RUsh: Feedback ep

Rich,
I hope you understand that in my teenage years I was a Rush fanatic,I saw them some 9 times in 4 years between 1979 and 1983 and met the band on a few occassions.

Whilst Rush were obviously derivative they were somehow unique and their records and live shows seem to place them in their own little world.

Of course this new release (which I will pick up up but haven't got to yet)is the band looking back at their influences and I suppose paying homage to arists that inspired them.
This is their 30th anniversary year.

It is interesting that we are approaching this record from completely different ends of the spectrum.
To me Rush have a special place in my heart and always will have but my mind is "fixed" on their records(especially pre-1985 stuff) therefore the idea of them doing an album of such distinctive covers is er.....nuts.

So, on more than a few occasions Ben has said something that has taken root deep in the recesses of my mind and has gotten me to thinking. The culprit this time is ... "I think this record sounds plain nuts in theory."

By way of background, my most favorite rock is both pop and hard rock from the 60's and 70's ... with strong preferences to British pop rock and psychedlic rock from the 60's and 70's. The Rush record as opposed to being "nuts" in theory is actually very "derivative" in theory.

The genius of the British Invasion bands went well beyond outstanding musicianship, but extended into songwriting. These bands' albums typically offered original songs and arrangements. Solo performers and bands without decent songwriting chops often released albums with their one or two hit singles and nine or so mediocre to OK covers of the popular songs from the era. The Rush EP is similar to the latter category of albums.

What prompted this thinking is that I picked up a newly released two-fer of Gary Puckett & the Union Gap's second & third albums. So, for every hit single (Young Girl; Over You; Lady Willpower), you also get covers of Lady Madonna;The Mighty Quinn; Honey; Dreams of the Everyday Housewife. Ultimately, the band's covers are inferior to the originals and inferior to the band's hit singles.

My original comments about Rush stand (they do a decent enough job with the covers ... but they do not add anything new to the songs) ... but here is some additional thinking behind my comments.

Regards,

Rich

Ben:

Actually, Alice Cooper did have a song "Seven and Seven Is" from the Special Forces album (early 80's). A Love song makes much more sense though in this context ... Lee is the composer and it is from the late 60's. Thanks for the save.

I heard the Rush CD being played over the speakers at J&R Music in NYC and I thought it was odd to hear a band covering a Stephen Stills' song ... like how many bands ever do that ... especially today? Odder still, was that it was an EP and ultimately only a few bands' songs were represented. I am not sure about nutty ... but, odd it is.

With all the CD's I buy, I figured what was $10 more in the now legendary transfer of wealth on my behalf to the record companies over the years ... like, how bad could the CD be? (then again, after hearing Brian Wilson's new solo album ... maybe that logic is not serving me ... another post, for another time).

Turns out, this is the first Rush record that I have ever purchased. As I mentioned previously, they do a decent enough job with the covers ... but they do not add anything new to the songs.

Regards, Rich

Rich surely Seven And Seven Is is by Love.

I think this record sounds plain nuts in theory.

Great album, only I bought mine for $7.98 at Target last week.

Interesting 8 song EP in the respect that the songs come from 4 sources. Five of the songs are either from the Yardbirds/Cream (Heart Full of Soul; Shapes of Things; Crossroads) or Buffalo Springfield (For What It's Worth; Mr. Soul). On top of that, Rush throws in an Alice Cooper song (Seven and Seven Is) and two from the Who (Summertime Blues; The Seeker). The bands are all the ones that I listened to when I was in high school. What made me buy the EP was how well they did the Buffalo Springfield tunes. They don't really add anything new to the songs ... just a decent job of doing covers. Worth the $10.

Regards, Rich