Your favorite drummers

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 11:58 pm

Gotta love the drummer. Sometimes when I'm listening to a song I've pretty much overplayed, I like to give it a fresh aspect by zeroing in on just the drums. Same for bass, but that's another thread to itself. Anyway, who are your favorite drummers? Don't have to make a top 5, but I'm going to (I'm a top 5 addict).

1. John Bonham
2. Bill Bruford
3. Keith Moon
4. Ringo Starr
5. Stevie Wonder (no kidding)

Ginger Baker is probably my #6.

Post by **matrixman** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 3:40 am

When I think of rock 'n' roll, I first think of the drum sound. Drummers are fundamental to my enjoyment of rock music.

My No.1 favorite drummer will always be Stewart Copeland of The Police. I loved his irreverent attitude and mercurial style. I loved the particular sound he made on the drums: a clean attack with very little disguise, producing a crisp, hard sound that was all his own and magic to my ears. Copeland's style was a beautiful marriage of power and precision. The work he did over the course of the Police's five albums is, in my view, untouchable.

My runner-up fav would have to be John Bonham. It's been said before and it's worth repeating: the guy wasn't a drummer, he was a force of nature. When I listen to his drumming, I'm hearing the pure, unbridled essence of rock 'n' roll. I can't imagine the Led Zep sound without John Bonham, just as I can't imagine the Police sound without Stewart Copeland.

Mark Brzezicki of Big Country is another all-time favorite. The musicianship of this band is first-class all the way, but no one has noticed(at least not in North America). Brzezicki's drumming is intricate and bloody exhilirating, driving home the band's intense, Gaelic style of rock.

Simple Minds also had savvy drummers over the years that I admired (though Lord Foul of course refuses to acknowledge that anything worthy of admiration came out of the 80's). I still love Simple Minds's early, experimental work, and original drummer Brian McGee played a big part in giving the band its edgy sound. Then Mel Gaynor replaced McGee and provided the band tremendous power in the drums; Gaynor is a big man and he uses his leverage. His drum work on the band's albums through the decade of the 80's was magnificent.

My current Favorite Drummer In The World is unquestionably Larry Mullen of U2. On the band's 80's albums his drumming was among the most invigorating I had ever heard in rock. During the 90's era of U2, Mullen continued to create wonderful noise with mere drums. And in today's U2, Mullen continues to be an inventive musician along with his band buddies.

Holy crap, this turned into an essay.

Post by **CovenantJr** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 12:22 pm

Josh Freese, of A Perfect Circle, the Vandals, Abandoned Pools, and session drumming for various other bands, including the Offspring, Evanescence and Guns n Roses. Great drummer.

Post by **theDespiser** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 12:57 pm

John Bonham, Neal Peart, Vinnie Appice, Bill Ward, Chuck Biscuit, Nick Barker, Tony Laureano, Pete Sandoval

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 1:43 pm

Er, I forgot to say which band my picks were from. Most of you prolly know, but anyway:

Bonham drummed for Led Zeppelin, Bill Bruford for King Crimson and Yes, Keith Moon for the Who, Ringo for the Beatles, and Stevie Wonder for Stevie Wonder (heh). Ginger Baker played for Cream and Blind Faith.

I'm sure they've played for others, but that's the bands I know 'em for.

Post by **Lord Mhoram** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 3:03 pm

Keith Moon, Dave Grohl, and Jimmy Chamberlain.

Post by **danlo** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 5:27 pm

Neal Peart-Rush
Billy Cobham-The Mahavishnu Orcestra
Lars Ulrich-Metallica (see Ride the Lightning/Stone Cold Crazy/One, i.e)
Keith Moon-The Who
Bill Bruford-Yes/King Crimson

next 5:
John Bonham-Zep
Stewart Copeland-Police
Ginger Baker-Cream/Blind Faith
Mike Portnoy-Dream Theater
Vinnie Paul-Panthera

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 1:30 am

Ginger Baker
John Bonham
Lars Ulrich

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 1:36 am

Matrixman wrote:Simple Minds also had savvy drummers over the years that I admired (though Lord Foul of course refuses to acknowledge that anything worthy of admiration came out of the 80's).

I won't say anything.

Post by **Nav** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 12:25 pm

I'll go for Keith Moon as well. Next time you hear Who Are You listen to the drumming, I think it's probably the best drum track ever. It has everything, rhythm changes, excellent high work and fills and all without being too indulgent.

More recently, Sean Moore of Manic Street Preachers is an underrated drummer. He has a surprisingly muscular style for such a wee guy, and his drumming was easily the best thing about the last album.

Post by **danlo** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 9:20 pm

Actually 6' 6" Andy Ward is one of my favorite drummers of all time. He played for Camel from it's inception in '71 to '83. On such great songs as Never Let Go, Lady Fantasy (amazing song) and Mirage as well as the superb album Moonmadness; Song Within a Song and the epic Unevensong, to name a few... Due to a bi-polar disorder he disapeared from the band and worked in a factory for a couple of years but resurfaced with a number of British bands including Bevis Frond, He is currently the drummer for The Steve Adams Band.

Post by **ProRider514** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 12:11 am

hey everybuddy! ok, theres no contest, AT ALL. THE best drummer of all time ever IS Neil Peart, but we gotta give sumthin to Rick Allen form Def Leppard, given the dudes layin down awesum drum rolls wit only one arm.

~*Kyrstie*~

Post by **Zakari** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 7:40 pm

Neil Peart - the Uber-Meister

Post by **ur-James** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 11:07 am

Wow, I'm seeing a lot of fans of progressive rock/metal around here, I like!!!

I'd have to go with Bill Bruford, Mike Portnoy, and Peart of course.

