RIP Neil Peart

JOGAMIGMOG said:
Sad loss. Many won't know that Neil had a passion for cycling, specifically cycle touring. He even write a book on it, 'The Masked Rider', which is available on Amazon. Maybe it's the hours spent cycle touring which helped him to get over the tragic losses of both his daughter and his wife. Hope so. RIP Neil.
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And several books after the masked rider, mainly on his motorcycle rides around the world when the band toured which are all a bit similar, however 'Ghost Rider: Travels on the healing road' penned after he lost his daughter in a car accident and his first wife a year later to cancer, and then set out on an epic motorcycle ride across the North American is brilliant. You don't need to be a fan of Rush to appreciate the writing.
 
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Absolutely gutted about hearing this sad news. A huge influence on my life both as a musician and writer. The best drummer of all time for me. He'll be sadly missed. R.I.P. Neil xxx

"Suddenly you were gone...from all the lives you left your mark upon"
 
brummie blue said:
And several books after the masked rider, mainly on his motorcycle rides around the world when the band toured which are all a bit similar, however 'Ghost Rider: Travels on the healing road' penned after he lost his daughter in a car accident and his first wife a year later to cancer, and then set out on an epic motorcycle ride across the North American is brilliant. You need to be a fan of Rush to appreciate the writing.
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Ghost Rider is a fantastic read... how he coped with the loss of his daughter and then his wife in quick succession is beyond comprehension. A brilliant drummer. A sad loss to music. A days decorating with Rush blasting out for me today. RIP Neil
 
As well as Bonham (and they were both different types of drummers) he was the most technically gifted drummer out there, let’s not forget his brilliant lyrics to tracks like The Trees, Freewill, 2112. RiP mate you will be missed
 
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RIP The Professor.

This news leaves me truly saddened. I'm a huge Rush fan, I've seen them at least once on every tour they ever did of the UK (including both nights at the Cow Shed).

Until Tuesday, Neil was the greatest living rock drummer. The only drummer whose solo was one of the highlights of his band's shows.
 
R.I.P. Neil.
One of my alltime favourite live bands. His drum solos were brilliant.
 
brummie blue said:
And several books after the masked rider, mainly on his motorcycle rides around the world when the band toured which are all a bit similar, however 'Ghost Rider: Travels on the healing road' penned after he lost his daughter in a car accident and his first wife a year later to cancer, and then set out on an epic motorcycle ride across the North American is brilliant. You need to be a fan of Rush to appreciate the writing.
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I have that book.. happy to hand it to a blue if anybody wants to read it...
 
When someone as good as Neil took lessons off Freddie Gruber and Pete Erskine so he could improve as a player says a lot about the man.
Been a Rush live albums all day.
 
big gaz said:
When someone as good as Neil took lessons off Freddie Gruber and Pete Erskine so he could improve as a player says a lot about the man.
Been a Rush live albums all day.
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I made do with All the World's a Stage, which is where my love affair with Rush started. Probably the most memorable first listen to a band / album I've ever enjoyed (Xmas Day 1976).

In the stuff going round about Neil I noted that Rolling Stone placed him at number 4 in their top 100 drummers of all time. That's quite an accolade when you see some of the drummers just behind him on the list. Ahead of him, somewhat predictably, they had Bonzo, Moon & Baker.

Baker wouldn't make my personal top three but of the other two, I only saw them live once a piece; whereas I must have seen Peart over 20 times, which would be more than any other drummer and made him very special to me.

I should add, I loved his lyrics too, whether it was the sc-fi fantasy stuff of the more personal.
 
big gaz said:
So glad I made the R40 tour now. Guess Alex and Geddy must of known as in interviews they were so adamant that Rush wouldn't tour again. God bless hope you find peace.
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statement said a 3.5 year battle, so mid 2016 diagnosis? I’d love them to have come to Europe and done just one show at Wembley Stadium or something, just to say goodbye over here too.
 
OB1 said:
I made do with All the World's a Stage, which is where my love affair with Rush started. Probably the most memorable first listen to a band / album I've ever enjoyed (Xmas Day 1976).

