Strangelove
Gold Member
Perhaps it is my old age, but to me, solos mean very little to nothing from any musical standpoint at all. Most are not pleasant to listen to, although, like watching a very good athletic event, can be entertaining in that sense.
I'm with Mike on Neil's composition abilities, and will offer something to evaluate a great drummer with, beyond polyrythms, speed, timing, rudimentary skills, and all the other criteria we throw around. Do they actually sound good? I recently saw a guitarists poll on greatest solos. Gilmore's "Comfortably Numb" was voted first. Now I am not a great guitarist by any means, but I could play that myself if a sat down and worked at it. I thought to myself - how ridiculous (rediculouss) for that to be #1 - what about Blackmore's Highway Star, Burn, or Lazy? What about Malmsteen, Van Halen, or other fret burners? But it dawned on me too that Confortably Numb is one of the absolute coolest sounding guitar solos I have ever listened to. Who does not get captivated just listening to it? Peart is the same way with the drums. Mike you mentioned Red Sector A - the middle section I think. The part I love about that song the most is Neil's syncopated ride bell part during the chorus. Nobody else would have composed the drums that way, and I listen to that song mainly to hear that part. It's nothing that complicated, just a pleasure to the ears and it is an awesome rythm, too. The same with his intro to Subdivisions and Distant Early Warning. I just can't hear those enough. Anyway, that's my take on qualities of great drummers. Is Neil the best? Probably not. Is he one the greatest? Yes, definitely.
Anyway, Beatklops, willkommen, mein freund. Sorry we got into a big fight right at first, but we are not always this way around here. I look forward to your insight into drummers and equipment.
I'm with Mike on Neil's composition abilities, and will offer something to evaluate a great drummer with, beyond polyrythms, speed, timing, rudimentary skills, and all the other criteria we throw around. Do they actually sound good? I recently saw a guitarists poll on greatest solos. Gilmore's "Comfortably Numb" was voted first. Now I am not a great guitarist by any means, but I could play that myself if a sat down and worked at it. I thought to myself - how ridiculous (rediculouss) for that to be #1 - what about Blackmore's Highway Star, Burn, or Lazy? What about Malmsteen, Van Halen, or other fret burners? But it dawned on me too that Confortably Numb is one of the absolute coolest sounding guitar solos I have ever listened to. Who does not get captivated just listening to it? Peart is the same way with the drums. Mike you mentioned Red Sector A - the middle section I think. The part I love about that song the most is Neil's syncopated ride bell part during the chorus. Nobody else would have composed the drums that way, and I listen to that song mainly to hear that part. It's nothing that complicated, just a pleasure to the ears and it is an awesome rythm, too. The same with his intro to Subdivisions and Distant Early Warning. I just can't hear those enough. Anyway, that's my take on qualities of great drummers. Is Neil the best? Probably not. Is he one the greatest? Yes, definitely.
Anyway, Beatklops, willkommen, mein freund. Sorry we got into a big fight right at first, but we are not always this way around here. I look forward to your insight into drummers and equipment.
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