Best Drummer

gammygils

Who was the best drummer of all time?

For me it was Steve Morris of Joy Division & New Order

A Legend

washiskin

2 for me:

Stewart Copeland of The Police & Phil Gould of Level 42.

gammygils

Reckon Rick Buckler of The Jam also deserves a mention

I Need The Sun

This is of course the impossible question to answer, except in personal opinion.

Tommy Ramone and Rat Scabies. Forget the flash, fiddly, clasically taught paradiddly stuff.

Jim_Kiy

John Stanier -Helmet/Battles
Jimmy Chamberlain-SP
The dude from the RipTide Movement.

Dub Ste

I'd have

Roger Taylor
Max Weinberg
Johnny Donnelly
Stuart Copeland
Clem Burke
Steve White


more to follow!!

DEFTLEFTHAND

Its a matter of opinion really isn't it. I'd put Ginger Baker and Simon Kirke up there.

Hannibal

Cozy Powell and Charlie Watts

rcaz

Greg Saunier, Glenn Kotche and Steven Drozd for me...

Cruel Sun

Jimmy Chamberlain
Dave Grohl

endacl

Buddy Rich.


Game over.

Bodhidharma

Bonzo

jiltloop

Yeah has to be Buddy Rich. Phenomenal drummer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWrxHP36N1Q

I Need The Sun

Make of this what you will....

http://youtu.be/VcNyhCXNvQE

maccored

I Need The Sun wrote: »

This is of course the impossible question to answer, except in personal opinion.

Tommy Ramone and Rat Scabies. Forget the flash, fiddly, clasically taught paradiddly stuff.

i'd put another vote for Rat Scabies. Amazing drummer.

GLaDOS

I'm a fan of the technical side, Neil Peart (Rush) and Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree) for me.

endacl

I Need The Sun wrote: »

Make of this what you will....

http://youtu.be/VcNyhCXNvQE

No buddy rich. Therefore, in the context of the thread, just a video.

phelixoflaherty

Deantoni Parks. Robot boy

I Need The Sun

endacl wrote: »

I Need The Sun wrote: »

Make of this what you will....

http://youtu.be/VcNyhCXNvQE

No buddy rich. Therefore, in the context of the thread, just a video.

Certainly not Buddy Rich. But probably the loosest televised piece of drumming I have heard since Charlie Watts.

Drummers should be seen and not heard. Drum solos are far worse than guitar solos

endacl

I Need The Sun wrote: »

Certainly not Buddy Rich. But probably the loosest televised piece of drumming I have heard since Charlie Watts.

Drummers should be seen and not heard. Drum solos are far worse than guitar solos

But in the context of the OP, answer: Buddy Rich.

My favourite mentioned so far: Peart.

If the question was 'who's your favourite drummer', that would have been my answer. In the context of the thread, Buddy Rich is the only correct response.

I like the Black Keys, and in the context of the song.... perfectly appropriate drumming. In the context of drumming, and all that is possible in drumming.... just drumming. Competently.

As evidence....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf9muJjmI2g

and capitulation from possibly the second greatest drummer of all time.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_BmeBfV-O4

I'm bored....:D

phelixoflaherty

Deantoni Parks

Son0vagun

Little Terry Ted Bozzio. Here's a link, not that anyone will watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M782Ax4b4_0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

cometogether

For me it has to be Reni from the Stone Roses, he's a genius.

rcaz

Forgot to post some videos...

Greg Saunier playing with Deerhoof (he gets so much out of a tiny kit!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQDUHj_je7g

Glenn Kotche (now playing with Wilco) doing his solo drum kit piece, Monkey Chant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkmGSABX1Sg

splashthecash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaZdQtwkQfg

</thread>

beng128

Of course impossible to say who's the best drummer, but in my opinion the most talented guy around these days is the drummer from Bad Bad Not Good a band of 20 year olds doing weird hip hop jazz from Canada.

Check this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g98nmzq3PQ

Have to agree with Steve Drozd and Reni being mentioned. Reni really has that shuffle that's very fucking rare under the large umbrella that is rock/pop. And Drozd, the master mind behind the more recent Flaming Lips is one of the best all round musicians out there.

