FEEDBACK

3.5 stars really. Funny how hane not bought Rush albums since Pistures and Exit and in the last three years I have bought the remaster from 76-79 , the triple Different Stages and now this EP . How gleefull hearing my teenhood heroes doing those sixties classics. I wish they had done a few more actually. Very original versions , they are not but the emotion factor is there and this heals the wounds after the horrible Echo and Vapor albums.

The best 27 minute Rush album featuring covers of old songs that is out there.Completely and utterly pointless in my opinion.Why didn't they just give it away as a bonus CD with the next studio album? A chance to make a few bucks off the loyal fans who have supported them for so many years may well be the answer.I want new Rush songs not new versions of old songs by other bands that I barely remember.

Before RUSH released their eponymous debut-LP in '73 they used to play covers from many great rockbands from the late Sixties and early Seventies. As a tribute to these hugh inspiration RUSH decided to release a cover-mini-CD with 8 songs from that era (from The WHO to The YARDBIRDS) entitled "Feedback" (2004). When I first listened to this CD, I got excited about the feeling that RUSH succeeded to blend their typical elements like distorted guitars, distinctive vocals and inventive drumming, with the atmosphere from that era (on their 2004 worldtour this was supported by great 'flower-power' graphics on a big screen). In my opinion "Feedback" is a great effort if you see it as a wonderful musical surprise from RUSH to their super-loyal fans all over the world, nothing less or more. Tip: play it loud and drink it with Moosehead beer, another tasteful product from Canada!

I think this is a funny little EP, not very essential, but not so bad as many seem to claim. After all it's not as expensive as a major release, and I found it interesting to hear some songs which these men were fond of as youngsters. Surely they affected much to the forthcoming career of their band! "Shapes of Things" is a nice highlight from these songs, and the covers are nice in their romantic 60's style!

Far from the term essential, Feedback is nonetheless a candy wrapped in a 10$ bill. Fans who eager to discover new material will find this album more like an appetizer.

So what?!?

Obviously, they pumped up the VU meter...again. Vapor Trails was indeed a very heavy (and loud) album. Same here. Summertime Blues is h.e.a.v.y. Sounds like Led Zeppelin on a good day. Geddy got some of his vintage voice back, Lifeson is giving his Gibsons one hell of a rough time and Peart is although pretty quiet on this EP.

Songs they liked, songs they played in other bands and songs just for the pleasure to bang your head, dreaming you're in a 'Cuda 74 convertible with the 8-track playing loud.

It's a fair price, it's bombastic and it's vintage value is appreciable.

Lookout for Summertime Blues, the Seeker and Seven and Seven is...ROCK ON!!

When I heard that Rush was going back into the studio before their 30th Anniversary Tour, I thought that they were going to crank out another top notch studio effort of original songs. Instead, they decided to take it easy and cover some of their influences. What you get here is essentially a Blues/Hard Rock album that features The Who, Cream, The Yardbirds, and Buffalo Springfield, among others.

Summertime Blues opens with some nice feedback (no pun intended), and quickly becomes a very heavy version of the Blue Cheer cover of Eddie Cochran's original. What's lacking from this version is the extra vocal punch right before the chorus, instead covered up with more thunderous guitar. Heart Full of Soul is a very nice version of the Yardbirds original. Lifeson really sounds like Jeff Beck on this track, and it is executed perfectly. The Seeker is an obscure Who single that was released before shortly after Live at Leeds was released. The version that they play here is very similar to the Who version, it only lacks that Roger Daltrey punch. Geddy performs the bass line perfectly while singing the vocals. For What It's Worth is the seminal Buffalo Springfield track. Again, the musicianship is spot on, but it just doesn't have the same feel as it did all those years ago. The last track worth mentioning is Crossroads, which is one of the most recognized songs in Rock and Roll, covered originally by the Supergroup Cream. The version played here is spot on to the original, and this one feels just like the original, only heavier.

Overall, there are some nice tracks on this album. But personally, I don't feel it is necessary to own this album. It seems as if Rush was trying to make a quick buck before their tour. Still, any fan of Rush probably already owns this. I don't recommend it to anyone who is just getting into Rush, though. Definitely for fans only. 2.5/5.

