Neil Peart

I never thought of Neil as not being fluid. What may seem like a lack of fluidity is for me the effortlessness with which he plays. If I tried to play for two minutes like he plays for five you would have to pick me up off the floor and carry me to the couch (although admittedly I am not a drummer.)

Im not a Peart fan, but if we think about the seventies, what I think of as typical to Peart is the very hard and distinct way of hitting the drums, were there is a lot of will behind every stroke, and also the aggressive drum fills with tom toms tuned in a wide range, from high pitched to low.

richardh wrote: Starhammer wrote: richardh wrote: Catcher10 wrote: Starhammer wrote: He's a great drummer, but he's quite mechanical though. What most people don't like about Neil is the lack of fluidity in his playing, unlike jazz drummers.   He's the man!.......I don't get the mechanical arguement or the part where he is not fluid....His drumming is seemless, that's pretty fluid to me.   Indeed and also Rush are not a jazz band I know, but you'd expect some fluid drumming from a man who says he's a jazz fan since his childhood and had lessons from one of the top jazz drumming instructors. And the mechanical drumming appears when he plays his songs live, exactly like the studio recordings. Of course Rush changes the song's arrangements every now and then, but he leaves no room for improv. Makes me wonder if it's really worth for me to spend money on seeing them live. I will have to admit that on the one occasion I saw them live (Vapor Trails tour) it was Lifesen that blew me away rather than Peart. At the time though I put it down to bad acoustics at the venue (Birmingham NEC - very large barn of a venue) but perhaps that wasn't all of it. BUT to me there is a very big difference in the live versions of tracks on Exit Stage Left compared to the albums where the smoothness and flow is there so perhaps its an age thing as another poster suggested.

An age thing? Mani Neumeier is a heptagenarian, but you would never guess that when you hear him play. Of all prog drummers Neuimeier is probably the most versatile; there is ahrdly a style he has not played in, from free jazz to punk; he even made excursions into techno.

pied piper wrote: I consider Peart the most overrated drummer of the world. I can give you at least 50 names I consider much better... Sorry Peart fans!

Apparently you have been smoking your pipe then.

rushaholic wrote: ^^ Predictable??  The only thing predictable with Peart discussions is that you will always show up to put Peart fans in their place. These discussions always get silly anyways.  Always boils down to a matter of taste.

This comment only shows rthat you have not understood a word of what i wrote., If Peart is your favourite drummer - fine; I have absolutely nothing against that - de gustibus non est disputandum. But a certain kind of Peart fans behave as if only Peart could drum. When I see comments like "Peart, who else?" in drum polls (and there are lots of them in the archives; just take a look at other drum polls) it angers me; it shows disrespect to all the rest of excellent drummers which are out there. This behaviour and nothing else is what I criticize. I do not doubt Mr. Peart's abilitiesat all, though personally I find him boring; but that is a question of style. But I am a drummer myself and have played drums for over 25 xears now, and believe me, Peart is definitely not that special as these kind of fans claim.


Edited by BaldFriede - January 07 2011 at 16:52

The T wrote: BaldFriede, did Peart ever hurt you, like, personally?

Read the comment I made after yours.

But BaldFriede, there are fans like that for MANY many drummers, including some that seriously lack skills (like Ulrich). But why you seen to react only against Peart's fans?

It really boils down to a matter of taste.....I think BaldFriede based on other posts your passion for music does not lie in heavy prog where Rush on this site is categorized. It lies in more jazz/fusion based bands like Mani's style of playing...At least that is what I feel based on your other posts and the bands you have mentioned or drummers you have mentioned.

Catcher10 wrote: It really boils down to a matter of taste.....I think BaldFriede based on other posts your passion for music does not lie in heavy prog where Rush on this site is categorized. It lies in more jazz/fusion based bands like Mani's style of playing...At least that is what I feel based on your other posts and the bands you have mentioned or drummers you have mentioned. This is more a fan appreciation thread by the OP, not a compariosn of Neil Peart to other drummers poll or style of play. Although I appreciate your opinion and posts I think this thread is not the place to express your dislike of Neil Peart's playing. So I can understand where some of the comments against what you posted are coming from.....I think you just picked the wrong thread.......The other ones are more appropriate to voice your displeasure and would get better responses.

Wrong - I like heavy prog a lot; High Tide are one of my favourite bands. And you get me wrong - I don't really dislike his playing. What I dislike is that he will stick to what he played in studio even in live versions. I read an interview with Peart, and I know where this comes from - it is a misunderstanding of classical music. it appears that Mr. Peart thinks there is no impovisation in classical music, but this is true only for symphonies.All classical composers were great improvisors. It was the Romantic period with its genius cult that claimed that only what is written down should be plaed.But any music that is for example for "harpsichord and basso continuo!" leaves a lot of room for improvisation for both the soloist and the continuo group. Modern performances of classical music bring back this spirit of improvisation and leave more room for the soloists and even for the accompanying orchestra.
Peart on the other hand follows that old "Romantic ideal", which is why in his live performances he will play exactly the same what he played in the studio, note for note and hit for hit. This is in my opinion totally uninspired and boring drumming.

You're being very disrespectful to Romantic and Serialist composers. It's okay if you don't like them, but you shouldn't be disrespectful using terms like 'genius cult' and 'old "Romantic ideal"'.