UKC

Sad news that Neil Peart of Rush died of brain cancer this week.
Think a bit of 2112 might be listened to tonight...

Sad news. Brilliant drummer. 2112 for me also I think. 

Saw then at Hammersmith Odeon sometime in the 80's. I've got two of their albums somewhere in the stack downstairs. Another sad day for the music era I grew up in.

Very sad news.

I started playing drums when I was eleven years old and like most musicians into rock music, I quickly discovered that Rush were the technical standard by whom all musicians were measured. I spent months, if not years, of my life learning to play the Rush back catalogue, and in the same way that climbing with people who are better than you pushes you to improve, Neil Peart was the driving influence behind my passion for drumming. For me, he redefined what drums were capable of adding to a song instead of just keeping the beat.

I was consumed by drumming. I practised three hours every weekday after school and eight hours a day at weekends. I can still remember the joyous sense of teenage satisfaction when I learned to play songs like YYZ, Xanadu and La Villa Strangiato. I even learned to play the Exit Stage Left drum solo (complete with cow bells), which I played at the school concert for all the mums and dads. Those were the days ha ha!

Right now, I'm raising a few glasses to his memory and thinking about all the blood blisters that burst on my snare in my quest to be 1% as good as him.

‘I don’t want to be famous, I want to be good’ he certainly exceeded that aspiration.

Thank you Neil for so much pleasure.

Very sad news.   First saw him at the Edinburgh Odeon on the Hemispheres tour in 1979. Life changing moment for me as I had just (barely) started to potter about on the drums. Permanent waves and Moving pictures tours too and by then I was hooked!

Along with Buddy Rich(dad took me to see him 3 times!) and Max Roach who I did my dissertation on (and interviewed) at College he was the biggest influence on my early drumming.

A wonderful man and an awesome musician.

RIP Neil

My first evergig was Signals when i was 16 . I foolushly assumed every gig would be like that. Saw them on Clockwork Angels, didnt realise it would be the last time. Devastated.

I only came to Rush in 2011 having been shown them, and already a big fan of their 'successors': Dream Theater, Tool etc, I was blown away and had a satisfying couple of years picking apart their entire back catalogue.

I went to see them in Glasgow in 2013 and so incredibly glad I did. I almost didn't as I was away on a mountain trip, but traveled back for it; some things are more important than hills.

In terms of his astonishing technical proficiency, never mind La Villa Strangiato, I challenge anyone to hit every snare and kick of the second half of Jacob's Ladder.

A sad day. Didn't see it coming. 

Sad news. I saw them live twice in the early 80s, unfortunately at both gigs acoustics were so bad that it sounded as if the music was played through too loud, cheap headphones. Not an issue with other bands at the same venue.

Never bothered to go again, stuck instead to the brilliant studio albums ever since.

Time to put on some Moving Pictures and Hemispheres!

CB

When I saw them on the Permanent Waves tour at the Southampton Gaumont, what I heard was the studio album, note perfect. Being into Zep and the Dead etc at the time, I remember being a bit perplexed. Very loud gig.

There's an interesting Netflix docu on Rush. The affable Geddy Lee comes across very well, but Peart seems troubled, which is not surprising.

Sad to hear of this. Saw Rush at Glasgow Apollo, Permanent Waves tour and they blew me away.  Neil Peart's drumming was fantastic. 

I saw them at the NEC years ago. He had the biggest drum kit I'd ever seen. They played very tight set. I was blown away by the whole show, the sound quality, lights and vid clips triggered by, and in sync with, the music.

RIP

The Limelight....has gone out!

Saw them a few times from early 80's onwards - brilliant. Initially hooked by 2112 but loved the earlier stuff and the classic following albums.

I recall reading Peart changed his drumming technique at one point as he didn't think he was good enough lol.

A friend of mine is an incredibly talented classical musician and loves Rush.  We were going to try to see them again when they stopped touring and Peart retired.  Maybe we now why they did that as it seemed a slightly odd decision at the time.

Anyway, a sad day.

This one hurts.

Andy F

Only just learned of this. I was a big fan after hearing the live LP 'All the World's a Stage' around about 1976/7. This just blew me away with its raw power - all that from just three (superb) musicians! It completely reset my musical tastes and I saw them twice live in the late 70s. I did lose interest in the 80s when they started pushing the synths. I always thought people who labelled Rush as 'progressive' were being a bit dismissive. Sure, some of their earlier stuff was away with the fairies and elves but when they were in full flight they were unstoppable. Not long ago I drowned my car and had to downsize to an old crock with a tape player. Out came the old Rush tape and '2112' live still had the same effect, raising the hairs on the back of my neck and me screeching along with Geddy! I played this to my ex recently and she just didn't get it at all, especially when I said I wouldn't mind it being played at my funeral. My birthday is 21st December - cool or what? Neil RIP, you touched my life.

There's an interesting Netflix docu on Rush.

Yes, my son put me on to this "beyond the lighted stage" I don't have Netflix but watched it on u tube, well worth a watch, Farewell to Neil

Worth getting the DVD for the extras disc. In one feature they meet for a dinner just after Neil gets back from his Ghost rider trip and get more and more pissed as the night goes on. Quite touching viewing now.

My favourite rock drummer RIP. I can't think of another that could make a trio sound so full.

Just giving Caress of Steel a long overdue re spin as I post.

For me the pinnacle was the trio 2112/Fairwell to Kings/Hemispheres.