#drumminglist

My list of top drumming tracks

(in no particular order)

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Moby dick (live from ‘the song remains the same’) - Led Zeppelin (John Bonham)

I’m sometimes asked to name my favourite drum solos, which always seems an odd question. There is only one drum solo, and this is it.

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Angel dream (cover) - Glen Campbell (Vinnie Colaiuta)

I can’t hear this without freaking out about the exquisitely crafted drum part. All he does is mark time for the entire length of the song but my face is sore from smiling by the end of it.

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Variations on a cocktail dress - The Dillinger Escape Plan (Chris Pennie)

Orgasmic. Just…. OMG….

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Save me - the Tea Party (Jeff Burrows)

This track opened the door for me, showed me how many dimensions drumming could have in the hands of someone willing to experiment. Sounds game-changing every time I hear it.

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Livin’ like shit - Pigmy Love Circus (Danny Carey)

I only allowed myself a single track from the man, so I chose one that shows how utterly irreplaceable he is. If anyone else tried this it would never have the muscle, or the grit, or the attitude. It would be like someone else trying to play Dirty Harry.

But mainly I picked this because of the press roll. Play me a perfect press roll and I’m yours forever. Except you can’t, and he can.

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Mace Spray - the Jezabels (Nik Kaloper)

Drumming is communication at its most primordial, especially from a grand master of delicious tones and soulful expression.

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Seven days - Sting (Vinnie Colaiuta (again))

Is he playing drums or reshaping the silence? The cool, dark, textured silence of a pool in a rainforest, reflecting soft drips of water, as natural as breathing. Music at the very peak of perfection.

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Non-state actor - Soundgarden (Matt Cameron)

Soundgarden redefined a genre. And the sound production on King Animal still blows me away.

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Rapture - Puscifer (Gil Sharone)

Oh yes it is. The song’s about a divine force sweeping up scattered objects and taking them straight to heaven ... and that’s exactly what the drums do.

All Gil has to work with is a couple of weird random notes hanging out in space, but he’s so musical he gets a groove out of them and he’s got me dancing to it. I swear this man could get you dancing to a single note. He adds so much feel and flow to each hit that the underlying pattern is always clear.

(When I read the album credits I couldn’t figure out why Gil had been asked to play on this track when so many amazing drummers were already featured. Then I heard it and realised ‘oh, that’s why’.)

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Guardian angel - Asa Broomhall Trio (Chris O’Neill)

If I’m making a list of stop-you-in-your-tracks drum parts, I should probably include the one that inspired an entire blog.

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L’via l’viaquez - the Mars Volta (Jon Theodore)

Because it’s pure beauty, pure, graceful, wild beauty, like a herd of gazelle fleeing a leopard.

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Farewell, Mona Lisa - the Dillinger Escape Plan (Billy Rymer)

Genius level innovative composition, made even more devastating by physics-defying chops. This song makes me think / feel / shake so much it’s hard to critique it, but Billy seemed pretty chuffed with this creation so it can be his pick.

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Pearl of the stars - Coheed and Cambria (Chris Pennie (yes again, be thankful he’s not the entire list))

Wins the award for most delicious drum sound ever. Sweeter than honey, richer than cream. I don’t listen to this drum part, I fall head over heels in love with it.

Gorgeous as this is in its own right, hearing it contrasted against the bizarre alien sound on “Far” really tips me over the edge.

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Dodo - Genesis (Phil Collins)