I received my copy of the new Rush album yesterday from Amazon.com. I wasn’t really sure what to think of this album since it was all cover tunes, the first time Rush has ever done so. It seems I may have been right to question the value of this album.
For the most part the cover tunes are played well. However, if it wasn’t for Geddy Lees voice I’d never have known this was Rush playing. Take away Geddy and it could be any garage band playing. The songs just don’t have any real Rush qualities in them. I guess when I hear that a band like Rush is going to do some cover tunes I expect them to put their own unique spin on them. That just doesn’t happen on ‘Feedback‘. The excitement I usually get with every new Rush album fizzled on this one. It could be that others have felt the same way since there are already 43 used copies available on Amazon.com. This is what it must have felt like when ‘Caress of Steel’ came out.
In the end, being the Rush fan that I am, it was worth getting just to have a complete CD collection, but I doubt it will get very much play. I hope that when the 30th Anniversary tour is over they finally get to work on some new material. I’m starved for new Rush, so starved I bought ‘Feedback‘.
On a positive note, Neil Peart has a new book coming out called ‘Traveling Music: Playing Back The Soundtrack To My Life And Times‘. I have always enjoyed his writing.