Bruford v Peart

[Phenomenal Cat]

I know the answer is Bruford, but my interest in his work dies around the time Rush with Peart was just getting started. So you can take the complete works of Billy Bruford and display them on an impressive shelf and I will no doubt point at that mighty gilded shelf and heartily agree: "That guy is great". And then I'll go listen to Rush records.

[Bent Fabric]

I held you up on a pedestal UP HERE before this post.



Now, I hold you down here

Your generation is so inflexible.

[sloopjohnc]

I held you up on a pedestal UP HERE before this post.



Now, I hold you down here

Your generation is so inflexible.

I try and take pills for my joints.

[toomanyhatz]

And I try to take joints for my...

Never mind.

[Matt Wilson]

Damn, I know I should vote big Bill...


But Neil it is.

[Bent Fabric]

I know the answer is Bruford, but my interest in his work dies around the time Rush with Peart was just getting started.

Yeah, for what its worth, my Bruford vote is based 100% on Yes. Sure he was great with Crimson and beyond, but...I wasn't there.

[Charlie O.]

Bruford with Crimso

Peart

Bruford with Yes


While I prefer Bruford-era Yes to any era Rush or KC, I think Bill was just too self-consciously "quirky" too much of the time (though his work on Close To The Edge suggests he'd largely outgrown that phase). I can't really fault what he did with KC.

Peart? I can't imagine wanting to listen to him in any other context, but he is as much the perfect drummer for Rush as Moon was for The Who or Watts for the Stones.

[Matt Wilson]

Or Ringo for the Beatles.

[harvey k-tel]

As the token Canadian BCBer, even I vote for Bruford.

*ahem*

"Forgiveness-uh, please"

[Charlie O.]

[Quaco]

Peart sounds awkward, even when he's playing a simple-ish part ("Tom Sawyer", "Spirit of Radio"). Like Carl Palmer ("Stones of Years", "Mass"), he has difficulty with feel. They're both best when playing complex passages, quickly.

Bruford always swings and is the clear choice for me here. The only negative I can say about Bruford is it would be nice if he didn't always play crisply. He could have played more loosely at times. Alan White (BB's successor) is a bit of a white rocker, but he could be loose. Brian Davison from The Nice (CP's predecessor) was the best of both worlds.

Of course, NP is more than just a drummer. His weirdly unappealing lyrics are a big part of Rush.

[bobzilla77]

Bruford is kind of stiff when he tries to play like a real jazz guy, as on the albums with Patrick Moraz. But within the realm of prog, he's as greasy as they come.

I can't even imagine a King Crimson where the drum parts are performed live precisely as they were played on the albums. Even in the 80s lineup, with those interlocking mandala patterns on the guitars, he brought some amount of uncertainty.

[BARON CORNY DOG]

within the realm of prog, he's as greasy as they come.

I’ll take your word on that!