# Recommend songs featuring stand-out drumming **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 11, 2008, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902 "2008-05-11T08:44:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/21 "2008-05-11T16:49:33Z")
**Van Halen** - _Hot for Teacher_ **Won’t Get Fooled Again** - _The Who_ **YYZ** - _Rush_ ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/22 "2008-05-11T17:27:03Z")
Surprise Surprise- Caravan Tumblin Dice- Rolling Stones It Hurts to be in Love- Gene Pitney ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/23 "2008-05-11T18:04:19Z")
Almost anything by Cream, since with only three instruments, the great Ginger Baker really shines. There is lots of good drumming in the less well know songs, such as **We’re Going Wrong** and **Deserted Cities of the Heart**. The first two Mahavishnu Orchestra albums ( **The Inner Mounting Flame** and **Birds of Fire** have great drumming from Billy Cobham. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/24 "2008-05-11T18:15:05Z")
If you want to hear some of the finest drumming ever recorded, download **Castillian Drums** , recorded live by The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1962. Joe Morello executed a ten minute solo that is jaw-dropping in its complexity and variety, and done on a five-piece trap. Most rock solos that I hear that are actually well done (one by Jason Bonham comes to mind) draw heavily on what Morello did over 40 years ago. The rest are just amateur hour stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/25 "2008-05-11T19:53:23Z")
You may already know them, but for anyone coming in to check out the thread should find some clips of: [the Kodo Drummers](http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/index_en.html); [Baba Olatunji](http://www.olatunjimusic.com/); and [Zakir Hussein](http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Zakir_Hussein.html) Any of the three will reset your idea of drumming. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/26 "2008-05-11T20:14:16Z")
Anything by Phish, especially the early albums: Junta, Picture of Nectar, Rift. Jon Fishman is a pretty ridiculously good drummer. Also, I would strongly recommend you check out ‘Waiting For Columbus’ by Little Feat, in particular the tune ‘Fat Man in the Bathtub’ ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/27 "2008-05-11T21:38:09Z")
I’m going to recommend **Bad** , by U2 (from _The Unforgettable Fire_) for its tight, controlled drum build-up, which just seems to power on and on and just gets more intricate and convoluted. I’m quite fond of that song, mostly because every so often I focus on listening to the drum track, and that really brings a whole new perspective on the song. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/28 "2008-05-11T21:47:58Z")
[QUOTE=percussion] none, use him to teach kids all the time in lessons its just a comment like - “no fills - no fills whatsoever” had to get stamped out, we are fighting ignorance after all!! 🙂 [/QUOTE] Well said. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/29 "2008-05-11T23:35:49Z")
_“Underture”_ from **Tommy**. Tony Fletcher describes it better than I ever could: > [@](#): > > …Moon offers up a series of emotive crescendos…doubles up on the guitar’s complex rhythms…overdubs the whole with grandiose symphonic tympanies…rat-a-tat rolls that underscore Townshend’s suspended fourth chords…the definitive example of the pair’s innate musical understanding… ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/30 "2008-05-11T23:47:01Z")
[QUOTE=Le Ministre de l’au-delà] Off your beaten track, (but isn’t that why one asks for recommendations?) [/QUOTE] Yes, it is. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions thus far (itunes thanks you as well). It’s a good mix of new-to-me stuff and stuff I’ve heard or own and will listen to in a new light now. [QUOTE=diggleblop] Slayer-Anything with Dave Lombardo on the set [/QUOTE] I didn’t know if he was considered an especially good drummer but I have to mention that I saw them a couple years ago with **Damageplan** as the opening act, both drummers were incredible! A great show, unfortunately it was only a month or so later that Dimebag Darrell was killed. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/31 "2008-05-12T00:43:43Z")
Dave Matthews’ _Ants Marching_, fairly average song that comes absolutely alive due to Carter Beauford’s drumming. Some early Genesis has awesome awesome drumming. A number of tracks off of _The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway_ are, IMO, essential: Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging, In The Cage, The Colony of Slipper Men . . . and many others. Heck, all of Collins’ early drumming is worth listening to (though not all of it ‘rocks’). Also, try Los Endos from their album _A Trick of a Tail_. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/32 "2008-05-12T01:05:24Z")
[The Big Bang: In the Beginning Was the Drum](http://www.amazon.com/Big-Bang-Beginning-Was-Drum/dp/B0000059TB/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1210554117&sr=1-6) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/33 "2008-05-12T01:10:05Z")
