Tributes To Rush
"All the Greats" by Jeff Berlin from Pump It!, 1986
"I had a visit from Jeff Berlin, who's a friend, on the tour and I had the opportunity to watch him goofing around backstage with a bass, and was just amazed at his knowledge of bass chords. That's something I had never really exploited in my playing, so he inspired me to play around more with it. He probably doesn't know it, and would be embarrassed to hear it. I ended up using bass chords on 'Force Ten' and 'Turn The Page'. Not so much in the sense of strumming them as using my thumb more, almost like a fingerpicking style of playing, which is something that I'm still working on. Just plucking with my thumb and going back and forth between the thumb and the first two fingers and pulling. Almost like a snapping technique. It's opened up a bit more range for me. There's more melodic possibilities and rhythmic possibilities too, which is an important role for the bass player. If you can establish not only a melody but a rhythmic feel, that's an extra tool." - Geddy Lee, Bass Player, Nov/Dec 1988
"Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" by Metallica from Master of Puppets, 1986
"Longe Demais Das Capitais" (Too Far From the Capitals) (live) by Brazilian band Engenheiros do Hawaii on Alívio Imediato, 1989
"John The Fisherman" (live with "YYZ" intro) by Primus on Suck On This, November 1989, and They Can't All Be Zingers: Best of Primus, October 17, 2006
"Holier Than Thou" by Metallic from Metallica (aka "the Black Album"), August 26, 1991
"Grade 9" by the Barenaked Ladies on Gordon, July 28, 1992
Known to be Rush fans, "BNL" has been known to perform Rush covers live, and during their 2001 tour, drummer Tyler Stewart used a caricature of Rush's Star Man on his bass drum. See also Snacktime.
"Phantom Limb" by Christian Metal band Tourniquet on Intense Live Series Vol. 2, 1993
"Bois Don't Cry" by Brazil's Mamonas Assassinas on their eponymous debut album, Summer 1995
"Golfshirt" by Nerf Herder from Nerf Herder, November 26, 1996
"Stereo" by lo-fi indie group Pavement on Brighten The Corners, February 11, 1997, and Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement, March 9, 2010
"Petty Staycheck" by hardcore band Six & Violence on The 3-Way-Dance, 1998
"As for the Rush 'Working Man' intro, we are always jamming on bits of Rush, Black Sabbath, Hendrix, Zeppelin, or whatever, and that was always such a heavy riff, and really the lyrics are similar in scope to Petty Staycheck, so it just fit. Some people might think that doing a song that old might not be cool, but some of that stuff, particularly Rush, is so freakin' timeless, I don't care about any rules of hardcore or whatever-this is the stuff we grew up on. I guarantee you that right now some band of 18 year olds is jamming to Sabbath in a rehearsal room, I mean that shit can't be topped! They sure as fuck won't be jamming on Korn riffs 25 years from now!" - Six & Violence vocalist Kurt Stenzel
"The Dance Of Eternity" by Dream Theater on Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory , October 26, 1999
"Irk The Purists" by Half Man Half Biscuit on Trouble Over Bridgwater, May 23, 2000
"TruthOla" by Steve Morse on Major Impacts, July 1, 2000
"...this tune actually is the influence of both Beck and Eric Johnson mixed together. However, the intro has a definite Alex Lifeson approach, with the suspended chord arpeggiated and the ninth added. I got to hear Alex play in concert for a number of weeks when my group opened for Rush, and I always liked his tasteful chord voicings. After I heard Alex and Rik Emmett, I thought there must be something special in the Canadian water." - Major Impacts linernotes.
