failed Rush tributes.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Tribute Album, February 22, 2006

By 

Anthony Lambiase "Tonylamb" (Mansfield Twp, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Subdivisions: A Tribute to Rush (Audio CD)

The musicianship was great and the vocals were good. I am a Rush fan and thought these guys a great job. Some other people said Randy Jackson sounded like a robot on the album, but I though he did a good job (I've been a Zebra fan for years). I like when musicians do a tribute to other bands, they put their own sound into the music and usually the musicians are top notch