Monday, August 4, 2008

Music Monday: Great Rock Drummers

I have always loved listening to great drummers. Here are some of my favorite rock drummers:

John Henry Bonham. Led Zeppelin's drummer is universally accepted as one of the great rock drummers of all time. He played with amazing energy, but also went beyond the typical rock drummer mold into really interesting arrangements. Bonham was much more than the group's metronome.

Neil Peart. Rush's drummer (and lyricist) has the most amazing drum kit I have ever seen for a single person. On later albums, his solos became tracks unto themselves, but my Rush knowledge ends at Moving Pictures, when his solos were still done as parts of songs. Note: if you hate Rush because of Geddy Lee's voice, then rest assured: this song is totally instrumental.

Stephen Morris. OK, my best friends from college will laugh because they remember me air drumming to New Order songs for which the drums were clearly electronic (Blue Monday, Bizarre Love Triangle, etc.), but Morris was also the drummer for Joy Division and for the early New Order albums that used real drums. His real drum work was great (Love Will Tear Us Apart, Perfect Kiss), but he was also able to lay down some of the iconic electronic drum beats of all time (BLT, True Faith, etc.)

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