Paul Gilbert talked about the iconic Rush album, 1978’s “Hemispheres” in a new Classic Rock interview, discussing Neil Peart and Alex Van Halen’s differences.
The musician commented:
“By the time ‘Hemispheres,’ came out I was able to play through that sort of stuff, and it was fun. I’d sit down with my pedalboard – my flanger, delay, wah-wah – and play the music, and play the pedals.
“Alex [Lifeson, guitar] had that great, swirly chorus sound on stuff – a nice clean sound for the arpeggios then heavier on songs like Circumstances [he rips into the main riff (flawlessly) and sings (slightly less so)].
“Geddy’s [Lee, vocals/bass] killin’, singing five octaves higher than anybody else. Neil [Peart] was the opposite of Alex Van Halen – he always had a very tight hi-hat, but the drummer in my band as a 14-year-old would play Van Halen songs like Neil.
“We’d tell him, ‘Man, play Rush like Rush but don’t bring that to the Van Halen stuff!’ This was the beginning of my exposure to prog. It was like a memorization game – can you memorize all these parts and keep up as it goes along?
“With a Beatles song you hear it three times and it’s stuck in your head, it’s meant to be like a meme.
“Prog stuff is almost like, ‘I’m gonna throw in something tricky to put you off!’, so you had to study it enough to the point you can remember that wild part coming up. I love all that early Rush stuff, but Hemispheres really stood out. Plus it had that cool cover with the brain on it…”
Late Rush drummer Neil Peart’s father Glen Peart has died from cancer.
Neil’s sister, Nancy Burkholder, wrote on social media, “On behalf of our Mother and all of our family members, The Peart Family would like to thank everyone for the expressions of sympathy for the passing of our very beloved Glen; husband, father, grandfather, & great grandfather.
“Thank you to Hospice Muskoka Andy’s House staff for the wonderful care and facility.
“If anyone would like to donate to our charities in the Peart name, please see the links below.
“Thank you so much to everyone for your thoughts”.
