Roadshow: Landscape With Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle by Neil Peart Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Roadshow: Landscape With Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle
Book Review: Thanks for sharing, Neil!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you're embarrassed to laugh out loud on a quiet commuter train on the way into work, read this travelogue at home. Likewise with tears, because you're going to shed those. There's even a very scary part that made me relieved I am not famous.
Laughter and tears can happen within two pages of Neil's crisp prose, sharing the ups and downs in his interesting life. Understandably, he misses his deceased wife and daughter often, but he celebrates every moment spent with family and friends. This is no whiny self-absorbed diary; it is a simultaneously artful and entertaining memoir. He seems like such a nice person, too, and that makes following him on his BMW motorcycle very easy.
Neil clarifies Rush history so that the non-Rush fan reader isn't left feeling confused and overlooked. Cognoscenti have the lyrics to whole songs he references on file in their hearts, and in most cases he will print a few lines to share, but there's an instance where he discusses the song `Bravado' without that, and I thought it would have been nice to have the lyrics to this powerful song in the text or an appendix. That's the only thing about this great read I'd change.
What touched me was how Neil acknowledges every person involved in the show--even individuals that had passed away but left their mark on their `road culture'--and how they've earned his respect. The greatest gift I came away with is the continued affirmation that one must make something of their life, `shower the people you love with love', surmount obstacles, think positively, treat others with respect, and have a sense of humor...even if others do not do the same for you. This gift has always been given freely in Rush's lyrics, and its refrain resounds in Roadshow.
Book Review: A Great Book by a Great Person
Summary: 5 Stars
I have always liked the music of Rush and Neil Peart. Neil raised the bar for rock drumming by himself and although he would never take credit for it, anyone that has listened to him or has seen him perform understands. The Roadshow book offers one of the most interesting insights into Neil and the world he deals with in the music business. I think it is one of the most honest and interesting books on this subject that I have ever read. In fact, once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. Neils passion for BMW motorcycles, his drums, his family, and his friends are respectable. Neil shares with the reader his approach to staying sane during the process of touring with his band through North America and Europe.
You will like this book..... and thank you Neil for sharing this part of your life with us!
Book Review: Chronic Complainer
Summary: 1 Stars
Paul Stanley of KISS once said reagrding all these musicians that complain about how miserable their lives are, or even kill themselves:
"Being in a huge, successful band with lots of money, fame and women, and then constantly complaining about it is like winning the lottery, then complaning about having to pay the taxes."
Book Review: Worlds Greatest Drummer, or Grumpy Old Man....
Summary: 4 Stars
Once again Mr Peart has written a book seemingly about how he is really over being a rock star. However, further reading details exactly why he prefers minimal contact with fans; he has definitely had some scary run-ins with fans (fanatics!) in the past. Also bearing in mind the tragic circumstances of his recent past, one can see where he's coming from.
It would be interesting to get Geddy or Alex's stories one day.
Book Review: Snorefest: Landscape with Circumlocution
Summary: 1 Stars
Neil Peart is a boor and a bore, and not an interesting subject for four (4!) books about himself riding around on a bike or a motorcycle.
As another reviewer mentioned, this material would have been a goldmine hands of a capable writer. Peart is too concerned with fifty-cent words and showy prose than telling stories, which is a shame. As anyone who has seen the other members of Rush interviewed knows, they are witty, self-deprecating and not a little goofy. I would imagine if Peart would spend a little more time enjoying making millions of dollars in a rock and roll band and less time pointing out the flaws of those around him, he could have told an interesting story.
Instead, he focuses his verbiage (fortunately much less than in the headache-inducing Ghost Rider) on minute details about his motorcycle's GPS than on "the songs and stories of vanished times" or the major tour he is on with a pair of personalities like Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson.
Read this if you have trouble falling asleep, or if you still have any vague notion that Neil Peart is nothing more than an ostentatious, self-righteous windbag without an original thought.