In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Rush’s landmark album Moving Pictures and in remembrance of band’s legendary drummer Neil Peart, Consequence gathered four notable stickmen for a roundtable discussion.
Moving Pictures, released in 1981, marked Rush’s eighth album overall, but took them to new heights from a commercial standpoint. Featuring such songs as “Tom Sawyer”, “YYZ”, and “Limelight”, the LP reached No. 3 on the Billboard album chart, and has since been certified four-times platinum for four million units moved in the United States alone.
The album impeccably displayed the incredible musical talents of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and especially Neil Peart. In fact, readers of notable drum magazine Rhythm named it the greatest drumming album in the history of prog-rock.
Taking part in the roundtable were four drummers with impressive résumés themselves: Mike Portnoy (The Winery Dogs, ex-Dream Theater), who has long been considered one of metal’s greatest drummers; Charlie Benante (Anthrax), one of the best thrash drummers of all time; Matt Halpern (Periphery), a premier stickman in modern prog-metal; and Arejay Hale (Halestorm), a major force in modern hard-rock drumming.
Together, the four drummers eloquently discussed the impact Rush’s music had on them, the importance of Moving Pictures in rock history, the intricacies of songs like “Tom Sawyer” and “YYZ”, and most passionately, what Neil Peart meant to them individually as drummers, and how they were impacted by his passing in January 2020.
Watch above for a fascinating one-hour conversation in which Portnoy, Benante, Halpern, and Hale discuss the greatness of Moving Pictures and Neil Peart.
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