Product Description

Neil Peart is an internationally acclaimed, bestselling, and award-nominated author, and for more than thirty years has been the legendary drummer and lyricist for the band Rush. For decades, Neil prepared and waited to write a book about the biggest journey of all in his restless existence, his ultimate travelogue - a concert tour. Finally, the right time and the right tour: Rush's 30th anniversary trek -- 9 countries, 57 shows, and 500,000 fans.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #229460 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 380 pages

About the Author
Neil Peart is an internationally critically acclaimed, bestselling, and award-nominated author, and for more than thirty years has been the legendary drummer and lyricist for the band Rush. For decades, Neil prepared and waited to write a book about the biggest journey of all in his restless existence, his ultimate travel story - a concert tour. Finally, the right time, and the right tour...

Customer Reviews

Wordy, but worthy
Neil can write and portray landscapes extremely well. It's literally fun to read this book. Neil delves into everything from Rush to cycling, to soul searching. I wish he'd not complain so much about people in general, seems a little weird he chooses to play in a band, then complains about touring, etc. However, I love that Neil states these opinions. I personally think Neil would be better off to meet a few fans in controlled sessions--just so he understands most fans are not fanatical. I could have met Neil several times by chance, for example, but respected his privacy. The stories of crew, diners, landscapes, motels, roads, vegetation, town histories, Route 66, and other things portray how good a writer Neil is--without Rush. Neil essentially "bares his soul" in this book more than others. I pity a musician who on the one hand loves to play, but on the other complains so much about the rigors that come with his profession, most of which are "business-induced." Work basically sucks for everyone, but.. some are compensated more than others.. and it's comical to listen to sports players, musicians, etc, complain when they make big salaries compared to others. The book describes musical history, regional visits, friendships, bikes, cars, history, crew, technology, how an old map outperforms GPS (Doofus and Dingus) at times, a childhood in Ontario, tour struggles, spirituality, and intertwining relationships between crew, band members, and friends. I admire the soulful writing. Highly recommended for people who enjoy travel narratives or Rush. Neil is a perfectionist, who is as demanding of himself as of others--another paradox, because nobody's perfect. Neil also seems to be "rehearsed" as a writer and player, yet spontaneous all the while. His apparent dedication and tenacity for all aspects of his work are things I respect and admire. The book is quite polished, informative, and entertaining.

Less Road, More Show
I had long anticipated reading this book, but the results were disappointing. I was hoping that Neil would focus on the experience of touring, drumming, and playing live, but he doesn't. The book focuses far more on his motorcycle trips between shows than on the shows themselves. The shows often get just a passing mention. For example, he frequently gives brief descriptions such as "It was a good show," and then largely leaves it at that. Well, why was the show good? He often doesn't say. Frankly, Neil seems so bored at this point with touring, that he prefers to focus on his travels and motorcycling. That's fine, but it's not what I was expecting considering the book's title.

Don't get me wrong. There are many great passages in the book that make it worth reading, but there's a lot of filler to sort through too. Fairly early on, he does describe the rehearsals for the first show and the first show itself, but then he abandons the topic for pages at a time. There are some great passages with interesting insights or funny recollections, but they are too few and far between. I found myself quickly scanning the pages (and pages) discussing motorcycle maintenance or roadside scenery, looking instead for anything on music, Rush, or playing live.

What's frustrating is that anyone can write a book on what it's like to ride a motorcycle cross country (again, he has already done that; see Ghost Rider). But he's the only person on the planet who can describe what it's like to be the drummer in Rush!

I imagine I'm not alone in wanting to read more details about his life as a touring musician. What's it like to be on stage and play with Alex and Geddy after 30 years? What's it like to see thousands of hands clapping during "Spirit of Radio?" What songs does he enjoy playing the most? I realize that all of these things may be old hat to him, but they're not to his fans. On the other hand, reading multiple accounts about how many miles he drove in a day or what he ate for dinner each night, just isn't that interesting, even if it is Neil Peart doing the writing. I guess I have to accept that the book I'm interested in reading Neil isn't interested in writing.

If you do want to get a better sense for Neil's life as a touring musician, I recommend reading the essay he wrote on this topic during the Moving Pictures tour, called "For Whom the Bus Rolls." Also, I recommend checking out the great documentary on the Rush in Rio DVD called "The Boys in Brazil," which Neil actually refers to and quotes from in the book. If you're looking for a great account of a rock tour, I highly recommend Bill Flannagan's excellent account of U2's Zoo TV Tour, "U2: Until the End of the World."

Great....but could have been better.
Neil Peart is clearly a very talented author. For a man who didn't even finish high school, he writes with PhD-level intellect and one can hardly be bored by anything he has ever written. "Landscape with Drums" is Neil's narrative of his U.S. and European treks by motorcycle between cities and countries during Rush's R30 tour in 2004. It is a well-written account from both a musician and motorcyclist's perspective of the tolls of touring and putting in high-mileage days, riding between destinations. However, as good as I felt that this work is, it could have been better and here's why:

-Absence of visual imagery. This book is four hundred pages of text about a motorcycle tour with LOTS of riding, with no pictures for one to visualize what Neil is describing (and there's LOTS of description). From a fellow motorcyclist's perspective, I want to see what HE is seeing and not just leave it to my imagination. Sure, pictures would have raised the production cost/sale price but for dedicated fans and readers, it would have been worth it.

-Repeated references to church signs and dislike for fan contact. Okay, so, we're not in Neil's shoes and I perfectly understand him not caring for the public "eye" too much. I think that time, along with fans who don't respect boundaries, have worn him down. Who are we to say? Even so, this theme, repeated in a few of his books gets a little "tired".

The part about the church signs (while touring the U.S.) seemed to be almost mocking the various houses of worship. Again, we cannot imagine what Neil had to go through during his double-tragedy between 1997-1998 and it would have probably caused any one of us to doubt our faith. While Mr. Peart is definitely entitled to his opinion, it is afforded him to put into print because of his fame. He should remember that many of his fans are followers of some form of religion.

Don't get me wrong here, folks. I have been a Rush fan since 1979, and I absolutely love the work of Neil Peart. In fact, he could scribble on a cocktail napkin and I would call it a masterpiece. As lyricist and drummer for Rush, (along with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson), he has co-written some of the most famous progressive rock songs in the past 35 years.... Each Rush album from the mid-seventies through today is a collection of dramatic soundscapes and epic sagas, e.g. "2112", "The Spirit of Radio", "Tom Sawyer", "Red Barchetta", "Limelight", "Subdivisions", "The Big Money" and the list could go on and on... These songs were very powerful anthems of my youth, telling real-life stories that any adrenaline-filled teen or 20-something could identify with...Even today, these songs are timeless mainstays, engrained forever in the face of modern music.

Overall, I rated this book at four (4) stars, deducting one star for the two points mentioned above. There could have been a few pictures included that might have engaged the reader more, instead of making him/her feel as if reading Mr. Peart's diary.