Bun E. Carlos, anyone?
John Bonham: THE Rock drummer.
Neil Peart: The machine.
Mitch Mitchell: Unrecognized - the price you pay for playing with Hendrix.
Stewart Copeland: Subtle.
Keith Moon: Chaos. Damn good fills, though.
Ginger Baker: Solid, and generally unnoticed.
Vinny Paul: Someone mentioned Ulrich? As far as metal drumers go, Ulrich isn’t fit to polish Vinny’s cymbals.
Ah, screw it. I was going to make a long list, but I don’t have time. I’d just like to mention that I may well be the only drummer who could never stand Phil Collins. I find him grossly overrated.
I can’t belive no one mention the one and only…
Rick Allen of DEF LEPPARD!!
He’s my favorite…I hate lars…he’s a whining little…ugh, I’ll stop there…
But seriously folks, Rick Allen is DA MAN!!
The drummer in def leppard only got one arm…The drummer in def leppard only got one arm…
Ugh. You just reminded me of this article where the singer for Def Leppard had the balls to say something to the effect of “before the accident that cost him his arm, Rick was the greatest drummer in the world. He was better than John Bonham.”
Feh. What the frick did this guy think? That people couldn’t just pick up old DL albums, and see for themselves that he was just another adequate-but-nothing-more rock drummer? Sure, Rick is an ok drummer, I suppose. However, I don’t recall hearing anything he ever did that made me say “wow! That was some great drumming!”
And yes, I give the guy credit for playing with only one arm, but he DID have a drumset custom made for exactly that purpose. It’s not even a drumset anymore, it’s a computer you bang with one stick and a bunch of pedals.
Bonham was awesome. And he wasn’t just a take on Keith Moon. Bonzo reinvented rock drumming. You can pick him out of a recording and immediately know it’s him. His tom-tom sounds were like a sonic signature - deep, booming and featured more prominently than most who came before him.
No one’s mentioned Alex Van Halen yet, so I will. He’s also got a tremendous signature sound. I really dig his cymbal work. On quite a few Van Halen tunes, he manages to sound like he’s got two or three cymbals ringing at any given time during the song, yet somehow he keeps it from washing out the sound. And the lead-in to “Hot for Teacher” still makes me go “Holy Crap.”
Aynsley Dunbar does rock, Labdad, but it should be pointed out that he’s recorded several albums with Journey. Ewww.
I also dig Tommy Aldridge and Jeff Porcaro.
BTW, anyone notice that an unsettling number of rock drummers seem to have their own vanity sites (apart from those of the bands they’re in)?
What? No Mickey Dolenz? No Jay Osmond? 
Jest kidding, of course. Dolenz was an awesome vocalist (and remains so to this day), but he was a neophyte drummer in his Monkees days and hardly outstanding. Jay Osmond was once ranked among the top ten drummers in the world, but I wouldn’t call him a “rock” drummer.
Cubby O’Brien, on the other hand…
I don’t necessarily expect much agreement with these choices, but I feel they deserve mention.
Topper Headon from the Clash. You can easily tell the difference between Clash songs with and without Topper. Terry Chimes, who drummed with the Clash before and after Topper, was a technically proficient drummer, but you can tell just by looking at him that he was a reserved, quiet guy. Not so, Topper.
Ted Parsons from the Swans, Prong, and now Godflesh. Ted is one of those guys who will always have work offered to him. His work in hard rock/industrial has given him a good ability to do “organic” sounding drumming while being able to make drumming the sound of a machine (rather than having your drumming be the sound of a machine - literally).
Dave Barbe from the original Adam and the Ants and later Bow Wow Wow. All I can really say is that his drumming is probably the most entertaing I’ve ever heard. Tom toms, and lots of 'em.
Oh, yeah. :o Well, I DID say there was someone who escaped me. I’d almost put those dreary years with Journey out of my mind. :eek:
Does anyone know anything about Brain, who drummed on PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me and Tom Waits’ Bone Machine? I seem to recall he had a rather unique touch…
I’m amazed there’s only been 1.5 references to Danny Carey to this point. Technically adept, mechanically perfect, and mind-numbingly original, he’s by far the best drummer anywhere close to the public eye today.
I saw him recently in concert with Tool, and he’s amazing to watch sitting incredibly huge behind his incredibly huge kit (a combination of standard and electric drums). He makes it look ridiculously easy…like he’s always thinking a few bars ahead of himself. His drum rolls are some of the fastest this side of Buddy Rich, and his usage of the double-bass is more tasteful than anyone else around. It’s not a stretch to say that his drumming saved “Lateralus” from being a major disappointment.
** <—that belongs in my last post somewhere…sorry.
Got here too late, since he has already been mentioned but Graham Lear is one of the best of all time.
http://garysmallband.homestead.com/Grahamlear.html
The solo from the Santana Album - Moonflower called Heads, hands, and feet of quite something.
Don’t know his name offhand, but the kid who drummed for Page/Plant on their Walking into Clarksdale tour was outstanding, easily the most energetic, intense drummer I’ve seen since the Police broke up.
Another “classic” drummer worth mentioning is ex-zappa, ex-journey drummer Aynsley Dunbar.
Chris W