Tribute albums are often quite dicey creatures. It’s often very
\ndifficult to recapture the magic of an original song when it’s
\nbeing done years after the fact by an entirely different
\nartist.<\/p>\n
One of a series of tribute albums from progressive rock label
\nMagna Carta,
\nWorking Man<\/i> turns the spotlight on Canadian band Rush and
\ngives them the Friar’s Club-roast treatment.And, like many tribute
\nalbums, the end product has some great moments, but is occasionally
\nspotty.<\/p>\n
The lineup of performers reads like a variable who’s who of
\nrock: Jack Russell (Great White), Mark Slaughter (Slaughter),
\nSebastian Bach (Skid Row), Devin Townsend (Steve Vai), James LaBrie
\n(Dream Theater) – and that’s just in the vocalist department.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, it sounds like certain musicians are trying much too
\nhard. There’s no denying that Billy Sheehan is an incredible
\nbassist, but let’s be honest, Geddy Lee isn’t that flashy – no, let
\nme change that, Geddy Lee doesn’t need to show off on the bass
\nguitar. (On the other hand, I would have liked to have heard Stu
\nHamm stay a little more true to the short bass solos on “YYZ”.)
\nSlaughter does his best imitation of Lee’s vocals on “Anthem,” but
\nsince I wasn’t crazy about the balls-in-a-vise delivery of the
\noriginal version in 1974, I can’t say I like Slaughter’s
\nrendidion.<\/p>\n
Two performances on
\nWorking Man<\/i> stand out. Fates Warning, a band I always
\nthought was a hardcore metal band, puts in an absolutely brilliant
\nrendition of “Closer To The Heart,” a song which almost perfectly
\nmirrors the original version on
\nA Farewell To Kings<\/i>. And Townsend’s take on “Natural
\nScience” captures the true spirit of a tribute album perfornance:
\nstay close to the original while injecting your own style into it.
\nUnbelievable!<\/p>\n
Of course, I guess we should include the version of “La Villa
\nStrangiato,” complete with jaw-dropping guitar work from Steve
\nMorse, in the above list, as well as the cover of “YYZ” featuring
\nHamm and Testament guitarist James Murphy.<\/p>\n
Other selections are puzzling in their selection. The only song
\nI don’t recognize, “Analog Kid,” is given a decent rendition with
\nRussell’s vocals and Sheehan’s bass. Likewise, I don’t know why
\n“Mission” (off of
\nHold Your Fire<\/i>) was selected for this project, though Eric
\nMartin (of Mr. Big) does a decent job with the vocals. And as much
\nas I have always said that the obscure selections are good for
\ntribute albums, well – I’m sorry, I’ve always hated “By-Tor And The
\nSnow Dog” (off of
\nCaress Of Steel<\/i>), even though Jake E. Lee (Badlands, Ozzy
\nOsbourne) does a great job on guitar, as does Mike Portnoy (Dream
\nTheater) on the skins.<\/p>\n
\nWorking Man<\/i> accomplishes its basic task: to pay homage to
\nthe original music and musicians with modern covers of their songs.
\nBut for the long-time Rush fan like myself, listening to this disc
\nat first is a serious shock, and is not a pleasant one. Had I not
\ngiven this disc another shake, I would have ripped it completely to
\nshreds. But on subsequent listens, the great performances quickly
\nreared their heads, and I saw much more light at the end of the
\ntunnel.<\/p>\n
Still,
\nWorking Man<\/i> is not a disc I’d recommend for someone looking
\nto discover Rush. Instead, first explore their vast catalog, then
\npick this disc up. If you’re a diehard progressive rock or Rush
\nfan, or you just want to hear how some of your favorite artists
\nattacked these songs, then pick this one up by all means.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5827],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-38993","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-various-artists","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38993"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}