>> ^lurgee:

Canada
Neil is god!

Not sure why your *canada didn't stick. Let's try that again...

>> ^smooman:

it just takes a certain kind of person to appreciate drum solos. some do some dont. i happen to love em. just like it takes a certain kind of person to appreciate lightning fast guitar solos. as a guitarist im not all that into the facemelting, technical, speed solos full of appregios and such. Im more of a "make every note count" solo along the lines of santana, clapton, or billy gibbons (im very partial to "bluesy" soloing).
different strokes for different folks


I often like just raw drum solos I just don't think this particular one was that inspired.

Your video, Neil Peart drum solo on Letterman last night, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

No, just an "I Love You, Man" reference. >> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

Are you a Bass player? >> ^dag:
Nice one. Makes me want to be slappin' da' bass.

Are you a Bass player? >> ^dag:

Nice one. Makes me want to be slappin' da' bass.

You've got to give it up for Neil Peart. He is a legend and a great influence to any drummer that grew up in the 70's/80's/early 90's. That said, there has always been criticism of his lack of spontaneity. Most drummers will change up parts and fills from one performance to the next, but Neil Peart always plays the exact same parts, fills and open solos. Of course they are well composed and appropriate to Rush's elaborate songs, so there is a good case to be made for the strict consistency.

@RadHazG - Most of the time I feel the same way - and I play drums for a living. The problem is that it is difficult to create a moving musical experience with unpitched percussion instruments. Most of the time, drum solos end up being disjointed displays of virtuosity, which are technically impressive but lacking from an aesthetic standpoint.

There are some great drummers out there who really know how to emote. Elvin Jones, Jack Dejohonette, Vinnie Colliuta, Terry Bozio (Zappa knew how to pick his drummers) and Peter Erskine are some of my favorites in this category.

[redacted]

>> ^enoch:

i was lucky enough to see moving pictures and was astounded how they had to set up the drum set around neil peart.
if you have not seen a live RUSH show,i highly recommend that you check them out.


I saw Grace Under Pressure tour, astounding indeed.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'Neil Peart, Rush, drummer, Letterman, drum, drum kit, solo, percussion, percussionist' to 'Neil Peart, Rush, drummer, Letterman, drum, drum kit, solo, percussion, moving pictures' - edited by burdturgler

i was lucky enough to see moving pictures and was astounded how they had to set up the drum set around neil peart.
if you have not seen a live RUSH show,i highly recommend that you check them out.

The 80s radiation is strong from this one! With the music too, the Neal Peart 80s sound is strong.

p.s.
AWESOME !

The song's lyrics (and title) are both a tribute to Ayn Rand's novella Anthem, who deeply influenced Neil Peart - Rush's lyricist - at the time:

Know your place in life is where you want to be
Don't let them tell you that you owe it all to me
Keep on looking forward, no use in looking 'round
Hold your head above the ground and they won't bring you down

Chorus:
Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
We marvel after those who sought
New wonders in the world, wonders in the world,
Wonders in the world they wrought

Live for yourself -- there's no one else
More worth living for
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will
Only cry out for more

[Chorus]

Well, i know they've always told you
Selfishness was wrong
Yet it was for me, not you, i
Came to write this song

[Chorus]

From a Q&A with fan questions in 1993:

Q. It's fairly well known that you've been influenced to a great extent by the writings of Ayn Rand. Knowing that her philosophy places a great deal of emphasis on individualism and creative integrity, particularly in the realm of art, how do you reconcile this with the fact that the music of Rush is written collectively? What happens if one of you has your heart set on a particular part, but the other two are dead-set against it?

Eric Simpson
Miami Springs, FL

A. Well, I saved this one until last, and you can see why! Eric and other people often send long lists of questions, and I hope they understand that I just can't justify spending half a page on a complex answer for each arcane question (for myself or for the general reader) so I have to be selective. Since I'm giving my time to this as a service to others, I go about it in my own way -- like the selfish bum I am.

Sometimes I choose questions which a few people have asked about, but which are unlikely to appear in an interview; sometimes I choose questions I think are interesting; sometimes I head off a growing myth and debunk it for you; other times I just say "what the heck" and answer any old one. So okay...

For a start. the extent of my influence by the writings of Ayn Rand should not be overestimated -- I am no one's disciple. Yes, I believe the individual is paramount in matters of justice and liberty, but in philosophy, as Aristotle said long ago, the paramount good is happiness. My self-determination as an individual is part of the pursuit of happiness, of course, but there's more to it than that.

In this particular example, working together with Alex and Geddy is a more important part of my pursuit of happiness than is my attachment to any line of lyric or phrase of music. Thus the conflict you describe would not arise -- if we disagree on such a detail, we work on it until it satisfies everybody, and if (very) occasionally one of us has to sacrifice a petty preference, they hey -- it's no big deal. Especially when you compare such an issue against the satisfaction we get from the big picture, the sum of our work together, it would be foolish to sacrifice long-term happiness for a small difference in taste.

I've said before that in regard to my own work, the lyrics, I am more often excited by the input from the other two than I am disappointed by it, and I certainly never feel compromised by it.

And there you can see how complicated it is to identify and pursue happiness, and how complicated it can be just to answer one question (out of twenty submitted by the curious Mr. Simpson, though others often rival him.)

You see what I'm up against...

Bye for now,

N. Peart

November 4, '93, Toronto

Obviously Neil Peart was touring in Asia about 14 years ago.

RB teaches you that drumming is basically doing the same thing over and over again. So I think yes, it totally helps teach you drumming, because you learn, "Hey, I'm not Neil Peart. I'm not going to unleash any gnarly drum solos, I just have to learn not to get bored playing the same damn thing for 3-10 minutes." But I guess the same could be said for bass...

Without having read the article, how annoying would it be if there were 50 bands named Rush and you wanted to look up one of them on youtube? 5000 pages of Rush and nothing with Neil Peart or Geddy Lee.