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LOUDER: The 12 greatest prog drummers ever

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Topic: LOUDER: The 12 greatest prog drummers ever
Posted By: verslibre
Subject: LOUDER: The 12 greatest prog drummers ever
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 12:26
https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-12-greatest-prog-drummers-ever" rel="nofollow -
Quote "I apologise to your parents."

That was Neil Peart's stock answer when faced with young drummers who told him how much of an influence he'd been. Because, let's face it, drums aren't the most discreet instrument to master. They're loud, they're expensive, and they take up more them than almost any other instrument.

So hats off to the dozen drummers detailed here, who've overcome those hurdles to become the greatest sticksmen progressive rock has to offer, delighting audiences worldwide with ever-expanding kits, ever-lengthening solos, and everlasting genius.



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Replies:
Posted By: RadlyGnarly
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 12:34
 Easy list, great Peart quote though. All great prog bands need a great drummer.


Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 13:00
Nick Mason is an interesting choice:

Originally posted by Louder Sound Louder Sound wrote:

Nick Mason
Pink Floyd’s long-standing drummer, Mason was the dextrous engine room behind some of rock’s most adored and spectacular moments. Plus, having reignited the flame of Syd Barrett-era Floyd with his group Saucerful Of Secrets, he’s kept his chops in top shape.


Bill Bruford was an obvious choice.

I tend to favour the jazzier ones, and people like Christian Vander, Pierre Moerlen, Mani Neumeier, Pierre van der Linden, Jaki Liebezeit, Chris Cutler...


Posted By: The Anders
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 13:07
I personally think it can be a bit too much with 10-12 toms, 3-4 bass drums and 117 cymbals. Very often less is more - which is why Nick Mason is probably my favourite among these. He is no virtuoso, but his playing is perfect for the music, and an important element in the sound of the band.

I admire Jaki Liebezeit too.


Posted By: Argo2112
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 13:20
Nice list. It's good to see Gavin & Marco on there along with the usual suspects. (Neil, Phil, Bruford, Palmer...)  


Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 13:27
Nice list. But you know who is often overlooked? Jerzy Piotrowski of SBB.

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Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 13:31
Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

I tend to favour the jazzier ones, and people like Christian Vander, Pierre Moerlen, Mani Neumeier, Pierre van der Linden, Jaki Liebezeit, Chris Cutler...

Both guys named Pierre are awesome!


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Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 13:31
Originally posted by Hrychu Hrychu wrote:

Nice list. But you know who is often overlooked? Jerzy Piotrowski of SBB.

I agree!


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Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 13:48
Any list missing Moerlen, Cutler and Vander is invalid.

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Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/


Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 14:04
Personally, I don't really feel it's right for Nick Mason to be on the list but not Alan White. However, Bruford is on there so I'll try not to complain too much. Wink 


Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 14:06
Originally posted by Hrychu Hrychu wrote:

Nice list. But you know who is often overlooked? Jerzy Piotrowski of SBB.

What about the guy from Arti e Mestieri? Tongue

I would say Guy Evans and Phil Ehart also.


Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 14:29
One of my favourites that hardly ever gets mentioned is Giulio Capiozzo of Area. Franz Di Cioccio of PFM wasn’t too shabby either. I guess that they might discount many of my favourites as being jazz drummers playing in progressive rock bands. If they were more open to jazz-fusion, then someone like Billy Cobham of Mahavishnu Orchestra quite likely would be on the list. I do think that such greatest lists tend to be an exercise in futility. More interesting tends to be the justifications and methodology than the list itself, and one questions how great is the list users knowledge and expertise, and how do they even attempt to seem relatively unbiased and varied in the choices.


Posted By: JD
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 14:30
Nod to missing drummers...




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Posted By: The Anders
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 14:54
Originally posted by JD JD wrote:

Nod to missing drummers...

[video removed for space]


I guess the drummer must be bored with the music he is playing?


Posted By: Tancos
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 14:54
Let me know when one of these list-makers discovers Tatsuya Yoshida.


Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 15:08
Tatsua Yoshida is great.

By the way, I guess being LouderSound, it favours louder bands. I just notice a lot of hard rock and metal types in the list and I suspect that the writer is not a big fan of the more Avant Prog ones. Not surprising to focus on the more mainstream ones when doing “greats” generally.


Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 15:16
Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Tatsua Yoshida is great.

By the way, I guess being LouderSound, it favours louder bands. I just notice a lot of hard rock and metal types in the list and I suspect that the writer is not a big fan of the more Avant Prog ones.
Nick, Phil and Bill, metal? Hardly.


Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 15:41
Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Tatsua Yoshida is great.

By the way, I guess being LouderSound, it favours louder bands. I just notice a lot of hard rock and metal types in the list and I suspect that the writer is not a big fan of the more Avant Prog ones.
Nick, Phil and Bill, metal? Hardly.


If you want to argue that there are not a lot of hard rock and metal types in the list, then I'm ready to learn.

I never said or implied those were (I didn't say all and I said hard rock and metal). I meant that it lists many "louder bands" with drummers who played in hard rock and metal bands, or made hard rock and metal music. I think they are going for drummers who play harder or flashier rather than the more subtle generally, but perhaps I'm wrong (Mason is not a flashy drummer). Of course I'm playing on the word louder for some humour (my humour rarely works), and that was what I most going for.

A reason why one of my brothers doesn't like King Crimson is because he finds it too hard rock (of course it depends on the piece). I mentioned jazz, and Bruford does come from that jazz tradition as they note, but an album like King Crimson's Red is definitely on the hard rock side (King Crimson might well be called a "louder" band by many even if it isn't always). Interestingly, they choose a jazz performance from Bruford as the video to highlight him (so my earlier jazz drummer comment does not seem true based on my first look). Neil Peart, the number one, played hard rock, influenced metal drummers, and Rush influenced progressive metal. Mike Portnoy, progressive metal. Gavin Harrison, they reference In Absentia and I would call that hard alternative rock with metal qualities. Marco Minneman has a hard rock/ metal pedigree in bands he has worked with. Danny Carey of Tool, involved in metal. Pat Mastelotto has been pretty varied, but the video they post sounds metal influenced to me. Mike Mangini, involved in Prog Metal.

They cover quite a few post-classic era ones, and there especially I do seem to see a hard rock or metal bias (heavy prog) in terms of the kinds of projects that the drummers have worked in. Frankly, I would have stuck with the classic era ones.

For more soft Prog drummers playing really quiet music see softersound.com

And here's some heavy duty Pink Floyd for you:



Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 16:39
A rather traditional list of prog drummers by LouderSound, hence why Portnoy and Mangini are listed. Super pleased to see Minnemann listed. As well Gavin is being noticed more and more, which is nice too...Gavin is so insanely musical its cra-cra.

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Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 16:53
I'll go with the guy who drummed on Thick as a Brick, A Passion Play, Minstrel in the Gallery and Songs From the Woods.

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...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...


Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 17:05
Originally posted by The Dark Elf The Dark Elf wrote:

I'll go with the guy who drummed on Thick as a Brick, A Passion Play, Minstrel in the Gallery and Songs From the Woods.

I, too, maintain Barriemore was Tull's best drummer.

And he did go on to drum for Yngwie! Wink


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Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 17:07
Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Tatsua Yoshida is great.

By the way, I guess being LouderSound, it favours louder bands. I just notice a lot of hard rock and metal types in the list and I suspect that the writer is not a big fan of the more Avant Prog ones. Not surprising to focus on the more mainstream ones when doing “greats” generally.

I concur it's a "safe" list. Still nice to see Marco on it. Otherwise, we could have guessed every drummer, and correctly.


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Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 17:18
Only three or four on the list would have made my top twelve: Collins, Bruford, Giles and perhaps Palmer.

I would have included these (in alphabetic order):

Christian Burchard
Guy Evans
Jon Hiseman
Jaki Liebezeit
Andy McCulloch
Pierre Moerlen
Mani Neumeier
Pip Pyle
Christian Vander

My current favourite is Christian Burchard.


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BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.


Posted By: The Anders
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 17:47
Drum solos usually bore me, unless there is a poetry to them. If it is just showing off, it leaves me cold.

We often have to move into the jazzier area to find drummers who can play solos I actually like. For instance Alex Riel:




Posted By: Awesoreno
Date Posted: February 09 2021 at 23:23
I would love to see more lists that include any Zappa drummer from 1970 onward, as they tend to blow many others out of the water.

Vinnie Colaiuta is my favorite drummer right now. I like them Jazzers.


Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 01:39
Too many great drummers to fit on a 12 man list. Alan White at his best (Relayer through to Drama) was an insanely good drummer as was Brian Davison of The Nice. Keith Moon could play anything he wanted to when he was anywhere near sober. Jon Hiseman (as mentioned) was a fantastic drummer. Jurgen Rosenthal (Eloy) deserves a mention as does Stewart Copeland for his very brief time in Curved Air. 


Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 02:57
Generally a good list. I would have excluded Nick Mason. Nothing against the guy, and I love Floyd, but there are a couple of better drummers... Alan White springs to mind, Guy Evans, Ian Mosely.. Mason is on the list because he was in Pink Floyd.

