Neil Peart

Another one of my musical heroes has gone and this is one of the saddest of them all. Neil Peart died on January 7th 2020 at the age of 67 from brain cancer.

Neil was the drummer of my favourite rock band, Rush, who retired a few years ago after a wonderful career spanning 40 years. While a lot of people may have heard of the band, their songs rarely received the airplay they deserved. Yet this magnificent trio of legends, Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee had a huge cult following and regularly embarked on stadium tours all over the world to huge audiences of fans just like me.

I was lucky enough to witness their legendary stage performances four times, from the first time in 1983 in Birmingham at the National Exhibition Centre to their final British tour supporting their last album, Clockwork Angels, in 2013 at the Manchester Arena.

The band have been part of my life since the late 1970’s with their unique and influential style of progressive rock and for almost all significant life events, there is a Rush song or Rush album that can take me back to those moments in time.

Neil Peart was the drummer of the band and also the lyricist, producing poignant and profound words for songs with subjects that people wouldn’t necessarily write about normally. From the age of around 18 I would always get really excited whenever Rush announced a new album. Their discography includes 19 albums and they all raced into the album charts in many countries.

According to Wikipedia, they are an impressive third behind only the Beatles and the Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum records by a rock band. Yet, sadly, many people have never been exposed to their music. They were almost the most famous band that people didn’t really know.

Rolling Stone magazine placed Neil Peart as the 4th greatest drummer of all time behind only Ginger Baker, Keith Moon and John Bonham and as well as being a virtuoso with one of the biggest drum kits I have ever seen he was also a part time writer, producing three books later on in his life about his travels.

All of this gives me an opportunity to show off just how brilliant Rush were. I present to you below a song from each of the last five decades showing how the band evolved and what they meant to me at that time.

1970’s – Closer To The Heart from A Farewell To Kings (1977)

This was the very first song by Rush that I heard. At the time I was just getting into heavy metal and rock music, as were a lot of my old pals from school, and the albums A Farewell To Kings and the magnificent 2112 used to do the rounds as people bought the albums and lent them to their mates to record onto tape. I borrowed A Farewell To Kings and recorded it onto a battered old tape but eventually I actually bought the album because I enjoyed it so much. The song itself was a fan favourite and also actually made it into the UK singles charts.

1980’s – Mystic Rhythms from Power Windows (1985)

Rush became my favourite band in the early 1980’s when I saw them live for the first time. They were prolific releasing seven albums in the decade. I could have chosen any one of the songs from the albums of that decade because I love them all – no exceptions. I chose Mystic Rhythms for two reasons. First of all, it showcases what a great drummer Neil Peart was. Second, I was commuting down to London from Manchester every other week, because of a long distance relationship with my ex-wife and the album Power Windows was my constant companion on my old Sony Walkman, keeping me sane on the journey there and back and across the mayhem that was the London Underground. I hated that commute but the music kept me sane and allowed me drift of into my own little world as I endured the tedious two and a half hour journey there and back and the chaos of London on a Friday evening.

1990’s – Nobody’s Hero from Counterparts (1993)

Counterparts is the album that coincides with the first of my two lads being born. I used to play the album at a low volume in the middle of the night as I took my turn trying to get my baby to sleep and Nobody’s Hero was particularly good for relaxing and rocking him to sleep. There are a couple of more heavy songs on the album and my main goal was to get him to drift off to this particular song. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t but I didn’t mind too much because it meant that I could listen to the entire album. It sounded as good at 3am as it did at any other time of the day. Coincidentally, the follow up to Counterparts was called Test for Echo and that was released in1996, the year that my second lad was born. That, too sounded pretty good at 3am.

2000’s – Secret Touch from Vapor Trails (2002)

Neil Peart had a double tragedy in the late 1990’s, losing his daughter in 1997 in a car crash and his wife 10 months later from cancer. The way he dealt with the pain was to take a huge sabbatical and travel 55,000 miles on a motorcycle, writing about his experience and the healing process in his book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. At the time, I thought that the band was finished and I would never see another Rush album again. However, after a period of about four years, Neil announced to Geddy and Alex that he would return to the band and the result was the 2002 album Vapor Trails.

I have chosen the song Secret Touch because it is possibly the only song by Rush that Mrs PM has admitted to liking. I was listening to it a few years ago, and she came up behind me and said “Who’s this? I quite like this one.” I almost fell off my chair because Mrs PM has been very vocal in expressing her displeasure for the music I listen to. Of course, it has given me an excuse to play the song more often when she is around.

2010’s – Headlong Flight from Clockwork Angels (2012)

Clockwork Angels is the final album by Rush and is also one of my favourite albums by the band. It also coincides with the last time I saw them live. Headlong Flight is a monster of a song and when I look at my iTunes application on my laptop, this song is my second most played song since I first installed it. I think the album is magnificent and for me, it is like stepping back in time to the late 1970’s and 1980’s when I played their music all the time. I’m glad that I can play it on my laptop because I would have worn the CD out by now. I have to admit to trying to persuade Mrs PM that this song is worth a listen to but she is not impressed.

