Okay, here's a confession: I don't own a single Rush album. I just could never stand Geddy Lee's voice. I've heard a lot of their music over the years, and am definitely familiar with Neil Peart, whom I respect but don't worship. I've taught about a hundred drummers to play Tom Sawyer, and will readily admit that NOBODY can do the stick throwing thing like Neil. But I've never been captivated by him, instead preferring the fusion drummers I grew up listening to, when I want a fix of some big-kit drumming.

But in an effort to keep up with the Cult of Neil  , I'm asking for recommendations:

What CD represents Neil's best work, in your opinion?

I'll buy ONE. That's all. I don't want to risk a Geddy overdose, so I'll buy the one that is most highly recommended.

So, here's the deal: you're a Rush fan, and you're on a desert island, with a boombox and an endless supply of D-cells, and ONE Rush CD.

Which one will it be?

 Do you know how hard this is for a Rush freak such as myself?
Anyway, I would say that my favorite studio album would be A Farewell to Kings, but if stuck on a desert island, I would probably opt for one of the live recordings as they have a smattering of everything. My favorite of the live ones would be "Different Stages" as it contains 3 cds, two from the "Test for Echo" tour in 1996 and one from the Hammerstein in London from 1978(my fav of the 3) It's a fair representation of most of their work and of course one of Neils famous drum solos that I can't seem to get enough of. If I absolutely was forced to pick one, that would be the one. Glad to see you're finally giving in!!

I'll 2nd ChefDoug.  Different Stages has it all, from "Tom Sawyer" to a FULL version of "2112", the drum solo, some of the newer stuff.  Then you get the old cd from 1978 with all the REALLY old stuff like "Bastille Day", "Anthem", "By-tor & the Snowdog" and "Cygnus X-1".  It's a well-recorded album, the crowd isn't overbearing (like on the new "Rush In Rio" offering...those crazy Brazillians   ) and it contains a good retrospective of their career.

Mr A....

I hear you, I hear you, I hear you.  Geddy's voice is not an easy thing to deal with.

I bought my first Rush CD in 1989 after reading a billion stories in Modern Drummer, etc. about Neil.  I played it once and didn't play it again for months.

Flash forwad about 2 years, and I owned every CD.

Geddy's voice is not an easy thing to accept quickly.  For people with Geddy-phobia, I recommend newer Rush stuff.  He hasn't been singing as high as he got older.

The problem is you won't get the all out super crazy Neil Drumming on the newer stuff.  When I say newer, I'm talking like late 80's & beyond.

Darnit man - I can't pick just one CD.  I'm thinking maybe Grace Under Pressure for a good combination of lots of notes with great lyrics.  Oh man, maybe Permanent Waves.

(My personal favorite is Presto, but you won't be floored by the drumming on there - but you'll like the fact that Geddy doesn't scream).

This is too difficult of a task - I don't think I'm up to it afterall.

I think it's cool that you're willing to buy one.  Many people are pretty die-hard anti-Rush.

To me the last few CD's are sort of like Peter Gabriel CD's - where I'll constantly find super subtle things about the songs that simply amaze me.

With their older stuff, I was more amazed by blantantly obvious crazy chops stuff.

You asked for Neil's best work.  Considering he writes the lyrics as well, I can't answer that questions.

Best lyrics: New Stuff.  Best drumming: Circa late 80's

A buddy of mine and I had a similar conversation the other day. Since we're both Rush fans, we decided on Chronicles to be the best overall RUSH experience.

One purchase, and 2 CD's of Neil (except on "Working Man").  

IMO, this is ALL you'll need.

there's always his instructional DVD...

_{runs and hides...}  

Yikes!  Just one you say?  @$%#.

I used to enjoy the prog Rush (1975-1978) the most and would always recommend folks buy A Farewell To Kings and Hemispheres, which I still believe are two of their finest albums.  There's also the FM rock era (1980-1981) with the big hits "The Spirit of Radio" and "Tom Sawyer." The band found their way into pop territory but are still essentially a hard rock band.  The Signals album of 1982 is an interesting turning point for the band, where the keyboards really take centerstage and the band has obviously been listening to way too much Police.  Then the band go for full-on 1980s synth rock from 1984-1992.  My favorite Rush album is probably Grace Under Pressure (1984) because the songs are all fairly dark with lots of innovative drumming, neat synthesizer atmospheres and, most important to me now, good pop songwriting.  I've been dying to do a heavier rock version of "Afterimage" for years.  One of these days I'll do it.  Anyhow, the 1994-present era features a good smattering of the last two phases of the band, with an effort to make the band a it more organic (less synth-heavy) than the '80s with heavier guitars.  

If I were to recommend just one album (not a compilation) I'd have to say the classic is Moving Pictures.  There's not a bad song on that album at all.  If I were to take only one Rush record to a desert island with me it would be either Signals or GRace Under Pressure.  My favorite Neil album?  I think is drumming is astonishing on "Losing It" from Signals, or "Anthem" from Fly By Night, or "Freewill" from Moving Pictures.  If you gotta go with Neil's best, you have to get Exit...Stage Left.  

Farewell To Kings

You could also check out Rush in Rio, either DVD or CD. They play about 30 songs including a drum solo. It sounds really good, and the DVD focuses a lot on Neil's playing with different angles (there is an extra feature that has multi angles of him playing on a few songs).

If you wanted an album, I would go with Moving Pictures, but if you were just interested in Neil, I think the DVD would be a better choice. I got it for $22 at Best Buy.

Hemispheres