This might be the only thing that the boys in the band want to comeback to the past. It's not by recalling back their own successful albums but by giving respect to musicians who inspired them in the past when they played the band in the garage, of course before they became successful. The tribute songs represent the rock groups of that era: The Who, Love, Buffalo Springfield, Cream, Blue Cheer, and the Yardbirds. All of them are delivered well by Rush. No major changes from its original arrangement, the songs remain true to their original forms. So for those of you who liked 60s music played exactly the same as it was with newer band called Rush, this CD suits you. But if you think that enjoying from original artist is rewarding and listening to cover version is a waste of time, then don't purchase this CD. For me personally, I was not aware of all songs presented here before I got this Feedback CD so I purchased it from a secondary market. It's good having this CD in a format like LP replica. I really like it. The music? It's fine with me and basically I enjoy Rush music, so I'm fine with this EP.

My appreciation towards this EP grew after I watched the 30 years anniversary concert recorded under R30 DVD set. Keep on proggin' ..!

I think no one would dare suggest that "Feedback" is anything more than a 'divertissement' for Rush, a way to pay homage to those great bands of the late '60s that provided the primary inspiration for the fledgling prog legends. Some fans, however, were almost horrified by their favourite band playing shorter, simpler, less 'progressive' songs than the ones who had made them famous. Anyway, on this EP, released during their massive R30 world tour, Rush display the same energy and enthusiasm that those (like myself) who were so lucky to see them live in 2004 were able to witness on stage.

Without a doubt, the real protagonist of this record is Alex Lifeson with his gutsy, powerful guitar playing - this is guitar-based, classic rock, after all, and what better opportunity for one of rock's most underrated guitarists to show his chops? The songs are all strong and memorable, with the possible exception of Love's muddled, noisy "Seven and Seven Is". Outstanding tracks include Blue Cheer's "Summertime Blues" (originally by Eddie Cochran, but made famous by the seminal American heavy metallers), fellow Canadian Neil Young's "Mr Soul", The Who's "The Seeker" and Robert Johnson's celebrated blues "Crossroads". My personal favourite, however, is the politically-charged "For What It's Worth", with its rousing final chorus and great vocals by the increasingly excellent Geddy Lee.

The colourful, hippie-style cover artwork and the freshness of the band's approach to these classics make this a quite endearing record . It shows quite clearly (in spite of anything the cynics can say) that the band had a lot of fun playing and recording "Feedback". Not essential, perhaps, but very entertaining indeed.

A lot of these tunes were played by these guys before they became RUSH and some were played by RUSH in concerts before Neil joined the band. The enthusiasm is quite evident on this record as they cover some of their favourite songs that they grew up listening to in the sixties. The only song on this album that was a surprise for me was "Seven And Seven Is" by LOVE. I have both "Da Copa" from which this song is from as well as the more popular record of theirs "Forever Changes". If you don't have anything by this band I highly recommend you check them out. RUSH is really faithful to the original songs on this record, I think out of reverence more then anything else. And it's not that the covers that RUSH do here are better then the originals, cause they're not. It's just amazing for me that RUSH finally covered a song for once ! And a whole album's worth had me really excited. It helps I guess that I know all the originals.

"Summertime Blues" was a song that teens loved in the sixties, a great summer song about skipping work for any reason to enjoy the summer. The drums in the intro are classic ! And there is a lot of bass in this powerful and fun song. This song got a lot of play up here when this EP came out. "Heart Full Of Soul" and "Shapes Of Things" are both THE YARDBIRDS songs. And Alex is a huge fan of Jimmy Page who of course along with Jeff Beck played for them. I just read an article that Page and Beck did together for a magazine. And I was surprised to learn they lived up the road from each other when they were young and often played guitar together at each of their parents homes.They both believe that jamming and learning together helped them become better players.They pushed each other. By the way these two songs are my favourite YARDBIRD songs. "The Seeker" is a WHO song that I know the band was influenced by. Geddy dedicated a song in one of their concerts to Mr.Entwhistle when he passed away suddenly while RUSH was on tour. "Crossroads" is probably the best song on the record. I was so impressed by the guitar playing of Alex on this one. An outstanding solo after 2 minutes.This song just rocks ! A CREAM classic.

