Neil Peart

screaming muffin said:
they take themselves way too seriously,
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Look a bit closer and you'll realize how far from the truth you are on this point. These guys are some of the most laid-back, funniest musicians you'll ever find.

Exhibit A: Geddy's use of functioning clothes driers on stage instead of backline amps.
Exhibit B: The bizarre collection of toys on Alex's stage guitar rig.
Exhibit C: The mini documentary on Rush In Rio that shows them off stage.

Sure they look serious much of the time on stage. That would be because they're concentrating on nailing an excellent performance for you.
 
ZDrums24 said:
actually, lately hes been improvising a little more live, there are now whole sections of his solos where he take an idea and improvises over it.
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Absolutley correct....
Not sure what some of the people who posted this thread are looking at....Anyone whos watched him over the years has seen how he's progressed....not nearly as mechanical as he used to be and his solos are much looser...
I think Gruber made him more loose and free....
 
foghorn2 said:
I'm a late fan of Neil Peart. I've heard him over the years since I was in the teens. I always liked Rush and his drumming but I always found other drummers to be my idols.

But Neil has been growing on me since his first DVD. I was amazed how his style of drumming evolved over the years and how intelligent he was and how well he spoke. Up to this point I never know he wrote most of Rush's songs.

I picked up Signals soon after and relived those great songs from my high-school years. I now admire him as a person and a drummer more than I ever had especially since watching his latest Anatomy DVD. He is a humble, respectful gentleman who is respectful of other drummers and he gives credit to many of them.

I bought Counterparts and wow did I miss this album altogether! What a masterpiece. What a disservice radio has done to music connoisseurs. What lyrics! (hence my signature).

He inspired me to improve on my drumming and persona. He is also the reason I'm poorer now trying to make my new setup like his too.
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Hey! great tread Foghorn, there is some great material out there from rush........go get yourself hemispheres or moving pictures. These are well orchastrated songs, musically, lyrically...just great stuff. there are many others to, such as power windows, permanent waves
and Roll the bones...check it out and ENJOY!!!!
 
Umm... this guy is sweet. No question. Guys like Peart, Bonzo, and Keith Moon are definitely some of the best around.
 
what is there to say about niel peart. the man is a living legend. I've been into Niel Peart ever since i first heard Tom Sawyer. The man is absoluetly amazing and i cannot say anything bad about him, except he looks dead when he drums but besides the point there, does anyone care how a man looks while he plays. Truly one of the greatest drummers of all time.
 
When it comes to RUSH, im not a fan of all of their music, but the drumming is superb. My least favorite thing about rush is definitely the voice and lyrics! Geddy lee is a talented bassist, but his voice makes me cringe, like in "Fly by Night". Also the lyrics... i heard that peart writes the lyrics for most songs, dont know if that's totally true or not, but the lyrcis just don't make any sense to me. Look at "spirit of the radio" for example when geddy sings "echo of the sound of salesmen"..............what the hell does that mean? The lyrics are funny and all because sometimes they can be incredibly odd and sometimes stupid, but still, i do think rush is a great band. Quite possibly the greatest Canadian Band in terms of record sales.
 
Much in the same way that Roger Ebert doesn't need to be a director to tear a strip off of Battlefield Earth, or I cook to dislike asparagus regardless of how it's dressed up, anyone who is critical of Neil or Geddy doesn't need to be superior to either of them as a drummer or lyricist to justify himself. And if someone who is a better drummer than Neil says that he's terrible, it isn't necesserily true.
 
I respect Peart a great ammount, but I find the big band ending of his solo hilarious. The guy can't really swing....which is fine because he's a rock drummer, but still I can't help but laugh at it
 
Blue said:
and mostly, his choice of fills and where he puts them. It all seems so perfect, like he knows exactly what's going on. It's so cool.
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I know what you mean. I belive the greatest fill of all time was played on the 2 min. 55 second mark of subdivisons. A 1 bar fill. so simple to play but so incredibly perfect.
 
