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Featured Replies

8 hours ago, ztejas said:

Gil Bang is cooking here. 

Yeah, but it’s Jade’s chili he’s cooking. 

39 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Look Einstien, it's clearly a thread about the drummer for Twenty One Pilots.

I Guess If You Say So GIF

12 hours ago, ztejas said:

"Rock" is a pretty loose term. 

Enjoying Styx over 21 pilots is certainly a choice. As is thinking hating on 21 pilots is cool. 

 

 

Gil Bang is cooking here. 

I don’t think it’s cool to hate on them. They just make bad music.

12 hours ago, ztejas said:

Also - whoever said it it should have been "favorite drummers". My bad. 

I don't care about the drummer from fucking Tool. I like Tool but thats not what I was going for. 

Then what were you going for? You asked about the best rock drummer, many people think that’s the “drummer from fucking tool”.

I’m not even a huge tool fan but he certainly fits your thread topic.

Also for favorite drummer, mine is Chris Guanlao from Silversun Pickups. Just always a guy who’s jamming.

 

12 hours ago, ztejas said:

"Rock" is a pretty loose term. 

Enjoying Styx over 21 pilots is certainly a choice. As is thinking hating on 21 pilots is cool. 

I haven't listened to Styx since 1980, but I can attest that they kick Twenty One Pilots' asses even today.  Does BTS have a great drummer, too?

Here’s an interesting question, maybe not rock exactly. Where does someone like Jamie XX fit? Is he a “drummer”? When XX plays live he does all kinds of percussion including traditional drums and a drum pad. Always think he’s cool to watch.

 

8 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I haven't listened to Styx since 1980, but I can attest that they kick Twenty One Pilots' asses even today.  Does BTS have a great drummer, too?

Cat Working GIF

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On 5/7/2025 at 12:59 PM, jimmyjazz said:

I haven't listened to Styx since 1980, but I can attest that they kick Twenty One Pilots' asses even today.  Does BTS have a great drummer, too?

Y'all are so old and lame. 

On 5/7/2025 at 1:06 PM, hobbes2702 said:

Here’s an interesting question, maybe not rock exactly. Where does someone like Jamie XX fit? Is he a “drummer”? When XX plays live he does all kinds of percussion including traditional drums and a drum pad. Always think he’s cool to watch.

 

I meant like physical drumming. But I adore Jamie XX. Granted he isnt half as talented as a group like Styx.

7 hours ago, ztejas said:

Y'all are so old and lame. 

It's never too late to learn something.  This is the guy you've been scoffing at, learning a very tricky Foos song in real time.  Sure, he's not as good as your boy toy, but hey, we can't all be Bonham.

Does he nail it completely?  Nope.  That would be virtually impossible after one listening pass, there are too many difficut timing patterns in the arrangement.  He does an admirable job, though, and I think it's pretty obvious that the guy has skill for days.  Others are free to disagree.

 

Edited by jimmyjazz

TIL Garth from Wayne’s World and the one bite pizza review dude are real drummers…

Edited by Covri

Drummers are insane.

In my rookie year with Cavaliers I had to travel to the first few shows on the drum bus, as a drum line wasn't big enough to fill a bus but the horn line was too big.  Gah, it was a nightmare.  Sticks wailing on seats all over the place,  "oh yeah, try THIS" exclamations for hours, no sleep for me.  Eventually I landed on the horn bus which was Nirvana by comparison.

On 5/5/2025 at 2:29 PM, Rimbo said:

OR, when you start your new thread, you could do "Favorite drummers who aren't Danny Carey?" Or "Danny Carey is the best drummer; who rounds out the top 5" or "Supposing Danny Carey were hit by a bus, who do you hire to play 'Pneuma,' knowing that Mike Portnoy has already turned down the job?"

 

image.gif.fadc34926b4f6c6fe576e5ec2d9b8ae2.gif

"this isn't a song it's a mathematical equation!" 

i mean... if we're taking a poll 😁

 

8 hours ago, Ron McKelvey said:

Paulina Villarreal is my vote. 

 

 

WHORE!

Spoiler

image.gif.90c0af409fb47d8e2d9f3e6423e59e4f.gif

 

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....

Edited by ztejas

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Okay wait - I have another question. Why is Keith Moon so much better than the guys from Styx and Tool?

Because there's levels to this.

On 5/12/2025 at 1:29 AM, ztejas said:

 

....

The only thing I know for certain when it comes to the subjective tastes of other goobers providing their asinine opinions over what drummer is the best like they have fuck all insight to offer whatsoever is that you made the absolute right call in deleting that post. I can only assume you were in the midst of a very heavy trip when you linked that fucking video…which made me want to never think about music again. 

a name that is being overlooked so far in this thread is Carter Beauford. In my scenario I described earlier of constructing a session ensemble, he would be next after Danny. 

  • 6 months later...

Looked for a thread to share this on and figured this would be "good enough"
 

Steve Smith (of Journey, Steps Ahead, and Vital Information) is on DrumEO playing drums to Alice In Chains's "Would?"  The premise is that a famous drummer hears a drum-less track of a song they've never heard before.

Think back to the first time you ever heard "Would?"

 

Steve Smith is truly one of the greatest rock & fusion drummers of all time.  "Monster" is a legit tag.

