I don't want to work, I want to post about drums all day

November 14, 2014 9:37 AM

Neil Peart's Guide to Neil Peart's Drums [SLYT]

Rush playing YYZ
Neil Peart playing the drum part to YYZ

Related:
Dr. Krieger, not playing YYZ

posted by Room 641-A (18 comments total)

Rare are the drummers who play their drums with as much vigor as Neil Peart. His playing is a sight to behold.
posted by Meatafoecure at 9:53 AM on November 14, 2014

This is wonderful. Rush is a fascinating band and Neil Peart is a phenomenal drummer.

Left out one link though
posted by Twain Device at 9:55 AM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

And one more.
posted by grumpybear69 at 10:05 AM on November 14, 2014

What, no La Villa Strangiato?
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:41 AM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Neil Peart is THE greatest living drummer. I saw Rush in 2012 and was blown away by them but him in particular. He can pull it off live, I assure you.
posted by Renoroc at 10:56 AM on November 14, 2014

When I moved into my current neighborhood (here in Peart's hometown, St. Catharines), a new neighbor gave me a quick tour of his house. We entered a small spare room and the walls were covered with framed gold and platinum Rush albums. I asked - what was his connection with Rush? He was Neil's drum tech for 20 years. I heard some stories.
posted by davebush at 11:01 AM on November 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

Man, he's so good on House of Cards.
posted by humboldt32 at 11:06 AM on November 14, 2014 [3 favorites]

Neil before God.
posted by ShutterBun at 11:11 AM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Here's Neil doing his best impression of Buddy Rich (along with the latter's orchestra). Note the military grip, and the way stripped-down kit. Still rocks it!
posted by ShutterBun at 11:13 AM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

(solo begins at about 3:50 of that clip)
posted by ShutterBun at 11:15 AM on November 14, 2014

ShutterBun: Here's Neil doing his best impression of Buddy Rich

Hey, he's good, but he's no Buddy Rich.

But I repeat myself.
posted by IAmBroom at 12:23 PM on November 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

Note the military grip, and the way stripped-down kit. Still rocks it!

Didn't he adopt the military grip for his regular drumming recently as well? I seem to remember something in that Rush documentary about him going to visit some Drum Guru and re-learning everything.
posted by wabbittwax at 12:40 PM on November 14, 2014

Honestly, this is an example of just how much Neil has fallen off these days. You can tell, as he's speaking, that he's not nearly as quick as he once was, and the rhythms of his speech are nowhere near as mathematically interesting as they once were. I feel like a video from Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy would have incorporated far more polyrhythms into what he said, as well as involved some much tighter and higher speed syllables. (And please don't bring up Mike Mangini. Just don't.) Obviously someone like Portnoy was heavily influenced by Peart, but at the end of the day, in terms of raw speed and rhythmic difficulty I think that Portnoy is simply the far superior lecturer.
posted by shmegegge at 1:01 PM on November 14, 2014 [9 favorites]

After watching those, clicked through to the related video of him on Letterman's drum solo week.

I was really disappointed that Dave missed the perfect comedic opportunity to ask Neil Peart if those were his drums.
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 1:11 PM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Wait, did he pronounce "xylophone" as "eksylophone"? Is that an actual Canadian thing, or just a Neil Peart thing?
posted by Bugbread at 2:55 PM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Don't forget the animated YYZ.
posted by Ber at 2:55 PM on November 14, 2014

What a wonderful speaking voice. I could listen to that coming out of my radio for hours.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:43 PM on November 14, 2014

Honestly, this is an example of just how much Neil has fallen off these days.

I think you're supposed to namedrop Travis Barker in every Internet thread about drumming. Or maybe that's just on YouTube.
posted by effbot at 10:29 AM on November 15, 2014 [1 favorite]