”If thine enemy wrong thee, buy each of his children a drum.” I guess my parents had enemies…
Like thousands of other young children, I had dreams of becoming a rock star, and for my tenth birthday, my folks got me a drum kit. Sadly, for a few different reasons, I’ve had to give up the hobby recently. But I couldn’t shake the desire to play, so instead of actually playing, I learned more and more drum tracks to songs. I’ve spent a lot of time (probably too much time) listening to the drum tracks of a lot of different songs, learning them, memorizing them, critiquing them, and making them better. Just listening to the drums in songs has become a hobby of mine, whether I’ll ever get to play them or not. And one thing it’s done for me is showed me who’s who in the drumming world, especially the rock drumming world. So maybe I can weigh in on who’s the best. Well, here I go…
Now, as soon as you put the words “greatest” and “drummer” in the same sentence, three names automatically jump in everyone’s head: Keith Moon, John Bonham, and Neil Peart. Keith Moon, the eccentric, wild, and relentless drummer of The Who, who couldn’t go ten seconds without putting in a drum fill. John Bonham, the clinical, powerful, and commanding drummer of Led Zeppelin, who managed to make a studio-recorded drum solo not sound terrible. And Neil Peart, the extravagant, technical, and inventive drummer behind the kit for Rush, who also happens to write lyrics. All three have such great talent and an amazing body of work. How on Earth can you possibly rank them? Stylistically they’re all so different, and their technique and approach to drumming is so varied and unique, can you possibly decide?
Keith had such an abstract way of drumming. There are so many little quirks in his playing, so many intricacies that you can’t replicate. He demanded the attention of those who saw him, not only creating an amazing piece of work through his kit, but essentially putting on a theatrical performance while doing so. Any live video of The Who is surely to focus largely on the craziness that is Keith Moon. His style of capturing the feeling of the entire song in every moment of his drumming, of putting so much energy into every moment of his playing, it’s unmistakable and simply unrepeatable. My personal favourite of his is “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” His conclusion of the bridge is just spectacular. But the fact of the matter is, every one of his songs is worthy of an award, especially his live performances.
John is an entire category of himself. His technical ability behind the kit is unprecedented, and the way he takes a beat that can be simplified so easily and makes it memorable and iconic is amazing. The intro to “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin is so simplistic, but somehow he made it perfectly magnificent. The thing that stands out about him the most to me is that he was able to do so much with such a small kit. He had one bass drum, four toms, three cymbals, and a snare. To do what he did with that little equipment, it’s mindboggling. It’s been said he can do more with one bass drum than anyone else could do with three. He’s that good. If you really want an example of his playing, “Moby Dick,” the studio or live version is a great place to start.
Neil is somehow stuck in the middle of John and Keith. He has the technical excellence of John with the abstract playing of Keith. Famous for his massive kit, it’s probably easier to say what he can’t do with the drums than what he can. His drum solos are almost songs in themselves. Having seen him live twice now, I can’t even begin to describe how amazed I was at what he could do with that drum kit. To think he turns hitting things with sticks into something so complex and entertaining, it’s truly astonishing. Past just how technically good he is, the evolution of his playing style is remarkable. To go from the simple but powerful work of “By-Tor and the Snow Dog,” to the almost excessively complicated beat of “La Villa Strangiato,” to the highly unusual sounds of “Witch Hunt,” to the heavily electronic work of “Mystic Rhythms,” to the overhauled and reinvented style of “The Main Monkey Business.” I can’t even begin to describe my feelings towards the 45 year career this guy has had.
All three so good, and are essentially interchangeable as the greatest drummer of all time. But honestly, I think none of them fit the bill. Sure, they’re all unbelievably amazing, exceedingly influential and inspirational, and I have nothing against them, but my personal opinion falls away from the three.
But if it isn’t one of them, then who? There’s a long list of possibles. Like, a very long list. Just to name a few: Dave Grohl, the drummer of Nirvana, Them Crooked Vultures, and the mastermind behind the Foo Fighters (also my favourite musician); Joey Jordison, the metal drummer with enough originality to create a truly unique sound; Buddy Rich, arguably the greatest and most influential jazz drummer ever; Ginger Baker, the drummer John, Keith, and Neil look up to; Travis Barker, the unusually imaginative post-punk drummer of Blink-182; and Jeremy “The Rev” Sullivan, the dominating drummer of Avenged Sevenfold with easily my favourite style of playing. That list is short compared to the number of people who could be taking the title; I could list a couple dozen more potentials easily. But that’s not what I’m here to do. I’m here to say I think the greatest drummer ever is Daniel Edwin Carey.
I can guarantee most of you just went “Who?” which I totally get. He’s underappreciated for how good he is. But Danny Carey is truly a remarkable drummer in every sense of the term. His technical ability is outstanding, his creativity and use of the kit is excellent, the fluidity in his playing is magnificent, and, by far the biggest selling point for me, his style of playing is just so darn superb! He’s responsible for two of my all-time favourite drum tracks, one of which I would nominate as the greatest drum track ever in a heartbeat (“Ticks and Leeches” if anyone is curious, it’s more than worth a listen). He’s a quarter responsible for easily my favourite thirty seconds of music I know (a section of the song “Parabola”). If he were a more longstanding drummer, or had more material to show for his thirty years in the biz, Danny would be so much more well-known as the true great he is. I could talk about this guy and his work for hours on end, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Listen to his stuff, it’s truly amazing. I can’t put it any other way; he is the greatest drummer ever.
***********************************************
Trophy clipart courtesy of http://adamusicboosters.org. Drum photo courtesy of http://www.cbc.ca/hotair/2013/10/31/hot-drummers.
Simple Smiles 