Working Man: Rush Tribute

Various Artists - Rock | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 2, 1996)
• Original Release Date: August 6, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Magna Carta
• ASIN: B000003ZBB
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,793 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All-Star Tribute, June 6, 2006

By 

Justin Gaines (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Working Man: Rush Tribute (Audio CD)

I usually skip tribute albums, especially those with an ensemble cast of musicians from various bands. I couldn't resist the Rush tribute album Working Man though. Not only is the caliber of musicians far better than the typical unemployed hair metal guys you'd usually find on a tribute album, they are (for the most part) also some of the best representatives of modern progressive music. With a few exceptions, the artists here pay faithful and very respectful tribute to a band that has so obviously inspired them.

Here's some of the noteworthy talent on Working Man:
1. Working Man: Sebastian Bach (vocals, ex-Skid Row), Jake E. Lee (guitars, ex-Ozzy, Badlands), Mike Portnoy (drums, Dream Theater), and Billy Sheehan (bass, Mr. Big).
2. By-Tor and Snow Dog: James LaBrie (vocals, Dream Theater) backed by Lee, Portnoy, and Sheehan.
3. Analog Kid: Jack Russell (vocals, Great White) Michael Romeo (guitars, Symphony X), Mike Pinella (keyboards, Symphony X), plus Mike Portnoy and Billy Sheehan again.
4. The Trees: Mike Baker (vocals, Shadow Gallery), Gary Wehrkamp (keyboards, Shadow Gallery), Portnoy and Sheehan are on this one as well.
5. La Villa Strangiato: Steve Morse (guitar, Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs), James Murphy (guitar, Testament), plus Portnoy and Sheehan.
6. Mission: Eric Martin (vocals, ex-Mr. Big), Robert Berry (everything else, 3).
7. Anthem: Mark Slaughter (vocals, Slaughter), George Lynch (guitar, ex-Dokken), Deen Castronovo (drums, Journey), plus James Murphy again.
8. Jacob's Ladder: Sebastian Bach, Mike Portnoy, and Billy Sheehan return, this time with John Petrucci (Dream Theater) on guitar.
9. Closer to the Heart: Fates Warning.
10. Natural Science: Devin Townsend (vocals, Strapping Young Lad) plus James Murphy and Deen Castronovo.
11. YYZ: James Murphy and Deen Castronovo again.
12. Red Barchetta: James Labrie, Steve Morse, and James Murphy are joined by Sean Malone (bass, Gordian Knot, ex-Cynic) and Sean Reinert (drums, Gordian Knot, ex-Cynic).
13. Freewill: Everyone else Magna Carta found hanging around the office that day.

The good: Fates Warning's cover of Closer to the Heart really steals the show. Cover albums always work better when the feature actual bands. This track gives you an idea what a "real" Rush tribute should sound like (think Dream Theater, Queensryche, Pain of Salvation, etc). Sebastian Bach and James LaBrie give some solid vocal performances. Surprisingly enough, Great White's Jack Russell outdoes them all with his performance on Analog Kid. The musicianship on this album is another plus, but that was never really in doubt.

The bad: Some of the non-"star" performances fall a bit flat. Natural Science, the Trees, and Freewill are good examples.

The ugly: Mark Slaughter's wailing on Anthem. There's no excuse for this travesty.

Overall, Working Man is a better than average tribute album. Its good points far outweigh the bad, and should appeal to (open-minded) Rush fans as well as anyone currently into progressive rock and metal.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Of course it's not Rush, but it IS good!, October 12, 1999

By 

Bryan S. Baker (Berryville, Arkansas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Working Man: Rush Tribute (Audio CD)

If you want Rush, then buy Rush!!! If you want something different, but that sound good, try this one. I've been a true fan since the first 'album' back in '74 and I love them all! This is a good album! It respects the awsome musical and lyrical talent that is Rush, while making things new and intereting to listen to. This is a "must have" for any true fan. As far as tributes and Rush are concerned, you can NEVER duplicate them!! But you can enjoy groups who try to do the song justice! They do. JUST A NOTE: There is a new "tribute" album out called Red Star. DO NOT buy that trash!!! Listen to the cuts and read the reviews from this website and you'll hear why!! Anyone who doesn't like this 'Working Man' tribute needs to listen to cuts from the 'Red Star' one to hear what a really crappy tribute album sounds like!! THIS ONE, however, is a keeper and worth it to buy! Any true fan will realize, that although it's not Rush, it IS good music!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This masterpiece of many combined talents tops them all., April 8, 2006

