I recently came across some of my old Rush CDs and was listening to Fly By Night in the car today. It’s been a while since I listened to Rush, especially not the older, harder rock stuff, and I was struck, as I was listening to it, at how exceptional that rhythm section was. Not that I didn’t already know, I had just sort of forgotten how damn good they really were, and why I had revered that band when I was younger. Neil Peart is, in my opinion, the best rock drummer ever, and Geddy Lee is pretty near the top for bass players as well.
We’ve had threads for every individual instrument, but what about whole rhythm sections? Has there ever been a better one than Rush’s? What are your favorite drums/bass combos?
For my money, the best rhythm section in rock belongs to Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Bruce Thomas on bass, Pete Thomas on drums. The difference in sheer rhythmic power between Costello’s first album (My Aim is True; without them) and what followed (This Years Model and the next several after that) is pretty incredible. They really made his music.
Honorable mention:
Billy Cox/Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix, Cry of Love. Billy Cox/Buddy Miles was no slouch combo either)
Also agree strongly with Snowboarder Bo’s pick of the Minutemen and Sam Stone’s Booker T and the MGs (can’t really argue with Zep or The Band either). Terrific stuff.
W/all respect to the other greats mentioned I gotta go w/ Zeppelin. As much as I’m a huge Who fan & loved Moonie & Entwistle, they were both kinda lead instrumentalists, & while arguably the best at them, as a “section” Jones & Bonham I think kept time & seemed to lock in better.
Doesn’t really seem fair to include the Funk Brothers, by far the best but a different style of music.
Bill Bruford and Chris Squire. Or Bill Bruford and Tony Levin.
Thing is, even though I don’t much like jazz, I know that the msuicianship in the jazz worldtends to be a helluva lot better than in the rock world. Christian Macbride and Antonio Sanchez, from Pat Metheny’s trio, are a MUCH better rhythm section than any I’ve heard in rock.
They just aren’t as much fun as, say, Butler and Ward, or Jones and Bonham, or even McCartney and Starr.
AC/DC
Parliament/Funkadelic
James Brown’s backing band
The Clash
Clutch
Devo
Electric Wizard
Gang Of Four
Helmet (first 3 albums only)
Kyuss
Mammal
Mastodon
Slayer
The Stooges
Stormtroopers of Death
Zeke
There are a lot of bands with good, even great rhythm sections, but these are all bands that not only keep time, the rhythms practically force your ass to start shaking (or in the case of Slayer & SOD: your head to start banging). They are so tight that a piece of paper couldn’t get wedged into the groove unless the band wanted it there. Not just lockstepped, but almost a fusion of people into a multi-headed monster of meters. Good times!
But I still maintain that Minutemen had the most challenging rhythms, the most delirious grooves, and the tightest sound ever recorded.