Best drummer in this photo?

 

Against Portnoy....yes, maybe I'd pick Brufford, but not as being the best drummer in all of prog....

 

Bozzio? Palmer? Peart? ..... And believe me, the true monsters of the drum set are around TODAY (Carey, Lillequist, Portnoy himself...Bozzio again, he's a monster....) when you know about drums you find out that not-so-famous drummers like D'Virgilio from Spock's Beard and MAitland AND HArrrison from porcupine Tree are good... the guy from Riverside....Zonder from Fates Warning...

 

In all music....Even in all prog, too many monsters to choose one.

 

But in the picture? Maybe Brufford. But by a Hair

 

 

 

 

 

you love Yes, and see who's talking with portnoy. So I guess at least Brufford has the minimum amount of respect for what Portnoy does (he wouldn't be talking to the drummer in papa roach)...

 

So if the "profesor" is so open minded, why not his fans????

 

Bruford's worth with Yes may've been typical, but with Crimson, he was a monster.

 

Nothing off course...

 

I agree he was better in Crimson. The thing is, rating drummers is difficult: as they don't carry the melody and harmony end of songs, we have to judge them by how well their drumming fits the music, how original and unique their style is, and, in this case we have to, how many hands thay seem to have (I mean pure virtuosity....)..... In the first department, I think Portnoy fits DT's prog-style perfectly...AS did Brufford in Yes and KC....now in the uniqueness department, I think Portnoy has a style of his own, with double bass drumming and clever hihat/ride patterns and trademark odd-places-cymbals crashes, while Brufford, when in Yes, was a monster but his style was not THAT much different from others like Palmer and even less-virtuoso Collins....in the like-octopuss department, matbe because of new techniques, new technologies in drum head development, better drum sticks or whatever reason, Portnoy seems to have more speed and ability to defy the listener.... But one department I think Brufford has going for him is style-changing ability: he could switch from pure rock to virtuoso to bluessy to even jazzy at times, while Portnoy's attempts at jazz (drummers crowning genre) are quite rare, and at times when he could be playing swing-like rhytmh he preferes regular 4/4 hihat/bass/snare patterns, so he seems like unable or unwilling to deviate from prog-metal style.... and this is the only reason I think may move the balance in favor of Brufford....

 

And you -really- need to hear Bruford on the Starless And Bible Black album, and as a drummer, analyze that.  And if you think Bruford's not unique, go pick up the Neal And Jack And Me DVD and watch him.  Not virtuoso?  Not innovative?  Not creative and unique?  My arse.

 

I beg to disagree with that statement. While there were many great drummers at the height of prog rock in the seventies, Bill's style was in my opinion, unique to him only. Listen to the time shifts on "Heart of the Sunrise" for example. Absolutely incredible in their execution. The only other drummer whom I admired for playing with a similar technique was Michael Giles (KC).

 

Yes - Portnoy is a great prog metal drummer but for overall variety in technical style, Bill Bruford will always be "head and shoulders" above Portnoy. To be fair, their drumming styles are disimilar enough to not really warrant a comparison...