Rush legend Alex Lifeson has teamed up with Tom Morello and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett for a new collaborative track, which is set to appear on an album currently being assembled by the Rage Against the Machine guitarist.
Speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock, Lifeson said: “I think this is a project that he’s working on with a bunch of different musicians. I don’t really know what the future holds for it, but I really loved doing it.”
According to UCR, Morello sent over different riffs as a starting point during a virtual guitar summit, giving both Lifeson and Hammett plenty of creative freedom for their additions.
Lifeson revealed: “[Morello] said, ‘Put whatever you want on it – the more the merrier.’ He was going to give it to Kirk Hammett and Kirk was going to do the same thing.
“Being the contrarian, I did all of [these other styles], not just heavy rock. We were all talking to each other while we were doing it, and we just had such a riot. I sent my stuff in and it went to Kirk then, and he sent his stuff in.”
The record will likely be the latest in Morello's collaborative solo efforts, the most recent of which was 2020's Comandante EP, which featured a guitar duel with Slash.
Lifeson also has a new record in the works. Earlier this week, the Rush guitarist revealed he has paired up with former Coney Hatch bass guitarist Andy Curran and aims to have the 10-track outing released by “late summer, early fall” this year. This will also mark Lifeson’s first full-length musical effort since Rush announced their retirement in 2018.
“Andy approached me about four years ago, shortly after the last Rush tour, about adding some guitar on some of the things he was doing,” Lifeson revealed to Sweetwater. “I did that. A few months later, he sent another one and did that.
“Then we started getting more serious, and then we found a great singer, Maiah Wynne. So, we’ve basically done an album’s worth of material that we hope to release sometime soon. I’m really excited about that.”
“I stand directly in front of a giant Marshall stack and play so loud. You let it get a little out of control… That’s how we get it super-big and gnarly”: Meet mercury, the wall-of-sound indie-rockers teetering on the edge of chaos
“I really don't want to do this this way, but I pretty much have no choice now”: The jury's out on new Pantera material, but Dimebag Darrell-channeling shredder Kayla Kent is making the next-best thing – all she needs is a singer
