DescentBB

1 John Bonham

2 Stewart Copeland

3 Charlie Watts

send me to your hell.

John Van Halen?

The best drummer in my head isn't really any good. I guess he doesn't practice enough.

Best for playing on pure emotion: John Bonham.
Best technician: Neil Pert

Bonham

Keith Moon

Buddy Rich

Stewart Copeland

i was playing drums while cooking spagetti bollenaise last night. it was fun. simple things.

what does this mean "IN YOUR HEAD"?
in your opinion?

Sage wrote:John Van Halen?

Huh? You mean Alex Van Halen?

My list, in terms of tallent, and kinda of restricted to rock:

1. Mike Portnoy
2. Neal Peart
3. Stewart Copeland

Though Buddy Rich should be on there, pretty much tied with Copeland.

Phil collins

Animal (Jim Henson)

Ginger Baker

Would be hard for me to pick a few drummers. I listen to so much music now and some of it runs circles around what is produced here in the states.

Really have gotten into Symphonic Metal with bands like Nightwish (Finland) and Therion (Sweden) as well as others.

Too many bands to narrow it down. So much good stuff.

That guy in Ricky Ricardo's band. ...

he was pretty kickass.

STRESSTEST wrote:Animal (Jim Henson)

haha, i too will get behind this great autoanswer.

Mike Portnoy, Steve Smith, Neil Peart, Jerry Gaskill, Van Williams, Virgil Donati, Jerry McBroom, Alex Van Halen, Tommy Portimo, Danny Carey, Jorg Michael, Lars Ulrich, Dennis Chambers, Dave Weckl, Tony Williams, Louie Weaver, Billy Cobham, Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Daniel Svensson, Art Taylor, Terry Bozio, Simon Phillips. Portnoy is my favorite, the rest are pretty much random order. I'll have a revised/ordered list made up during the break most likely.

Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson)

Gene Krupa (from the 'Big Band' era, 1930s-40s)

All of those listed are good but back when I was going to a community college up north, there was a bar band that came in periodically. The drummer was amazing. He could do solo strings that seemed to last for hours. Too bad I can't remember the band or who he was.

Bonzo is without a doubt the best, he changed the way everybody played drums. No more simple 4/4 counts with simple fills, it was loud, good, and full of energy. After him...well...for rock and roll drummers there are too many to count. But Bonzo is the best, no ifs or buts.

Carl Palmer!

Zuruck wrote:Bonzo is without a doubt the best, he changed the way everybody played drums. No more simple 4/4 counts with simple fills, it was loud, good, and full of energy. After him...well...for rock and roll drummers there are too many to count. But Bonzo is the best, no ifs or buts.

I dislike unqualified statements on which musician is "the best." I've heard literally thousands of them on the numerous forums I've read over the past few years. Now, if you wanna debate this we can. I've heard a fair amount of Zeppelin, but I have yet to hear anything from him that blows my mind. I can think of plenty of drummers that can play circles around Bonzo, and many aren't even on my list because I don't particularly care for their styles. No doubt, Bonzo is highly influential and a pioneer in rock drumming, and I like his playing, but is he "the best?" I'm not convinced that that is true. However, for the sake of argument, what would you consider to be 5 songs that feature his best drumming?

The Church Lady was pretty heavy.

that subhuman slamming a feumer into the inside of my skull is doing a commendable job

Moby Dick. Track 8 on Led Zeppelin II. Amazing.

Meh, I like it, but it's nothing special. Plenty of death/black metal drummers can do blast beats faster than that for whole songs. I'd heard it before anyway.

hehe.
music like most things is subjective. while clayman seems to like to boil good drumming to all that is technical i tend to kick back and enjoy it... unless it's pure butcher of course. personally i think metal is a pretty lifeless genre, while i can appreciate the skillz, it really doesn't speak to me.

i recall a guitar debate a few years ago on the dbb where some chuckle head made the claim that SRV made hendrix obsolete... clearly ignoring that SRV walked the path hendrix blazed. the same is true for bonham in regards to rock drummers. half the rock drummers clay listed prolly studied bonhams tone and feel while they still had pimples on their faces.

oh well... it was supposed to be your personal opinion of drummers anyway.

Animal friggin rocks. Especially when he ends up eating the cymbals.

roid wrote:

STRESSTEST wrote:Animal (Jim Henson)

haha, i too will get behind this great autoanswer.