He says it himself that even after 40 years of playing, he is still learning. Especially 4 limp independence.

What I admire about NP is his approach to drumming. He is perfect for Rush. As Ringo with the Beatles.

I refuse to bash any professional drummer out there. They are all great in their craft and can only aspire to be close to what they can do.
 
I also think it's great that he's putting so many different styles into that solo. Don't hear many waltzes or big bands in a rock concert.

I just thought that the big band ending was funny (coming from a jazz players perspective). The crowd loved it so it did it's job......

As Peart get's older his technique get's a little slopier but in my opinion his creativity and playing get so much better.
 
I hate to see people arguing and getting petty over Neil Peart! I never could figure out why people get so polarized over different drummers - I think of it more like flavors of ice cream. You just like what you like!

Anyway, I like Peart (and Rush) a lot. I heard my first Rush song in about 1976, and have seen most tours since 1978. I have seen the band and Neil grow and mature through the years without lowering their standards or worrying about meeting anybody else's expectations. I also understand what other people don't like, but that's cool with me as long as they aren't disrespectful of my tastes.

I find it kind of amusing that we discuss best drummers - to me, there can be no best drummer. Each one is like a storyteller; unless you want to hear the same story over and over from the same storyteller, variety is good.
 
jpekarek said:
Like him or not, Neil Peart if a household word all over the world. I'm not speaking to his skill or abilities, just the fact that he is a little bigger than most kids think.
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A household word? I don't think so. The only reason I'd ever heard of Neil Peart and Rush was because I read Modern Drummer. I got to the age of 24 without ever hearing a Rush tune. No friend of mine in the whole of England has even heard of Rush - I'm being serious. They have a huge following, sure, but their popularity is a long way from the level you assume it to be.

Zardoz - Peart is the second most influential drummer behind Buddy Rich, is he? What's happened to Ringo?!

Don't get me wrong, I do now own the Chronicles and I enjoy it (with Finn on the lyrics though), but some of the things said about this guy are really stretching credibility.
 
Niel Peart is one very intelligent man. I heard him do an interview somewhere and the man's a genius. Like fixme jesus said, he writes books that are witty, clever and intelligent. It'd be great to have a discussion with him.
 
drummermajor said:
As Peart get's older his technique get's a little slopier but in my opinion his creativity and playing get so much better.
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Huh....somebody is confused....

As he got older he studied with Gruber and changed his technique and approach to playin and yet he was still able to pull off his old match grip material without a mistake....
 
LinearDrummer said:
Huh....somebody is confused....

As he got older he studied with Gruber and changed his technique and approach to playin and yet he was still able to pull off his old match grip material without a mistake....
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If you compare his playing from his most recent video to an older one, you'll notice that his technique is slopier. He uses a lot of unecessary arm movements etc. Not insulting his playing at all, but had I seen a recent video of him before the older ones I wouldn't have been impressed simply for technical reasons.
 
Its not really sloppiness. He sounds less like a drum machine now that he varies his hits.

If you were to call it sloppy, then Stewart Copleland would be the sloppiest player in the world.
 
The slopiness comment has nothing to do with him varying what he plays. I am refering to technique alone. The way Neils body moves has always seemed a little stiff to me. In "Anatomy" his arms are moving a lot more than they did in the past.

I'm not saying slopiness is bad. I used to think that way...that's why I couldn't stand elvin jones for a long time. Although I still can't stand watching Ari Hoenig. He makes drumming look painful. Listening is great though.

I'm not a technical freak. It's just an observation that he uses a lot of arms now.
 
You can expect quite a wide range of opinions when you enter one of these threads in the "drummers" section... However, I must say I'm very surprised to see the adjective "sloppy" to qualify Neil Peart's playin'.

I've seen him live around 10 times, spanning from the Hemisphere tour to the last R30 tour, and I certainly didn't noticed any "sloppiness" appearing in his playin'.
 
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