The one artist Neil Peart was proud to have inspired: “The absolute highest goal”
There was always a bit of an allure around Neil Peart whenever Rush came to town back in the day.
He was one of the finest drummers to ever pick up two sticks, but judging how quickly he would leave the venue after any given show, it was almost like watching a drumming god put on a clinic before disappearing into thin air half the time. But a lot of that cold demeanour came more from shyness than anything else.
Anyone could believe that Peart was one of the best musicians in the world, but any fans geeking out around him was bound to creep him out a little bit. He never saw himself as someone to be idolised, and while he had the pedigree of working with some fellow drumming legends every now and again, he was much happier to be respected than people giving him a Wayne’s World-style bow whenever they saw him.
That’s not to say that he was ungrateful for his fame by any stretch. It was an extremely mixed blessing for him to be thought of as a living legend whenever he performed, but if he was going to feel gratitude for his spot in the world, it came from inspiring the next generation of rock stars. Because as much as he distanced himself from fame on ‘Limelight’, there were also thousands of kids who could relate to someone going through that.
And while Rush was never considered the coolest band in the world, things did start to change in the 1990s when they started to become more than a little bit respectable. The hair metal bands would never admit their love of the Canadian icons, but from new prog legends like Dream Theater to some of the grunge icons of the day, Rush were suddenly becoming known as seasoned veterans of rock and roll.
They had already started to do away with the synths in their music for a while, but even with all the new artists coming up around them, nothing could have prepared the world for Jeff Buckley. He had the voice of an angel and could turn any rock and roll song inside out the minute that he started performing, but what really knocked Peart out was knowing that he could have contributed to the 1990s icon’s sound.
Most of Grace sounds like it’s coming from another planet most of the time, so Peart was shellshocked to think that he helped kick that into motion, saying, “When I found out that Jeff Buckley was aware of our work… to have been a part of the inspiration for a talent like that! I refer back to that Bob Dylan quote. As an artist, what else can you do for people but inspire them? That is the absolute highest goal.”
And it’s not like you can’t hear at least a tiny bit of prog in Buckley’s delivery as well. A lot of the focus might have been on the songs more than anything else, but judging by the way he throws in oddball chords and keeps the time signature a little bit fluid in his greatest tracks, it’s not a stretch to think that Rush played a hand in that. After all, what would Buckley’s high shrieks have been if not for Geddy Lee’s piercing screams on Rush’s masterpieces breaking down the doors first?
As much as Peart shunned the idea of being looked up to as some musical deity in some cases, listening to someone like Buckley helped make every uncomfortable interview worth it. It can be fun making music that no one else could ever be able to make, but the real reward comes from someone who takes the fertile ground that you laid down and starts to grow their own legacy on top of it.