All this talking of Buddy Rich and not a mention of Gene Krupa. I'd say they're pretty equal, but Krupa has the soul and swing that Rich just doesnt, Rich is a bit of a machine in my opinion.

Krupa:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRjQzSwmEHw

Finally, how can you have a thread on drummers without mentioning Bernard Purdie or Tony Allen, holy shit I forgot how great Afrobeat is until making this post.
Thanks y'all

Ninja Edit to say how fecking brilliant that ZZ Top cover is just above

Latchy

Different styles of drumming but Brian Bennett (The Shadows ) Kieth Moon (the Who ) Paul Thomson (Roxy Music) Warren Cann (Ultravox ) Pick Withers ( Dire Straits ) would be up there with the best of them .

LoanShark

Dave Grohl is my favourite, i was listening to Nirvana yesterday and there is some serious drumming in that album..

Chester Thompson is also a good man on the sticks..

flyswatter

I dunno if there is a "best" drummer per se, there are so many great drummers.

I think Buddy Rich tops most lists as the greatest of all time because of his sheer virtuosity on the instrument. No one could really play as fast as he could.

For me Vinnie Colaiuta is up there as one of the greatest. Could be the most versatile drummer of all time and most skilful. He can play anything. Some of the artists he has played with: Herbie Hancock, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Sting, Megadeth, Chick Corea. Everything from Fusion to latin jazz to pop to metal.

I'm a big fan of Gavin Harrison at the moment, he is really great.

Steve Gadd and Dave Weckl are up there too.

Too many to mention really!

Links234

Neil Peart?

flyswatter

Links234 wrote: »

Neil Peart?

He's great, however I have the feeling he's a wee bit overrated in the context that he gets a bit too much praise.

Links234

flyswatter wrote: »

He's great, however I have the feeling he's a wee bit overrated in the context that he gets a bit too much praise.

maybe, but I do like him a lot

another favourite of mine is Gene Hoglan, he's a metal drummer so probably not to everyone's tastes

EI2011

Jimmy Rainsford

Declan A Walsh

Best drummer? I think this is an impossible task. As some have said already, it really is a matter of one's own taste and preferences and memories.

I would include the following in my list:
Stewart Copeland
Tre Cool from Green Day
John Bonham
Cozy Powell
Stephen Morris
John Densmore from The Doors
Laurence Tolhurst of The Cure on the album "Seventeen Seconds", example "A Forest"
Rat Scabies? - Yeah. Funnily enough, I wouldn't have thought of him straight away but he is good.

I Need The Sun

Hard to believe no-one has mentioned Mr Starkey yet.

I Need The Sun

I Need The Sun wrote: »

Make of this what you will....

http://youtu.be/VcNyhCXNvQE

Does no-one else think that this drumming is all over the place in a not good way? Out of time in loads of places.

ukonline

-

Steve Gadd is up there, imo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZZLLYEzKE8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py0FdS-e960

-

rednik

John Bonham, John Henry Bonham.

Sugarlumps

Personally I’m not into flash drummers, or guys that play a million beats a minute, no soul in that. Can’t beat a groove orientated heavy hitter.

Eric Kretz of STP – Always has a lovely recorded sound, very tasteful.
Sim Cain of Rollins Band – Savage grooves, lots of use on the toms, very tribal.
Dave Grohl – Meat and potatoes, Songs For The Deaf is a drummers delight. Air drumming has never felt so good.
Ira Elliot - Nada Surf – Again lovely drum sound, very tasty fills when called for.
Abe Cunnigham of Deftones - Rocks it hard.
John Bonham - God

hypermuse

none of the drummers mentioned here even hold a candle close to this amazing piece of work!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8aGlOj2VFo

Jim_Kiy

Might have better videos to showcase this tub thumping skills ..enjoyed this one ..often thought drummers should nt be stuck in the shadows..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tRdUy_Wr4s

furiousox

There is no best drummer.
Bonham set the template for rock drumming though (imo).
I always enjoy hearing Clem Burke (Blondie) as well and yer man from Slipknot seems to be highly rated by his peers.

