A big Happy 60th Birthday today to one of the crown jewels of music, especially percussion, the consummate, influential, innovative, and one of a kind drummer Neil Peart, who with his band Rush, has been a force majeure (Latin for “superior force”) for almost four decades now in the universe of rock and roll.

The appeal and charisma of Neil Peart spawns a cult which is one of the most loyal in all of music. While the band Rush is revered and loved wholeheartedly by legions of fans spanning many generations, the general opinion of Neil Peart and his approach to his instrument is unprecedented; scores of musicians, and non-musicians, hold the man in the highest regard, constant platitudes run sky high for him, he’s regarded as one of the best individuals to ever get behind a drum kit, and what he does behind that drum kit – the fast, smooth, effortless, almost robotic, machine like, all gears moving forward, every beat and meter exact and precision wound – is almost like a Swiss watch in motion. It’s a sight to behold. Influenced to a certain extent by jazz titan Buddy Rich and rock legend Keith Moon, Peart’s drum passages and to quote a Rush song “Mystic Rhythms” have put the band in the highest forms of complexly arranged rhythms and melodies, all expertly backbeated by Peart, complemented on bass by Geddy Lee and capped to a T by the great fretwork of Alex Lifeson. The band is bigger than ever, the allure of Neil Peart still blindly shines wherever he and his fans go.

Every day here at Doom HQ we receive tons of tips from our readers about really cool stuff from the world of geek, as well as promotional materials for new films, comic books, collectibles, and much more. While we do our best to bring you as much of it as possible, we don’t always have enough geek manpower available to cover it all on a daily basis. But we hate the idea of all of this really cool stuff wasting away in our inbox. How could we NOT cover it? Hence why we’ve resurrected our long-defunct column Bits Of Doom, now rebranded and revamped as Doom Digest, a collection of easily digestible bits of news, videos, photos, and other goodies.

Today: Metallica performs the entire Black Album, a supercut of movies that could afford to use actual Beatles music, a short film about Canadian rock trio Rush, a video of MCA‘s opening lines from every Beastie Boys song, and a photo from Neil Gaiman‘s first-ever signing for Sandman, plus Bits Of Doom.

And the meek shall inherit the Earth…

Today is 2-1-12, or 2112… and I couldn’t let this day go by without mentioning this date day, a special one for us Rush fans.

In honor of today’s date, be sure to crank up Rush’s awesome, amazing, fantastic album 2112.

The 1976 concept album was the Canadian’s trio’s four studio effort, and after their previous album, Caress of Steel, was a financial flop, it was also Rush’s final chance with their record label, which was against the band doing another concept album. But the band – bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer Neil Peart, the latter of whom was the main lyricist — stuck to their guns and put out the album they wanted to with 2112. Not only was 2112 the band’s first commercial success, the album also went on to become one of the most popular rock albums of all time, with its Starman emblem as one of the most recognizable symbols in rock.

Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage
Directed by Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen
Starring Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart
Release date: June 7, 2010 (Europe), June 10, 2010 (US & Canada)

“˜What kind of band is Rush? It’s Rush!’ – Gene Simmons

The number three plays an increasingly significant part in the world of rock music. It is the number of chords in Status Quo’s famous three-chord boogie, the amount of sixes in the number of the beast, and the brain cell count of most drummers. It is also the amount of members of mega-selling Canadian rock trio, Rush. Three also happens to be the band’s place on the list of consecutive gold- or platinum-selling albums behind The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. On June 7, 2010, selected cinemas in Europe were host to a screening of a new music documentary about the lives and careers of these Canadian rock giants. For one night only, Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage made it to the big screen. Cool, eh?

Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage recounts the band’s expansive history through home movies, TV footage, and interviews with each band member and people who have been involved in or inspired by the music — from their modest childhoods in Canada to millionaire rock stars in the world’s biggest cult band.