Peart, Neil: Anatomy Of A Drum Solo (DVD)

When it comes to "The Professor", I have said it before and will say it again: Neil Peart is a God on the drums! For years in the Progressive Rock giant that is Rush, he has done things that seem impossible on a regular basis. Those that hear his songs or have seen him perform live will agree that his talent is of a super human level. With impeccable timing and sense of style, he has often been imitated, yet never truly duplicated. Neil's level of play has inspired drummers around the world for over 30 years since Rush began and he continues to do so to this very day. The other great aspect of Neil Peart is his ability to explain to you where he is coming from and while it surely takes years of practice, it shows you that all is achievable when one sets their mind to it. This DVD takes Neil's area of expertise on the drum solo and examines what he does, how he came up with it, and what he feels makes the particular section of music so interesting. Broken into two separate DVD's, I will showcase some of what awaits the viewer. DVD1: With DVD1, Peart examines his solo from the recent release "R30". He takes the solo apart piece-by-piece and explains the various goings-on that make it up. It's interesting to see it broken down like this and allows the aspiring drum student, or just Rush fan, to understand a lot more of what exactly Mr. Peart is up to on the kit. It is also done on the full kit and as a result it has the maximum effect that is experienced when watching him play in Rush.

DVD2: With the second DVD, we get more of the bonus features and I am enjoying when the artist chooses this option rather than cramming it all onto one DVD. The medium is cheap enough now to give people the most for their money. Starting off with "Exploration #2" it shows Peart just doing a number of warm-up exercises and building up as time progresses. It continues with two drum-set only camera focuses from the R30 tour for "Tom Sawyer" and "Subdivisions". It's interesting to see the songs done this way, but I find it will only help the student with the overhead shots based on the angles of the cameras. An unreleased solo from the 1994 Counterparts tour is presented. While musically excellent, I found the dated camera work to take away from it just a little bit. The DVD closes out with the solo from Rush In Rio entitled "O Baterista". There is also a photo gallery and interviews with Paul Northfield and Lorne Wheaton. Wheaton also takes you on a journey with his crew as he sets up Neil's drums. Did you actually think he did this himself?

The set is slip-cased and opens to a nice foldout display. A full color booklet with liner notes and some excellent pictures of Neil are there for you to enjoy. I've always found Peart not only interesting to watch on drums but to listen to speak. In fact, I found this to be an incredible DVD to experience and perhaps something that even a non drum player could enjoy. Rush fans are fiercely loyal to this band and would probably take to this as an added means of enjoying their favorite band. Warning: Watching this DVD will cause steady foot-tapping and rapping of fingers on any solid surface.

Track Listing
1. Anatomy of a drum solo
2. "Der Trommler"
3. Analysis & discussion of "Der Trommler"
4. Hamburg solo
5. more Official Website:

Added: April 16th 2006
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score:
Related Link: Neil Peart Website
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Language: english

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