Neil Peart

...and he was incredible, of course. How he can play so fast and hard after all these years is mind boggling. He snapped one of those oak sticks on the bell of his ride during his solo and without missing a beat, tossed it and pulled out another.

He looks miserable while he plays...but he tore it up, for sure. The whole band was incredible.

I just wish I had brought my earplugs, I forgot on the way out the door...
He does look miserable or at least slightly constipated while playing. I always wished that he would "get into it" a bit more.

One of the things I love about Portnoy and Bonham. You can just tell how much fun they are having.
 
One of the things I love about Portnoy and Bonham. You can just tell how much fun they are having.

I don't think he's ever been that type of player.....pretty much all business....

Plus I don't get the whole Portnoy hitting himself on the side of his head with his stick....
 
Hi,
Let me first apologize if I posted this wrong or in the wrong place but I am not familiar with these sites. I leave that to my husband (which is why I am here). Just like most of you my husband is a HUGE Neil fan. I am looking for something very special to get him for his birthday in October. We just went to see Rush in May, and he has all the videos I believe. He doesn't have many of the books but those will be gifts from the kids. What I was hoping to find out is if there are any drum clinics going on with Neil anywhere (I'm willing to fly him anywhere in North America) or if anyone has any other great suggestions. What would be your ultimate Neil gift (besides his drums)? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. And once again I apologize if I posted this wrong. Thanks for your help!
 
Hi,
Let me first apologize if I posted this wrong or in the wrong place but I am not familiar with these sites. I am looking for something very special to get him for his birthday in October. QUOTE]

No worries, sounds like you your pretty supportive! You could possibly find a signed drumhead from Neil but you have to be careful with getting the "true" thing.(E bay, Craigslist). If not, tickets to their next show would be enough to make any Rush fan happy! Good luck!
 
Did anyone know that Neil Peart was rated the 2nd WORST lyricist by Blender Magazine? I think this is ridiculous. I'd like to see the writers of Blender create a 20 minute long sci-fi song.

Its quite possible they just dont know how to read, someone send those idiots the lyrics to "Nobody s Hero" please.
 
That's part of Peart's playing. You can't just go to a concert and expect the band to improvise and change every song on their set. Sometimes it's good just to hear what you're hearing on the CD. You get a sense of familiarity with it. For example, a certain fill or something small like a triplet in a ride pattern. Neil Peart is a perfectionist in his playing. You can't dislike him just because he chooses and remembers to play every exact note on a CD. It's irrational. Not every drummer has to change what they're playing, for a concert.


+1. Also, those drummers who are so big on improv are probably improving because they can't play what they laid down in studio.

With Peart you know it's all real, no studio gimmicks with him, no double takes and do-overs...he produces brilliant drumming, puts in on record and then goes out and gets it done on stage.

I would NOT want to hear "Tom Sawyer" improvised, because it does not need to be...the fact he plays the song 'as is' time and time again is what astounds me about the guy. He's brilliant. And if you want to see Neil Peart improvise, he does and will, it's usually on his drum solos in concert. I've seen Rush over the years 7 or 8 times and not once have they (Peart, Alex, and Geddy) been anything less than brilliant and breathtaking.
 
IMO his concert solos ARE improvisations, and are anything BUT boring.

I have two live albums and Ive seen Rush live once. I got the feeling he didnt improvise at all in his solos. I havnt studied this in any detail, so you could be right.

Peart does some inventive drumming both on songs and in his solos, and some songs I really like a lot. But for me it feels like he cant think outside the box. I cant even imagine him emulating Zigaboo, Garibaldi, Gadd or Stubblefield. Even the simplest groove. Either he's not into that music or he doesnt get it.

Dont get me wrong; hes probably the best drummer of prog rock, but I cant stop feeling like there is something missing. Maybe simply because Im not into prog rock anymore.

Just because Neil Peart shows that he is serious about his playing, and has a look of concentration that looks like he isn't having fun, I can assure you, that couldn't be further from the truth.

Sorry I shouldnt have been so harsh. I realise that some drummers are more about performance. Again, its not my style, but I have to respect it.

And why is it a bad thing to play every fill exactly like the albums? I'll NEVER understand why some have a problem with that. :-| Doesn't that show precision in his playing? His dedication to his craft? What makes him who he is?.

