To be honest, when I first listened to Leviathan from Mastodon, I thought Brann Dailor was the band's only detriment. "Stop doing so many goddamn drum fills", was what I said to him to myself the whole way through. Months later though, I listened again and for whatever reason it all made sense. Mastodon has remained a very favorite band of mine since. Dailor's playing is flowing and definitely busy, yet he has emphasized more groove in recent years. All of which are good things.
74. JAN AXEL BLOMBERG (HELLHAMMER)
Norway's go-to fill-in/start a band/join a band drummer in the world of extreme metal is Hellhammer. This guy has played in almost every major Norwegian black metal band at one point or another and has a multitude of side-projects under his belt as well. They all showcase a diversity in his playing that few other metal drummers seem to possess. Mayhem, Arcturus, the Covenant, Winds, Dimmu Borgir, there is a reason he keeps getting phone calls.
73. DOC (KRZYSZTOF
RACZKOWSKI)
Sad case here as Doc, (the original and long standing drummer from Polish death metal legends Vader), succumbed to alcohol abuse and died in 2005, shortly after quitting the band. The only time that I have seen Vader live so far was Doc's last tour with them, so I was at least fortunate for that. Vader was one of the first DM bands that I ever heard and Doc's gargantuan sound and incredible speed behind the kit simply blew me away. Easily one of the best extreme metal skinsmen we will ever see.
72. OMAR HAKIM
It goes in the world of session drummers that often the more chops you have, the more opportunities you get to play in gigs that you are far over-qualified for. Omar Hakim has been one of those guys for decades. He has done touring and recordings stints with Madonna, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Sting, and lots, lots more, but is primarily a fusion drummer that got his break replacing Peter Erskine in Weather Report in the early '80s. Dude just recently laid down half the drums on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories as well.
The
only man to make both my favorite singer and drummer lists is Mr. Levon
Helm. Even Stevie Wonder failed to pull that off. Helm's
drumming often plays second fiddle to his exceptional vocals, but that
there just shows how perfectly complimentary his playing was to the
Band's music and also how complimentary it was to his own voice. When a
drummer truly plays for the song, you often do not even notice that it is happening. Helm grooved with the very best of them. "Up On
Cripple Creek" is one of those beats that I instinctively bust out
usually the second I sit behind a kit, as it is mountains of fun to play.
70. PETE THOMAS
I have not talked with too many musicians that consider Elvis Costello and the Attractions' drummer Pete Thomas to be one of the best, so in that regard I take it that he is rather underrated. Right out of the gate on This Year's Model, Thomas' fast fills and chop heavy, versatile grooves totally stand out. Along with his brother Bruce who is a phenomenal bass player, I would say that one of the foremost rhythm sections in pop music was formed. A songwriter as good as Costello does not necessarily need such a tight backing band, but it certainly does not hurt one bit that he has one.
69. LOUIE BELLSON
One of the guys we can thank for the utilization of two bass drums in a single kit is Louie Bellson. A big band showman in the tradition of Gene Krupa, with chops leaning closer towards Buddy Rich, Bellson is rightfully one of the most well respected jazz drum legends of all time. Bellson's solos were just fantastic and his double bass coloring set the template for what Ginger Baker, amongst countless others, would utilize to thunderous effect years later. He had an awesome toupee as well.
68. CHRIS ADLER
Lamb of God's Chris Adler is important for giving hope to any would-be drummers out there who feel that they may have missed the boat with picking up the sticks. Adler did not touch a drum kit until he was in college. He just had the eye of the tiger and hammered down for an entire year playing all day every day until he was able to hold his own in a band. By now you would never know that he was such a late bloomer, since he almost instantly became one of the most influential metal drummers ever when LOG broke with As the Palaces Burn back in 2003. Balls-tight kick drum rolls, intricate fills, and easily the best drum sound in the history of metal.
67. STEVIE WONDER
Eric Clapton famously said that Stevie Wonder was the best rock drummer he ever heard. Stevie Wonder is indeed many, many things, and a stellar drummer is absolutely one of them. It is one thing that Stevie laid down most of the drums on most of his classic albums, being a blind multi-instrumentalist. It is another that all of those grooves where so goddamn tasty. Then it is another still that on numerous occasions, he has gotten behind the kit live and knocked some drum solos out of the park. For me, he beats out Prince, Paul McCartney, Lenny Kravitz, and Dave Grohl as the best "oh yeah, he plays drums on his albums too" drummer out there.
66. GENE KRUPA
Every list that I do has a criminally low ranking or several and I guess this would be one of them. Gene Krupa was the very first drum superstar and basically the reason that drum solos are a thing that we are expected to do. Few soloists made them asses shake the way Krupa did. The rolling toms in "Sing, Sing, Sing" are on the short list of "must know how to play" licks for anyone serious about playing this instrument, to the point where busting them out is almost a cliche. Almost every drummer alive and certainly every jazz drummer sights Krupa somewhere on their list as an influence and it is amazing to think where drum set playing would be today without his bombastic appearance on the scene all those decades ago.
