Neil Peart

I hope that someday, I can be both as loved/hated as Neil Peart or Ringo lol.

Why must we compare drummer A to anything else? Everyone is unique and brings unique gifts to the table.

What's the issue again? Neil doesn't act in a way some don't approve of? He's not humble enough?

Give the man a break, he made a name for himself in the music biz doing what he does. No easy task.

And it must be hard to hear how great you are on a daily basis and not be affected by it.
 
"I've never met these people, but allow me make definitive statements about their character."

—This thread
 
"I've never met these people, but allow me make definitive statements about their character."

—This thread

That about wraps this thread up.

Love your style Lar.
 
Of course they haven't.

Beatles sales are roughly 178 million in the USA, and 600 million world wide. Which are way, way more than the numbers I stated for Aerosmith and the Stones.

If you've read Neil Peart's books, and then read Joey Krammer's book, you realize Joey spends more money than Neil has ever made.

Sorry Drum, just meant to point out that you said albums when you meant records. It's a different stat, records referring to singles sales. The Stones have upwards of 250 million record sales, while their album sales are at 91 million worldwide (paltry I know). Your point is still valid.

On the topic of this thread (before it's locked). The idea of so many drummers with so few accomplishments debating the quality of one the most accomplished drummers of all time is laughable. Like fleas debating the quality of the dog they are on. Like a gnat on the ass of a cow on the side of a road with cars full of people flying past at 70 mph. Inconsequent hardly begins to describe it.
 
Sorry Drum, just meant to point out that you said albums when you meant records. It's a different stat, records referring to singles sales. The Stones have upwards of 250 million record sales, while their album sales are at 91 million worldwide (paltry I know). Your point is still valid.

On the topic of this thread (before it's locked). The idea of so many drummers with so few accomplishments debating the quality of one the most accomplished drummers of all time is laughable. Like fleas debating the quality of the dog they are on. Like a gnat on the ass of a cow on the side of a road with cars full of people flying past at 70 mph. Inconsequent hardly begins to describe it.

Fame is not the same as greatness.
 
I think I replied to this thread a while ago. And reading the last page of Neil bashing, I feel I'm in need of replying again.

Plain and simply put, Neil Peart is one of the top 5 greatest and most influental rock drummers of all time, PERIOD! Let me explain...

If you listen to all rock drummers out there, and there's alot!.. I'd venture to say that 90% of them would list Neil Peart as a major influence.

Peart does not simply provide a 2/4 back-beat to his bands music... He, along with Geddy's bass playing, defines the band's sound. If any one of you have ever came up with a drum part as dynamic or as original as anything Peart has done, then I'll shut up and walk away never to speak about this again. But until you write a drum part as groundbreaking or creative as Tom Sawyer or La Villa Strangiato among 20+ albums worth of music, I suggest you use your time refining your skills, because you'll probably never be, but wish you could be, as freakin awesome as this guy.

Peart is a perfectionist and his drumming exudes that. If you wanna hear music played differently every night, go listen to jazz. If you wanna hear music played to perfection (as I love to do) go to a Rush concert. In my opinion, there's nothing as beautiful as listening to 3 guys play incredible music, the way it was written 30 years ago.

Peace, Defender
 
People seem to be on both sides of the fence with the fact that he plays everything note for note.

The way I see it, a song is constantly evolving. What you lay down in the studio is the song in its infancy and what you come out with after touring it (many times) is the evolution of the song.

When you play everything note for note, show after show, tour after tour, year after year... you are ignoring an important part of a live performance and that particular song.

Its not Brittney Spears "Oops I did it again" meant to be played as a track exactly the same every time. Its a musical composition that was created with pride and should be continued to be worked on and improved each time you play it.

I am completely not into a band that plays like a cd. To me, its lazy. You are too lazy to creatively expand to what you originally laid down.

And people that say it is too hard to improvise on Rush stuff... Thats just not true. Peart's stuff does not evolve. It is what it is and thats all it will ever be.

With music as complicated as Rush can be, I'm glad it sounds like the CD in a way. It would alienate the listeners.

Same can be said with Portnoy although he did change things up a little bit with Dream Theater...
 
"But it's obvious that Neil, through his playing alone (or what we've all seen, anyway), has not come close to earning the kind of respect that those other drummers have worked for. Yet he commands it in his pompous, holier-than-thou tone."

Wow. I just don't know where this is coming from. Personally for a mega star in a super star band I consider him to be down to earth and humble. Can you find any notable musicians that share your view?
 
Fame is not the same as greatness.

I never mentioned fame or greatness. I referred to Neil Peart as one of the most accomplished drummers in history and the majority of drummers on this forum as relatively (which means by comparison) unaccomplished. Take it how you want. In terms of skill, talent, originality, sales, money, fans, fame, reconition, he bests 99% of all the drummers that have ever walked the Earth. It's rare air up where he breathes. Like it or not.
 
Hating on Neil P?