"Wishlist" (live) by Pearl Jam on Live in Toronto, recorded October 5, 2000
"I went to that show cause I hadn't seen Matt [Cameron] since we finished [My Favorite Headache], and I met some of those guys when we were in Seattle doing the record, so it was nice. I'd never seen Pearl Jam live, they're a terrific band live...so they wanted to embarrass me anyway they could, so they did that. I don't know how many people picked up on it, certainly there was a cross-section of people that definitely picked up on it, so there was a definite buzz in the room at the time." - Geddy Lee, WMMR Interview, December 18, 2000
"High School" by Nerf Herder from My E.P., July 3, 2001
"Look What Happened" by Less Than Jake on Borders & Boundaries, October 24, 2000, rerecorded for Anthem, May 3, 2003
"Pool Party" by the humorous-ska band Aquabats on Myths, Legends, And Other Amazing Adventures, Volume 2, November 28, 2000
"Kiss Of Death" by bluegrass band Split Lip Rayfield on Never Make It Home, February 20, 2001
"Lagoona Strangiato" by Norwegian progressive rock band Waste Lagoon on Shadow Chaser, 2001
"Our tribute to our favourite band 'Rush' that probably have influenced us the most over the years." - Waste Lagoon
"Starfleet Patrol" by Sean Edward Ghannam on Fusia, 2001
"Prison Song" by metal band System of a Down on Toxicity, September 4, 2001
"Serenity" by Godsmack on Faceless, April 8, 2003, and Good Times, Bad Times: 10 Years of Godsmack, December 4, 2007
"The song ['Serenity'] was inspired by a book I read by Neil Peart, Ghost Rider: Travels On The Healing Road, and it's about the tragedies he went through. The poor guy lost his wife and kid within a 10-month period, his dog died, and then his best friend went to prison for dealing weed when he was supposed to go out with him and ride his motorcycle to just clear his head and help comfort him. He had been through so much, he just got on his motorcycle, and within 14 months drove 55,000 miles — from Canada to Alaska, to America, to Belize, Mexico, back to Canada — and basically journaled out this thing about how he tried to heal himself and not put a noose around his neck. It's just an amazing book, and he meaning I got out of it was so inspirational, because I'm thinking, 'God, if a guy can get through that kind of @#%$, why should I @#%$ about anything?' That's pretty heavy duty. So I got this beautiful song, and the cool part to the story is, I got to meet Neil Peart and hand him this song and ask him to play drums on it. Though he had to decline because they were touring and stuff, he wrote me back a letter and signed my book, wished me the best of luck, and kind of gave me his approval on the song, because I was really nervous about it. For one, he's one of my drum heroes, and for two, I didn't want him to feel like I was prying into his life on such a sensitive subject." Godsmack vocalist Sully Erna, Metal Edge, March 2003
"2113" by emo-progressive band Coheed and Cambria, hidden track on In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, October 7, 2003
"Batalla De Los Tambores" by Godsmack on Changes, September 14, 2004
"Me You And Geddy Lee" by comedian Canadian Studmuffin on Orgy, October 26, 2004
"DoubleLight (for Neil Peart)" by DoubleLight on Assembly of the Wondrous Head, 2004
"Hurry Up" by Paul Gilbert on Get Out Of My Yard, July 17, 2006
Gilbert was the guitarist for the band Mr. Big, who opened for Rush on the Presto tour; he was known for playing his guitar with a power drill. Gilbert also collaborated with Mike Portnoy and others for Cygnus And The Sea Monsters - One Night In Chicago.
"The Problem of Pain: Part 1" by progressive metal band Torman Maxt, 2007
"From the first time I heard Rush 2112 as a freshman in high school, I had always wanted to write a concept album. The problem was that I just never felt like I had a good story to tell. Finally in 1997, the idea of using the book of Job from the Old Testament came to mind as a story that has a great spiritual message, but also a message that every one can relate to, no matter what their personal religious proclivities are. Everyone has had pain and suffering, and at times felt like they didn't do anything to deserve it. The book The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis is where I got the album title. While it is not specifically about the book of Job, deals with the problem of evil and human suffering, and how as a Christian intellectual, he can see the pain and suffering in this world and reconcile that with a loving God." - Torman Maxt
"Trial Of Tears" (live) by Dream Theater on Chaos In Motion, September 30, 2008
"Here Come The Geese" on Snacktime, May 6, 2008
Known to be Rush fans, "BNL" has been known to perform Rush covers live, and during their 2001 tour, drummer Tyler Stewart used a caricature of Rush's Star Man on his bass drum. See also Gordon.
"Shreveport" by alternative country band the Gourds on Haymaker!, January 6, 2009
"A Nightmare To Remember" by Dream Theater on Black Clouds & Silver Linings, June 23, 2009
"'The Count Of Tuscany' indicates a big-time Rush influence. They have always had the ability to write majestic-sounding music, very royal and uplifting." - John Petrucci, Guitar World, October 2009
"In The Mall" by Weezer on Raditude, November 3, 2009
"Time Flies On" by rock duo Glider on Open Skies, January 19, 2010
"Werewolf, Baby!" by Rob Zombie on Hellbilly Deluxe 2, February 2, 2010
"Rock & Roll Nigga" by rapper Tech N9ne, an exclusive digital bonus track on the Best Buy edition of All 6's And 7's, June 7, 2011