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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!


Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 03:22
no Bill Bruford Confused
even Phil Collins deserves to be in such a list for his drumming in Genesis and Brand X
Christian Vander, the main reason I gave Magma a chance.
whoever is drumming on Can's Tago Mago (Jaki Liebezeit, just looked it up Embarrassed)



Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 03:53
Moerlen, Liebezeit, Vander belong on such a list. Andy Ward (Camel) was amazing in his heyday.


Posted By: dwill123
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 04:50
It's an ok list (No Bruford???).  I also think that Billy Cobham, Lenny White and Chester Thompson should be somewhere on that list (but I understand the fear of the jazz drummer label).


Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 05:07
But Bruford is there, isn't he?


Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 05:09
Originally posted by Lewian Lewian wrote:

But Bruford is there, isn't he?

no


Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 05:11
Bruford's exclusion makes no sense at all..!

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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!


Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 05:47
Ummm, Bruford is on the list.


Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 05:53
Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Ummm, Bruford is on the list.

weird, first time I checked the site, Bruford and Collins were not there. 
WTF?! LOL 


Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 06:01
Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Ummm, Bruford is on the list.


weird, first time I checked the site, Bruford and Collins were not there. 
WTF?! LOL 


When I last looked, Collins was there but Bruford wasn't...weird..

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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!


Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 06:03
Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Ummm, Bruford is on the list.


weird, first time I checked the site, Bruford and Collins were not there. 
WTF?! LOL 


When I last looked, Collins was there but Bruford wasn't...weird..

LOL


Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 06:17
Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Ummm, Bruford is on the list.


weird, first time I checked the site, Bruford and Collins were not there. 
WTF?! LOL 


When I last looked, Collins was there but Bruford wasn't...weird..

LOL

They're reading our thread...Tongue


Posted By: dwill123
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 06:49
Originally posted by Lewian Lewian wrote:

But Bruford is there, isn't he?
I beg forgiveness.  I went back and checked, Bruford is listed.


Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 07:28
Some of my fave drummers:
Jaki Liebezeit
Phil Collins
Keith Moon
Christian Vander
Jon Hiseman
Christian Burchard
Jerzy Piotrowski
Bill Bruford
Giulio Cappiozzo
Pierre Moerlen
Michael Walden
Chris Cutler

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- Douglas Adams


Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 07:29
Originally posted by dwill123 dwill123 wrote:

Originally posted by Lewian Lewian wrote:

But Bruford is there, isn't he?
I beg forgiveness.  I went back and checked, Bruford is listed.

funny and strange thing, three people at least did not see Bruford in the list. LOL


Posted By: miamiscot
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 08:24
Am I the only one who thinks Barriemore Barlow is criminally underrated?

His drumming on Thick As A Brick alone makes him a Top 5 drummer all-time in my book.


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The Prog Corner


Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 08:34
Originally posted by miamiscot miamiscot wrote:

Am I the only one who thinks Barriemore Barlow is criminally underrated?

His drumming on Thick As A Brick alone makes him a Top 5 drummer all-time in my book.
Yeah, a couple of us mentioned that on pages 1 and 2 of this thread.


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...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...


Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 08:39
I'll throw in a few names that were not mentioned yet:

Trevor Tomkins:

Jacky Bouladoux:

Wolfgang Lindner:

Jim Capaldi:

Fritz Randow:

Mark Fletcher:

Aynsley Dunbar:

Freddy Setz:



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Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 09:59
^Aynsley is fantastic.

Hell, I'm throwing Cozy Powell into the mix. I love nearly everything he played on, and I dig his solo albums.  His intro to "Stargazer" is legendary!






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Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 10:01
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Too many great drummers to fit on a 12 man list. Alan White at his best (Relayer through to Drama) was an insanely good drummer as was Brian Davison of The Nice. Keith Moon could play anything he wanted to when he was anywhere near sober. Jon Hiseman (as mentioned) was a fantastic drummer. Jurgen Rosenthal (Eloy) deserves a mention as does Stewart Copeland for his very brief time in Curved Air. 

After Curved Air, too. I'll listen to Stew drum with pencils on a desk.


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Posted By: The Anders
Date Posted: February 10 2021 at 10:29
Here are some of my favourites, any genre:

Ringo Starr (The Beatles). No virtuoso, but his feeling is unique and fits the band's sound perfectly. He puts a lot of emotion into his drumming.

Topper Headon (The Clash). I don't know why he is so rarely mentioned, because his drumming is really impressive, and often very original. Just listen to "Look Here" from Sandinista!

