Charlie Benante, Alex Skolnick, Ra Diaz and Brandon Yeagley have assembled to perform a cover of Rush’s “Subdivisions.” The track recreates much of Rush’s sound, with Diaz on bass, Yeagley on vocals, Benante on drums and Skolnick on guitar.
Benante, Skolnick, Diaz and Yeagley work to honor the sounds of the original, covering “Subdivisions” to near perfection. Their instrumentals feature slightly more edge, however part of that could also come from the fact that it had not been performed and mixed in a studio. Yeagley’s vocals work to match the unique style of Geddy Lee’s, however, he has a slightly rougher sound.
“One year ago I had this idea to make a video in quarantine,” benante said in the YouTube video description. “I was feeling pretty down about the passing of Neil Peart and about the Pandemic…I needed to be creative and play! I contacted Alex and Ra about doing a Rush song and video and they both liked the idea. I felt that they were probably feeling the same way I was, and that this would be a great way of jamming and entertaining while we were stuck home. The response to the initial video was overwhelming! It really made us feel good during a bad time.”
The Rush covers that had been created by Benante, Skolnick, Diaz and Yeagley will be made available as an EP on Record Store Day. Prior to the announcement that they would be releasing a Rush EP, the group announced that they have plans to release a covers album titled Silver Linings. While Silver Linings will host covers of KISS, Iron Maiden, Billie Eilish and more, the band’s covers of Rush were notably absent from the tracklist.
The reveal of an EP exclusively filled with Rush covers now reveals why they had been made absent from Silver Linings. Rush covers that fans can expect to hear on Benant, Skolnick and Diaz’s forthcoming EP will be “Freewill,” “YYZ” and “Subdivisions.”
Photo credit: Marv Watson
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