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Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

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Reader Response to Neil Peart's LA Times article

Sat, Feb 18, 2006@8:05AM | comments removed/disabled

[Looking Into the Soul of a Good Drum Solo]

Here are some reader letters from the Los Angeles Times in response to Neil Peart's article (The Big Bang) on the drum solo from Jan. 22.

As a lifelong drummer, I read with great interest Dan Neil's column on the death of the drum solo ("The Big Bang," 800 Words, Jan. 22). I've never been a big fan of drum solos. Any overlong solo or soulless display of proficiency (on any instrument) borders on braggadocio and pretension. I also think audiences tire of overly long drum solos simply because there is no melody. Brevity may be the soul of wit, as the saying goes, but it is also the soul of a good drum solo.

- David Zimelis, Los Angeles

While neither a drummer, musicologist nor music critic, I've always been an ardent rock fan. I agree with Neil's praise of Charlie Watts and his remarks on the decline of rock concert intimacy, but I adamantly disagree with his and Neil Peart's take on Ron Bushy's landmark work in "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida." As kids, my pals and I—and millions like us—thrilled to the heartbeat of that drum passage. The boys slapped their jeaned thighs raw, while the girls danced to that beat. It tapped into the spirit of the time. It was revolutionary, tribal, lusty, and we dug it to death.

Peart says, "You can't blame the audience for everything." Thanks, but give us credit for an honest emotional response. Could they play today, there'd be no "crush at the snack bar" during that drum solo.

- Hilary Hartman Kip, Van Nuys

Neil's observation on the demise of the drum solo was spot on. Before going to grad school in English, I was a drummer. I was surprised by Peart's reaction to Neil's suggestion: The drum solo does sound like billiard balls in a dryer. I think that sounds cool from time to time, but music that is based on an intellectual idea rather than force of passion has tended to be as popular as the Paris police in a Turkish neighborhood.

- Patrick Brady, Via the Internet

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