"For What It's Worth" and "Mr.Soul" are both BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD songs. The connection is of course fellow Canadian Neil Young. I have told people for years that the best musical exports our country has ever produced are Neil Young and RUSH. And I have to tell the story Geddy told about the song a bunch of Canadian musicians did for famine relief back in the eighties for Ethiopia. This was started in the UK by Bob Geldof who got a number of bands together to raise money through a song , and the USA bands did the same , and we followed suit in Canada. David Foster was the producer and Geddy sang a line with much passion. Anyway when Neil Young sang his line Mr.Foster told him he wanted him to do it over. Well Neil said "That's my style man" and got up and left the room. Geddy said he just swelled inside with pride to see Neil do that. He basically in a polite way told this high priced successful producer F#%$k you, take it or leave it. Oh, yes, that's rock and roll folks. Neil's style is to play and record a song once, and that's it, mistakes and all. No wonder he was adopted by the Grunge movement as the "Father" of Grunge, and collaberated with PEARL JAM and is mentioned by many others as a major influence. I actually laughed out loud when I heard Alex's guitar solo on "Mr.Soul" as he copied Neil's unique style so well. Priceless. Alex also gives a nod to THE BYRDS during "Mr.Soul" as he rips into a melody of "Eight Miles High". Nice.

Well I guess it's pretty obvious that I really like this record. 4 stars.

Very fun for those of us who love Rush as the brainy, artistic rockers who have carved out their unique style in a world of made-for-radio lameness, but "Feedback" remains somewhat an oddball in their catalogue.

The quality of recording and playing is actually exceptionally high, and although they're covers, they are done so with a cerain Rush flair which distinguishes them from their originals-- but the song writing and lyrics are very not what we now know as Rush.

For this reason, I give it two starts: it's a blast for dedicated fans (perhaps of the original bands, too) who get to hear their favorite band do something unexpected, but it doesn't contribute much to the group's epic library of excellance.

Songwriting: 3 Instrumental Performances: 3 Lyrics/Vocals: 2 Style/Emotion/Replay: 2

For a covers album, this is quite good. Rush pay homage to their classic rock heroes The Who, Blue Cheer, Cream, The Yardbirds, Buffalo Springfield, and more.

Highlights: "Summertime Blues" captures the acid rock heaviness of Blue Cheer's version of Eddie Cochran oft-covered classic. "The Seeker" is performed quite admirably by Lee, who hits all of Roger's high notes. "For What It's Worth" is also covered nicely. "Heart Full of Soul" finds Alex mimicking Jeff Beck quite well. The last true joy is "Crossroads," the blues standard made famous by Cream.

This isn't an important release, but it's a fun ride for Rush fans.

Grade: C-

I think all of us have some good covers by well-established bands in our collections, or at least have checked some out on YouTube. I actually went through a phase in the mid-eighties of collecting these (mostly as b-sides to vinyl singles). Some favorites over the years have included Johnny Cash covering Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt”; Jason & the Scorchers doing “19th Nervous Breakdown”; the Fugees reverent remake of Roberta Flack’s “Killing me Softly”; Camper van Beethoven redoing the entire Fleetwood Mac album ‘Tusk’; and the screaming unspoken messages wrapped up in Sid Vicious covering Frank Sinatra’s signature song “My Way”.

Sometimes covers are done as jokes. Me First & the Gimme Gimmes nailed a hilarious version of Coven’s “One Tin Soldier”; in fact, they’ve built their career on irreverent covers. Other times I think the artistic challenge is the stimulus, such as when Luther Wright remade Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ or Camper van Beethoven’s take on ‘Tusk’. In some cases a band is simply trying to use something that’s already popular to boost their own careers – UB40 and Chrissie Hynde’s 12” Sonny & Cher single “I Got You Babe” comes to mind. And sometimes you just don’t know what the ‘artist’ was thinking: Celine Dion embarrassing herself with AC/ DC’s “You Shook me all Night Long” is hands-down the all-time worst cover in the history of music.

But Rush have managed to find a new twist for a music concept that by-definition has already been done before. This collection of mostly sixties tunes is one of the things they released to mark thirty years of making music. The other is the R30 live DVD package, which my kids love but for me doesn’t offer much new except the chance to hear what Rush sounds like live after the crowd’s input has been mostly erased.