One of my very favorite bands be Rammstein and their drummer that has never left, (in fact all six of their members have never left), Christoph Schneider's playing has always suited my tastes ever so much. For one, his drums sound fucking incredible on every single thing the band has ever put out. He also plays with a gargantuan groove that makes Rammstein's music more mammothly heavy than it already is. Schneider is tight yet laid back and despite the band's trademark four on the floor dance beat, he still finds many a way change up his approach, with shuffles, marching, and tom-oriented jungle stuffs.
64. JOSE PASILLAS
This is another guy that I do not hear too many people talk about when it comes to their favorite drummers. Incubus' José Pasillas has always impressed me though and continues to do so. He played with a Chad Smith-esque hard funk edge on the band's early stuff, but always had loads of chops with awesome hi-hat and splash coloring thrown into his grooves. Nowadays as Incubus has matured somewhat into a mellow, adult contemporary pop band, Pasillas' playing has shifted accordingly to always benefit the song, toning down just as it should.
63. RUSSEL GILBROOK
Uriah Heep has been one of my favorite bands for many a year now, though their longest serving drummer Lee Kerslake I must admit never was my cup of tea. When Kerslake bowed out of the band for good in 2007 due to health issues, Heep in turn recruited UK drum clinician/session man Russell Gilbrook to take his place and holy balls, what an improvement. This guy is so good and absolutely perfect for Heep that I wish they would just go back and re-record all of their albums with him behind the kit. Gilbrook has oodles of chops and a mercilessly hard hitting style that adds both weight and flash to Heep's classic jams and their new stuff is as good as anything they have ever done.
Uriah Heep has been one of my favorite bands for many a year now, though their longest serving drummer Lee Kerslake I must admit never was my cup of tea. When Kerslake bowed out of the band for good in 2007 due to health issues, Heep in turn recruited UK drum clinician/session man Russell Gilbrook to take his place and holy balls, what an improvement. This guy is so good and absolutely perfect for Heep that I wish they would just go back and re-record all of their albums with him behind the kit. Gilbrook has oodles of chops and a mercilessly hard hitting style that adds both weight and flash to Heep's classic jams and their new stuff is as good as anything they have ever done.
62. FLO MOUNIER
Montreal's premier tech-death metal band Cryptopsy has but one original member left, drummer Flo Mounier. Part of the reason for that may be the band's, (or Flo's), stubborn insistence on alienating much of their fan base with The Unspoken King album, which was so ill-advised that several long serving band members up and left. Regardless and as a drummer though, Flo has two speeds; fast and ludicrously fast. This guy's limbs are on hyper-speed almost all of the time. His solos are jaw dropping, mostly due to the fact that they are relentless, never slowing down to breathe. Mounier has ushered in some groove oriented elements from time to time, but at his and the band's best, they are primarily known as the busy-bees of death metal.
61. MARTIN LOPEZ
Martin Lopez, the very best Opeth drummer, played with them for about ten years from My Arms Your Hearse to Ghost Reveries and his style laid the groundwork for not only what any drummer following his departure would carry on in the band, but in many ways what any drummer playing progressive metal should aspire to. Like Mikael Åkerfeldt himself said, the drummer job in Opeth is by far the hardest. Slayer like double bass chops are needed, as well as the ability to groove like Ian Paice, and Lopez had all of this in spades. One only needs to listen to the diversity displayed on Deliverance and Damnation for proof, though I would highly recommend checking out everything else as well.
60. STEVE JORDAN
When you are a sexual tyrannosaurus like John Mayer, you can get any musician in the world basically to join your band. Drummer Steve Jordan is pretty much Mayer's choice whenever he can get him, as they have worked together on numerous occasions since 2003. Jordan is the sole drummer on Mayer's two best albums Continuum and Battle Studies and was also in the John Mayer Trio. Being able to lay down noticeably tasty grooves under Mayer's exquisite, spot-light stealing lead guitar work is no small feat and Jordan has proven capable of just such a thing many a time. A veteran long before hooking up with Mayer, Jordan also had stints with Keith Richards and Eric Clapton, so clearly great guitar players seem to always want this guy in their corner.
59. BOBBY CALDWELL
If you are cool enough to know who Captain Beyond is, then congratulate yourself as your taste is most excellent. That being said, you would be well aware that Bobby Caldwell is the goddamn man. Part of Johnny Winter's band in the late 60s/early 70s and a member of the not-as-awesome-yet-still-good-supergroup Armageddon, Caldwell's Mitch Mitchell type fills decorated a number of stellar classic rock recordings worth checking out. Though of course, it is Captain Beyond's self-titled debut that contains the star performance as it is easily one of the best rock albums ever made.
