Friday, December 20, 2019

Top 22 Drummers 2019 Update

Eleven years ago, I created a post about my favorite top 22 drummers.  I tried updating it recently, and apparently Google Blogger doesn't want anything older than a few years to be updated, because all I get is "sign in" when I try to edit it, regardless of how many times I am already signed in.  So it's time to update it.

Removed is Carl Palmer...  since he was very sloppy, and not a role model for precision drumming.  Also removed is Alex Van Halen, since he's part of a family that are rather douchey to anyone who are not Van Halens by birth.  Added are my childhood drum teacher Larry Mysliwiec and Vinnie Paul (RIP) from Pantera who played millions of beats every week faster and more precise than I could ever hope to play.  Also, swapped are Neil Peart and Danny Carey, since Neil's more recent work is not 1/2 as good as his 70s and 80s work, and Danny... well... Danny is precise, mic'ed well, appropriate, intense, creative, and one of the hardest drummers to imitate / replicate.

Joe's Top 22 Drummers

  1. Danny Carey
  2. Stewart Copeland
  3. John Bonham
  4. Neil Peart 
  5. Bill Bruford
  6. Mike Giles
  7. Gene Krupa (...and he was Polish!)
  8. Terry Bozzio
  9. Chad Sexton
  10. Larry Mysliwiec
  11. John Dolmayan
  12. Tim Alexander
  13. Alan White
  14. John Densmore
  15. Stephen Perkins
  16. Keith Moon
  17. Anton Fig
  18. Tre Cool
  19. Dave Hartman
  20. Dave Grohl
  21. Matt Cameron
  22. Vinnie Paul
And almost made the list:
Chic Corea but he's a Scientologist, so he falls off.
Buddy Rich, because he personally was an asshole to me at River Oaks in 1985 when he played a free concert there
Aynsley Dunbar; yes he played for Zappa, but he also played for Whitesnake, Hagar, and others of less than stellar repute.

I've amended the list, due to vocal criticism, but I shall have to endure the fatwa.