“Not even human”: The drummer so good they scared Jack Black
Jack Black is one of the most rock-adjacent actors of all time. Hollywood has always been a place for rock music to find friends and favour, but black does it bigger and better than anybody.
He has now become the ultimate agitator for classic rock music, choosing to use his interview times during his promotional runs to either perform his favourite songs in the hot seat or share his favourite musical moments. Black has perhaps been more inspired by the rock legends of old than any actor on the silver screen.
Some of the biggest stars of the 1970s seemed like they were gods in a world of mere mortals. Considering how much time they probably spent in private jets before they went onstage, it felt like all the members of Led Zeppelin seemed to come from another planet whenever they went on tour or made their way into the studio. At the end of the day, they’re all still just people, but Jack Black felt that something else was happening when he heard Neil Peart for the first time.
Then again, anyone who has ever air-drummed in their lives can usually relate to Black. Throughout his time in Rush, Peart made the kind of drum fills that could count as rhythmic hooks without the rest of the band. Even though Rush was already leaning towards progressive music on their debut, Peart brought that slow lean into full-tilt mode on Fly By Night.
Before he even played a note of music with them, Geddy Lee knew he was dealing with something incredible. Although he didn’t fit the look of the group at first, something changed when he started doing drum rolls with his feet. Lee told Beyond the Lighted Stage, “A car shows up with this kind of gangly guy. He started doing these drum rolls with his feet, which just blew me away.”
Most artists would be challenged by the thought of keeping up with him, but half of Rush’s catalogue was about serving the song rather than just grandstanding. Yes, pieces like ‘2112’ aren’t really meant for the faint of heart, but with Peart also writing the lyrics, you have a great story about what could happen when you stand up to those who think they’re better than you.
For Black, that kind of precision was the best you could ask for, saying, “It was just eerily precise. Everything was just right on the nuggets. I bet if you went in with a computer, Neil Peart would have been on the beat to like an atom. Or at least that’s how it sounds when you’re listening. You’re like, ‘He’s not even human.’”
By the time that virtuosity reached its peak, the band started losing the plot a little bit. Regardless of how well they played on the album Hemispheres, eart remembered that they had taken things well beyond what they were capable of playing, saying, “We agreed after making Hemispheres that we [weren’t] doing this again. We knew that was the end of that period of the epics.”
So what to do when you’re done making the most epic prog songs of all time? You conquer the pop charts. As much as a band like Rush doesn’t fit anyone’s definition of a pop idol, they managed to score some of the biggest hits of their career by putting some reggae influences into their sound, blending rock, prog, and reggae under one roof on songs like ‘The Spirit of Radio’.
Then again, no genre was really off the table for Rush. They had their strengths and areas of expertise, but from day one, they were always focused on making something they thought would stand the test of time. Given how many people are still listening today, they have achieved the kind of rock god status reserved for only a select few.
