The 12 best songs of Neil Peart – Rolling Stone

“Neil Pearst, this is a completely different animal, another species of drummer,” Dave Grohl told the Rolling Stone in 2018 when he was asked if he could ever go on the drums for rush. A feeling that is shared almost unanimously in the rock universe. Pearts achievements on the instrument with which he drove Rush’s heads of the head for 40 years, a combination of breathtaking technology and artistic eccentricity, made him almost superhuman.

In addition, his lyrical talent, which shaped both the conceptual process epic of the seventies and the warm hits of the eighties and beyond. A polymath without real competition.

In order to map the entire genius Neil Pearts as a drummer and vocabulary, it would need dozens of tracks. This 12-from the first rush album with him in 1975 to the last work of the band almost four decades later – are to be understood as an invitation to the world of the man called “The Professor”.

Rush: The 12 best songs of Neil Peart

“Anthem” (1975)

The opener of the second Rush album marked one of the most important members of the member of the rock history. The debut with the original drummer John Rutsey offered straight hard rock. Solid, but unspectacular. But the staccato huge intro of “Anthem” and the precise uppoons showed: Rush with Peart was a completely new band. The title, borrowed from Ayn Rand, also marked Pearts debut as an intellectual poet of the genre. “On the day of Neil’s auditions, we had five people – three in front of Neil and one after that,” recalled Geddy Lee 2016. “It was uncomfortable to hear the last one to Neil because Neil was so damn good. It was clear: he was the man.”

“2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx” (1976)

After the weak echo on “Caress of Steel”, Rush knew: now or never. In 2112 she made her legend-and finally Peart finally the elite drummer and copywriter of his generation. “It is a cycle of songs about the rediscovery of the music,” said Pearst. The cosmic “overture” and the massive “Temples of Syrinx” sound as if the band were to revive its own sparks. Peart shines with galloping rhythms, brutal redotom figures and complex triols across the entire kit.

“Xanadu” (1977)

With increasing ambition in the 1970s, Peart expanded his drum set into a complete percussion orchestra. For a piece, inspired by Samuel Taylor ColeroGes “Kubla Khan”, he used wind chimes, tube bells and chimes before moving into a math-rock-like reef drive. The mixture of delicate interludes and power trio energy showed its perfect balance of precision and strength. “The song was originally stimulated by ‘Citizen Kane’,” he said in 2010. “Then I read the poem – and it took over the song.”

Rush: The 12 best songs of Neil Peart

“The Trees” (1978)

While other rock stars disassembled hotel rooms, Peart Ayn Rands read “The Fountainhead”. This resulted in “The Trees” – the history of a conflict between oak and maple trees, which ultimately perish through equilibrium. Musically a mix of gentle genesis flair, hymnic structure and pearts striking wood block inserts. Later he distanced himself from the edge: “I was a child. Today I call myself a ‘Bleeding Heart Libertarian’.”

“The Spirit of Radio” (1980)

Rush escaped the trial crash of the eighties with “permanent waves”. The single “The Spirit of Radio” became her arena ticket. Peart’s texts shouted against commercialization, while he built reggae-inspired beats in the style of Stewart Copeland. “It was actually over the CFNY-FM station in Toronto,” he said in 1980. “The last bulwark of what FM radio was once.”

“Tom Sawyer” (1981)

The world hit and rushs signature song. Peart wrote the text with Pye Dubois: a modern rebel, mixed with Pearts’s own reflection on youth and adulthood. The legendary drumfill in the middle of the song became one of the Meistimiten Fills in rock history alongside Phil Collins’ “in the Air Tonight”. “It is still challenging and satisfactory to play,” said Pearst 2012.

“Yyz” (1981)

The abbreviation of Toronto Airport inspired this instrumental classic. On plate four minutes, live with Pearts Drumsolo twice as long. “We heard the Morse code rhythm pattern from the cockpit when we ended up in Toronto,” said Pearst. “That was the beginning.” A show case for all three musicians and a fan favorite for decades.

Rush: The 12 best songs of Neil Peart

“Subdivisions” (1982)

Rush Pop and Prog. “Subdivisions” in 7/4 brought a catchy synth reef on “signals”, but also Pearts probably most moving texts: a hymn to young outsiders and the pressure of the adaptation. “Extremely autobiographical!”, Peart admitted in 2017.

“The Enemy Within” (1984)

With “Grace Under Pressure” Rush demonstrated her versatility in the New Wave age. “The Enemy Within” showed Peart Schlanker and more economically, influenced by Stewart Copeland. His hi-hats, precise and full of energy, dance between funky bass and ska guitar.

“Stick it out” (1993)

Rush returned to harder skirt on Counterarts. “Stick it out” sounded heavy and contemporary in the Grunge era. Peart cubed to get started before entering the backbeat with a thundering backbeat. “The song is almost parody – textual and musical,” he said independently.

“One Little Victory” (2002)

After the death of his daughter and partner, Peart retired – but returned after a long motorcycle trip. The first song after the break begins with a double bass thunderstorm: a statement of strength. “Actually, I wanted to put it to the end,” said Peart, “but Geddy said: ‘Open the song with it – that kills.'”

“Bu2B” (2012)

Rush’s farewell salbum “Clockwork Angels” combined hardness with an epic story. “Bu2B” (Brought up to Believe) brought Peart’s heavy grooves and texts about free will and the break with blind faith. A topic that has accompanied him since “Anthem”. “It shows the values ​​with which the figure grew up and how it ends up in a world that is not so cool,” said Lee.