EPIC drum fills...

John Bonham in Stairway to Heaven, the fill going into "and as we wind on down the road..."
 
0:50

My favorite part about this one is the final note of the fill, the accent on the crash with no music over it.
What time signature is this fill? Is that 11/4?
This is also my favorite Eddie guitar solo.

 
Last edited:
So many killer licks & fills, but the one that stands out to me, the one that I, too, thought of when I read the thread title is Jerry Edmonton’s epic fill in Born to Be Wild. It’s not a blizzard of notes nor a masterful display of rudiments, but it’s perfect. What it does to and for the song cannot be improved upon. And his kit sounds really great, especially given the era it was recorded in; kudos to Jerry, and engineer Richard Podolor and producer Gabriel Mekler for getting that on tape.

Born_to-be_wild-steppenwolf-45.jpg
 
The flam rimshot played by Graeme Edge prior to the flute solo in Nights in White Satin. Not epic in complexity but perfect for the music.
Can't imagine how void it would sound if left out...
 
Last edited:
Another John Bonham fill.

On "Whole Lotta Love: When therr'e coming out of the guitar solo and back into the main riff. Those eighth notes on the snare always send a chill up (or down) my spine.
 
cbphoto said:
Most epic Moon fill: Baba O’Riley into the first verse.
Click to expand...
For me it's the Live at Leeds version of Magic Bus, That fill made me want to be a drummer.

Though the Kid's Are Laright version of "Won't Get Fooled Again" out of the keyboard section is right up there.
 
AzHeat said:
I had to find the Heart song to determine what you considered epic, so the two I can think of off hand that fit within the current definition would be:
Jack and Diane - John Meloncamp at 2:30
In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins at 3:40

Oh, a couple more:
Final Countdown - Europe at 3:12
Rio - Duran Duran - Intro
Click to expand...

Peart's fills in By-Tor and the Snow Dog are the definition of epic.
 
In Zep's Fool in the Rain -- the 3 fills that start at 3:40 during the transition from the latin-esque party feel to just before the fuzzy guitar solo:

 
“Head over Heels” By Tears for Fears the flange effect fill

“Black Magic Woman” by Santana
Cool timbale flam type fill that goes on somewhere in the middle as the solo starts (again)
 
Rattlin' Bones said:
Yeah that one!!!!
Click to expand...
Mongrel said:
My go-to for this questions, and one of my personal favorites for it's simplistic, yet profound impact on the tune has been the fill after guitar\organ "solo" on "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf (drummer: Jerry Edmonton I believe).

At 2:14 here:
Click to expand...
That tune has been stuck in my head for several days now. Its a great song to sing while bike commuting. I'm kind of curious about the chords/scales. Is that a progression based on a melodic minor scale, it sounds like its going to resolve, but no keep going.
 
One Up One Down said:
In Zep's Fool in the Rain -- the 3 fills that start at 3:40 during the transition from the latin-esque party feel to just before the fuzzy guitar solo:

Click to expand...
DAAAG Yo! how did I forget that one? That one at 3:44 was one of my favs back when I was a kid (had no idea wtf led zep was). So simple, yet the sound and placement was perfect. In fact , that "fill" may have made me more aware of drumming in particular, and maybe even lit the spark for my drum lust..


Oh man, Just remembered Tommy Lees "sweet Fills" from back in the day..
Danger had some "classic tommy fills" @ :30 .. then another at 2:07. just love em.

I always thought it was cool how he would use "space" in a lot of fills.. an then hit an unexpected (to me) either a cymbal crash (without kick drum), hi hat "bark", or cowbell.. I was always used to hearing these cymbals etc in unison with other drums, so this was new (and different -to me) back then.

T.
 
Last edited:
What about all those fills with the 6” tom and the short 6” splash punches on “I shot the Sheriff”
Those always left me wanting more of that...
 
V-Four said:
DAAAG Yo! how did I forget that one? That one at 3:44 was one of my favs back when I was a kid (had no idea wtf led zep was). So simple, yet the sound and placement was perfect. In fact , that "fill" may have made me more aware of drumming in particular, and maybe even lit the spark for my drum lust..
Click to expand...
Couldn't have said it better myself :)
 
One of my favorite hard rockin' albums growing up, and to this day, is Dio's Holy Diver. Vinny Appice had some killer fills in every song on that album but my favorite might be the intro to "Straight Through The Heart".

* sorry, not a “pop” album so I withdraw this submission.
** still great drumming from Vinny Appice
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top