By 

Alaskan Ranger (Big Lake, Alaska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Working Man: Rush Tribute (Audio CD)

After reading many of the reviews on this piece of work, I felt I had chime in with my two-cents worth. I am a Rush fan and have been for over 28 years. But in all my years, I have never heard so many so-called fans whine, complain and just simply cry about great music. This is not Kingdom Come trying to sound original while playing Rush, it's a gathering of over 30 musicians from from 3 different decades showing their appreciation to a band that influenced each of them in one way or another. The fact that they stayed away from many of the major hits and chose older or less popular tunes should tell you something. These guys know their music.
Kicking it off with Working Man meshed with By-Tor And The Snow Dog was perfect. The way it was mixed made it almost seem like they are one song instead two. To someone who had never heard either song, it would be one song. Portnoy is masterful on drums as always. The guy is not human. Jake E. Lee, Sheehan and Brendt Allman come together and compliment their styles. With Bach starting out and LaBrie finishing, you would think that it can't get any better. Wrong, it does. The harder sound for Analog Kid surprised me. The original was more mellow and Jack Russell would not have been my first choice here, but he pulled off beautifuly. Symphony X members, Romeo and Pinnella, held their own with the big boys and then some. The duel solos and trade offs added at the end just plain made a good song better. While The Trees, Natural Science, Red Barachetta and Freewill lacked a tiny bit vocally, the music was played with a lot of heart. It was almost like each musician was remembering a past experience that touched their lives and that particular song was playing when it happened. The 6-piece line up for La Villa Strangiato is almost unequaled. Steve Morse on classical guitar shows you the talent that made his band, Kansas, one of the most successful Arena bands back in the 70's. Mission, from Hold Your Fire released in the late 80's, is the latest release on this CD. It was played pretty close to the original with just a slighty harder sound to it, but it was still very well done. Jacob's Ladder has always been one of my favorites played live. Bach hits the notes perfectly and the addition of Matt Guillory's keyboards to Dream Theater's John Petrucci on guitar and the previously mentiond Mike Portnoy with Allman and Sheehan give this song a live sound made in the studio. Closer To The Heart is an emotion filled semi-ballad and Fates Warning, the only complete band on the CD, showed the could give as well as they take by adding a touch of 2112 to the end of their contribution to the project. Anthem is the only song that bothered me. Mark Slaughter has always sounded like his pants were to tight and George Lynch is one of the best guitarists there is and has some of the fastest fingers in the rock community. But for some reason, it just didn't sound quite up to par. The relentless whammy bar and mini solos that are heard in all but 30 seconds of the song had me slighty disappointed. Stu Hamm and James Murphy did very well with Deen Castronovo providing the drums here. Some might have predicted that Deen was getting in over his head, but he stuck to his guns and kept the beat. He even added a little to it which probably helped him get the honor of backing Ozzy on Ozzmosis. And finally, Murphy, Castronovo and Hamm are joined by Guillory on keyboards for a their version of YYZ. The song itself is tricky to play if you don't pay attention during the switch back from up-tempo guitar/bass riffs into the slower, heavy keyboard break which builds right back up into the 3-piece jam session that the song started off with. YYZ is not among my favorite Rush top ten, but it is one of the most enjoyable pieces to just grab whatever instrument you play have at it.
By far, this is the best tribute project I have heard to date. I don't expect any group of musicians to come close for a long time. Not even if they were hand picked by the members of Rush themselves. It will take a gathering of musical immortals to top this. If you like well played music, whether your a Rush fan or not, this is "THE" must-have CD for your collection. If your a Rush extremist, like a few of the delberts that wrote reviews, that feels any Rush cover tune played is heresy or sacrilege, CHILL OUT AND GET A LIFE!!! No matter how perfect something may sound, there will always be someone who will come along, add his twist to it and make the song sound better. It's called progress. Where do you think the term "Progessive Rock" came from.