When Neil called, I have to say that my heart soared. And the reason really was because it said so much about his recovery -- that he was coming back to the world of the living. I mean, even if he wasn't really ready for it, he was making an attempt, and there was that little faint light in him that was glowing again.

But I think the credit has to go to Geddy... he spent a lot of time in the studio with Paul, I think he needed that kind of focus to be in there to be a part of the whole thing, and for the most part he made all the major decisions.

Both Neil and I had done solo projects where we were the boss and I just thought that if he was willing to get into it, it would really be a good experience for him.

At the same time, I've never been afraid of death or the concept of death.

And on top of that, when we work together we have a wonderful working relationship we push each other we challenge each other we laugh 80% of the time that we are together we're very fortunate.

It was a gradual move towards getting back in shape again. He [Peart] hadn't played drums for a long time and he needed the time to just build up his chops again. And for us, Geddy and I hadn't worked writing together in a while and because we'd been doing such diverse things we needed some time to get used to each other again.