Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee wasn't too hip on the idea of making an album of covers. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
"Actually, a friend of mine approached me with the concept," Lee said during a phone interview from his home in Toronto. "I didn't like it, but once the other guys signed on, it was an enjoyable project."
The other guys are, of course, drummer Neil Peart and guitarist Alex Lifeson. Once they decided to do the album, they needed to set up a deadline.
"We could have gone on and on and on," said Lee. "There were so many songs and groups that meant a lot to us and we had to draw the line. We also went into the project with the idea that if it wasn't working, we'd just stop. But it worked."
The album "Feedback" will be released Tuesday, a day before Rush makes a stop at the USANA Amphitheatre. The songs covered on the album include Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," the Who's "The Seeker," Cream's "Crossroads," Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and "Mr. Soul," and the Yardbirds' "Heart Full of Soul" and "Shapes of Things."
However, said Lee, who cited all the bands above as his musical influences, the strangest song on the album is a little tune called "Seven and Seven Is," by Love.
"It's a weird psychedelic song that just goes to this strange place," said Lee. "It probably has the longest recorded drum roll in rock 'n' roll history, because Neil just rolls from start to finish.
"It's also probably the hardest song for me to sing in my career because the lyrics are so stupid. But it was a song that we had to have on the album."
While getting the vocals down for "Seven and Seven Is" might have been hard for Lee, there isn't much left unturned for Rush as a whole. The band is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and while touring isn't a challenge anymore, making good music is.
"We just want to make sure we still have something to say," said Lee, who started his journey into music as a 13-year-old guitarist. "The trick is making all the new things we're doing feel new."
That is one of the pressures of being in a band that has seen all its released albums go gold — sell more than 500,000 copies a piece — or platinum — selling more than 1 million a piece.
"The biggest pressure, however, doesn't come from the outside," Lee said. "We three put the most pressure on ourselves. Fans have always been the first to criticize us, but they've also been the first to love us. So there's not a lot of pressure there. The pressure lies on what we expect of ourselves as a band."
One of the biggest challenges that faced Rush was the loss of Peart's wife, Jackie Taylor, to cancer, and daughter, Selena Taylor, in an auto accident, back in 1997 and 1998, respectively. After that, the three musicians didn't know what the future held for the band.
In 2001, Peart, after taking a solo motorcycle tour of North America, called Lee and Lifeson and the three began making music. The band's 17th studio album, "Vapor Trails," launched the group's comeback tour in 2002 and was received favorably by fans and critics alike.
"If I were to pick one of the biggest highlights of our career, it would have to be playing the first gig of the 'Vapor Trails' tour," said Lee. "After everything that Neil had been through and seeing him and Alex playing together and seeing the outpouring of support from the audiences was just unbelievable."
Currently, Rush is feeling the pricks of another challenge. Lifeson has been charged with assaulting a law-enforcement officer at a New Year's Eve party in Florida. The trial is set for Sept. 13. Lee said nothing of the trial, due to the pending court proceedings.
"Right now we're focusing on the tour," he said. "Rush has been a band for 30 years and we've accomplished a lot more than we thought we ever would. I'd like to see us do more if it's in us."
If you go. . .
What: Rush
Where: USANA Amphitheatre
When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.
How much: $26 to $81
Phone: 467-8499 or 1-800-888-8499
E-mail: scott@desnews.com