Neil Peart: Taking Center Stage DVD

Neil Peart - quite reasonably, a name that every drummer knows.

There are very few drummers who have graced this world who could ever lay claim to having large parts of their audience playing air drums at their shows. And that''s accurately playing air drums, following every note The Professor plays. Suffice to say, Mr Peart knows how to put a groove together and has inspired more than just a few of us. This new DVD, following on from his two previous offerings which dealt with being in the studio and then building a drum solo, deals with how he prepares for live performance.

Hudson has called this DVD ''The most in-depth insight into Neil’s body of work ever documented'' and this really isn''t an overstatement. It really is quite accurate in terms of what it covers.

The whole presentation is over three disks. On the first two, Neil provides an in-depth look at every single song in the Time Machine set list (Rush''s latest tour, which includes the entire Moving Pictures album) and breaks down key grooves and fills. This is mixed in with interviews in some of the most amazing scenery you could ever wish to see. I''m not saying that lightly either. Disk three contains all of your bonus features, including an interview with Lorne Wheaton, Neil''s drum tech.

This really is Neil Peart at his most open and revealing and a DVD that you definitely want to have if you''re a fan of Neil, Rush, rock drumming, or if you just want to get more ideas on performing live. The kit looks and sounds great, the overall sound is spot on, the camera work is there but as stunning as the overall DVD is, I can''t help thinking how incredible it could look on Blu Ray (not that I''m hinting or anything). It is what you would expect from Hudson in many ways, however, for me, I think they''ve really done particularly well with this one. The format of the whole programme flows nicely and despite being the complete nerd I am, I managed to watch the whole thing in just two sittings without it feeling difficult which sometimes I find with these DVDs.

It really is a package and apart from the obvious footage, you also get both full-speed and slow-motion drums-only demonstrations (coupled with PDF icons that allow the viewer to analyse and then use the patterns included in PDF eBook), onstage footage from Rush concerts showing the actual live performance of any given song from drum cameras only, complete with a custom audio mix that features the drums slightly louder than a normal concert mix, as well as in-studio rehearsal footage and backstage scenes. There is more, but one of the best things for me, however, as I said before, is the stunning backdrop of Death Valley National Park, California, for some of the interview scenes.

I own some 50 drum DVDs (yes, I was surprised at that too after I counted them all) and this is in the top two for content, setting, production - everything you''d want really.

Any bad things? Well, yes, but just the one - why did Lorne Wheaton have to be sat in shot behind Neil''s kit when he was talking to the camera in the studio? Personally, I found that a little distracting and unnecessary as he clearly didn''t have to be there at that point, but that aside, this is a must-have DVD. Love it!

More info, including video snippets at - http://www.hudsonmusic.com/hudson/products/taking-center-stage/

David Bateman
January 2012