James

Post by **Nav** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 11:13 am

ProRider514 wrote:hey everybuddy! ok, theres no contest, AT ALL. THE best drummer of all time ever IS Neil Peart, but we gotta give sumthin to Rick Allen form Def Leppard, given the dudes layin down awesum drum rolls wit only one arm.

One arm and a whole bunch o' pedals!

Has anyone else seen the footage of Allen's comeback gig? He was tap-dancing so hard there were hair extensions everywhere!

I've been wondering how many good female drummers there are out there. The best one I know of is Janet Weiss who plays for Sleater-Kinney and Quasi, who can put a lot of her male conterparts to shame. The only other female drummers I can think of though, are Karen Carpenter and Meg White (who doesn't so much as drum as hit everything at the same time, every beat of every song)

Post by **The Dreaming** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 4:32 pm

Let me get this straight. You (Lord Foul) put Ringo Starr on a top ANYTHING list? He has to be about the luckiest man in the world. He was a temporary replacement for the guy they fired the show that they were discovered at. Ringo is the only thing about the Beatles that wasn't transcendently talented. I suppose he is on my "top five members of the Beatles" list, but nowhere else.

I do appreciate you putting Keith Moon up there. Talk about style and panache.

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 5:11 pm

DISCLAIMER: Forgive my vehemence, but my favorite thing in life is music, and The Beatles are my favorite band, so . . .

The Dreaming wrote:Let me get this straight. You (Lord Foul) put Ringo Starr on a top ANYTHING list? He has to be about the luckiest man in the world. He was a temporary replacement for the guy they fired the show that they were discovered at. Ringo is the only thing about the Beatles that wasn't transcendently talented. I suppose he is on my "top five members of the Beatles" list, but nowhere else.

Oh man. OH MAN you just did not! But you did!!

Get your Beatles history right, bub. Read the Beatles Anthology and treat it like a Bible. He wasn't just a "temporary replacement" along for the ride. They wanted to kick out Pete Best so they could have Ringo PERMANENTLY.

PAUL: We really started to think we needed “the greater drummer in Liverpool“, and the greatest drummer in our eyes was a guy, Ringo Starr, who had changed his name before any of us, who had a beard and was grown up and was known to have a Zephyr Zodiac. So we made Ringo an offer to join us, and Pete had to have the dreadful talking to.

GEORGE: To me it was apparent. Pete kept being sick and not showing up for gigs so we would get Ringo to sit in with the band instead, and every time Ringo sat in, it seemed like “this is it”. Eventually we realized, “We should get Ringo in the band full time.”

PAUL: Pete Best was good, but a bit limited. You can hear the difference on the Anthology tapes. When Ringo joins us we get a bit more kick, a few more imaginative breaks, and the band settles. So the new combination was perfect.

Things just didn’t gel until Ringo joined the band. End o’ discussion.

Now, onto subjective opinion:

Ringo lent a lot of flavor to the Beatles, image-wise, music-wise, anything-wise. I can't picture The Beatles without Ringo.

I love his drumming, especially on Abbey Road. Sometimes you don't even know it's there. He wasn't big on flourishes, and he hated solos; he was subtle and just an overall rock-solid drummer. Listen to his classic solo on "The End"--very melodic; hear how he remains supercharged as the guitar players pick up their axes.

LENNON: Ringo is a damn good drummer. He is not technically good, but I think Ringo's drumming is underrated the same way Paul's bass playing is underrated. Paul was one of the most innovative bass players ever. And half the stuff that is going on now is directly ripped off from his Beatles period. He is an egomaniac about everything else about himself, but his bass playing he was always a bit coy about. I think Paul and Ringo stand up with any of the rock musicians. Not technically great -- none of us are technical musicians. None of us could read music. None of us can write it. But as pure musicians, as inspired humans to make the noise, they are as good as anybody.

Plus, his vocals made "With a Little Help from My Friends", which I don't think any other Beatle could've done as well.

Post by **Sheriff Lytton** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 12:34 am

These men are pretty damn good:

Stewart Copeland (The Police)
Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, QOTSA)
Jerry Gaskill (King's X)

And these men are even better, although a little trickier

Danny Carey (Tool)
Neil Peart (Rush)

Ringo Starr indeed. I like the story about how Paul McCartney responded when told of how Ringo Starr had claimed to be "the best drummer in the world".

"Best drummer in the world? He wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles!"

(Over the years suspicions have been raised that Paul McCartney re-recorded some drum tracks himself when he decided the originals weren't up to scratch. There is a school of thought that says these suspicions have been raised by a Mr. "M", a suspiciously perma-jolly Englishman who cannot stop raising his thumbs and grinning inanely while in the presence of the media, but who also plays a mean bass. And guitar. And does keyboards, drums and lead vocals as well. Oh, and he's written some of the all time classic songs. Damn him)

Post by **Cail** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 12:51 am

John Bonham, John Bonham, John Bonham...Oh, and Stewart Copeland, that blonde guy in the Foo Fighters (he is absolutely the best around now), and Rick Allen (seen him with 2 arms and with one, the guy's amazing).

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 2:59 am

Sheriff Lytton wrote:Ringo Starr indeed. I like the story about how Paul McCartney responded when told of how Ringo Starr had claimed to be "the best drummer in the world".

"Best drummer in the world? He wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles!"

Not sure if Paul said that quote, Lytton; different sources for it (such as Jasper Carrot).

"George said that he would always have Ringo in a group, but he would never have Paul again. Paul criticised George's guitar playing. Ringo would also be very embarrassed because he would play the drums on the Beatles' recording and then Paul could come in at night and put his drumming on."

This may have provoked John's cruel observation that Ringo wasn't the best drummer in the world, he wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles.

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