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100 greatest drum beats of all time
Countdown: from Bonham to drum machines
Rhythm Magazine, Tue 21 Apr 2009, 12:19 pm UTC
70. Love Rears Its Ugly Head – Living Colour
Who played it? Will Calhoun
Where to find it: Time's Up, 1990
Why it's great: Grounded by an eighth-driven hi-hat, Calhoun's rock-solid backbeat and soulful hip-hop flavoured bass drum are melodic siblings to the bass and guitar riff.
69. Overkill - Motorhead
Who played it? Phil 'Philthy Animal' Taylor
Where to find it: Overkill, 1979
Why it's great: It was Year Zero for thrash metal as Phil Taylor's blistering double bass drum performance, captured here, became the launch pad for the countless metal drummers who were to follow in his footsteps.
68. Hot Fun In The Summertime - Sly And The Family Stone
Who played it? Gregg Errico
Where to find it: Greatest Hits, 1969
Why it's great: This is a sublime example of keeping the groove in the pocket, Gregg Errico's 6/8 pattern is the bedrock on which the Family Stone build their funky soul.
67. Suck My Kiss – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Who played it? Chad Smith
Where to find it: Blood Sugar Sex Magik, 1991
Why it's great: Chad Smith, so often labelled as 'just' a rock drummer, brings the funk to some super tight riff-stabs, decreasing from three to one after each chorus.
66. Rock Around The Clock – Bill Haley & His Comets
Who played it? Billy Gussak
Where to find it: '20th Century Masters: The Best Of Bill Haley & His Comets (Millennium Collection)', 1999
Why it's great: Gussak's feathered bass drum and distinctive two-bar shuffle on the hoop is highlighted by a sharp snare drum accent on beat four of the second bar.
65. In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins
Who played it? Phil Collins
Where to find it: Face Value, 1981
Why it's great: A Roland drum machine does its work, building tension before Collins launches a thousand imitative air drummers with a cleverly conceived dynamic snare drum entrance.
64. Jambi - Tool
Who played it? Danny Carey
Where to find it: 10,000 Days, 2006
Why it's great: Sinister, unpredictable and rock solid – all the things we like about Tool can be applied to Carey's slippery drum beat on this experimental song.
63. Baba O'Riley – The Who
Who played it? Keith Moon
Where to fi nd it: Who's Next, 1971
Why it's great: From the lurching tom fill with which he enters to the exuberant snare-led playout, Moon's flamboyance lifts this album opener to another level.
62. Lapdance - NERD
Who played it? Eric Fawcett
Where to find it: In Search Of…, 2002
Why it's great: Shuffling hi-hats, super economical parts and machine-gun snare fills into wig-out chorus sections add up to a spot-on hip-hop/rock crossover. Pharrell has never sounded cooler than this.
61. Tom Sawyer - Rush
Who played it? Neil Peart
Where to find it: Moving Pictures, 1981
Why it's great: Proof that music can be both demanding and commercially successful – rock's finest technician navigates changing time signatures with intricate patterns fl owing one after the other.
Next page: 60-51
User comments (6)
-
Paolo,
For a person growing up in Northern Ireland and family involved in the troubles, I am disgusted by your comment. 'Im not a U2 fan; Theres your first mistake, dont comment about a song or a band, if you dont know anything about it or the situation.
Please think before commenting. -
2 things are true,
Faith No More are awesome and
Paolo, you're an idiot. -
Paolo,
maybe you should tell Bono what his song is about them. because it is about a Protest in Northern Ireland that turned Deadly when British Paratroopers opened fire on the crowd and killed 27. SUNDAY 30 JAN 1972
ever since pretty much been called Bloody Sunday since
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_Bloody_Sunday_(song)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_(1972) -
Only one issue really and it's not even about the list. The comment regarding Sunday Bloody Sunday is ridiculous and completely inaccurate. I'm not a U2 fan but I know that the song had nothing to do the IRA or the British Army or the Red Army or even Oliver's Army. If you specifically wanted to add in an Irish drummer doing a military drumbeat then Brian Downey's work on Soldier of Fortune would be the only choice. Then again, anything by BD is way ahead of anything Larry could do.
-
Dear friends at MusicRadar. I really enjoy this site, but may I say I'm very disappointed about your beatlist...:-) I'm searching everywhere for the 'Amen break' by the Winstons. The legendary beat thats been used by almost every sampler all over the world, that is so famous it's got its own wikisite is missing!!!? There must be some mistake. To much sting and AC/DC for my taste but otherwise a fun list to browse through.
Søren -
You guys should do a similar thing for Greatest Bass lines.
Glad to see Queens Of the Stone Ages "No one knows" Dave Grohl has some chops.
Faith No More too, Puffy is god.
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