RIP Neil Peart

OK, let's keep this thread as intended, namely Neil Peart worship! I can personally say that Rush was the perfect gateway drug to more progressive music being a metalhead and all. 2112 FOREVER!!

Atavachron wrote: ^ I don't even think Keith Emerson got a top of the page tribute.

Andy Webb wrote: Logged in after a few months offline because of this. Absolutely gutted to see this news. Rush hasn't been on my listen list for a little while, but I'll be sure to spin the whole discography this weekend. The influence that man had on this genre is immeasurable... a legend was lost yesterday.

Just checked my personal Diary for 1979 - I only saw Rush once - Sunday April 29th - Manchester Apollo.

He was always someone who took good care of himself mentally and physically, which alongside his humble nature, his intellect and obvious considerable talent as a musician and writer, make his untimely passing ever more depressing IMO. He was not a 'walk on the wild side' rocker. He wasn't a drug and booze gannet like those idiots in the Rolling Stones, who still haul their semi talented carcasses out on tour periodically (not that I wish ill health on them). He was just a decent guy with an extraordinary gift.

He deserved a long and fulfilling life, and a peaceful healthy retirement. He was robbed of the latter by the cruel lottery of cancer.

Machinemessiah wrote: historian9 wrote: I don't think anyone had the idea to mess around with the banner before, but I'm a Rush fan and it was a spontaneous thing that I came up with and it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought to set up on the admin side of things, only once I actually explored all the workings. I would hope that in the future we might be using it for happier occasions, but I don't think that's in the cards for obvious reasons. Will keep it in mind to use it for proper tributes from now on though. Very grateful on my part man,   it's beautiful!

 

Padraic wrote: Blacksword wrote: This actually affected me, in a way I never thought the death of someone I didn't know, could. I spent all day Saturday - after hearing the news - and Sunday morning, in London with my girlfriend. We'd seen a show and done some sight seeing, and we'd both been looking forward to it for a while. But, I actually struggled to park this bad news about Neil Peart to one side for the duration. In recent years, we've seen Chris Squire, Lemmy, Bowie, Emerson and Lake among others pass away, and although I'm always saddened by these things, the passing of a Rush member is quite a big deal for me. Rush were the band that really got me into prog rock. The first band I obsessed over and Neil himself a true inspiration to me as a drummer. For two nights running now, I've heard Rush songs playing in my dreams (or rather dreamy variations on them) Last night it was fragments of Ghost of a Chance, and the night before, Subdivisions. A very sad day for rock music. An absolute tragedy for Neil's family, and for Lee and Lifeson. RIP NP. I usually don't get terribly affected by the passing of celebrities, but this hit me way harder than I expected.  This was the music of my adolescence. Rest in peace, Neil.  Thank you for everything.

Absolutely. Me too. They were 'my band'

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: siLLy puPPy wrote: AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: siLLy puPPy wrote: I spUn 2112 this morning for the first time in years. It goes without saying that without Peart, Rush would've simply just been another Foghat Actually, I disagree with that. After Rutsey left Geddy and Alex would have gone in a different and more progressive direction anyway and so would have ended up with a prog sound even without Neil. Neil was just the catalyst to help them achieve their musical goals much faster(imo). Now how do you know that? My guess they would've jumped on  the commercial bandwagon. While we'll never know for sure, i'd bet that whatever would've happened that it would have been inferior to what Rush accomplished with Peart on the team. I know that because I have heard interviews with Geddy and read online (and in a Rush biography)that he and Alex were big into prog rock(yes before Rutsey left). In fact one reason John Rutsey left is because he was disinterested in the direction they were going in(his diabetes was also a big factor but not the only one). It's pretty well documented that Rush were heading in a more progressive direction before Rutsey left. Peart didn't really have much to do with the music so it's not like he had much of an influence on that anyway other than the lyrics. Inferior maybe but it's folly to assume they would have sounded like Bad Company or Foghat just because they didn't have Neil. In fact it's highly unlikely the music itself would have been that different since like I said Alex and Geddy wrote the actual music(just probably with inferior drumming and lyrics. ;) ).

 

Still hurts so bad  - for me he was the simply the best drummer of all time, because he elevated the drums to an essential part of the composition of the music.  Not simply a clock by which the others kept time.