Neil Peart's death at 67 hit me like a ton of bricks. Like Tom Petty, who died a short while back at 66, Peart's death made me reflect on my own mortality. I'm 64 and I grew up listening to guys like Peart and Petty since their beginnings and hearing of their passings saddens me to no end. I was a casual fan of Rush, but a colossal fan of Peart, who I considered to be the best rock drummer of all time. Believe me, I am not alone in that assessment. I remember when the first Rush album came out, with Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and a drummer named John Rutsy. It was in 1974 and I was in college. I bought the album after hearing "Finding My Way" on a progressive FM radio station. As it turns out, that song was the only one on the album I liked. I found the rest of the album to be uninspired and poorly recorded. I was really into hi-fi and the poor production of the recording really turned me off. I was unexcited about the band and passed on seeing them when they to...