Neil Peart

Neil Peart is...

  • God

    Votes: 43 61.4%

  • Overrated

    Votes: 24 34.3%

  • Crap

    Votes: 3 4.3%
  • Total voters
    70
FWIW......Red Barchetta (from Moving Pictures) was recorded in one take, all "live". That oughta speak volumes about the talent of those guys (and i think it's reflected in the vibe/feel in that tune too).


cheers,
wade
 
Louddog said:
It was actually the 1970's that Peart was dominating. It's always easy 30+ years later to say, oh, he's not that good, but if you were around back then, you thought nobody could touch him. We all learned from him, and drummers today SHOULD be better because of him. Does anybody really think Larry Bird could compete in todays NBA?

Doug
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To reinforce my point, if you were listening to other forms of music back then and heard "Space Boogie" by Jeff Beck, your mind should have been blown! It was the "Hot for Teacher" of it's time and was fast and in 5/8 and 7/8 for a huge amount of the song.

Not alot of drummers are familiar because it isn't straight rock.
 
But what about Buddy Rich? He was blowing minds long before Neil Peart came along, and he has far more feel...
 
I had (what most would consider) 'bad seats' for their Moving Pictures concert in Portland... I loved em... I was sitting directly stage right and about 75 feet from Neil.. Perfect vantage point to watch him.
In particular, I wanted to see him do Red Barchetta and see if he could do that fill he does right before the last chorus... I heard the record and thought "no way anyone can do that live!"

The song came on in the show, and I sat and watched him play it note for note and STILL had no clue how he did it... I sat there and voiced out loud 'the guy's a fucking machine!'

OK... so let's sit here 20 years later and put up a poll about whether he's an over-rated drummer...? How about asking some of the drummers that list him as an influence (Mike Portnoy for one).

One of my favorite quotes from him regarding this: "I don’t know about me being a “great” inspiration, but when younger drummers tell me they were inspired to take up drumming because of me, I usually say something like, “I apologize to your parents.” :D

Anyway... Listen to Neil's work (past and present) and force yourself to imagine that most of what you are hearing was recorded in very few takes... and many times on the very first take...

And maybe wait for one of the present speed-metal drum 'gods' to lay out ANY polyrhythmic ostinatto's that Neil puts out seemingly effortlessly (I'm still trying to workout his Kickdrum/Tamborine waltz in O Baterista... I'm close ) :)

Can't vote in your 'poll' ... Seems too much like Troll Bait. Just wanted to offer up some personal views...

:)
 
Elton Bear said:
But what about Buddy Rich? He was blowing minds long before Neil Peart came along, and he has far more feel...
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Buddy Rich would have sucked in Rush. Rush is a rock outfit.

I don't think Buddy would neccessarily get on well as an equal member of a team. Unless he was significantly more equal.
 
Supercreep said:
I don't think Buddy would neccessarily get on well as an equal member of a team. Unless he was significantly more equal.
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Hehe...Buddy was known as quite the Tyrant. He was the Drum Nazi!!!

"NO SOLO FOR YOU!!!!! COME BACK.....ONE TOUR!!!!!!"
 
if anyone needs any confirmation, AT ALL, of just how talented and skilled (and relevant those chops are to Danny Carey, Mike Portnoy, etc), they need to look no farther than neil's latest DVD, The Anatomy of a Drum Solo.

it's not the drum solo so much that's the stunner (even though it is). it's the warmup that neil does that will leave your jaw on the floor. you want limb interdependence, you got it. you want insane chops and remarkable dynamics and feel? you got it.

and for those guys who are talking about how there's no swing in neil's playing--there certainly is now. everything since Test For Echo has had a grove in it that used to not be present. that's directly due to his time studying with Fred Gruber. in particular, freddy helped him learn the circular motion of drumming which gave his playing a swing that was never there before.

i remember hearing Limelight on the T4E tour and thinking "this song has never grooved like this before" and there neil was, playing with traditional grip and exhibiting swing.

