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My brother says Neil Peart is the greatest rock drummer ever (2 Viewers)

Peart is probably #1 on my drummer list too but there are good arguments for a few other guys. Portnoy (mentioned) and Scott Rockenfield from Queensryche are probably not worthy of the #1 spot over Peart but they are damn good.

 
Bonham is an easy answer for me, but Peart is certainly among the very best. I would rank Bonham, Peart, Moon, and Copeland in my top tier.

 
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Peart is probably the most technically proficient rock drummer I've ever heard, unless we were to include Omar Hakim (who does mainly jazz but has played on albums/tracks for Dire Straights, Bowie and a few other "rock" acts). I respect Peart, but I don't always enjoy listening to him. Sometimes he seems to get complex for the sake of complexity and I don't really dig that, so I'd never put him at #1 personally.

I think Omar Hakim is the best drummer who's ever lived, to date. Stewart Copeland is my favorite though, so I always put him at 1, Omar Hakim at 2, Tony Thompson at 3 (Though most famous for his disco work, he also played on tracks by Bowie, Madonna and was in the Power Station). From there it's hard to differentiate. Humor me, as I know most won't think of Hakim and Thompson as rock drummers.

Some other guys not mentioned yet: I think Matt Cameron from Soundgarden is also an excellent rock drummer. Rod Morgenstein deserves a mention, though he hasn't played on a ton of popular stuff. I'm surprised Alex Van Halen didn't get a mention, he's pretty good too. Tim "Herb" Alexander from Primus is excellent as well, very creative.

 
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Alex Van Halen is one of those drummers you think is really awesome when you are 14 and think nothing will ever top Hot for Teacher, but once you start hearing other drummers, it is not hard to figure out that AVH, while good, is not that great. Certainly not in the same stratosphere as rock's truly great drummers.

 
It was once I started really listening to Alex Van Halen that I started liking VH less.

Enough with the hissing cymbal already.

 
All the drummers I used to play in bands with agreed with this sentiment. :shrug:

Hey what do you call a guy who hangs out with musicians?

 
Peart is among the top 5 rock drummers... but would be "above average" in the world of Jazz drummers.

 
Gr00vus said:
Peart is probably the most technically proficient rock drummer I've ever heard, unless we were to include Omar Hakim (who does mainly jazz but has played on albums/tracks for Dire Straights, Bowie and a few other "rock" acts). I respect Peart, but I don't always enjoy listening to him. Sometimes he seems to get complex for the sake of complexity and I don't really dig that, so I'd never put him at #1 personally.

I think Omar Hakim is the best drummer who's ever lived, to date. Stewart Copeland is my favorite though, so I always put him at 1, Omar Hakim at 2, Tony Thompson at 3 (Though most famous for his disco work, he also played on tracks by Bowie, Madonna and was in the Power Station). From there it's hard to differentiate. Humor me, as I know most won't think of Hakim and Thompson as rock drummers.

Some other guys not mentioned yet: I think Matt Cameron from Soundgarden is also an excellent rock drummer. Rod Morgenstein deserves a mention, though he hasn't played on a ton of popular stuff. I'm surprised Alex Van Halen didn't get a mention, he's pretty good too. Tim "Herb" Alexander from Primus is excellent as well, very creative.
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Tim's brother alias?

 
Otis said:
All the drummers I used to play in bands with agreed with this sentiment. :shrug:

Hey what do you call a guy who hangs out with musicians?
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A blues lawyer? ;)

When i hear the term "blues lawyer", I think of a white, upper-middle or upper-class, middle aged, white collar professional male who owns expensive, top-of-the-line guitars and amps, enjoys blues, jazz, and maybe a little Foghat if they're really feeling wild......and can't play guitar worth a crap.
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He's in the top tier with a bunch of guys

While we're throwing out names...Ian Paice, Carl Palmer, Jimmy Chamberlin...

 
timschochet said:
NCCommish said:
timschochet said:
NCCommish said:
I would think Ginger Baker, Ringo Starr, John Bonham, Keith Moon and Peart would make a great top 5 to choose from.
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Ringo? Really?
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Yeah really. Ask Dave Grohl, Mike Portnoy, Max Weinberg, etc. All of them have cited Ringo as an influence. It's easy to write Ringo off if you have no idea what you are talking about.
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OK. Like I wrote, I don't know enough to argue.
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:faint:

;)

 
timschochet said:
He made this pronouncement at halftime at the UCLA-USC game. I don't listen to that band all that much. I also am no expert on drumming. If asked I might have said John Bonham or Keith Moon. But that's just throwing out big names on my part because I can't tell you what makes them good drummers (for that matter, not sure my brother can either). Thoughts?
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A guy told you how great Rush is after a few beers? I don't believe this has ever happened.

 
Neil was my brothers "drum teacher" , as my father and Neil were friends growing up in St Catharines and have even played together.

Neil even showed to my dad's 50th birthday party - suffice it to say, I was the envy of a lot of musician friends in highschool.

Genuine dude, and is even better on the kit than he shows with Rush. Legend, for certain

 
Soulfly3 said:
Neil was my brothers "drum teacher" , as my father and Neil were friends growing up in St Catharines and have even played together.

Neil even showed to my dad's 50th birthday party - suffice it to say, I was the envy of a lot of musician friends in highschool.

