Like all touring musicians, Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick and and Suicidal Tendencies bassist Roberto “Ra” Diaz are currently sidelined from the road —but that doesn’t mean they’re not making music. To the contrary, the hard-hitting trio recently collaborated on a joint cover of Rush‘s classic “YYZ,” with each of them recording their part separately at their own home. An instrumental piece, “YYZ” originally appeared on the Canadian prog-rock pioneers’ 1981 album, Moving Pictures, and one was a staple of the band’s live shows. The title is a reference to the IATA airport identification code of Toronto Pearson International Airport, near Rush’s hometown of Toronto, which is broadcasted by the airport’s VHF omnidirectional range system in Morse code. The song’s introduction repeats “Y-Y-Z” in Morse in different arrangements.
“Here is our version of the @Rush classic #YYZ,” Benante commented in the description to the video, which he shared via his YouTube channel “@rush inspired all 3 of us to be better musicians. #alexlifeson #geddylee and the great #neilpeart not only played amazing, they also wrote some of the best songs. We are honored to play a little #YYZ for you. Hope this magic music makes your morning/afternoon Alex Skolnick and Ra Diaz are so Amazing – I [love] RUSH.” Watch below.
Suicidal Tendencies dropped their last LP, Still Cyco Punk After All These Years — their 13th studio album overall — back in 2018, which also saw the release of an EP, Get Your Fight On! For their part, Testament just released a new full-length, Titans of Creation, via Nuclear Blast. As for Benante’s band, “Big 4” thrash OGs Anthrax have been hard at work on the follow-up to 2016’s For All Kings.
