Neil Peart

Michael, I know you are an uber-fan of NP and Rush which is fine. I don't want to mess with that - it's your personal taste.

But just one bit food for thought: If you went to a Rush concert and NP actually did play things differently from the records, including grooves and fills. Do you as the NP fan that you are honestly think that would have been a worse concert for that reason, even if NP would have played the new stuff in his very own vibe (perfect execution, trademark grooves/fills but maybe played a little different or at different spots)? Or would you maybe walk out of that concert thinking it was the greatest event ever because it surprised you and moved you in a different way than you had expected it?

I have the slight impression that you've become such an extreme fan of NP and (probably due to many discussions on the internet) maybe a bit overly defensive, so when it comes to any kind of discussion about him, you automatically stand behind what Neil does. I guess that if Neil was famous for delivering perfect studio tracks but changing these live with his sense of moments, you'd now be defending that against people who would say: "I'd prefer him to play everything exactly like it is recorded".

This is really not meant to pick on you, just as I said: Food for thought.

One more point: I honestly don't think you can compare painting to musicmaking. You could probably compare action-painting (where the act of painting itself becomes the piece of art) to the act of making music and compare a finished, static painting to a recording. But comparing a static painting to an act of making music doesn't really work in my book.

Lastly, to throw in my own two cents: I am not a fan of a 1:1 reproduction of music on stage - I could instead just listen to a record instead. I prefer "revisiting" songs live... you know: Play all the things that are important to the song (which will really force you to think about what actually is important to a particular song and of course I know that in the case of Rush, many people will say "every note on the record played by Neil is important to the song") but leave maybe a little room to surprise the audience or even to surprise yourself on stage. I'd say that most of my favourite moments in concerts (both on stage and in the audience) were these moments, were things happen that no one would have expected to happen.


Anyway, interesting points in this thread.
 
I think all this discussion of changing up composition in concerts is pretty senseless myself. A lot of guitarists are guilty of this as well. Is David Gilmour a lesser guitarist than Jimmy Page for playing Comfortably Numb note for note with the album? Page would never do that. As for drummers, Neil is one of the best and thats all that needs to be said. There's a lot of drummers with the "artistic expression" to vary every night that still absolutely suck in comparison to Mr Peart, so what difference does it really make?
 
Definitly One of the legend in Progressive Drumming....
I really like his newest Kit... The Snakes & Arrows kit....

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An article I came across.

Neil discussing Rush may release new songs, but not an album, and Neil recording a new version of "The Hockey Theme"

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2010/01/13/12452396-cp.html?cid=rssentertainmentmusic
Click the link for the whole article,

A few excerpts:

suddenly albums don't mean anything," Peart told The Canadian Press in a telephone interview from his home in California.

"We're thinking of writing and recording a few songs and maybe releasing them, and playing them live, and then going back and doing some more later.


Peart was similarly forward-thinking when it came time to record a new version of "The Hockey Theme," the iconic song that has opened broadcasts of "Hockey Night in Canada" for 40 years.

Peart's version will debut on TSN during Thursday's broadcast of the Toronto-Philadelphia game and will then be used for the rest of the season by the network.

After being "blown away" by the invitation to recreate the classic tune, Peart decided on his approach: a "drum solo with horns."
 
Mr. Peart is a true '' Genius''. I do like his style and respect his achievements as a musician, but I find his playing way too technical for my taste.
 
I've seen Rush 5 times and I've always spotted areas where he's thought of something he liked better than when he recorded it, and then changed it.

Somewhere on the net, I found a piece of audio of Rush playing Limelight before NP finished writing his drum part and definitely before it was recorded for Moving Pictures. It was radically different. I like what he settled on better, but it does make the point that any part can be revisited at anytime and improvements made - even for Neil Peart.
 
Somewhere on the net, I found a piece of audio of Rush playing Limelight before NP finished writing his drum part and definitely before it was recorded for Moving Pictures. It was radically different. I like what he settled on better, but it does make the point that any part can be revisited at anytime and improvements made - even for Neil Peart.