BentRabbit--i had similar seats for the Counterparts tour in DC. I watched neil the entire show, from the side. it was fantastic seeing him play Xanadu->Hemispheres from that vantage point. obstructed view, my ass. :p


cheers,
wade
 
mrface2112 said:
BentRabbit--i had similar seats for the Counterparts tour in DC.
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Intro (Thus Spoke Zarathustra first used)
Dreamline
The Spirit of Radio
The Analog Kid
Cold Fire (with Country music intro)
Time Stand Still
Nobody's Hero
Roll the Bones
Animate
Stick It Out (with introduction by Lerxst)
Double Agent
Limelight
Bravado (added 4/20/94)
Mystic Rhythms
Closer To The Heart (with member introductions by Lerxst)
Show Don't Tell
Leave That Thing Alone!
The Rhythm Method (Drum Solo)
The Trees
Xanadu (abbreviated)->
Hemispheres (Prelude)
Tom Sawyer
Force Ten
YYZ
Cygnus X-1 (teaser)

That was a good tour. I'm bummed they'll probably never again play Hemispheres in total again. :( The last time they played the whole thing was on the PW tour in 1980 - and I missed it. :mad: :( :(
 
Supercreep said:
The Analog Kid
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what a ROCKER. wish they'd bring that one back.
Supercreep said:
Stick It Out (with introduction by Lerxst)
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"this is a song about sitting in a chair on top of a pole on top of the world".
Supercreep said:
Bravado (added 4/20/94)
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added just in time for when i saw them. one of my alltime favorites.
Supercreep said:
Closer To The Heart (with member introductions by Lerxst)
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in DC, they were Bill Clinton (drums), Bill Clinton (bass) and Fabio.

Supercreep said:
That was a good tour.
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that was a GREAT tour. for a "modern" single set setlist (era 1994) i don't think it could be a whole lot better.
Supercreep said:
I'm bummed they'll probably never again play Hemispheres in total again. :( The last time they played the whole thing was on the PW tour in 1980 - and I missed it. :mad: :( :(
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yeah, that's not gonna happen. geddy just can't sing that high anymore--hell, he had a hard time singing that high when they *recorded* Hemispheres as they wrote almost all of the music without any consideration for the vocal part.

and that's why they had to lower 2112's key for the last few tours. i couldn't imagine Hemispheres being played in another key--it'd sound more "off" than 2112 does. :eek:


cheers,
wade

PS--somewhere at home i've got a soundboard of (most of) the DC show from the counterparts tour. geddy sounds horrible--he had a throat infection. :(
 
a friend of mine just got tickets to see Rush play at Jones Beach (long island) in july or august.

pretty jealous i must say.. $60 a ticket, well worth it for rush though. i wanna see them before they die myself.
 
They'll be here in august I think. Outdoor concert. Should be about a trillion degrees with a billion percent humidity. I'm there.
 
TragikRemix said:
a friend of mine just got tickets to see Rush play at Jones Beach
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i somehow scored 13th row (via ticketbastard) for their show at Nissan (DC) in june. it was a lot more than $60, though. but still, well worth it--it'll be the closest i've ever been (and probably will be) to the stage for a rush show in 17 years of seeing them. i'm justabit excited. ;)

cheers,
wade
 
I got mine for their amphitheater show here...

I'm not 100 level, but 200 level worked for me...

I think they were $69.00 each

It'll be my wife's first Rush concert... Unless you count the times she's endured my watching the Rush in Rio and R30 DVD's

:D
 
He is a great drummer but an amazing musician! Not one of my favorite drummers but there's no denying his talent. Also i dont listen to rush :D
 
PhilGood said:
Neil Peart is...

...getting into voice-overs from what I hear. I played golf this weekend with a friend of his from DW. Told me that Neil is playing a character in an animated movie due out this year, but I can remember the name. I will find out.

As for why Neil is considered by so many to be so great is basically that he is the average drummer's first foray into better (great) drumming. To really know truly great players you would have to venture very far from most mainstream music to hear them and not a lot of people are ready to go that route. Rush's music is fairly palatable to most rock listeners and their discography and record of being very inventive is what gives Neil his reputation. He has never played an average beat and he's good at what he does. Does that really make him a great drummer?...yes! Is he over-rated?...yes! He himself would tell you so. The guy realized enough about how his playing was stagnating that he went to Freddy Grubber, for God's sakes. (Freddy's just...weird.) I take my hat off to him for that.

He has his weaknesses, and until you DO venture into the realm of really great players you don't hear them. I myself considered Neil to be the greatest drummer of all time...until I knew better. Now I can hear every error in his playing...and I still LOVE his playing.

I give him all the accolades he deserves! He has added richly to the art of drumming and taken it places it has never been before. We owe Neil a great deal of gratitude, same with many others. I consider him to dwell among the very best.

Anyone who considers him the best in the world really needs an education, though.
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Nicely put.
 
My old band recorded with Terry Brown, who told us about Neil Peart spending hours getting his fills perfect before they would get to tracking. He said it was pretty incredible to watch the man work. Meticulous, I believe was a word he used. Anyway...
 
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