Barnes & Noble
Even the godfathers of prog cut their teeth on heads-down, no-nonsense rock 'n' roll, as they remind us on this eight-song EP, which is something of an homage to their days as a snotty teen garage band. Feedback is entirely given over to covers of songs that date back to the late '60s -- not coincidentally a period that saw the flowering of the power trio and the birth of Rush. The group attack many of the songs with a surprising fervor and an even more surprising lack of finesse -- an approach that works wonders on "Summertime Blues," which borrows more from Blue Cheer's version than any other reading of the oft-covered tune, and a faithful, flailing rendition of Love's "Seven and Seven Is." While Rush aren't particularly known for their succinctness, Feedback is chockablock with songs that fly by in a blur, as Alex Lifeson doles out the beer-fueled raga explorations of "Heart Full of Soul" with punchy glee while Geddy Lee abandons his usual high register for an angst-laden croon. The fondness that imbues their takes on radio staples like the Who's "The Seeker" and the Buffalo Springfield chestnut "For What It's Worth" makes up for the familiarity of those tunes and, combined with the overall brevity of the disc, keeps the listener eagerly awaiting another spin. David Sprague
All Music Guide
This is a riot! Rather than put out some windy and dreary box set to celebrate their 30th anniversary, Canada's seminal power prog band and one of big rock's most enduring units turns the tables and lays out hot and heavy covers of eight classics from the annals of rock & roll history. The track list is amazing, and the cool thing is that the arrangements of these nuggets are not all ripped up and mutated, either. "Summertime Blues" may begin as a nod to Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady," but it comes roaring back as an acknowledged homage to the Who's Live at Leeds version. The version of Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth" begins as a slippery little acoustic tune but quickly turns into a heavy, droning rock orgy. "The Seeker" goes for the jugular in the same way that the Who's did; Geddy's sneer has a little less contempt than Daltrey's but it's just as hungry and desperate. "Heart Full of Soul" is pure psychedelic Yardbirds elegance with a bunch of space and dimension added to redeem the track for the 21st century. The backmasked guitars on "Mr. Soul" and Neil Peart's deliberate mix of thud and snap give the cut a solid footing for Alex Lifeson to unhurriedly coax Lee's vocal along the lyric. The ringing of Lifeson's chords that barely hold this side of overblown feedback is masterful in keeping the original spirit of the song while future-dating its sonics. Rush's read of "Seven and Seven Is" is much faster that Love's original, but its barely-on-the-rails tempo is welcome in lieu of the fact that these guys are all in their fifties and play like they're kids. "Shapes of Things to Come" is fun, and a real attempt to provide nuance to a great song, especially the cross-channel fading in the guitar mix. But on "Crossroads," the other bookend of this EP, Rush give a romper-stomper wailing performance of Cream's arrangement of Robert Johnson's seminal blues tune. Lifeson leaves Eric what's-his-name in the dust. Lee may not be the vocalist that Jack Bruce is but he kicks his ass as a bass player, and his moment of glory in this cut tears the roof off the song. None of these tunes are done with an ounce of camp. What the listener encounters is a Rush that has never ever been heard before: they indulge in the hero-worship and dream roots of the garage band that eventually became Rush, and they simultaneously search for the young garage band whose members never dreamed they'd be playing these tunes 30 years later as Rush. Anyone who thinks that there is no life left in the classics of the genre needs to hear this. That something this wild and freewheeling could only be pulled off by a band with 30 years experience is not only worth noting, but celebrating. Thom Jurek
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