58. VINNY APPICE
The younger of the Appice brothers, Vinny was Bill Ward's replacement/improvement in Black Sabbath. Then Ronnie James also had the good sense to bring him along in the first incarnation of Dio, who he would go on to play with for seven albums. Vinny's one of those very heavy hitters that leans way back on the beat and busts out the intricate fills when necessary. His performance on Heaven & Hell's The Devil You Know might rank as my favorite of his as that album as a whole is the best heavy metal you are probably ever going to hear from a bunch of men in their sixties.
57. SIMON PHILLIPS
Simon Phillips has the distinction of replacing two of the most well loved drummers in all of rock music, Keith Moon in the Who and Jeff Porcaro in Toto respectively. So once again, the reputation must live up to the performance. Chops wise, Phillips is easily one of the most technically proficient drummers in history. This man's dexterity and independence around a massive drum kit is hugely impressive. As is the case where most of these drum wizards are concerned, Phillips truly shines when in the fusion realm with solo albums appearing since 1988's Protocol and a bunch with Michael Schenkler as well.
56. PAUL BOSTAPH
When you can consistently land an on again-off again gig in Exodus, Testament, and Slayer to name a few, you have to be rather skilled. Paul Bostaph is as top-noth as a thrash drummer can get in this regard. I consider his work in Slayer, (particularly on Diabolus In Musica and God Hates Us All), to be some of the balls-out best metal drumming of all time. Though I am a Dave Lombardo fan obviously, it is rather daft that so many people just assume that he is way better than Bostaph when in reality they are noticeably different though equally proficient. More on Lombardo later, but Paul's is a more straight-up metal approach, perfectly suited for at least three of the top legendary thrash acts there are.
55. VINNIE PAUL
Phil Ansemlo described the rhythm section of Rex Brown and Vinnie Paul as the absolute tightest that he had ever heard and there is oodles of truth to that statement. Backing the ungodly awesome riffage of Dimebag Darrel, it makes sense that dude's brother was the only man for the job. Vinnie had his siblings back throughout Dimebag's career and slammed home many a balls-tight groove every step of the way. I always apply the "Vinnie Paul method" when busting out the breakdowns in any of my metal bands. As Pantera's producer for most all their records, Vinnie also made sure his drums always sounded nothing short of stellar, Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven being proof positive.
54. PHILLY JOE JONES
Jazz legend Philly Joe Jones attained near godhood in the drummer world for being part of arguably the greatest jazz band in all of history, the first Great Miles Davis Quintet. Philly appeared on the Cookin'/Relaxin'/Workin'/Steamin' series of recordings released in 1956, which collectively represent about the best jazz music you can possibly listen to. Miles himself always refereed to him as his "favorite drummer" and that is basically like god telling you that you are his favorite tree. PJJ played with about a hundred more bands and his first of many solo albums may have the greatest title of all time, Blues for Dracula. Anything this man played on though showcases a style of the utmost taste and finesse.
53. ROD MORGENSTEIN
Lefty Rod Morgenstein rose to prominence in the drumming community with fiddle-fusion band Dixie Dregs and then went on to help form Winger in the 80s. Yes, that Winger. Let not such a gig fool the uninclined though, said band is loaded with sick players. Morgenstein is known and respected as much today as an educator as well as a virtuoso stick man. He is a percussion professor at Berklee in Boston, the Harvard of music schools. He is also seasoned enough to know when to bust out the dumb beats and fills when playing hard rock as much as he knows when to bust out the crazy jazz chops when playing prog or fusion. In either scenario, Morgenstein is one of the most tasteful drummers in any of the above genres.
52. CARMINE APPICE
The more veteran of the Appice brothers is Vanilla Fudge and Cactus co-founder, (and Tom Savini look alike), Carmine. It HAS been said that John Bonham originally wanted to play two bass drums when he saw Appice do such a thing, but the rest of Zeppelin would not hear of such a thing. Carmine is one of the few of Bonham's peers to hold his own in the monstrous groove field. His book The Realistic Rock Drum Method is the be-all end-all of instructional rock drumming manuals. Carmine's solos are text book, hard rock showstoppers and his triplet fills, shuffle grooves, and foot work are on par with the very best, Bohnam just about included. The Beck, Bogart, & Appice power trio is yet one more example to check out of this man's killer abilities at the skins.
51. ELVIN JONES
One of the three albums that anyone remotely considering taking up an interest in jazz is absolutely required to check out is John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. Accompanying the Trane on that spiritual journey of a record is Elvin Jones. Besides that, Jones played on a large number of Coltrane's most important recordings, as well as doing the same for both Grant Green, Wayne Shorter, and a host of others. Which is not even getting into the man's solo work. Jone's playing transcends what most musicians simply aspire to. Fearless and soul searching, he was the perfect rhythm machine for Coltrane's work and it is no surprise at all that h will always be regarded in the hierarchy of modern jazz drummers.
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