I am glad that Rush finished on a high but I am sad they retired soon after, due to Neil Peart suffering from arthritis after decades of pounding the drums.

A Drum Solo and a Speech

I’ll leave you with a drum solo from the master himself just to show how utterly brilliant he was. Also, the Rush acceptance speech, including Neil,, when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Rest in peace Neil and thank you for the music.

Rush - The Meme

Following on from my last rant about music, I thought I would be a little more positive in this post. I don’t expect this to be a post that people will enjoy too much because it is a little self-indulgent. In these deep dark January days I need a little self-indulgence.

Regular readers will know that I often mention my favourite band, the progressive rock power trio from Canada called Rush. Well, I have discovered a meme that allows me to explain why they hold this lofty position in my musical world and, hopefully, to introduce the band to anybody who has not heard of them.

This year is their 40th anniversary and they have somehow survived with a cult following for all this time despite receiving very little, if any airplay. Mrs PM, for one, was stunned two years ago that this band sold out the Manchester Arena, the largest music venue in the city. She would never have heard of them if it hadn’t been for me.

Anyway, without further ado, here is the meme and hopefully it will give a little insight into why I love the band and a little history of how they rose to the throne in my musical world.

1. How long have you been a fan?

I have been a fan since 1982, when a friend at university lent me a tape of their latest album at that time called Signals.

I had heard of the band before, when I was at school, because a lad in my school urged people to listen to, what he then described as, the greatest band on the planet. Being a hormone-fuelled arse at the time, I chose to ignore him.

At university I mellowed and grew up a little. I remember putting the tape on and listening to the first song, Subdivisions, a song about dreamers living in suburbia and being regarded as pariahs for not living the mundane “cool” life that suburbia demands:

Subdivisions

In the high school halls

In the shopping malls

Conform or be cast out

Subdivisions 

In the basement bars

In the backs of cars

Be cool or be cast out

I was totally blown away. This was a band that wrote intelligent songs about interesting things. On the strength of that one album I paid a fortune, as a poor student, to travel about 80 miles from Liverpool to Birmingham to see them live. That concert, way back in the early 1980’s, was when I handed my soul to Rush.

I’ve been a fan ever since.

2. Do you remember the first song of theirs you heard?

Strangely the first song I heard was a radio friendly song that somehow crept into the back end of the UK charts in 1978 called Closer To The Heart. It didn’t really appeal to me as I was just drifting into heavy metal at the time and, compared to bands like Black Sabbath, it was just a short vaguely pleasant rock song.

3. What’s your favourite album(s)?

I have all of their studio albums apart from the first three – that’s 17 albums if you count the extended play album called Feedback. I love them all but the following stand out:

Signals (1982)  - the first album I really loved by the band – it was their 9th album!

Power Windows (1985) – this album was my best friend on long distance commutes every other weekend to London during my long distance relationship with my ex-wife.

Counterparts (1993) – I just love this album; it has some great songs.

Clockwork Angels (2012) – Their most recent studio album is a return to their progressive rock roots and pays tribute to their earlier work while maintaining a modern forward looking feel.

4. What’s your favourite song(s)?

This is a really difficult question as there are simply so many to choose from. Here are three off the top of my head (ask me tomorrow and I will pick three more).

Red Barchetta (from Moving Pictures (1981):

Stick It Out (from Counterparts (1993):

Headlong Flight (from Clockwork Angels 2012):

5. Have you ever seen them live? (How often?)

I have seen Rush five times live. The first time I have mentioned above and was back in 1982 at the NEC in Birmingham. I travelled down to Birmingham again in 1989 to see them on the Presto tour. All of the other times were at the Manchester Arena, in 2002 for the Vapor Trails tour, for their 30th anniversary tour in 2005 and finally in 2013 for the Clockwork Angels tour.

6. Have you ever met them?

No I haven’t, sadly, but I would love to meet them and discuss their music and the inspiration behind it.

7. Do you have a favourite era of their career?

Die hard Rush fans may disagree with this but from 1982 to 1993, keyboards and synthesisers played a major part in their music. While I love all of their music, I have a particular soft spot for the albums of that period.

8. Do you have their autograph or a photo with them?

As I said, I have never met the band so the answer is no.

9. Is there a song or album of theirs you dislike?

There are a couple of songs that I am not too keen on; I am not such a die-hard fan that I love every single piece of music they have composed. A couple of albums disappointed me, although not all of the songs on them are bad. My least favourite albums are Roll The Bones (1991) and Test For Echo (1996).

Having said that, I still listen to them occasionally.