I'm gonna ignore you said "rock" drummer because this guy is crazy good:

 

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

Steve Smith is truly one of the greatest rock & fusion drummers of all time.

I've heard other drummers say that, and it puzzles me.  
 

For all the chart-smashing Journey songs, there seem to be no great grooves or memorable fills.  
 

Seems like he had a hundred opportunities to do something innovative.  
 

But then, I'm not a drummer.  

4 minutes ago, Paul Wesley said:

I've heard other drummers say that, and it puzzles me.  
 

For all the chart-smashing Journey songs, there seem to be no great grooves or memorable fills.  
 

Seems like he had a hundred opportunities to do something innovative.  
 

But then, I'm not a drummer.  

He stayed between the ditches with Journey.  He showed his stuff later.

That said, to your point, his effort on that clip didn't match the original, and he admitted as such.  It's kind of an unfair fight, though.

I've heard other drummers say that, and it puzzles me.  
 
For all the chart-smashing Journey songs, there seem to be no great grooves or memorable fills.  
 
Seems like he had a hundred opportunities to do something innovative.  
 
But then, I'm not a drummer.  

Crazy disagree.

My favorite from newer bands than Styx:

Danny Carey, duh

Brann Dailor, Mastodon

II, Sleep Token

El Estepario Siberiano, The Internet

 

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5 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

That said, to your point, his effort on that clip didn't match the original, and he admitted as such.  It's kind of an unfair fight, though.

AIC is one of the tighest bands of all time. Agree it isn't fair. 

 

2 hours ago, Handcruser said:


Crazy disagree.

I love Journey but the drumming has never  jumped off the track for me. 

That said I wouldn't disagree if someone told me that anyone from that band was among the best at what they did. 

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I mean this is demolished.

 

 

I love Journey but the drumming has never  jumped off the track for me. 
That said I wouldn't disagree if someone told me that anyone from that band was among the best at what they did. 



8:00 and on its a fucking masterclass. The snare work on some of those fills is phenomenal.

The drumming on don’t stop believing is also incredibly good.

Steve Smith is highly under rated because he played with Journey. Being as most of their later Steve Perry hits were simple 4/4 time signature pop tunes. Where anyone with decent chops would still be limited. Phil Collins was also a great drummer. Especially on the early Genesis Prog albums.Stewart Copeland would also make any top drummer list.

Gavin Harrison. Who has worked with Porcupine Tree and King Crimson is another amazing percussionist. Marco Minnemann is another of my favorites. Along with the usual suspects of Peart,Bonham,Moon,Carey and many other Jazz drummers. But as someone up thread said. Trying to pick a “best” on any instrument is impossible. 
 

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19 minutes ago, KingLerxst said:

Steve Smith is highly under rated because he played with Journey. Being as most of their later Steve Perry hits were simple 4/4 time signature pop tunes. Where anyone with decent chops would still be limited. Phil Collins was also a great drummer. Especially on the early Genesis Prog albums.Stewart Copeland would also make any top drummer list.

Copeland is a tier above Journey and Phil Collins.

Great comment though. 

Edited by ztejas

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This shit's dirty too.

Probably his best album as a drummer. 

7 hours ago, ztejas said:

Copeland is a tier above Journey and Phil Collins.

Sting probably disagrees.  I'm surprised one of those two didn't kill the other.

Copeland is a tier above Journey and Phil Collins.
Great comment though. 

Wait - what? Are you saying Copeland is better than Steve?

I love Copeland. I love the way he plays and loves his series on the history of drums. His style’s unique.

He is not Steve smith.
18 minutes ago, Handcruser said:


Wait - what? Are you saying Copeland is better than Steve?

I love Copeland. I love the way he plays and loves his series on the history of drums. His style’s unique.

He is not Steve smith.

He doesn't have the tempo control the other greats have, but holy shit, does he have a style all his own and a super unique groove.  It's about as close to apples and oranges as one could get.  I couldn't possibly imagine a different guy for The Police, and that pretty much puts him on Mount Rushmore for me.

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1 hour ago, Handcruser said:


Wait - what? Are you saying Copeland is better than Steve?

I love Copeland. I love the way he plays and loves his series on the history of drums. His style’s unique.

He is not Steve smith.

I think he did more for music and was more singular. Not necessarily saying he's more technically gifted. 

Like Jimmy said - there is no Police without Copeland. And I think their music was more important and a little bit better than Journey or Phil Collins (I'm a big fan of all three). 

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This is my GOAT and I don't think anyone will ever touch this level again.

 

Where does Annika Nilles fit in all this now?

Where does Annika Nilles fit in all this now?

Nowhere.

Reading back on some of the Styx comments is pretty humorous. Those songs suck - I never liked them. But that drummer is incredible.

Carter Beauford is fantastic. So many greats.

I don’t like the playing of el stefario or whatever his name is but I don’t know of anyone that can do what he does.

Mike Mangini needs to be mentioned.
On 5/5/2025 at 11:04 AM, Reynolds Woodcock said:

The demographics of this website are closer to collecting social security checks than college age, so not exactly your best bet for a robust discussion of modern music. 

That guy from Huey Lewis and the News kicks ass. 

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