This collection, as the band points out in the very brief liner notes, represents some of the songs they grew up learning to play in their early years. As young musician wannabe’s they would have memorized every note, tempo change, and nuance, and that kind of familiarity with the material is evident here.

But Peart makes another interesting comment in the liner notes; namely, that the band was actually first exposed to many of these songs being performed as covers themselves. Cream’s version of the Robert Johnson standard “Crossroads” and Blue Cheer’s take on Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” for example are probably the versions most of us know best as well. So in some ways these represent a twice-removed representation of the classics. This also helps explain things like why the overdubbed response vocals are missing from “Summertime Blues” – Cochran had them in the original but Blue Cheer did not. Or why the harmonies of “For What it’s Worth” have been dumbed down from the original Buffalo Springfield cut - pretty much everybody but Buffalo Springfield who’ve done this tune skimp on the backing vocals.

But not too far removed really, since the band is pretty faithful to whatever version of each song they are representing. As a result there is very little innovation or musically progressive expression here, and that is clearly by-design. The band was simply looking for a clever way celebrate a thirty year career by showcasing some of the old music that inspired and got them started. If I were in a similar situation the songs would be a few years newer (early seventies instead of mid-sixties), and probably a little wider variety than just heavy blues and hippy psych.

But that’s okay, this is a fun little disc to play and sing along to. Most music fans will know these tunes and probably even the lyrics. The other tracks besides those already mentioned are the Yardbird’s “Heart Full of Soul” and “Shapes of Things”; Who’s “The Seeker”; Buffalo Springfield’s Neil Young tune “Mr. Soul”; and Love’s “Seven and Seven Is” (which is probably the least well- known of the bunch).

Good musicianship, decent production, fun to sing (or even play) along to. Nothing progressive or even original here, but I can’t imagine that most middle-aged music fans won’t at least enjoy the trip down memory lane. Good enough for three stars.

peace

Quite impotent and uninteresting - they really should have known better.

An album full of hard rock tributes, a nod to their early influences, unfortunately RUSH just aren't the right band to be able to pull something like this off - at least not in this era of their career (that being the commercial era). Geddy's voice just doesn't suit any of the songs, many of the fans of the bands involved would be aghast (my friend described the cover of THE WHO's 'The Seeker' as a butchering). Everything is way too polished and overproduced which is especially damning, these songs are meant to be heard with analog crust.

A very poorly thought out and executed idea, only for hardcore RUSH fans.

This is an EP of covers that Rush put together so that they would have new material to play during their 30th anniversary tour. I absolutely love this EP. These are fun songs to listen to and to hear Rush's interpretation of. Unlike many music fans, I tend to like cover songs and hearing a band apply their style to well-known music. And of course, I am a huge Rush fan, although there are many huge Rush fans who don't like this covers album. These songs are all songs that they used to play when they were playing hole in the wall bars. I like their interpretation of all of the songs on this EP, however, their version of Summertime Blues is especially good. In the parts of the original version where the vocalist would sing in a deep bass voice, Rush inserts drum fills and bass lines instead. On MikeEnRegalia's ratingfreak website, I gave this album a 9.0 rating for being an excellent album, because I really, really enjoy it. However, I will reel in my fanboyism on PA, and rate it accordingly as a 2 star album because it is for collectors/fans only. I think it is an album that all classic rock fans can enjoy, especially those that don't mind cover versions.

Back in time...

Mostly fuel for the fire, the Feedback EP was released mostly as a reason to hit the road on their R30 tour. The EP reflects on a day when the Toronto boys were young and learning their instruments back before they were considered masters. The track listing is interesting, as the boys decided to use the lesser known (these days, anyway) material that they were influenced by. There's no doubt that this EP would have more interest in it if Geddy had decided to put his spin on, say Roundabout, being the admitted YesFan that he is. While Rush fans will definately enjoy this outing, it's not really for the average prog-head.

The performances are good, if short, but Rush never disappoints in musicianship. Standouts include the excellent covers of FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH and SHAPES OF THINGS. No low points here, but no really great prog to speak of either. So in the end this EP gets 2 stars for appealing to only the fans. Anyone looking to get into Rush best no start here, and anyone looking to find classic Rush after 1982 should just rewind to Counterparts or skip on over to Snakes & Arrows.