10. What do they or their music mean to you?

Rush have provided a soundtrack to my life since 1982 – and before if you count my old school friend who I should really have listened too in the 1970’s. For every major event in my life since that time, I can mention one or more Rush songs that remind me of those times, both good and bad. If they ever make a movie out of my life, Rush will feature heavily in the soundtrack.

11. Would you pay £200 for a front row ticket?

No. Having said that, I have a limit on ticket prices, which I rarely exceed, but did so for the last concert I saw them play in 2013. I paid £84, mainly because I thought that I may not get the chance to see them again, but also because Clockwork Angels was such a great album.

I have to say that a Rush concert is worth every penny normally because the band has no support and, since they have so much material, they play for around three hours.

12. Do you get annoyed when other people don’t like them?

Not really. I may rant about music but I don’t try to enforce it on people. I am just keen for people to explore outside the box that we find ourselves in thanks to the greedy music industry. One thing does surprise me about Rush; a lot of people are closet fans. A friend of mine heard that I was going to see Rush in 2005 and actually phoned me up asking me to get him a ticket. I didn’t even know he was a fan. That’s the good thing about Rush – there are lots of secret Rush fans out there, despite the fact that they are unfashionable.


13. Which artist do you want them to collaborate with?

I don’t want them to collaborate with anybody because there music would be diluted. Having said that, many other artists have performed their songs, like Dream Theater. When the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I discovered that the Foo Fighters are huge fans of the band and actually performed live with them, impersonating the band at first before Rush joined them on stage. If you are a Rush/Foo Fighters fan you will find this video entertaining, with Dave Grohl impersonating a younger Alex Lifeson:

Also from that same induction, Alex Lifeson’s speech is quite memorable and quite embarrassing for his fellow band members who had no idea about what he was going to say (he is the last member of the band to speak). You can see their amused discomfort (start at 4:36 if you don’t want to see the first speeches):

The audience seemed to like it anyway.

14. Are they underappreciated/unknown?

They are not unknown but I think they are underappreciated for the same reasons that I ranted about in my last post, that is, they are rarely played on the radio.

15. Is there a song of them that everybody likes but you dislike?

They have a song that is a token rock song. You may have heard it:

Actually, I still like it.

And Finally ...

I liked this self-indulgent meme and I think I may repeat it for some other bands I like that are unknown or underrated.

Sorry about the self-indulgence.

I needed it.

Guitar Heroes - Alex Lifeson

In 1982, a friend of mine handed over a cassette tape labelled “Signals” and said “Listen to this! You will love it”. At the time I was willing to listen to all sorts of music so I popped it into my cassette player and pressed “play”.

I was hooked from the first note of the first song. “Who is this?” I asked incredulously.

“Rush,” he replied. “Good aren’t they?”

That was an understatement; they were and still are brilliant. I rushed out (if you’ll pardon the pun) and bought as many Rush albums as I could find. I couldn’t get enough of the band – I still can’t. I was lucky enough to see them at Birmingham NEC shortly afterwards and they left a lasting impression.

The Canadian trio have been my favourite band ever since.

Just about every milestone in my life since that point has a Rush song associated with it. When I listen to the Rush back catalogue, shivers run down my spine – even today. I have every album, including live ones, and have seen them four times in total. I would have seen them more often had they visited our shores more often. The last time was the tour accompanying their latest album “Snakes and Arrows” a year or two ago, and they were as good then as they were in the early 80’s.

All three members are musical geniuses:

Geddy Lee sings, plays a mean bass guitar as well as keyboards.

Neil Peart is one of the greatest drummers I have seen and writes all of the lyrics.

Alex Lifeson is the guitarist and one of the greatest I have seen. He has a unique style and complements the other band members perfectly. Obviously he plays guitar but he has also played bouzouki, mandolin and mandola on some of the more recent Rush albums. He has been responsible for some of the best solos I have heard or seen live. Apparently he is the joker of the band and has been known to have a rant during live performances of the classic “La Villa Strangiato”.

There are too many Rush songs to even begin to select a bunch of favourites – I love them all, every single one of them. So instead I will list my favourite Rush albums (in chronological order):

(1) 2112 (1976)
(2) Hemispheres (1978)
(3) Permanent Waves (1980)
(4) Moving Pictures (1981)
(5) Signals (1982)
(6) Power Windows (1985)
(7) Hold Your Fire (1987)
(8) Counterparts (1993)
(9) Vapor Trails (2002)
(10)Snakes And Arrows (2007)

I also love the remaining albums they have released.

I can’t wait for the next album and the next time the band tours – I really hope they come to Manchester again.

If you have never heard Rush I urge you to do so. I hope their music has the same effect on you as “Signals” had on me 27 years ago. I will leave you with Alex Lifeson and the band, performing “La Villa Strangiato” in 1978, a song that highlights just how brilliant Alex, Geddy and Neil are.