U.K.'s Rhythm magazine held an online poll to find out who readers thought was the greatest rock & roll drummer of the last 25 years. Over 100,000 people voted.
01. Joey Jordison (Slipknot)
02. Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater)
03. Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree)
04. Neil Peart (Rush)
05. Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Them Crooked Vultures)
06. Travis Barker (Blink-182, Transplants)
07. Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden)
08. Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting, Jeff Beck)
09. Phil Collins (Genesis)
10. Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chickenfoot)
11. Brann Dailor (Mastadon)
12. Steve Gadd (Eric Clapton, Paul Simon)
13. Thomas Lang (session drummer)
14. Stewart Copeland (The Police)
15. Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa)
16. Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle, Devo)
17. Cozy Powell (Rainbow, Whitesnake, Black Sabbeth)
18. Jeff Porcaro (Toto, Michael Jackson)
19. Stephen Morris (Joy Division, New Order)
20. Steve White (Paul Weller, Oasis)
Lots of notable names (Peart, Collins) on there. Glad to see Mike Portnoy get the credit he deserves. A little surprised Alex Van Halen didn't make it, but given the timeframe, it would have ignored the early portion of his career.
lukethedrifter wrote:Where the hell is Tony Allen on that list?
Nevermind, I guess it's just rock drummers.
Sorry about that. I'll amend the thread title.
Re: Rock Drummers
Posted: August 12 10, 4:54 am
by Maclowery
I'm pretty happy they put Portnoy up there; I was a big Dream Theater nerd in college. I wish that Danny Carey (resident Tool badass) would have gotten on there, if only because of their very complex (and weird) time signatures. The whole polyrhythmic (haha beat the spellchecker) schtick is just as awesome as Portnoy's was.
Re: Rock Drummers
Posted: August 12 10, 6:32 am
by cpebbles
Drummers seem so insignificant and interchangeable. Of course then I look at how precipitously REM dropped off Bill Berry left and I wonder, but it's possible Up was going to happen with or without him.
Re: Rock Drummers
Posted: August 12 10, 8:10 am
by Jocephus
he should have made it
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Re: Rock Drummers
Posted: August 12 10, 8:14 am
by Leroy
Garth Algar.
Re: Rock Drummers
Posted: August 12 10, 8:16 am
by MrSaigon
I would expect Slipknot to be at top of a lot of lists, but none of them the least bit flattering.
Re: Rock Drummers
Posted: August 12 10, 8:16 am
by go birds
Yea where the heck is Danny Carey?
Carter Beauford??? (i'll catch alot of slack for that one i bet)
And where is the drummer from Def Leppard?
THE DRUMMER FROM DEF LEPPARD'S ONLY GOT ONE ARM!!!!!!!!
10 pts. to anyone who can tell me what that line's from.
Re: Rock Drummers
Posted: August 12 10, 8:21 am
by TheoSqua
cpebbles wrote:Drummers seem so insignificant and interchangeable. Of course then I look at how precipitously REM dropped off Bill Berry left and I wonder, but it's possible Up was going to happen with or without him.
Depends on how the song writing is done. If it's heavily gutar based music, lots of leads and very simple changes, your drummer doesn't matter. AC/DC could go through 30 different drummers without it really changing their sound much. If you have a band that's heavy on timing and rythem, and the drummer has a big part in creating the timing in riffs and choruses, then changing drummers can be a pretty big deal. Led Zeppelin refused to go on without John Bohnam, a band like Dream Theater or Muse absolutely could not replace their current drummers. Some of the drummers on that list, bands like Slipknot, Rush, even Nirvana would be completely different with a different drummer. (I think a different drummer had a lot to do with some of the "Raw" sound on Nevermind, if you look at Queens of the Stone Age, there's a reason that Songs for the Deaf is considered their best album, and it has way more to do with the session drummer than the songwriter)