Another Who's the Greatest Poll

Comparing Gavin to Keith, simply on the basis that they're both Brits (it would seem), is a bit silly to say the least. I really can't think of two drummers further apart in popular music genres. But hey, it's obviously designed to be a mild bragging/pissing contest wrapped up in a bit of fun. Of course, a raft of notable omissions too.
 
I scrolled down to the Best Bikini Bodies and Kate Upton wins.
 
This list seems a bit tainted. I wonder how they came up with this list and the pairing.
Did they just draw names out of a hat? Plus, it seems a bit racist to not include any Black drummers on this list.

Here's the list and here's my answers:

Neal Peart vs. Mitch Mitchell? *
Mitch Mitchell
(I would have paired Mitch with Keith, and Neil with Bruford or Portnoy. If you ever heard a Mitch Mitchell solo, you'll know why I picked him, and I'm a huge NP fan.)

Keith Moon vs. Gavin Harrison? *
Gavin Harrison
(Really? Keith was a monster, but Gavin is a technical wizard)

Dave Grohl vs. Ginger Baker? *
Dave Grohl
(Only because everything he's done on drums is epic)

Mike Portnoy vs. Ringo Starr? *
Ringo Starr
(So unfair, I think Ringo should be put against Grohl, but I gotta go with Ringo because though he's not technically better, he set the stage for Rock drummers to follow and his simplistic originality and huge influence is so much bigger)

John Bonham vs. Bill Bruford? *
John Bonham
(Gotta give it to Bonham. This was the hardest one for me. I really dig Bruford's drumming, but I was raised on Bonham, and he is the single biggest influence, besides Lars and Ringo, on my drumming.)

Buddy Rich vs. Matt Cameron? *
Buddy Rich
(What?)

Stewart Copeland vs. Phil Collins? *
Stewart Copeland
(Another tough one, but I like Copeland because he plays Tama...hehe,,,jk!)

Danny Carey vs. Jimmy Chamberlin? *
Danny Carey
(Carey all the way, probably my favorite drummer right now.)
 
Interesting pairings but definitely flaky as far as putting them together.

PEART vs. MITCHELL?

Not studied much of Mitch however that said he was probably the only drummer who had that laid back feel that made Hendrix sound even more godlike.

That said Neil Peart is so unique. His thirst for musical knowledge is never quenched, he has been tested in different styles and succeeded in most of them. He is a great influence on a lot of drummers, and his use of percussive instruments really helped Rush develop their uniqueness over the years.

Winner: Neil Peart...but not by a landslide, too different to compare.



MOON vs. HARRISON?

No contest, Gavin wins hands down. Keith Moon was perfect for The Who, but he wouldn't fit into any other musical setting easily. Whereas Gavin is like King Midas.



GROHL vs. BAKER?

To prevent any inane rambling I'll keep it simple. Baker


PORTNOY vs. STARR

Portnoy was a big influence on me, he got me into prog and made the passageway to learning odd time signatures that much more approachable. If had started on Virgil Donati I may have been put off pushing myself technically, as I just wouldn't have understood what he was doing. Portnoy is a very very good drummer at what he does, I look at him the way that I look at nu-metal - its a way to get newbies into a genre but then you can get them to digest more complex work once they get used to the sound.

Ringo was unorthodox but sounded great for the Beatles. I havent been impressed with much of his work since the Beatles but his influence cannot be stated enough.

I regret to vote for Portnoy here just because he can play in a lot of settings. Just cant find enough reasons to vote for Ringo.


BONHAM vs. BRUFORD

I'll go for Bonham because of his groove and fills. To fit in with Jimmy Page is bloody difficult. He would have been even greater had he not died. Bruford is world class but Bonham just had that 'something' that makes me feel good listening to Led Zeppelin. Not to mention Moby Dick.


RICH vs. CAMERON

Woot?! Buddy all the way!


COPELAND v COLLINS

Stewart didn't ruin Led Zeppelins Live Aid gig in 1985. Nor did he divorce his wife by fax. Nor is he pretencious like Collins appears to be (he may be different in person I'm just going off what I have seen).