In the stuff going round about Neil I noted that Rolling Stone placed him at number 4 in their top 100 drummers of all time. That's quite an accolade when you see some of the drummers just behind him on the list. Ahead of him, somewhat predictably, they had Bonzo, Moon & Baker.

Baker wouldn't make my personal top three but of the other two, I only saw them live once a piece; whereas I must have seen Peart over 20 times, which would be more than any other drummer and made him very special to me.

I should add, I loved his lyrics too, whether it was the sc-fi fantasy stuff of the more personal.
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Agreed re the lyrics, and I’d actually place him above those 3 as a drummer. His dexterity was unsurpassed, but he could also hit has hard as Bonham
 
OB1 said:
I made do with All the World's a Stage, which is where my love affair with Rush started. Probably the most memorable first listen to a band / album I've ever enjoyed (Xmas Day 1976).

In the stuff going round about Neil I noted that Rolling Stone placed him at number 4 in their top 100 drummers of all time. That's quite an accolade when you see some of the drummers just behind him on the list. Ahead of him, somewhat predictably, they had Bonzo, Moon & Baker.

Baker wouldn't make my personal top three but of the other two, I only saw them live once a piece; whereas I must have seen Peart over 20 times, which would be more than any other drummer and made him very special to me.

I should add, I loved his lyrics too, whether it was the sc-fi fantasy stuff of the more personal.
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I find that top 4 surprising. Bonham was a power house and his bass drum playing (before pedals allowed drummers to use double hit pedals) puts him in the top 4. The other two are undoubtedly decent drummers but not top 4 for me - I only ever saw Peart live (Stafford on the Signals tour)

Agree on Peart’s lyrics, Rush were one of the few bands where I could listen to an album whilst reading the lyrics start to finish like reading a classic novel.
 
TueartsOHK said:
I find that top 4 surprising. Bonham was a power house and his bass drum playing (before pedals allowed drummers to use double hit pedals) puts him in the top 4. The other two are undoubtedly decent drummers but not top 4 for me - I only ever saw Peart live (Stafford on the Signals tour)

Agree on Peart’s lyrics, Rush were one of the few bands where I could listen to an album whilst reading the lyrics start to finish like reading a classic novel.
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Yep, shame they never toured over here after that till ‘88
 
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chesterbells said:
Agreed re the lyrics, and I’d actually place him above those 3 as a drummer. His dexterity was unsurpassed, but he could also hit has hard as Bonham
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I think what set him apart from them was that he wasn’t just a drummer but a percussionist. His use of wood blocks, chimes etc on tracks like Xanadu took their music to another level.
 
TueartsOHK said:
I find that top 4 surprising. Bonham was a power house and his bass drum playing (before pedals allowed drummers to use double hit pedals) puts him in the top 4. The other two are undoubtedly decent drummers but not top 4 for me - I only ever saw Peart live (Stafford on the Signals tour)

Agree on Peart’s lyrics, Rush were one of the few bands where I could listen to an album whilst reading the lyrics start to finish like reading a classic novel.
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I'm surprised you find that top 4 surprising. I was a bit surprised they ranked Peart so high even though I think it's more than merited; the other three were as I predicted having seen the caption on a Tweet that Peart was number 4.

I know Baker more through reputation although I have some Cream and Blind Faith in my music collection and I even saw him play drums very briefly a couple of years ago. I am going to see the tribute show to him that Clapton has arranged next month. Anyway, I personally rate Peart more highly.

When it comes to Moon and Bonham, I'm not keen to try and place them in 1, 2, 3 order with Peart; although I usually say that Bonham is the greatest rock n roll drummer ever. As you mentioned, his kick drum work was exceptional and I'd say the best I've heard. He also developed a style that was all his own and he wasn't just about power, he could swing and get funky. Bonzo definitely had the best beats.

Peart was heavily influenced by Moon and they are more obviously spectacular drummers. Moon was incredible, truly gifted. Peart took the sort of thing he was doing and refined it.

Whether Bonham, Moon and Peart are the three greatest drummers of all time doesn't much matter to me but they are my favourite three.
 
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