What I really like about NP is that he reminds me of an athlete who is never satisfied until he pushes himself to his physical best everytime. He sculpts his segments very methodically, and pushes himself to do one better than the last time he played it. I think he serves as a real role model for all younger drummers as to what hard work and alot of practice yields.
 
Somewhere on the net, I found a piece of audio of Rush playing Limelight before NP finished writing his drum part and definitely before it was recorded for Moving Pictures. It was radically different. I like what he settled on better, but it does make the point that any part can be revisited at anytime and improvements made - even for Neil Peart.
I found that clip. Sometimes I get so used to hearing him playing a song a certain way that I lose sight of all the ideas he must've tried and discarded during the writing process.
 
the this could be you singing:
Suddenly ahead of me
Across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air car
Shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires
To run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase

Thanks Nutha, I had an Uncle who passed away recently who had a farm. (My Uncle has a country place...) He was someone I could always talk to when times were rough. This made me think of him and now I also what to relearn that song as my own private tribute.

Thanks Neil and thanks drummerworld.
 
Peart used a custom-designed drumset while recording the song. The set is adorned with the logos of all 30 NHL teams - each one sprayed and masked by hand, one colour at a time, he said - and a blue chrome finish that Peart wanted to look like icicles.

The set will now be kept in the Hockey Hall of Fame. That fact delights Peart, in part, because he says he was never very talented as a hockey player growing up.

"What a joke, eh!" he said with a laugh. "I made the joke to my mom, I said: 'Take THAT, bullies from 50 years ago!'

"The other joke is that we (Rush) have not been put in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but now we're in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

"I think, as Canadians, we're satisfied."

haha. that's awesome.
 
Wow!! I literally discovered Neil Pearts playing today! I've never heard a Rush song before but decided to listen through Moving Pictures, and I must say, I'm amazed! Not sooo much by the singing, a little by the songs, but very much with Neil's playing! Love it! I think I will get more into the songs and the singing though.
Have to check out some more Peart stuff now :).
 
hey there,

just been watching some Peart Videos online, and after i thought about speaking my mind on him for a few years now actually, i decided to finally do so.

On a personal level, i really like the guy (from what i can tell through interviews etc.). Also i think he has a very good attitude towards his instrument and " to always be learning." I think you have to admire a person who carries himself that way (sorry for my english....)

But also - and unfortunately for him, because i bet he didnt start the myth and wouldnt want himself to be considered the best or anything like that - he is one of the most overrated drummers of all time, at least in my opinion. I want to explain this by adressing some of the most popular arguments about his playing:
1. His technical skills are amazing.
He has good technique - at the things hes playing (wich i'll get to later). But any Drummer who practices regulary and the right way can achieve Pearts level of technique in a relatively short amount of time (I'd say about 5 years, if not less, but thats debatable). Since he doesn't do any advanced independence or polyrythmic stuff it just boils down to pure hand and feet speed. I think his singles are pretty good, his doubles are not that fast though. His feet are ok. Keep in mind this is all IMHO. And dont give me the "Playing over 3 is hard "(regarding one of his foot ostinatos hes playing all the time, RLL) - it's just not.