It surely shows who he is. He is all about that. And thats an admirable skill. But come on, he's got to be able to improve and improvise on songs that he wrote 20 years ago. Where is his progress as a musician? He could probably play Tom Sawyer in his sleep. I would love to hear that song with brand new fills, not that the original fills are bad.

I personally think he did a very respectable performance of Cottontail, with a sweet solo along with it.?.

I wouldnt say he sucks, but pretty close to it. Have you watched the clip? The phrasing, the timing, the dynamics. Where is it?

And as far as his lyrical inspiration from Ayn Rand, it's been years since he's written any AR inspired lyrics. It's not like he's obsessed with Rand. A lot of lyricists are inspired by writers and authors, aren't they?

Yea youre right. Sorry for mentioning it.

Anyway...Welcome to DW. ;-)

Thanks man! :)
 
He does look miserable or at least slightly constipated while playing. I always wished that he would "get into it" a bit more.

One of the things I love about Portnoy and Bonham. You can just tell how much fun they are having.
I suspect that's just an involuntary face he makes when he's entirely focused on what he's doing. I'd say he couldn't BE more into it!

I doubt (though I don't KNOW) it's any real bad or distasteful vibes for him.
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I've seen Rush 5 times, the last time being around the Permanent Waves tour. I have a few albums after that but they lost me after a while. I think Neil is one of the premier prog rock drummers of all time, period. He has his style and he's damn good at it, just like other drummers have their style. So what if Neil can't groove like Steve Gadd or Jeff Porcaro, does it really matter?
I think Neil looks a bit wooden when he plays and doesn't appear to be the most graceful looking of drummers I've seen but you know what...he gets the job done and he does it extremely well. He's continued to push himself and improve when he could easily rested on his considerable laurels. I say enjoy the man for what he is and what he has accomplished. You don't get to his level of playing by accident or by sheer luck. He's the consummate pro, period.
 
I think he's great at what he does. I respect anyone who is successful at what they do. I do feel though that his influence is not always positive in that it can make many younger guys over play. Fills every 4 bars or so etc. This works great in Rush but wont be as profitable in a Steppenwolf cover band.
 
Stu-Strib, so your saying from Power Windows which was released in 1985 and beyond has been horrifying? Just a suggestion I would really listen again. I wasn't totally thrilled with Roll the Bones CD, but it grew on me. As far as every other album within that time frame I think has been great Presto is an awesome album because it was the first time they went back to playing stripped down and not alot of sythesizers. I haven't got a chance to pick up their new album Feedback yet but I will.

As far as lyrics you should really read alot of them because Neil Peart writes incredible lyrics. All of their songs are truly about something. Most bands today lyrics are very weak in comparision.

And every band changes with the time, that's just the way it is. Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Living Colour ( whose last album was just awful!) all of them sound nothing like they did when they first came out if Led Zeppelin was still around their sound would have changed as well. And all of those bands I mentioned above have produced crap music since the late 90's or 00's. Even my latest favorite bands like Tool since 1993 and Sevendust since 1997 have changed the way they sound. Rush has produced 18 albums not including lives ones ( 29 in all) and still have a tremendous following. They didn't suffer the death that most hair bands did who are now only playing 500 seat venues because no one really wants to see them anymore. The TRUE Rush faithful has and will always remain. Come back to the dark side STU!!!...LOL

PS
What still amazes me the most is they did not replace members since Neil took over for John Rustey after their very first album, and that is dedication to each other and shows the true strength of a band survivng and changing with the times.


Woooo man, wooooo! Living Colour's last album was terrible! After reading that my eyes hurt. Living Colour rules and their last album was great in my opinion. Let's here 3 doors down version of "Back in Black." And Rush Rules too and I wish they were more like Living Colour. Instead of playing to computer graphics and videos, it would be nice if Rush changed their songs a little. Not every song, I mean Tom Sawyer is a classic but change it up some. Just some. The acoustic songs they did during their 2004 tour was nice and they need to expand on those ideas.
 
thats why i dislike him, its like why would you want to go to a concert and listen to the SAME thing you would hear on the CD, i dunno, its kinda boring.

I've been to shows where the band plays it just like the CD and others where the band changes it up. I prefer a band that plays the song like I know it. Changing it just for the sake of changing it doesn't make much sense to me. The live performance is where it's at. Nothing beats that and if the band plays it like the CD I don't care because the energy of the live show blows away any CD. That's not boring to me but hey, that's just me.
 