Alex Riel (various). See the previously posted drum solo.

Keith Moon (The Who). Attacked the drums like a maniac, but there was also a lot of poetry to his playing, as well as a lot of humour.

Stewart Copland (The Police). Originality is the key word here too. Also very poetic in his fills.

Maureen Tucker (The Velvet Underground). Doesn't sound like anything else, especially as she played in a very unconventional way, f.e. with clubs instead of sticks, while standing up rather than sitting. It clearly contributed to the hypnotic feel of the band.

Benny Benjamin (The Funk Brothers). A key element in the classic Motown sound. Like a machine basically.

Jaki Liebezeit (Can). For his amazing beats. Probably a big influence of:

Phil Selway (Radiohead). Key tracks for me: "Paranoid Android", "Optimistic".


Posted By: Ruby900
Date Posted: February 11 2021 at 04:56
No mention of BJ Wilson or John Weathers either. Both hugely unique in their styles and approaches.

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"I always say that it’s about breaking the rules. But the secret of breaking rules in a way that works is understanding what the rules are in the first place". Rick Wakeman


Posted By: geekfreak
Date Posted: February 12 2021 at 02:22
Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

A rather traditional list of prog drummers by LouderSound, hence why Portnoy and Mangini are listed. Super pleased to see Minnemann listed. As well Gavin is being noticed more and more, which is nice too...Gavin is so insanely musical its cra-cra.




Ditto

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Keep Calm And Listen To The Music…
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Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: February 12 2021 at 06:01
So many great drummers mentioned in this thread! 

The guy I was most impressed with in a live concert performance was Steve Gadd--though nobody compares to Zakir Hussain (but, is he considered a "drummer" or just "tabla player"). Trilok Gurtu was pretty amazing, too.

Two guys that blow my ears off each time I hear them are Vinnie Colaiuta and Area's Giulio Capiozzo.

Buddy Rich, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Jean Krupa, and Phillie Joe Jones weren't bad, either.

Stylistically, David Sylvian's brother, Steve Jansen, has always been a favorite. (I love his use of space.) Also, Harmonium's drummer...



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Drew Fisher
https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/


Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: February 12 2021 at 08:01
What really impressed me once was Christian Vander pulling off a 45 minutes drum solo at a Magma concert that was not boring for a second.


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BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.


Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: February 18 2021 at 10:06
Originally posted by BrufordFreak BrufordFreak wrote:

So many great drummers mentioned in this thread! 

The guy I was most impressed with in a live concert performance was Steve Gadd--though nobody compares to Zakir Hussain (but, is he considered a "drummer" or just "tabla player"). Trilok Gurtu was pretty amazing, too.

Two guys that blow my ears off each time I hear them are Vinnie Colaiuta and Area's Giulio Capiozzo.

Buddy Rich, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Jean Krupa, and Phillie Joe Jones weren't bad, either.

Stylistically, David Sylvian's brother, Steve Jansen, has always been a favorite. (I love his use of space.) Also, Harmonium's drummer...


Art Blakey is a beast!! I love when he goes into a semi-solo/long fill section and you hear him verbalizing humming along.


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Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: February 18 2021 at 10:44
^Rod Morgenstein (The Dregs) hums when playing. I think you can hear it on "What If". Buddy Rich hummed along, also.


Posted By: Argo2112
Date Posted: February 18 2021 at 12:26
^ I was at one of Rod's drum clinics & he talked about that. I think he said they duct taped his mouth at one point during recording! ( That may have been with Winger) 


Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: February 19 2021 at 06:01
Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

Originally posted by BrufordFreak BrufordFreak wrote:

So many great drummers mentioned in this thread! 

The guy I was most impressed with in a live concert performance was Steve Gadd--though nobody compares to Zakir Hussain (but, is he considered a "drummer" or just "tabla player"). Trilok Gurtu was pretty amazing, too.

Two guys that blow my ears off each time I hear them are Vinnie Colaiuta and Area's Giulio Capiozzo.

Buddy Rich, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Jean Krupa, and Phillie Joe Jones weren't bad, either.

Stylistically, David Sylvian's brother, Steve Jansen, has always been a favorite. (I love his use of space.) Also, Harmonium's drummer...


Art Blakey is a beast!! I love when he goes into a semi-solo/long fill section and you hear him verbalizing humming along.

YES! for some reason I, too, love it when instrumentalists start vocalising while soloing--must be the influence of my early exposure to Ella Fitzgerald, ZZ Top, George Benson, and Alfred Brendel! 



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Drew Fisher
https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/



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