The guitar legend that Neil Peart hated listening to: “The difference between taste and quality”
Any rock musician who wants to excel in their field could probably take a masterclass on Rush’s music. Throughout their time together, the Canadian power trio were known for making some of the most forward-thinking rock music the world had ever seen, constantly pushing the boundaries of what they could do on every single album. While every band member was indebted to the golden age of rock and roll, Neil Peart admitted that he never understood the appeal of one rock legend.
When Peart was first coming up as a drummer, though, he was always already pulling from the most influential bands to ever arrive on the scene. Inspired to pick up two sticks by the British Invasion, Peart was known to idolise Keith Moon, eventually turning in drum performances that could have given the lunatic behind the drumkit a run for his money.
After a few lacklustre album sales, though, Peart would go on to define Rush’s core sound, earning them the respect of both their label and their creative peers with the album 2112. Though the band had been known for twisting rock and roll in whatever shape they pleased, another English band had started working in the power trio format years before.
Fresh out of The Yardbirds, Eric Clapton slowly developed the template of a supergroup when he formed Cream. With the help of the thunderous sounds of Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, the three musicians were known to toy with whatever sounds suited the song, either incorporating psychedelic influences across albums like Disraeli Gears or turning blues standards inside out like on ‘Crossroads’.
By the time Cream had ended, Clapton was known as one of the greatest guitar heroes the world had ever known, with fans writing graffiti labelling him a guitar god. While Peart could undoubtedly appreciate the technical finesse that went into Clapton’s playing, he said that he was never as taken with his technique as most people.
When discussing influences, Peart said that Clapton’s approach to his instrument never clicked with him, telling Marc Allen, “I was glad to realise from the beginning too was really an important insight that I had in my young years is the difference between taste and quality. That I could recognise for instance, Eric Clapton. I always thought [he] was a good guitar player but never really liked his guitar playing”.
That’s not to say that Peart was a snob when it came to music, either. Across Rush’s later career, the band would go down the musical rabbit hole of any type of music that would suit them, whether incorporating reggae rhythms into albums like Permanent Waves or putting jazzy textures into projects like Hold Your Fire.
Then again, Peart wasn’t willing to slag off Cream’s influence altogether, eventually turning in a version of the band’s rendition of ‘Crossroads’ on their cover EP Feedback in the 2000s. Peart may have been open-minded about all kinds of music, but he also understood that he didn’t want to follow the crowd of public opinion all the time.
That distinction between taste and quality was something Peart returned to throughout his career, and it informed the way Rush operated as a band. Rather than chasing consensus or aligning themselves with whatever canon rock history had already decided upon, Rush were far more interested in forging a personal relationship with their influences. Admiration did not have to mean imitation, and respect did not require emotional attachment. Peart could acknowledge Clapton’s stature without feeling any obligation to connect with his playing on a deeper level.
In many ways, that outlook explains why Rush sound like no one else. By trusting their instincts and being honest about what genuinely moved them, the band avoided becoming trapped by reverence or nostalgia. Peart’s willingness to say, calmly and without malice, that something simply was not for him reflects the same independence that drove Rush’s music forward for decades. Great artists listen widely, but the greatest ones know when to step away from the crowd and follow their own path.
