Going a little High Fidelity here...but without further ado, here they are:
1. Bill Bruford
The king of prog rock, his work with Yes remains
unparalleled and his contributions to various permutations of King Crimson are
simply—as he titled one of his solo albums—one of a kind.
Recommended track: “Heart of the Sunrise” from Yes - Fragile [Atlantic-1971]
2. Stewart Copeland
A talented multi-instrumentalist whose main instrument
happens to be the drum kit—the dude has composed not a rock opera but an actual
opera—the Policeman’s influential hi hat work, in particular, captivated a
generation of sticksmen and remains a big favorite.
Recommended track: “Walking on the Moon” from The Police – Regatta
de Blanc [A&M-1979]
3. Dave Grohl
For the past 20 years he’s been the frontman for the wildly successful Foo Fighters, of course, but Grohl made a name for himself behind the kit, and his playing with Queens of the Stone Age, the first 2 FF records, and of course, Nirvana, speaks for itself.
Recommended track: “This Is a Call” from Foo Fighters [Roswell-1995]
4. Jimmy Chamberlin
As distinctive as Billy Corgan’s voice and guitar was to the Smashing Pumpkins’ sound so was Chamberlin’s drumming. Bottom line: Corgan was put on God’s green Earth to play with Chamberlin, a monster player whose drumming background evidenced a healthy dose of jazz training, a unique approach in alt-rock circles.
Recommended track: “I Am One” from Smashing Pumpkins – Gish [Caroline-1991]
5. George Hurley
Horribly underrated, the Minutemen/fIREHOSE drummer is
arguably—along with his fellow bandmate, bassist Mike Watt—the greatest
instrumentalist indie/underground rock has ever produced. Breathtaking.
Recommended track: Sooooo many to choose from but the title track from The Minutemen's debut album The Punch Line [SST-1981] is a good place to start.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Martin Chambers - The Pretenders
Terry Chambers - XTC
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Martin Chambers - The Pretenders
Terry Chambers - XTC
