Feedback News Archive

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"Anthem/Atlantic recording group Rush has unveiled details of their upcoming new collection, dubbed Feedback. This unique set sees the renowned trio – Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart – celebrating the band's 30th anniversary by performing cover versions of eight rock classics from the Sixties. Feedback is slated to arrive in stores on June 29... Feedback marks the first time that Rush has recorded songs by other artists and writers. Included are such groundbreaking staples as Buffalo Springfield's 'For What It's Worth' and 'Mr. Soul,' the Yardbirds' 'Heart Full of Soul' and 'Shapes of Things,' and the Who's 'The Seeker.' Feedback also features versions of two songs which defined the heavy rock power trio tradition that gave birth to Rush – Cream's explosive take on Robert Johnson's 'Crossroads' and Blue Cheer's still-extreme rendition of Eddie Cochran's 'Summertime Blues.'..." - Rush.com Press Release, May 14, 2004

In Their Own Words

"I think about covers from time to time, it would be fun. Of course, I would always choose a Who song if I was going to do that type of thing. That might be a fun thing for Rush down the road, to interpret somebody else's music." - Geddy Lee, Jam! Showbiz chat, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2000

"This is the first time we have gone out [on tour] when we didn't have a project that we felt passionately about. We've been very successful not trading on that cliche where you're depending on your past. After I thought about it a while, I decided it's quite an accomplishment to stay productive for 30 years as a rock band, and having this cover project made it OK. It gave us something to occupy ourselves creatively and helped justify it to me....We had no plans to do an album of any kind at first, then somebody approached us about doing the tour. A friend planted the idea: Wouldn't it be fun to play a few songs that we liked when we first were learning our instruments and release an EP." - Geddy Lee, The Charlotte Observer, May 28, 2004

"We always talked about throwing a cover or two into the encore just for fun. When we put this 30th anniversary tour together, we realized that we didn't have enough time to do a proper studio album. A friend of mine suggested, 'Well, maybe you guys should dip into your past. Play some songs you used to play when you were in your formative years. Just record them quickly for fun, not overthink it, and just put out a little EP to celebrate where you were as opposed to where you are.' We thought it might be a way to juice us before the tour, so that's what we did. We tried not to get too trendy with it and really go back and play songs that we really did play in early versions of our band. We recorded about eight of them and did them live off the floor in a very short period of time for us — three weeks. It was really a lot of fun." - Geddy Lee, The Columbus Dispatch, June 2, 2004

"'Geddy, Alex, and I were channeling back to 1966 and 1967, when we were thirteen- and fourteen-year-old beginners,' writes Peart in the liner notes to Feedback. 'We thought it would be a fitting symbol to commemorate our thirty years together if wereturned to our roots and paid tribute to those we had learned from and were inspired by. We thought we might record some of the songs we used to listen to, the ones we painstakingly learned the chords, notes, and drum parts for, and even played in our earliest bands'." - Rush.com Press Release, May 14, 2004

"We called the project Feedback because when Geddy and Alex were working on demos, they decided to have feedback and backwards guitar on every song." - Neil Peart, LiveDaily - July 30, 2004

"There was talk of doing a tribute record in our honor, and we really weren't that keen on the idea. We thought that it made more sense to do a tribute to some of the bands and music that we grew up with as 12-, 13-year-old kids learning to play guitar. And that ended up being just so much fun. We just had such a ball doing that." - Kansas City Star, June 11, 2004

"We talked about maybe doing a couple cover songs making them available on our website but once we got into it, we fell in love with the idea. We were having so much fun that we expanded it to 8 songs and if we'd had the time, we could easily have done 12 or 13 songs and made a full album." - Alex Lifeson, Epiphone.com, July 29, 2004

"We wanted to do something we could price specially and make it more like a gift, like a birthday present in a way, rather than do one of these big expensive box sets that becomes an onerous thing on our fans. We wanted to do something that was fresh and fun, and that wouldn't be a big stretch for someone to check out." - Geddy Lee, Las Vegas Sun, July 16, 2004

"Unlike the exacting conditions under which Rush usually records, Lifeson says Feedback was a more relaxed affair, with the trio playing together in a studio decked out with lava lamps, candles and carpets." - Cleveland.com, June 4, 2004

"We were working in new territory because of the time constraints. It was almost completely recorded live, although we did go back and add a guitar solo or vocal overdub here and there...After this tour we'll be starting work on the next Rush album. Recording Feedback was incredibly refreshing. We'll probably use some of the techniques we learned when working on our next album." - Geddy Lee, The Arizona Republic, Jul. 10, 2004

"Lifeson says, the band 'Rushified' the enduring tunes, giving them their own edge. 'We didn't want to copy them as they were,' he says. 'We didn't see the point. We changed some of the songs around, gave them different character'." - STLToday.com, June 9, 2004