Copelands work with the Police and his overall musical ability is just amazing. Phil is a very good drummer and a great singer but his personality really stops me from wanting to like him.

Winner: Copeland


CAREY v CHAMBERLAIN

Two different styles I don't see how either can be compared. Danny Carey is phenomenal but Ive always liked Jimmys approach. I'll vote for Danny Carey as he has made complex rhythmic music appealable to the masses by playing with Tool. Not many people have his ability to influence to people who aren't musical, into the mind bending stuff he comes up with.

Jimmy is a little more straight up than Danny but still phenomenal. Not an easy one to judge.



Sorry if my opinions offend anyone or arent completely based on sound musical knowledge. Or if I sound overly opinionated, Im certainly not saying anything as fact just an opinion. :)
 
Pretty sure it was rigged. Sticks4drums voted 167,453,842 times.

Wonder how poor Matt Cameron fared?

He went early.

drummers-final-2.jpg
 
They seem to be mixing up "best" as in most influential and best skills.

If we make it most influential drummer then you have Chick Webb, Jo Jones, Kenny Clarke, Gene Krupa, Buddy, Ringo, Bonzo, Hal Blaine, Max Roach, Elvin, Bernard Purdie, Steve Gadd, Moonie, Neil Peart, Dave Grohl, Danny Carey. Dennis Chambers, Stewart Copeland, Vinnie, Joe Morello, Chad Smith, Aaron Spears, Ginger, Tre Cool, maybe even Sandy Nelson and Cozy Powell. Phil Rudd too, probably. Maybe Cobus and Meytal will one day be considered father and mother of YouTube cover drumming?

Bill Bruford, Billy Cobham, Michael Walden, Peter Erskine and Steve Smith for the fusioners and proggers, but I'm not sure there's many of them these days, alas alack.
 
They seem to be mixing up "best" as in most influential and best skills.

They seemed to be "mixing up" a lotta things G. Unfortunately, the "mixing" really didn't seem to correlate with a hell of a lot at all.

I've seen some half arsed attempts at rallying competition in my day, but the 'half arsedness' of this "attempt" is surely unsurpassed?

Matt Cameron is living testament.....regardless of when he was knocked out.

Funny that Grohl knocked off Ginger though. As if that crotchety old prick needed anything else to be pissed about. He's always been mad as hell at having to take a back seat to Bonzo and Moonie.......imagine the ire when he learns that DG has usurped him as well!! :)
 
Not sure why this poll is even worth discussing, really. The list in the first place says more
about the taste of that site's readers than anything about great drummers. I mean there
are so many greats missing, it's just ridiculous.

The site meant no harm I'm sure, as they based their list only on reader's submissions
apparently, but the result is just silly (nothing against Neil Peart or his drumming).
 
These lists are just juvenile and pointless.This BS is just high school cafeteria sophomoric pander.

Steve B
 
Good thing Buddy is dead. He'd see this, serve everyone else on the list a bowl of f**king clam soup, kick their collective keesters AND out drum them!!
 
Buddy, Bonzo and NP are some of my very favorites. But I just can't put anyone above Buddy.
 
I have seen Buddy Rich and Neil Peart up close while playing. Really up close. But Bonzo on film still makes me shake my head a little bit more than the others.
 
Ya know, each of these great drummers was the best. At being who he was for that band at that moment in time. I can't stand this quantitative A or B nonsense. We don't need "the best"... we need something that makes us tap our feet and be happy we play that instrument too. We need to be inspired and who cares who on this chart inspired us? The inspiration's the thing!

Disclaimer: An awful lot of beer contributed to this post.
 
I don't see drummers on the basis of how technical or fast they can play.As long as they can make you jump of your seats,inspire you and generate the happy feeling.they are great drummers.In the end to each to his own.
My few favorites include- Chris Adler,Matt Gartska,John Dolmayan,Todd Sucherman,Tommy Igoe.
 
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