Van Halen - Hot for Teacher
Won’t Get Fooled Again - The Who
YYZ - Rush
Surprise Surprise- Caravan
Tumblin Dice- Rolling Stones
It Hurts to be in Love- Gene Pitney
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.
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.
You may already know them, but for anyone coming in to check out the thread should find some clips of:
the Kodo Drummers;
Baba Olatunji; and
Zakir Hussein
Any of the three will reset your idea of drumming.
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’
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.
Well said. 
“Underture” from Tommy. Tony Fletcher describes it better than I ever could:
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.
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.
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.
Emerson Lake and Palmer: Works, Volume 1
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.
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!
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).
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?
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.
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.
Love that song.
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.