Customer Reviews

Working Man: Rush Tribute

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

Kudos to Rush for making themselves uncoverable. None of these dudes on the record can pull off any of these songs. The purpose of the record is to sucker-punch any die hard Rush fan into buying it because it's Rush. Here is the test, listen to the sample of Track #6 "Mission - Eric Martin". If you like it, then might as well get it. If you don't, not to worry because it doesn't get any better...

These reviews of tribute CDS really make me laugh !

If you want Rush then go buy Rush you idiots ! I swear all the reviews always have diehard whiney,crybaby fans that just can't handle somebody covering "THEIR" bands tunes..ummm yea get a life and don't bother buying Tributes to that band if it really bugs you out that much !

If Rush covered say Iron Maiden Children of the damned or something else then these people who think that was awesome !

This cd is awesome and I for one love to hear people do tributes !

Sebastian Bach kicks butt on this cd as do all the other artists !

If you like to hear Tributes then don't miss out on this one !

Obviously the musicians playing on this album had nothing better to do than trying to duplicate Rush's songs. This is exactly how a tribute album should not be like, but it's the same problem with nearly any other album of this kind. O.K., the musicians are talented, so why didn't they try to bring some new interpretations? Plus, I have a very own problem with this record:I my opinion Rush were so successful and enjoyable, because they always added great pop melodies to their sound. But this tribute album offers a harder rocking sound, and Rush's fine songs are demoted to dull and cliched heavy rock tunes. This album may be of interest for hardcore Rush fans, for the rest of the world it's not worth a listen.

Having read the previous reviews, I would like to make this review of my own. I think it is well agreed that no attempt to "copy" Rush's tunes can come close to the performance of Rush itself. However, WE MUST REALIZE that this tribute album was made to HONOR Rush and recognize the band's outstanding musical ability! OF COURSE Rush is awesome. That is why tribute albums such as this were created. I do not feel that this album was made to "try to show Rush up" or anything like that. Neil Peart himself produced a tribute album to Buddy Rich. He and the other performers on that album did it because they greatly respected Buddy Rich and his work... NOT because they were trying to "do one better" or something. So the key here is to recognize this album for what it IS- A TRIBUTE to the band Rush. It HONORS them. It doesn't try to compete with them. To those of you who say that it just doesn't compare to the real thing, I think should just remain listening only to the real thing then. In the mean time, myself and other appreciators of this tribute will listen to it and respect it for what it is and does... pays tribute to Rush. I actually smile when I hear any band covering a Rush tune, even if they do a lousy job. To me it simply shows their respect for a great band. Peace.

Well, I must say I am a bit indifferent as to my opinion on this disc... I don't really /dislike/ it, but it's not something that I'd grab right along side of a Rush disk to listen to, either (meaning, this is more for one of those "not quite Rush" moods for me - that is, something that sounds kinda like Rush, but just "isn't" quite that...).

What this disc DID do for me is to point out just how awesome a band Rush really is... I mean, for a tribute album, it's decent; but each and every song seems to take an average of five to six decently talented musicians to even "approximate" the sound of Toronto's own power trio... and I do mean /approximate/ - the tunes just aren't the same and often seem to be "missing just a little something" in them. (However yes, Rush is one of my top five favorite bands in pretty much any given mood)

I think any serious Rush fan would appreciate this disc... but, it's probably not something you're going to want to put in the same league with "your band" (and I'm sure hardcore fans will want it "just because"). But, for those that like Rush and can appreciate their work as something you might play on an afternoon at home for "good music to break the silence," in my estimation you will probably also like this disc.

I am one of those Rush purist guys. That said, this is probably the best a Rush tribute will ever get. Yes, the songs aren't performed quite to the level of the originals, but duplication really wasn't the point of the album (if you want the originals, buy the original albums). To me, the point is obvious: this is a bunch of huge Rush fans who wanted to have a lot of fun playing Rush tunes, and it shows. If anything, Steve Morse's playing on La Villa Strangiato is worth the $15 on its own. Well done all around.

After reading 45 reviews that are all over the place like a schizophrenic in active hallucination, I'll add my .02. I'll preface with...I am not one of the 30-years-and-counting Rush purists (those who can sit for hours and ponder Peart's philosophical lyrics and how well he puts his interpretation of Ayn Rand's Objectivism to kick-butt music). I like them a good bit and am completely on board with the whole "Rush is technically almost perfect and nobody would be able to duplicate them bandwagon". However, I don't see this as the purpose of this recording. A tribute is a tribute, the artists most likely had a blast doing it, and that's how this should be taken. If you expect a track listing of perfectly crafted imitations, you don't need to bother even listening to the sample clips.

Since Jacob's Ladder, Mission and Anthem are the three most discussed in the rest of the reviews, I'll take them on.

Jacob's Ladder...didn't like the vocals at all, so didn't really enjoy the song. Something about overdone breathy intakes in songs makes me jumpy. Bach sounds like he needs the heimlich. Unfortunately, it's one of the longest songs. I'm not a fan of Bach's, so I admit that may have colored my view.

Mission...I wouldn't even compare this to Rush, but would call it a very well done cover by a great vocalist. If Eric Martin had recorded this outside the context of a tribute, his fans most likely would have loved it.

Anthem...I didn't hear the same song as a couple of you. My take is that the vocals blew me away. This song was Getty Lee in his higher-range element. There are a handful of singers on this planet that could have pulled that off and they picked the right one. As with Martin, I think Mark Slaughter's fans would love this.