2. He's totally creative and comes up with Stuff no one can come up with
Well i actually think hes creative. At least he was once in his life when i came up with that solo hes been playing for a gazillion years now. And maybe at the Time this stuff was innovative. But now it isnt anymore. I'd like to make one point clear though: i'm speaking to drummers here (i hope). So i think you guys should understand that writing or performing a drumsolo which makes an audience go crazy - a good thing and something i admire about peart - does not necessarily mean its the most creative or expressive solo. Like in Language theres things certain people just dont understand because of a lack in vocabulary. A perfect example would be the a tony royster jr. solo video that appears on the side of a peart video on youtube and leads a lot of peart guys to it - in that video tony plays a great solo but incorporates a lot of advanced stuff like overrideng and/or playing polyrithmic patterns. In the Comments of that clip you see a lot of Peart Comparisons, where fanboys write that to them it sounds like random banging on the drums without concept, which is ridiculous. Drummers at the level of Royster (just an example, I'm not even mentioning greats like vinnie or dennis chambers) could write and perform a solo like pearts while sleeping. They just dont do it because their vocabulary is much bigger and they like to express their emotions on a much more complex level. To a person who can understand these concepts and the patterns/phrases they play, their solos are much more touching, creative and awe inspiring than anything Mr. Peart could do. I'm not saying that i want constant Polyrithmic wanking or 10 minutes of blistering fast double bass playing. But these things can make a solo much better played at the right spot. And sorry to say this, Mr.Peart just simply cant play them, so he doesnt even have the option, wich in itself IMO should clear out any doubts about if he's the best. hes just playing the same patterns and phrases over and over again, nothing creative to me there nowadays. And im not even starting about his humongous kit. I'd like to see Mr.Peart play a solo on a 3 Piece kit and see what "great phrases" he comes up with. Even at the buddy rich memorial he had to bring those cowbells, so he could play his lame signature doubles/melody phrase thing. How creative is that? Please.

I'd like to close my statement with the Fact that i would never in my Life write such a post, if there wasn't this gigantic hype around the man. I respect him and his playing and i wish him all the best and success. But i think its a slap in the face to all those guys that have invested much more time and energy in developing their craft and have deliverd so much more interesting efforts on the instrument, to say that he is the best Drummer ever or anything even remotely close (btw out of all the "overrated drummers - Portnoy, Jordison, Barker, etc- i still like him the most :))

Best wishes

Mitchi
 
There are inovaters and imitators. If it was not for neil peart there would not be a mike portney or Danny carry prog type drummers. So in five years you will be better than Neil Peart. Yes there are plenty of Drummers out there better than Neil or maybe not.
You are Judging art. As one drummer said is pocasso better than monet. or is a big mac better than a royal with cheese. yes I am and always will be a Peart fan. Big influence as a kid. As far as his drum solo goes, Thats is trade mark, Do you actualy think A hard core Rush fan would want to hear a different solo. Thats one of the reasons Rush fans love Neil Peart. They want to hear that solo. its like them wanting to hear spirit of radio.
Yes us drummers love to see amazing technical stuff. But music fans like music and concerts, they could give a rats ass about someones amazing technque. They want to see a good show. Neil peart is not underated he was and still is one of the greatest inovators of rock Like, John Bonham, Keith moon. Than drummers who play fast singles
and play a bunch nonsence
 
hey there,

just been watching some Peart Videos online, and after i thought about speaking my mind on him for a few years now actually, i decided to finally do so..................

Overrated??? It's cool to have an opinion mate and yours is no less valued than anyone elses, but throwing terms round like "overrated" is just sheer foolishness.

I saw someone say the same thing about Bonham recently. You don't dig him? That's totally cool, but don't ever underestimate the power of the Peart's, Bonham's, Moon's and Starr's that have been the sole reason that many an aspiring drummer picked up the sticks in the first instance.

Not to your tastes, perhaps. But "overrated" is just a ridiculous thing to say.

Ask yourself, would we have the Portnoy's, the Carey's et al, if it wasn't for the fore runners like Peart? Would we have the Bonham's and the Peart's without the Rich's, Krupa's, Bellson's and Morello's? Each up and coming generation should quite rightly "raise the bar", but that should in no way diminish those that came before them.
 
You know, I just gotta say that while I agree that he's not the "best in the world" (whatever that might mean), it's worth keeping in mind that most signature drummers do their most ground-breaking work when they're in their 20s, and into their 30s if they're lucky.

And it's not just drummers, it's a common phenomenon - take Einstein for example. He was in his 20s when in 1905 he published papers on Special Relativity and the photoelectric effect (for which he won the Nobel). He was in his 30s when in 1916 he published General Relativity. After that? Practically nothing, other than trying to convince himself that "God doesn't play dice" which clearly, he does! (see quantum theory, which Einstein spent the rest of his days trying to refute). He never came close to those youthful achievements, despite his best efforts.

