The rock world lost a giant this week. Whatever your opinion of Rush, Neil Peart was a unique force of nature behind the drums (and, critically, also the band’s principal lyricist). I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a crowd reaction to rival this one – just listen to the roar for Peart’s opening tinkling of the chimes – as the band performs their instrumental tour-de-force, ‘YYZ’ (those letters being the airport identification code for Toronto International Airport, near Rush’s hometown). The piece’s introduction, played in a 10/8 time signature, actually renders “Y-Y-Z” repeatedly in Morse Code, using a variety of musical arrangements. How cool is that? The Rush trio were prog-rock geniuses, and Peart was their mighty percussive engine. Countless drummers of the last half-century exist in the wake of his technical proficiency and worship around his 360-degree drum throne. RIP to a drum deity, Neil Peart.
Related Posts
Steely Dan “Bodhisattva”
November 29, 2019
It’s doubtful you would ever think of Steely Dan as a “guitar solo” band, and that’s true in part because their jazz/R&B/rock amalgam never made them a typical rock and...
George Thorogood “It Wasn’t Me” (1978)
September 9, 2018
As legend, or some old music magazine, has it, an interviewer once asked George Thorogood why he didn’t write more of his own songs, to which he replied “Because Chuck...
The Covid 19 Playlist
March 19, 2020
What can I say, what can any of us say, to describe the surreal times in which we find ourselves. Well, not much, unfortunately. So, I thought I’d take a...
Leave a Comment