voting for neil peart of 'rush' is not allowed ? undoubtedly the greatest drummer of all time..... man, how old are you guys ? ok .....maybe bonham a very close second.
I can only assume Neil Peart is frowned upon because everyone says he is soooo good, which he is. he is also a very intelluctual, and complex rock drummer. As opposed to John Bohnam who was a very sound rudimental drummer (listen to 'immigrant song' for a picture perfect shuffle rythym)
Both drummers play alot of odd time signatures in their bands
(playing odd time signatures is big thing, you cant fake it, you have to know the material)
Bohnam - Rudimentary (maybe the best rudimentary player in his time)
Peart - Complex (creative and intelluctual)
Neil Peart used to be my favorite drummer, when I was purely playing rock music. But I've got the Joe Morello/Jazz bug now, and Neil Peart just doesnt cut it for me anymore, although I still think he his a great player. But I now
know there are better players out there.
Here is an example -
Knowing how great Neil Peart is, here is a video of him playing a jazz tune. To me, Neil looks human in this clip, he looks like a rock drummer, playing a jazz number. Look at his fills in the song, they are rock fills, they need to be jazz fills. Rock drummers pound hard, play loud, while jazz drummers are more dynamic and tend to play at a lower volume.
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Neil Peart has got alot better since the late 90's (not that he was bad), he had a string a personal tragedies that saw his wife and daughter killed with 14months of each other. He stopped playing drums for almost 5 years during this time. He started playing again, and took up lessons with a true drum master by the name of Freddie Gruber. Since studying with Freddie, Neil has made an effort to play more traditional grip, rather than matched grip. also, the position of his snare has changed as well, along with other changes that were Freddie Gruber influenced.
Freddie Gruber was a contemporary and friend of Buddy Rich, and actually at one time roomed with Buddy Rich. He is kind of a kooky guy when you hear him speak, but a true drum master.