​​Rush’s Geddy Lee Reveals “Best Thing We Ever Recorded,” and It’s Not What You’d Think

Canadian prog-rock outfit Rush has an extensive catalog of iconic cuts, from “Tom Sawyer” to “YYZ” to “Closer to the Heart,” but if you were to ask lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist Geddy Lee, the best thing Rush ever recorded didn’t include any of these hits. In fact, the song wasn’t even an original Rush composition.

The cover song came from a 2004 EP Rush released to coincide with the 30th anniversary of their debut record and features eight tracks from the 1960s that were integral to the band’s musical development.

What Geddy Lee Considers The Best Rush Record

Rush released Feedback as a half-debut anniversary celebration, half-homage to the music that inspired them to release that record in the first place decades earlier in 1974. The 2004 EP features songs by The Who, Buffalo Springfield, Cream, and Love. Among the short-and-sweet cover list, Geddy Lee argued, was some of Rush’s best work.

The second track off Feedback covers the Yardbirds’ “Heart Full of Soul,” which the Rush vocalist said was one of the band’s best records ever produced. “As soon as it comes on, it sounds contemporary, but it sounds like the ‘60s too,” Lee later said (via Far Out Magazine).

“It feels like there should be an Austin Powers movie running with it simultaneously,” he continued. Lee also commented on the band’s dedication to honoring the song’s original format while adding their own flavor. “We changed it up a little bit,” Lee explained. “The verses are very simple, and the choruses kind of kick in with a block of harmony.”

The Bassist’s Opinion Likely Goes Back To His Early Years

Considering the Canadian rock band’s extensive and unique discography, it’s hard to imagine that Geddy Lee would consider a cover song to be one of Rush’s best songs they ever released. The band hardly needed to lean on other musicians’ material to fill out their catalog, and Rush is a massive musical inspiration in and of themselves.

However, Lee’s opinion on the best song Rush ever recorded makes sense given his early musical roots. While the Canadian outfit didn’t release their first album until 1974, the musicians were cutting their teeth and consuming the music of the time long before they went into the studio. 1960s rock bands like The Yardbirds were inspiring aspiring musicians like Lee from the moment he first picked up an instrument.

In a 2018 interview with Classic Rock, Lee recalled the first guitar he ever played: an acoustic guitar with a palm tree design. “I was very young, and I talked my mother into letting me buy it from my neighbor. The first song I learnt how to play on it was “For Your Love” by the Yardbirds. I wanted to be in a band.” In a later interview for Streets of Toronto, Lee listed the Yardbirds, Cream, and Led Zeppelin as his most significant musical influences growing up in Canada.

So, while it might seem sacrilege to some Rush fans to choose a cover as their best recorded song, it’s clear that the frontman is at least a little biased toward the Yardbirds. And after all, it is a great cover.

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