Emerson Lake and Palmer: [Works, Volume 1](http://www.amazon.com/Works-Vol-Emerson-Lake-Palmer/dp/B00116GDFI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1210554407&sr=1-5) ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/34 "2008-05-12T06:49:38Z")
Stewart Copeland, The Rhythmatist, is not pop or rock, but a great exploration of percussion. The Allman Brothers Band featured dual drummers, very tight. Whippin’ Post from Live at Fillmore East is really good. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/35 "2008-05-12T07:15:11Z")
Lots of tracks come to mind. I like power players with a good sense of groove, but I’m not a traditionalist… I like drummers that use loops, Linn machines, and random stuff as well. (Rob Hirst from Midnight Oil did a lot of tracks in the 80s with a drum machine, his tradition kit, and stuff like fire extinguishers and fluorescent lights.) Here’s a few that I have to crank up to 11 and play steering wheel/air drums with: XTC - “Respectable Street” (Terry Chambers is criminally underrated) The Police - “Bring on the Night” (The wonder of Stewart Copeland has been mentioned numerous times, so…) The (English) Beat - “Too Nice To Talk To” The Selecter - “On My Radio” Van Halen - “Runnin’ With The Devil” The Smiths - “London” R.E.M.- “Bandwagon” Pretenders - “Mystery Achievement” New Order - “True Faith” Midnight Oil - “Best of Both Worlds,” “Kosciusko,” “Power and the Passion” (Rob Hirst is another power drummer in the vein of Bonham and Moon… fantastic!) Living Colour - “Cult of Personality” Level 42 - “If You Were Mine” Kraftwerk - “Tour de France” Joy Division - “She’s Lost Control” The Jam - “Funeral Pyre” Def Leppard - “Photograph” The Clash - “Rock The Casbah” (Topper Headon was brilliant in a variety of styles for The Clash) Power Station - “Get It On” (Tony Thompson was a percussive magician, RIP) So many more but this looks like a great iTunes playlist! ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/36 "2008-05-12T07:24:25Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] So many more but this looks like a great iTunes playlist! [/QUOTE] The only problem with the list I’ve compiled so far is I won’t be able to drive to it (I can the speedometer creeping up too much). ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/37 "2008-05-12T08:10:39Z")
Hmm. All these songs seem, to me, to be–while focusing on the drumkit, certainly–to still be overwhelmingly conventional. I.e., focusing on a _drumkit_. If percussion is your focus, wouldn’t “It’s Nearly Africa” or “Adventures in Nihilon” be far better choices, from the XTC 'ography at any rate, than “Respectable Street”? I see that Peter Gabriel’s “Rhythm of the Heat” and Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing” have been mentioned, but almost apologetically. Aren’t those what you’re looking for, **HKF** , or are you really just looking for the best of the blandest? ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/38 "2008-05-12T09:10:22Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Hmm. All these songs seem, to me, to be–while focusing on the drumkit, certainly–to still be overwhelmingly conventional. I.e., focusing on a _drumkit_. If percussion is your focus, wouldn’t “It’s Nearly Africa” or “Adventures in Nihilon” be far better choices, from the XTC 'ography at any rate, than “Respectable Street”? I see that Peter Gabriel’s “Rhythm of the Heat” and Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing” have been mentioned, but almost apologetically. Aren’t those what you’re looking for, **HKF** , or are you really just looking for the best of the blandest? [/QUOTE] I’m just looking to take advantage of my newfound ability to “hear” the drums properly. I’m open to anything, the only real criterion I have is that it should be a good song not _just_ flashy drumming, i.e. the drummer’s version of Yngwie Malmsteen who is technically proficient but not much of a songwriter IMO. Stuff from off the beaten path is great but I don’t mind revisiting some classics either and looking at them in a new light. XTC is a band I’ve missed the boat on; I’m not familiar with anything by them…yet. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/39 "2008-05-12T10:55:50Z")
[QUOTE=HongKongFooey] . . . the only real criterion I have is that it should be a good song not _just_ flashy drumming [/QUOTE] I’ll chuck in a couple. **Rain** - by that band from Liverpool, Ringo’s finest hour. **September Gurls** - Big Star, I don’t know the drummer’s name but there’s something magical about this song, and it’s not just the guitars\* \*I know the main part isn’t actually a guitar but it’s the drums we’re focusing on here. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902/40 "2008-05-12T12:24:04Z")
[QUOTE=Small Clanger] I’ll chuck in a couple. **Rain** - by that band from Liverpool, Ringo’s finest hour. [/quote] Love that song. > [@](#): > > **September Gurls** - Big Star, I don’t know the drummer’s name but there’s something magical about this song, and it’s not just the guitars Jody Stephens is Big Star’s drummer - and a lot of his work is really good. And yeah, that song is shimmery, melancholy, catchy pop rock brilliance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-songs-featuring-stand-out-drumming/448902.md?page=3)