Genuine dude, and is even better on the kit than he shows with Rush. Legend, for certain
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You know what question is about to be asked, right?

 
bigbottom said:
Soulfly3 said:
Neil was my brothers "drum teacher" , as my father and Neil were friends growing up in St Catharines and have even played together.

Neil even showed to my dad's 50th birthday party - suffice it to say, I was the envy of a lot of musician friends in highschool.

Genuine dude, and is even better on the kit than he shows with Rush. Legend, for certain
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You know what question is about to be asked, right?
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Did Neil #### on my lawn?

 
bigbottom said:
Otis said:
All the drummers I used to play in bands with agreed with this sentiment. :shrug:

Hey what do you call a guy who hangs out with musicians?
Click to expand...
A blues lawyer? ;)

When i hear the term "blues lawyer", I think of a white, upper-middle or upper-class, middle aged, white collar professional male who owns expensive, top-of-the-line guitars and amps, enjoys blues, jazz, and maybe a little Foghat if they're really feeling wild......and can't play guitar worth a crap.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Knicks owner James Dolan also owns this category

 
bigbottom said:
Soulfly3 said:
Neil was my brothers "drum teacher" , as my father and Neil were friends growing up in St Catharines and have even played together.

Neil even showed to my dad's 50th birthday party - suffice it to say, I was the envy of a lot of musician friends in highschool.

Genuine dude, and is even better on the kit than he shows with Rush. Legend, for certain
Click to expand...
You know what question is about to be asked, right?
Click to expand...
how does Geddy Lee's #### taste?

 
Eephus said:
bigbottom said:
Otis said:
All the drummers I used to play in bands with agreed with this sentiment. :shrug:

Hey what do you call a guy who hangs out with musicians?
Click to expand...
A blues lawyer? ;)

When i hear the term "blues lawyer", I think of a white, upper-middle or upper-class, middle aged, white collar professional male who owns expensive, top-of-the-line guitars and amps, enjoys blues, jazz, and maybe a little Foghat if they're really feeling wild......and can't play guitar worth a crap.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Knicks owner James Dolan also owns this category
Click to expand...
At the old Drum World in SF, owner Don Sfarzo had a signed picture of Bill Walton behind a real nice drumkit at Walton's home behind the counter.

MLB pitcher Randy Johnson had an endorsement from Pearl drums, and once had a full page ad in Modern Drummer.

Saw an old clip of Walter Payton playing a double bass drum kit like Billy Cobham on a segment of him post football.

 
Oh and back on topic: like tim most of the time, his brother is wrong. Peart is one of the lesser influential drummers in rock. If a drummer is really going to showcase his skills to a jury, he sight reads and executes something like Frank Zappa's "The Black Page" instead of Rush's "YYZ".

I would say, from most of the new generation of rock drummers coming up today, they are revisiting John Bonham more than anything Peart. I would dare say that Brant Bjork of the old band Kyuss is way more influential, even globally, than Peart is now.

NCCommish is right. Ringo is probably the most influential rock drummer in American music, but mostly due to he spawning a whole generation of rock drummers. Even Tony Williams listened to him while with Miles Davis as a teenager. Where people fail to realize is that English drummers learned from American drummers such as Earl Palmer and Al Jackson Jr, and even Dino Danelli of the Young Rascals.

The guy who really popularized the multi-tom setup in contemporary Pop and Rock music was Hal Blaine. The one who really showcased it behind a guitar driven band wasn't Keih Moon, but Billy Cobham with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Although Mitch Mitchell did tour with a double bass drum kit with Jimi Hendrix shortly before Jimi's death.

I think it's impossible to call any drummer "The Greatest" at whatever genre, because like Tony Williams pointed out, to be a great drummer means you have to be able to play any style at any given moment, from Blossom Dearie to Prince. Drums and rhythm have a vast vocabulary that goes all the way back to ancient cultures that are still being expressed through modern drummers such as Danny Carey and Terry Bozzio.

But if it came to who is the greatest rock drummer who had a huge influence as a band leader and drummer, I would say Chick Webb. Because most drummer's I know of now carry bass drums as big as his, even Abe Laboriel Jr.

 
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I personally never thought Ringo was much of a drummer, but that was mainly because I don't think he was asked to do a whole lot with the Beatles. The Beatles are the greatest vocal/melody line band ever and that was the main focus of their music. The drummer was there to provide a beat but this was in the background to the melody line/vocal harmonies. A hard rock/prog drummer like Peart is asked to do a lot more because part of the appeal of hard rock/prog is how well the individual musicians play their instruments. The songs are a showcase of not just the music but of their individual talent.

I don't think you can go wrong with Peart, Bruford, Copeland, Moon, Bonham, Palmer, Portnoy, and Bozzio. All do amazing things in their own way.

 
dhockster said:
I personally never thought Ringo was much of a drummer, but that was mainly because I don't think he was asked to do a whole lot with the Beatles. The Beatles are the greatest vocal/melody line band ever and that was the main focus of their music. The drummer was there to provide a beat but this was in the background to the melody line/vocal harmonies. A hard rock/prog drummer like Peart is asked to do a lot more because part of the appeal of hard rock/prog is how well the individual musicians play their instruments. The songs are a showcase of not just the music but of their individual talent.

I don't think you can go wrong with Peart, Bruford, Copeland, Moon, Bonham, Palmer, Portnoy, and Bozzio. All do amazing things in their own way.
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Peart is the easiest prog drummer to cop licks from. Vinnie Colauita is one of the hardest.

 
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