I think he's great at what he does. I respect anyone who is successful at what they do. I do feel though that his influence is not always positive in that it can make many younger guys over play. Fills every 4 bars or so etc. This works great in Rush but wont be as profitable in a Steppenwolf cover band.

well, that's where the drummer needs to show some discipline. You wouldn't play like Charlie Watts in Rush or like Neil in the Rolling Stones. If a drummer favors a busy style then maybe he should join a band that needs that style. One should play for the song, not to massage one's ego. It takes discipline.
 
I've been to shows where the band plays it just like the CD and others where the band changes it up. I prefer a band that plays the song like I know it. Changing it just for the sake of changing it doesn't make much sense to me. The live performance is where it's at. Nothing beats that and if the band plays it like the CD I don't care because the energy of the live show blows away any CD. That's not boring to me but hey, that's just me.

Some bands write in the studio, others write on tour. Radiohead do both. When they did the tours for 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac' they actually had to re-arrange all their songs to work in a live situation, with some really great results. I always like hearing new arrangements of old classics and sometimes I just wish bands would stop resting on their laurels and experiment. If it goes wrong, it goes wrong, but if you're a band like Rush who've been going for thirty years plus, there is no financial risk from changing your style. Whilst it might alienate some fans; other than a lack of imagination, there is no reason why you shouldn't try something new. Lots of great bands do it - Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin being but two - underwent enormous stylistic changes and their durations (or at least their 'classic' periods) were less than half that of Rushes!

At least spice up the live arrangements to do something new. If I wanted to see exact covers I'd go and see a tribute band. Otherwise I'd just buy the CD.
 
I understand what you're saying. Some people like bands to mix it up a bit and others are content to hear the songs as they were recorded. No matter what Rush does they will not please everybody. Tribute bands are OK but for the most part they're not my cup of tea. If I want to hear Rush songs I want to hear Neil playing them since he created the drums parts. A tribute band drummer, regardless of how good he is, is merely copying someone else's licks. And when I watch the Rush in Rio DVD it looks to me like those folks out there didn't mind one bit the songs were played like the CD. I hear what you're saying but by now I think most people know what they're gonna get when they go see Rush. I'm assuming that those that go to the shows will take Rush as they are. To each his own! :)
 
I see some people here calling Peart the best drummer ever. I've seen Neil 5 times and I think he's one of the great prog drummers of all time but as someone who has seen Billy Cobham, Dennis Chambers, Terry Bozzio, Dave Weckl, Louis Bellson, Steve Smith, Rod Morgenstein, Alphonse Mouzon, Lenny White, Carl Palmer, Virgil Donati, Gary Novak, Dave Garibaldi, Chad Wackerman, etc, and the master himself...Buddy Rich, I cannot call Neil 'THE BEST'.
 
I see some people here calling Peart the best drummer ever. I've seen Neil 5 times and I think he's one of the great prog drummers of all time but as someone who has seen Billy Cobham, Dennis Chambers, Terry Bozzio, Dave Weckl, Louis Bellson, Steve Smith, Rod Morgenstein, Alphonse Mouzon, Lenny White, Carl Palmer, Virgil Donati, Gary Novak, Dave Garibaldi, Chad Wackerman, etc, and the master himself...Buddy Rich, I cannot call Neil 'THE BEST'.

Well...


I've seen Neil Peart 22 times, and I can assure you, he's "one" of THE best "rock" drummers of all time. If you categorize each drummer to his "own" genre of drum style(music), you can certainly make the case for NP as the best "rock drummer" ever. Though you'd have some disagreements.

But to bunch up all the above drummers into one category, is NOT how you determine who's "the best ever".

And I have seen Weckl, Palmer and Smith in concert. And have seen countless videos and heard even more recordings of Buddy.
 
I prefer the term 'one of the best' as opposed to calling someone 'the best'. Even Buddy Rich, who I have seen, I hesitate to call him The Best. I've seen too many incredible drummers to single one out and put The Best label on him. Some people can do that, I can't. I guess calling someone the best makes for good discussion but that's about it.
And tomorrow night I will be seeing 'one of the best', Mr. Billy Cobham.
I haven't seen Billy since his days after Mahavishnu so I am primed and ready.
 
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