Here's another example (and back to rock): Look at Van Halen. They jumped the shark with 1984 and everyone pretty well knows that (maybe even before then depending on who you ask). At least for those of us old enough to remember them in their heyday. Van Hagar is no more representative of the magic of that band than anything NP's done since the early/mid '80s.

If you listen to Neil Peart between the years '76 and '81 (2112 thru Moving Pictures) you get the most accurate representation of why NP is so revered among (most) drummers. Sure, he's still trying new things, is entertaining, and seems like a nice guy... but that fire he had then just can't be recaptured. It's been gone for years - decades, even. You can't just watch him with the Buddy Rich big band and think you know all there is to know about him. You can't watch his modern solos and think that that's what he's been doing all along. If you want to understand what the fuss is about, you have to go back further; back when he was keen to make a name for himself - not after he'd done so.

Perhaps the song "Losing It" was him coming to the realization that he was about to start burning out. I think if you're making judgments on him based on anything Power Windows or later, your missing out on what it was that made him so great to begin with. (I still like a lot of later Rush, but for different reasons)

Go back and listen to the Working Man solo on "All The World's A Stage" and listen to that 23 year old tearing into that kit with such abandon and exuberance and tell me that he wasn't an exceptional talent. That thing was as musical as it was epic. His solos have evolved over the years (as all things must), but they've never approached the energy of that one.

Limelight - listen to him smoothly and subtly invert his 4/4 beat against the 6/8 for 8 bars and then invert it back again nearing the outtro, which most drummers probably never even noticed despite having listened (and air drummed) to it a thousand times. That was before guys like Vinnie and Dave made beat inversions commonplace and obnoxiously obvious. And that "solo" at the ending? Wow. Keep in mind this was a major radio hit.

Nobody gets to go that over the top without losing the audience, yet as drummers (and non-drummers), we're awed that that level of complexity and audacity could be completely tasteful and appropriate - necessary, even. It just makes me laugh. He was the first drummer that I was aware of, then or since, that elevated drum compositions to such a degree. It's wasn't just accompaniment or showboating; it was somewhere in between and beyond. He brought rock drumming to a new creative level on par with the other instruments. Perhaps his most significant achievement was being the first universally recognized great rock drummer who wasn't a converted jazz drummer - he was rock from the word "go". (Mitchell, Giles, Bruford, Palmer,... even Bonham had that swing)

Did I mention that he raised the bar on precision? He may look and sound stiff now, but when he was younger and more limber, he was uber-precise and powerful. Not a robot, but a finely-tuned, well-oiled machine.

It was never so much that he was the "best" at chops (although they were mighty and fearsome), but that his time was so consistently smooth, his fills so accurate and well-conceived, and overall, his compositions were so clever and clean and just so far beyond just banging out a standard rock and roll beat... it was the combination of all those virtues that has won him more awards than any other drummer to come along. The guy clearly loved playing the drums more than anything else in life. That may not be true anymore, but it was then.

Overrated? This drummer doesn't think so.
 
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Overrated??? It's cool to have an opinion mate and yours is no less valued than anyone elses, but throwing terms round like "overrated" is just sheer foolishness.

I saw someone say the same thing about Bonham recently. You don't dig him? That's totally cool, but don't ever underestimate the power of the Peart's, Bonham's, Moon's and Starr's that have been the sole reason that many an aspiring drummer picked up the sticks in the first instance.

Not to your tastes, perhaps. But "overrated" is just a ridiculous thing to say.

Ask yourself, would we have the Portnoy's, the Carey's et al, if it wasn't for the fore runners like Peart? Would we have the Bonham's and the Peart's without the Rich's, Krupa's, Bellson's and Morello's? Each up and coming generation should quite rightly "raise the bar", but that should in no way diminish those that came before them.

There is no " ' " in all the plural's ;)!
 
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