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Rating: "Dad, what music did you listen to when you were young?"
An innocent question, one that many fathers have heard at least once in their lives from their children. A classic reaction, the same for everyone: a start, followed by a smile directed at the curious little one. Then, secretly, like a pirate searching for a chest full of gold buried underground, the attic expedition begins. The chest in question? An old cardboard box. What's inside? Old vinyl records devoured by dust and time, which reveal treasures far more precious than gold: the memories of one's youth.
In 2004, Rush did just that: a dive into the sea of music from their adolescence. In "Feedback," you won’t find any new tracks from the Canadians, but covers of very famous songs from the '60s, a time when blues began to be ravaged by the youth of the time, leaving a deep mark on how the Toronto trio perceived music.
The covers in question are presented faithfully to the original, not to prove they can be played better than those who created them but simply not to alter the "sandy" sound of the tracks. And to go back to the times when, as kids, they played the same notes of the songs presented here in ramshackle basements, dreaming of being those musicians they so idolized, not knowing that, shortly, they would be ranked alongside them.
The first photo pulled from the album of memories is "Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran (1958), one of the true early devastators of sound, later covered by groups of the caliber of The Who, honored by Rush in this EP with "The Seeker."
The pages turn quickly, and more time-faded images emerge, but they send shivers to anyone watching as if it were the first time. It's the unmistakable notes of The Yardbirds appearing, with tracks like "Shapes of Things" and "Heart Full of Soul" - the latter stunningly covered by the trio.
The vinyl records change, but the mood remains the same: Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young's band, show us with "Mr. Soul" and "For What It's Worth" that a cultural (and musical) revolution is on the horizon, and nothing will be the same again.
Ladies and gentlemen, we don't cater to just good bands here, but only to the Cream of rock: the blues spirit of Robert Johnson is set ablaze by Clapton’s electric guitar in the eternal "Crossroads," where it falls to Alex Lifeson to try not to pale in comparison to those two legendary six-string giants and to close this EP worthily.
Many will wonder about the purpose of this work. It's certainly for the die-hard fans of the group, but primarily it served Rush themselves: with "Feedback," the Canadian musicians would return to the studio for the first time after the family tragedy that befell Neil Peart - which nearly ended the band's career prematurely - and it allowed them to offer yet another surprise to the rock world. Welcomed as a final farewell to their fans, this little disc allowed the group to rediscover a warm sound, like vinyl, which would later be fully realized in "Snakes & Arrows," another hit in their discography that would open a new era.
"Feedback" closes a large part of the Canadian trio's career exactly the same way it started in 1974 - with a handful of rock-blues songs. For some, it might seem like a calculated decision (and perhaps it is), but I like to think it was a decision from the heart. After all, it's known that the loves of youth - much more pure and true than those of adult life - are never forgotten.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Summertime Blues (03:52)
Well I'm gonna raise a fuss, yes, I'm gonna raise a hollar
About working all summer just to try earn a dollar
Well I went to the Boss Man, tried to get a break.
Sometimes I wonder, What I'm gonna do
Cause there ain't no cure for the Summertime Blues.
Well my Mama and Papa told me ya gotta earn some money,
If ya wanna use carto go a ride 'in next Sunday.
Well, I wouldn't go to work, told the boss I was sick.
Sometimes I wonder, What I'm gonna do
Cause there ain't no cure for the Summertime Blues.
I'm gonna take two weeks, I'm gonna have a fun vacation
I'm gonna take my brothers to the United Nations
Well, I went to my Congressman, and he said quote,
"Sometimes I wonder, What I'm gonna do
Cause there ain't no cure for the Summertime Blues."
03 For What It's Worth (03:30)
[Originally by Buffalo Springfield]
There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
04 The Seeker (03:27)
I've looked under chairs
I've looked under tables
I've tried to find the key
To fifty million fables
[Chorus:]
They call me The Seeker
I've been searching low and high
I won't get to get what I'm after
Till the day I die
I asked Bobby Dylan
I asked The Beatles
I asked Timothy Leary
But he couldn't help me either
[Chorus]
People tend to hate me
'Cause I never smile
As I ransack their homes
They want to shake my hand
Focusing on nowhere
Investigating miles
I'm a seeker
I'm a really desperate man
I won't get to get what I'm after
Till the day I die
I learned how to raise my voice in anger
Yeah, but look at my face, ain't this a smile?
I'm happy when life's good
And when it's bad I cry
I've got values but I don't know how or why
I'm looking for me
You're looking for you
We're looking in at each other
And we don't know what to do
[Chorus]
06 Seven and Seven Is (02:53)
[Originally by Love]
When I was a boy I thought about the times I'd be a man
I'd sit inside a bottle and pretend that I was in a can
In my lonely room I'd sit my mind in an ice cream cone
You can throw me if you wanna 'cause I'm a bone and I go
Oop-ip-ip oop-ip-ip, yeah!
If I don't start cryin' it's because that I have got no eyes
My father's in the fireplace and my dog lies hypnotized
Through a crack of light I was unable to find my way
Trapped inside a night but I'm a day and I go
Oop-ip-ip oop-ip-ip, yeah!
One... Two... Three... Four!
08 Crossroads (03:26)
[Originally by Robert Johnson]
I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above, have mercy now, save poor Bob if you please
Standin' at the crossroads, tried to flag a ride
Whee-hee, I tried to flag a ride
Didn't nobody seem to know me, everybody pass me by
Standin' at the crossroads, risin' sun goin' down
Standin' at the crossroads baby, the risin' sun goin' down
I believe to my soul now, po' Bob is sinkin' down
You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown
You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown
That I got the crossroad blues this mornin', Lord, baby I'm sinkin' down
I went to the crossroad, mama, I looked east and west
I went to the crossroad, babe, I looked east and west
Lord, I didn't have no sweet woman, ooh well, babe, in my distress
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