X3

STRESSTEST wrote:Animal (Jim Henson)

x4

Stewart Copeland++

TheCops wrote:hehe.
music like most things is subjective. while clayman seems to like to boil good drumming to all that is technical i tend to kick back and enjoy it... unless it's pure butcher of course. personally i think metal is a pretty lifeless genre, while i can appreciate the skillz, it really doesn't speak to me.

i recall a guitar debate a few years ago on the dbb where some chuckle head made the claim that SRV made hendrix obsolete... clearly ignoring that SRV walked the path hendrix blazed. the same is true for bonham in regards to rock drummers. half the rock drummers clay listed prolly studied bonhams tone and feel while they still had pimples on their faces.

oh well... it was supposed to be your personal opinion of drummers anyway.

No, it's not all technical. If you were familiar with the drummers on the list you'd know that a few of them aren't known at all for technical ability. If technical ability was my sole criteria I'd have a different list anyway. I like the players on my list because they're creative and have feel. My problem was just that Zuruck was posting this "no if's, and's, or but's" nonsense that I've heard an unusual amount of from Zeppelin fans lately for some reason. Bonzo is good, certainly, but if you wanna claim he's absolute #1, no questions asked, then prove it. And I'll guarantee you that he learned from the greats even before him, like some of the jazz guys I mentioned, or others like Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Baby Dodds, Chick Webb, Jo Jones, Sonny Greer, Kenny Clarke, Art Blakey, et. al.

Ginger Baker - Cream
John Bonham - The Zepster!
Danney Carey - Tool
Mitch Mitchell - The Experience
Ian Paise - Deep Purple
Nick Mason - Pink Floyd
Bill Kreutzman & Mickey Hart - The Dead

I can go on for an eternity with this one

Another big w00t for Mike Portnoy.

One does come to mind along with some of those already mentioned here.

Rick Allen (Def Leppard)

You have to overcome a lot and have some major talent if you can learn to drum with only one arm. I respect that a lot.

Cops, that might be true, but when do students ever get credit for surpassing their teachers? It has to count for something that you can out drum or outplay the people who "set the trend". That makes them trend setters in their own right because others will have be as good or better to really stand out.

clayman,
your initial post made a lot of sense there is no "best"... unless you count some guitar center "drummer with the biggest caulk" award. i was just being my usual idiot self for the hell of it.
;-0

i seperate jazz drumming from rock drumming anyway.

Tyranny wrote:Cops, that might be true, but when do students ever get credit for surpassing their teachers? It has to count for something that you can out drum or outplay the people who "set the trend". That makes them trend setters in their own right because others will have be as good or better to really stand out.

well...
even if someone can "out drum" bonham they weren't a member of led zeppelin. i submit that most people who are cutting edge at their art are not trying to "out-do" their heros... i think they are trying to be themselves. it's not a race... it's a natural progression. you inevitably stand on your hero's shoulders.

This might be blasphemous, but there are better bands out there and better music being done then what Led Zepplin did. What they accomplished in their heyday was great, very memorable and will never be forgotten but music has progressed beyond them IMO.

Pioneering never ends, it's always improved on.

There is a saying in the music world that goes: A good drummer can make an average band good but an average drummer can make a good band average. My drummers in my mind are Keith Moon, Neil Pert, Carl Palmer, and of course Animal.

The guy from Kings X.
I never thought much about him until I saw him live, he was really amazing.

A good drummer can make an average band good but an average drummer can make a good band average.

Yes, because the drummer is generally the cornerstone of the band. Of course, that saying isn't always true. For example, not to bash punk bands, but Travis Barker of Blink 182 is much more talented than his bandmates, but I don't personally think it makes them sound any better.

The guy from Kings X.
I never thought much about him until I saw him live, he was really amazing.

Yep, that would be Jerry Gaskill.

Tyranny wrote:This might be blasphemous, but there are better bands out there and better music being done then what Led Zepplin did.

hehe.
that isn't blasphemy... that's opinion.
i just find the music of "now" lacks songwriting skillz. but that could be my age... or maybe i'm right.

seriously.
do you listen to everything? do you listen to the whole? the story? the melody? or do you get off on the production? the unreal arpeggios? i swear i'll take the feel of the wailers over the new generation of 1/64th note masters (or is it 1/128th?). please link me to a good song with a "master" drummer and i may agree. you won't be able to unless you link me to the mars volta. i know this will go on forever.

I can play 128th notes too... at 1 beat/sec.

Perpetual Change from the YesSongs album(live). Squire and Bruford are so tight.... and you can set a clock by Bruford. 64ths? Bill's got'em in spades and syncopation on top of it.

Another underrated drummer is Richard Starkey III... yes, Ringo. While he wasn't 'flashy', he was another drummer you could set your watch by.