Rented Mule

Neil Peart - hands down.

Ziegfeldgirl27

Of all time, I should think Gene Krupa.

But the best drummer of today in my opinion is Abe Laborial Jr. He is phenomenal, I've never heard anything like him in my life. Look him up if you don't know who he is. He tours with Paul McCartney and occasionally Eric Clapton.

VisualStats

Johnny Donnelly is the best for me.

Declan A Walsh

I Need The Sun wrote: »

Hard to believe no-one has mentioned Mr Starkey yet.

I find it hard to believe that I forgot about Mr. Richard Starkey, a.k.a. Ringo Starr!

He was (and presumably still is) an excellent drummer. The thing about him is that he had a very understated way of drumming and did his job without a fuss or any histrionics. It is probably for this reason that Ringo Starr is one of the most underrated drummers in the rockworld. Ringo's highpoint for me was the last Beatles studio album - Abbey Road. His drumming is particularly noticeable in that passage between "Carry that Weight" and "The End" and includes, unusually for him, a drum solo.

Stompbox

Like with any of these threads I think it would be wise to substitute 'favourite' for 'best' in the title for two reasons: a) one man's trash is another man's treasure; there is simply no accounting for taste, it's too subjective and b) half the thread gets taken up with people posting reason a over and over again .

Anyhoo, to that matter at hand. Personally, I prefer a more groove-oriented stickman who can provide an unflappable rhythmic backbone as opposed to those disposed to a more ornamental flair in their playing.

My favourite drummer at the moment would have to be Chris Bear from Grizzly Bear, my God that man has chops. It's a different type of rudimentary really; the beat is so bespoke and tailored to accentuate the other instruments. Here's a cover video just so you can appreciate the nuances of the playing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF6OlVdXUcA

For me, any great drummer should understand how his playing is one of the most important contributions to a band's dynamics. This was evidenced perfectly in that Deerhoof video that rcaz posted above and Matt Helders from the Arctic Monkeys is certainly well versed in the trade also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHe3E366_Po

Reni is teh master of funky drumming, no question. I love the way, and this is gonna sound like a steaming pile of pretentious sank, his beat is so viscous, so tangible; it feels like you can sink into it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuPfbfJm2rc

Christopher Thompson from Vampire Weekend is splendid also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e0u11rgd9Q

Terrontress

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I Need The Sun wrote: »

Hard to believe no-one has mentioned Mr Starkey yet.

I find it hard to believe that I forgot about Mr. Richard Starkey, a.k.a. Ringo Starr!

He was (and presumably still is) an excellent drummer. The thing about him is that he had a very understated way of drumming and did his job without a fuss or any histrionics. It is probably for this reason that Ringo Starr is one of the most underrated drummers in the rockworld. Ringo's highpoint for me was the last Beatles studio album - Abbey Road. His drumming is particularly noticeable in that passage between "Carry that Weight" and "The End" and includes, unusually for him, a drum solo.

I think Ringo was a very pragmatic drummer. His starting point was different to where most players start from. Songs like A Day in The Life, Here Comes The Sun. Even things like hitting his knees, I think it was I'll Follow The Sun. Absolutely great and full of feeling. As mentioned above, Abe Laboriel Jr then develops those Ringo drum parts.

Has anyone heard the drummer from Cashier No9? Not that well known but he has a lovely feel.

And I love all the jazzy stuff of Darren Jessee on the first two Ben Folds Five albums.

Alan White on Wonderwall / Half a world away. Brushes or rods.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Alan White had to deal with NG lowering the drum sound on Oasis albums. He's spoken of his frustration at this. He's a powerful drummer live whilst uninhibited.

Is there to be anything said for Keith Moon? He was original anyway and played the drums as a lead instrument. :pac:

Mister Jingles

4 pages on and nobody has mentioned Jeff Porcaro of Toto. Rosanna being his finest work of art

gammygils

How about the gorilla on the Cadbury's add?

He was pretty cool! Pure Joy