GIVE THE DRUMMER SOME!  There was a brief moment in time where I thought I was going to be a drummer in the school band-  however, that moment was fleeting because I just wasn’t cool enough to play drums.  You had to have a certain je ne sais quoi to pick up the sticks and bash out a beat on the kit, so I ended up playing trumpet instead (NOT my instrument of choice, but that’s a story for another time).

Now my brother, on the other hand… HE’S the cool one so he’s the drummer!  I dedicate this to him, I’m sure it will spark some debate 🙂  Interestingly enough, I couldn’t whittle it down to just ten so this one goes to twelve.

12.  Kirk Arrington

Metal Church’s Kirk Arrington…  dude, where you been?  The debut album from these Seattle stalwarts is chock full of great drumming plus it has a killer drum production and favorable mix courtesy of producer Terry Date (not only thundering drum sounds but you can hear his work on the cymbals too).  Every single song on the debut is a drum workout and it’s hard to pick a favorite, although the title cut has great groove and fantastic fills and “Merciless Onslaught” is top notch, speedy playing.  While I love the other albums that Arrington played on, it was the debut that stands above all (wish he was back in the band tho).

11.  Mikkey Dee

Sure, without Philthy Phil Taylor’s work on those seminal Motorhead classics we might not even be talking about Mikkey Dee.  But I argue without Mikkey Dee, we might not have had some of the great latter period Motorhead albums either (grab Inferno pronto!).  And let’s not forget the solid work that Dee put in on King Diamond’s classic early albums (Abigail, anyone?).  Joining Motorhead allowed him the opportunity to provide the backbone that those classics needed, continuing to carry the legacy of the band until Lemmy’s recent passing.  You want solid, muscular playing with tons of powerful gusto look no further.

10.  Neil Peart

Ha ha, I can hear my drummer friends now…  “Number 10????  Why so low on the list???”  No knock on Peart’s skills at all; I have huge respect for Rush (Geddy’s on my top bassists list) but I’m more of a fan of their radio hits.  But man, those hits…  who hasn’t air drummed through those fills in “Tom Sawyer”?  Or bashed out the intro to “Spirit Of Radio” on your steering wheel?  As far as technical skill, Peart covers a lot of territory and provides tons of dramatic stickwork on their releases since joining the band on their second album.  One of the cool things about him is that he still has the hunger to learn, revamping his drum style to include more jazz ‘n swing in his recent playing.  Kudos!

9.  Bun E Carlos

It only took one album and one song for Bun E Carlos to end up on this list, that album being Cheap Trick’s At Budokan and the song being “Ain’t That A Shame”.  I can vividly remember madly bashing out that intro on my bed pillows as I dreamed of playing in front of thousands of rabid fans (this was before I decided I was uncool).  Add to that the cool mini solo at the end of “Clock Strikes Ten” and I was hooked.  Bun has never been a flashy player; however, he is extremely rock solid and always plays for the song (kinda like one of his drum heroes in Ringo Starr).  ‘Bout time Trick makes the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame but it’s too bad Bun no longer mans the drum throne for the band.