"I guess our criteria was to pick songs that we played at one time and the ones that really moved us. Like 'For What It's Worth,' by the Buffalo Springfield, for example, is probably my all-time favorite song. And 'Heart Full of Soul', you know, I don't know how many people recognize that song. That's a great arrangement we did of that. I know that's Geddy's favorite song. 'Summertime Blues' is pretty straightforward. It's kind of a cross between Blue Cheer and The Who. It's got that real great summery feel about it, and it's that youthful abandon. We have our style, and if we can put a little bit of that in some of these great songs from that era, you know we're not afraid of anything." - Kansas City Star, June 11, 2004

"(The Yardbirds') Heart Full of Soul, I think, is one of the best things we've ever recorded. Makes me wonder if we should have stopped recording." - Geddy Lee, The Columbus Dispatch, June 2, 2004

"The criteria was that it had to be something that we could call our own, but at the same time we wanted to pay homage to the people we liked without wrecking the song. That was the No. 1 rule: we couldn't wreck the song....We wanted to do a Jimi Hendrix song, because he was so influential. But you can't touch Jimi, man. He's untouchable. We put together a rough version of 'Manic Depression', which is just an awesome song. But you put my voice on that, and it just sounds all wrong. You put this skinny little white guy from Canada on there, and it's just not the same vibe." - Geddy Lee, Rocky Mountain News, June 28, 2004

"Not Fade Away" was the first song we recorded - I forgot about that one. That was back in 1973, the first time we went into the studio. We should have recorded that one (for the new EP), too...The only way to convincingly record someone else's music is to make it your own in some way. Sometimes you're more successful than others...You're imposing your own style of playing on anybody's material. We tried a few Led Zeppelin songs and Hendrix songs, but those groups' personalities are so indelibly etched in the songs, it just doesn't work for somebody else (to attempt them)." - Geddy Lee, The Charlotte Observer, May 28, 2004

"We sort of toyed with the idea of including a Beatles song, or two Beatles songs - maybe 'I Feel Fine' or 'Day Tripper'. We sort of jam out on that a little bit...There was some stuff that seemed sacred, that didn't seem right, and ('Manic Depression') was one for sure - it's such a personal song for Hendrix. And instrumentally, it sounded fine, but with Geddy's voice, it sounded too alien and weird...going through this stuff for Feedback, I realized how much of me is Jeff Beck and especially Pete Townshend. When I list the people who inspired me as a kid, I usually say Eric Clapton and especially Jimmy Page. But really, I think Townsend's probably one of the biggest influences I ever had - really taught me something about chords and how to create a big guitar sound without turning it up really loud." - Alex Lifeson Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 16, 2004

"Our vision was 1966, when we were teenagers. We just decided to pick songs from our youth that we liked and make a tribute album to the people we grew up on. For instance, we did 'Summertime Blues' and kind of combined the arrangements of Blue Cheer and The Who, and did Buffalo Springfield's 'For What It's Worth,' and this other obscure '60s band called Love, a song called 'Seven and Seven Is.' All of us loved being freed from the material--in other words, not being responsible to think it up. And we did it our own way, of course, but we paid a little due respect to the times. We called the project 'Feedback' because when Geddy and Alex were working on demos, they decided to have feedback and backwards guitar on every song." - Neil Peart, liveDaily, July 30, 2004

"...there are Zeppelin songs that we wanted to do, but we felt that you just can't touch Zepellin, in some ways. Same with Yes. There are more old Yardbirds songs that we could've done, I suppose. And the Who songs go on forever—just the greatest songs ever. We toyed with the idea of doing 'I Can See For Miles.' We toyed with the idea of doing (Zep's) 'Good Times, Bad Times.'" - Geddy Lee, Fender.com - Dec. 20, 2005

"The ultimate test was going into the studio three or four weeks ago to record ["Feedback"], which is kind of a tribute album to our youth. We recorded songs by The Who, The Yardbirds, Buffalo Springfield, Cream, and that sort of thing, to put out as an anniversary celebration of our own. I used the new drums [the DW R30 tourkit] and the new [Paragon] cymbals and just couldn't believe how well they worked in the studio. Both [drum tech] Lorne [Wheaton] and I were so pleased. I got to do things like play the downbeat on the bell of a ride cymbal, stuff that I'd never do. I'm able to pull out more uses of the tools, I guess is one way to put it. I was able to find new ways to use the cymbals because of their potential, and noticing right away the character of the crash cymbals as a punctuation mark; this suddenly had a whole new presence to it." - Neil Peart, "After Class With The Professor", DrumMagazine.com, July 17, 2004

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