'Feedback' - Rush (4/10)

This is very much a transitional piece for Rush. Perhaps they were bored, or temporarily lacking creative inspiration, but the release of this album, while it's very listenable and enjoyable, isn't really a release that's going to be appreciated by anyone who isn't already a fan of Rush and their music.

While the choice of songs to cover is very good and representative of their early pre-LP years (when they were playing covers at high schools and in front of friends) it still doesn't compare to actual original Rush material. However, this should certainly appeal to fans of both Rush and the bands they are covering.

'Feedback' is obviously not an inspired effort by any measure, but it shows group of talented, experienced musicians simply enjoying the work they do. It's a nice feeling, but still, a covers album (unless it's fantastic) usually can't get more than two stars from me.

Let these hard-working Canadians have their fun. This is not an EP of new music; rather, it's a chance for the trio to pay tribute to songs that heavily influenced them, mostly popular songs of the 1960s. They've earned it.

"Summertime Blues" A spunky take on a classic Eddie Cochran song, this is a version that's full of energy and full of the Rush sound. Each of the verses ends with a short, funky little solo from the three band members in turn.

"Heart Full of Soul" This version captures the spirit of the original, but kicks things up a notch with a fuller sound.

"For What It's Worth" This Stephen Stills protest song from 1967 is given a surge of power (conviction even), but despite Alex Lifeson's gritty (and hard-panned soloing), Rush allows it to retain its soft texture, which works well against the darker lyrics.

"The Seeker" The band would be remiss without including something from The Who, and they do so in fine style. Geddy Lee's vocals are stupendous.

"Mr. Soul" Lifeson carries a great variety of tones throughout this rendition of one of Neil Young's greatest works. The other members are certainly solid in their respective roles, but this is Lifeson's gig.

"Seven and Seven Is" Whereas Lifeson and Lee stood out on earlier tracks, Neil Peart gets things rocking with rapid snare work. The band does a great job bringing new life to this "proto-punk" song by Arthur Lee.

"Shapes of Things" This classic is given a gritty makeover, and to my ears, this sounds like it came right off Lee's solo album.

"Crossroads" The band leaves the soulful blues of Robert Johnson's original in favor of Cream's grittier and more upbeat version. Lee's bass cuts through for once, even when it's Lifeson's screeching guitar in the fore.

The story behind this release is well known. For their 30th birthday, Rush wanted to record a couple of covers as a tribute to bands that inspired them in their early days.

It was meant as a treat for the fans but looking at the ratings here it isn't much appreciated at all. 2.79 at the moment of typing these words. I'm stunned, really. This album contains some of the best rock tunes of the 60's and Rush's renditions are excellent all the way. So, do I have to conclude that many prog fans aren't into blues and psychedelic rock?

I wouldn't want to go in a debate arguing whether any of these covers is better or worse then the originals. The originals had that unique time-stamp and charm of their time, the days when white boys were doing their psychedelic blues and truly loving it. The circumstances here are entirely different, but I still do hear three white boys loving the blues and paying their respects to it in a most genuine and truthful way.

Nicest surprise of all is that everything sounds so entirely Rush. Without changing the songs or arrangements much, these musicians have such a recognizable and unique way of playing that you can identify them from miles away. Especially Geddy Lee sounds amazing, he's sure very much at easy with this material.

Hard to compare this to any Rush album other then the debut. So I'll go for 3 stars, but I love both of these albums a lot more actually. Too bad they didn't include anything from Zeppelin. Good Times Bad Times would have fitted in just perfectly!

Sure, this is a novelty album. And it's certainly not progressive. But it is fun to listen to.

Before embarking on their thirtieth anniversary tour, Rush went into the recording studio and pumped out this set of songs that inspired them in their early years. So what we have is a disk of eight classic rock tunes, played Rush style. Nothing spectacular, just some well known tracks, played by Rush in a heavy, crunchy style.

None of the tracks are bad. the standouts to me are Summertime Blues, played in a similar arrangement as The Who used on "Live At Leeds", and Mr. Soul, that I think is better than Neil Young's original version.