That is just so sad. I think you truly have to be a lifeless **epsilon-minus to waste time and energy on bashing someone who has accomplished so much and with good intentions. Expressing an opinion is one thing, but really... I was surprised by what I read in this thread: people trying to turn opinion into fact. If ya don't like the guy, fine, but please spare us all the negative dissertation.

**(reference: "Brave New World" - A. Huxley) for those not familiar with the term
 
8Mile will like this but I agree that Neil is a fantastic drummer. Absolutely brilliant. I would love to have a tenth of his skills. He also seems highly intelligent and in every interview I've seen of him he comes across well. Billy Cobham is another who sometimes get bad raps about his personality but in every interview he also seems like a nice guy.

However, Neil is not as good as Bruford ;)

(To anyone who doesn't know us and is thinking of taking that comment seriously, don't - it's an in joke. We don't care about ranking and just appreciate what different players bring to the table. It's funny that I should have to even explain this but the web is full of people seemingly wanting to take offence at others' statements, striking out instead of checking understanding first).

Sorry about that. I just came from a philosophy forum - I understand Neil is a philosophy fan too :)
 
I was a huge fan of Neil when I was starting out back in the 70s in Toronto. After reading all of his books a few years ago, I really didn't like him anymore. He really rubbed me the wrong way. The same happened when I read Daniel Lanois' biography and Jackie Stewart's biography.

As for Neil's playing, I still prefer his musical output pre-1983,
 
r40-mf.JPG


changing the subject, who can't WAIT to hear these things in a few months?

http://andrewolson.com/Neil_Peart/drums/drumkits/r40.htm

the suspense is killing me. I have a good idea what mid to low oak toms sound like from listening to Yamahas but the high toms are a mystery. I'm going to go ahead and predict this will be the best sounding, most powerful kick Neil has ever played. 16x23 oak. just say that a few times. 16x23 oak.
 
r40-mf.JPG


changing the subject, who can't WAIT to hear these things in a few months?

http://andrewolson.com/Neil_Peart/drums/drumkits/r40.htm

the suspense is killing me. I have a good idea what mid to low oak toms sound like from listening to Yamahas but the high toms are a mystery. I'm going to go ahead and predict this will be the best sounding, most powerful kick Neil has ever played. 16x23 oak. just say that a few times. 16x23 oak.


Where the Hell do you get a 23 bass drum head? Rich people problems.
 
That's a beautiful white and gold drum set.

Unable to resist the viral reference,
8Mile!

P.S. Nicely done, Grea!
 
Where the Hell do you get a 23 bass drum head? Rich people problems.

Remo does make them.

DW has been making 23" bass drums fro several years now, and apparently, they did contact Remo before putting them into production.

Now, how many stores actually stock a 23" is another question. lol
 
Neil Peart is the reason I began playing drums. I will note that Vinnie Colaiuta is hands down my favorite player - and in my opinion - the all-around best that has ever graced this relatively new instrument we all play. Yet I still love, listen to, and return to Rush and Neil for his creative and complex drum parts. I'm a trained jazz player - not that that even matters - but, it bothers me when other people in my industry trash talk NP. He's a humble guy, and is the first to readily, verbally concede to the likes of Tony, Max, Elvin, Jack... Weckl, Vinnie, Chambers, Peter, etc. To me, he's actually UNDERrated. And a FANTASTICALLY eloquent and prolific lyricist to boot. How many kids started playing drums because of NP?! A great man, a great player, a drumming legend!
 
I like Neil, always have, and yes, he was a huge influence on me. But i have to admit, i've always been bugged by the hype around him. I grew up with Jazz and Fusion music and always took issue with non-drummers that would say Neil was the greatest drummer on the planet. I laughed watching that infamous Buddy Rich Memorial concert in which Neil tried to play Jazz and enjoyed showing that to die hards that insisted he was the most technical drummer ever. I now just bite my tongue and realize it's not worth getting into a discussion about it. I don't blame Neil for the hype centered around him but the "aw shucks" routine is tiresome given the spectacle of presenting the new tour kit every concert season. His drum kit goes on it's own tour! I see where he has a line of drumming shoes now. When Weckl tried to sale shoes, it was laughable but with Neil, it's kind of cool. Yes, i have my ticket for the R40 tour and will be there air drumming with the rest of the nerds.

There, i said my peace.
 
" i've always been bugged by the hype around him. I grew up with Jazz and Fusion music and always took issue with non-drummers that would say Neil was the greatest drummer on the planet. "

This is the part that I will never understand. So you end being negatively swayed about the artist because of the opinion of people that are not knowledgeable?

I understand being bothered I suppose, such as the whole Kiss army thing for me, but we should not let that influence our evaluation of musicians. And I suspect that if Neil wanted to be a jazz player and existed within that genre he would have been better at it. Its like the complaints that Buddy couldn't play a funk beat. so what. That was not his genre.

Don't mean to isolate on you, just used the opportunity to voice a frustration I have with some musicians sometimes letting genre or non-musician opinions color their evaluation of professionals to the point of ragging on them.
 
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