After 30 years, even an above-average band is typically clinging
\nto the shreds of past glory, playing smaller and smaller venues and
\nreleasing yet another “Best Of” album. Even the iconic legends like
\nthe Stones and the Who, still touring to large crowds, are mainly
\nrehashing their past ad-nauseum, launching yet another “farewell
\ntour” and releasing an overpriced (and uninspired) box set.<\/p>\n
For their 30th anniversary, Rush (Geddy Lee – bass & vocals,
\nAlex Lifeson – guitars, Neil Peart – drums) dug deeply back to
\ntheir roots and recorded an EP of covers of the songs they loved
\nand played in their formative years. The result is a loving homage
\nto the songs and artists that inspired one of the most consistently
\nsuccessful acts in music history.
\nFeedback<\/i> is refreshing blast of classic rock that never
\nfalls into nostalgia. Some of these songs are rarely if ever played
\ntoday — their appearance here is likely the only play they’ll get
\nin our era, and they are very welcome here. The more familiar songs
\nare reworked with Rush’s consummate skill, given a slick polish and
\nthe unique Rush signature without ever sacrificing the spirit of
\nthe originals. Their meticulous studio work is legendary, and you
\ncan always count on superb production and sound.
\nFeedback<\/i> is no exception.<\/p>\n
“Summertime Blues” opens the disc, and is essentially a cover of
\na cover (Blues Cheer’s heavy metal remake of the Eddie Cochran
\nrockabilly classic) with a slight nod to The Who’s version. Rush
\nplays this one close to the belt, staying pretty close to the Blue
\nCheer arrangement right down to the instrumental responses to the
\nverses. Next up is the first of two Yardbirds covers, a mellowed
\ndown but powerful version of “Heart Full Of Soul.” Lee’s vocal
\nlacks the lonesome growl of Keith Relf’s original, but still, it’s
\na great rendition of this classic. The other Yardbirds track
\n“Shapes Of Things” packs more punch with a lean, stripped-down
\nsound, eschewing the echo-chamber sound of the original, so it
\ntruly sounds like I imagine it must have back then, three guys
\nwailing away in a garage.<\/p>\n
They dip into the fertile pool of California folk-rock with two
\ntracks from Buffalo Springfield. Stephen Stills’ haunting “For What
\nIt’s Worth” seems to pop up in every movie ever made about the
\nhippie generation, but it sounds great coming from these guys, even
\nif it’s basically a note-for-note rendition. The other Buffalo
\nSpringfield track, the Neil Young-penned “Mr. Soul,” is my favorite
\ntrack on the album. Young’s stoner stream-of-consciousness could be
\na soundtrack of the era Lee, Lifeson and Peart are celebrating.
\nLifeson’s guitar work is an impeccable homage to Young, and he even
\nmanages to give a tip of the hat to the “other” So.Cal folk-rock
\ngiants, throwing in a riff from The Byrds’ “Eight Miles High.”<\/p>\n
A faithful rendition of The Who’s “The Seeker” is another
\nstandout track, as is their revved up version of “Seven And Seven
\nIs” by the sadly overlooked L.A. band Love. My guess is most of
\nRush’s fans, and few people under the age of 50, have even heard
\nthis song, or know of the band that wrote it. Hopefully its
\ninclusion will inspire a few people to check out the legacy of this
\noutstanding band. Closing out the disc, the boys pay reverential
\nrespect to Cream’s version of “Crossroads” — dishing out three and
\na half minutes of breakneck virtuoso jamming by three of music’s
\nfinest players.<\/p>\n
Rush fans and classic rock fans alike will find something to
\nenjoy in this sonic tour of one of rock’s most fertile time
\nperiods. My only beef was that, at around 30 minutes,
\nFeedback<\/i> is too damn short.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":27081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5697],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-38413","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-rush","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38413","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\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38413"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38413"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}