RUSH took a break from their routine to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their debut album and to commemorate this achievement the band decided to release an EP of nothing but covers of songs that influenced them in their early days. Although I am rarely thrilled by cover albums unless they significantly deviate from the original sound, I have to say that RUSH does a good job in covering these 8 tracks and it actually makes me think of what they would sound like if they were a 60s band. Unfortunately they do these tracks very well and remind us that they still sound good and point to the fact that they have become weak in the songwriting department in recent releases. This is a decent album but not one that I will be revisiting on a regular basis.

An EP recorded and released in 2004 just to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the relase of their first album in 1974, doing covers of songs that they liked and bands that influenced them. It sounds well. They sound like having a lot of fun recording these songs. I was a bit surprised that the band recorded two songs which were originally recorded by BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD ("For What is Worth" and "Mr. Soul") as the musical style of that band ( Folk Rock with some protest songs) I think that it was very far from the musical style that RUSH developed years later. More surprises come with the recording of two songs which were originally recorded by THE YARDBIRDS ("Heart Full of Soul" and "Shapes of Things"), whose style was more Blues and Pop Rock from the sixties oriented than RUSH`s music in later years. The musical styles of the rest of the songs are really more expected to have inlfuenced RUSH as band: two songs originally recorded by THE WHO ("Summertime Blues" and "The Seeker"); one song originally recorded by LOVE ("Seven and Seven Is") and a last one which was originally covered by CREAM ("Crossroads"). All the songs are very well arranged and played, and it is interesting to listen to RUSH playing them in their own style without any Prog Rock arrangements, just having some fun in the recording studio. It was a bit strange that the band did not record any songs from LED ZEPPELIN or BLACK SABBATH, being these two bands very influential in the songs and sound that RUSH recorded in their first album, but maybe they did not record any songs from these two bands to avoid the usual comparisons of their early sound with the sounds of those two very influential bands.

A bit similar to JOHN LENNON (with his "Rock and Roll" album from 1975, which also was recorded like a deal with a person who sued him of alleged plagiarism of one song, but that is another history), PAUL McCARTNEY (with his "Run Devil Run" album from 1999) and other artists who have recorded albums with covers from songs which were previously composed and / or recorded by other artists, this EP from RUSH was done more for fun than for anything else. I don`t have anything against the idea of doing that. So, if someone is in the mood to listen to an album like this, just have fun and enjoy it.

30 years after releasing their first album, instead of releasing an overly expensive box set, Rush releases an inexpensive EP full of covers that were influences on their music that you could almost imagine them singing and playing in their pre album days. Rush doesn't try to make any of these songs progressive and don't try to upstage any of the songs either. But, they are presented quite hard which is what you would expect from Rush. What they ended up with is a nice collection of songs that the band shows their utmost respect for.

I was afraid when I first saw this album and thought surely Rush has not slipped to the same level as other mature bands that can only make it off of covers nowadays. But, thankfully that wasn't the case. Curiosity made me buy this one, but enjoyment of the covers made me keep it around. No there is not anything spectacular here, and that is quite okay because it is enough just to hear their treatment of these classics. The best covers here are "Summertime Blues" which actually gives the song the kick it always asked for, "Mr. Soul" which actually does make an old favorite of mine even better (and the riff is so much better pronounced in their cover), "Seven and Seven is" is so much better modernized in this version and of course "Crossroads" is made into a great Rush song and is probably the closest thing to Rush's debut album than anything they have done since.

Nope, there is no prog rock here. Just great covers of songs that have been given all the respect they deserve. I'm glad this on is only 27 minutes, it is the perfect time for a cover album of this type. No it's not essential, but it is a lot of fun anyway. 3 stars.

Rush's Feedback EP was a little something they put out to celebrate their 30th anniversary. There's not much that's very proggy about it, and that's intentional - they're just doing cover versions of songs which influenced them when they were starting up, and that means bluesy hard rock is more or less the order of the day, with some doses of psychedelia and garage rock on the side.

That said, the Rush of now isn't the Rush who put out their debut album - Neil Peart wasn't in the band at that point, for one thing. For another, Rush on the debut album were largely ripping off Led Zeppelin, whereas they're able to capture the spirit of a wider variety of acts here. They don't try to mess with what works, but they don't try to mimic the originals slavishly - it very much sounds like a well-honed group of musicians doing great covers of fantastic 1960s songs. Don't go in expecting any prog epics and you won't be disappointed; take it on its own terms and it's 27 minutes of pure fun.