Cozy Powell - either Rainbow Rising or Long Live Rock n Roll (I actually prefer LLRnR to RR, realizing that I'm in the minority here).
Also a big fan of Steve Zimmerman's work on the early Fates Warning albums. Somewhat similar to Scott Rockenfield's work on the early Queensryche albums, but I feel that Zim has just a bit more power/oomph to his druming. Listen for the ride attack on the pre chorus, and his excellent Tom-Tom interplay in the bridge to the verses. And that wonderful, glorious China crash which he plays about 4x in the song (never overplaying it)
Fates always had incredible drummers - easy for Zim to get lost in the shuffle a bit. Their least flashy skinsman, but very powerful.
there's a certain quality to Twisted Sister's radio hits from Stay Hungry - even if the melodies and lyrics seem overplayed, I never tire of the massively cool, in-the-pocket drum beats. Pero was awesome. RIP
So much talk about skinsmiths but to a non-musician, it's hard, verging on the impossible to extract from most performances what separates 'run o'th'mill' from true excellence. Moeover, musos who thoughtfully stroke a professionally coiffeured goatee and purse their lips will eulogise profusely on all matters Bonzoic, cementing some default, sacrosanct status but compared to Billy Ward I'm thinking, oh-so privately, "er, OK, if you insist..." Indeed, of the drummers I can easily name, only 'Sabbath's jazz fusionist, the legendary Canadian trio's octopus and my personal fave, El Cozy Powell, actually perform with sufficient distinction that I can say, ah, yes, that's him, him or the other one. Then again, production - as ever - lumbers into the equation because the recorded sound catalyses a vast amount of emotional preference and if I'm honest, I'm far less enamoured with Peart's later work versus his 70s and (very) early 80s recordings, say and this is probably, surely, entirely down to the unsatisfactory, sonic nature of so many 'post-digital era' records.
Anyway, Firepower is here: bought from a shop and a CD in a proper jewel box. I wonder what Messrs. Allom, Sneap & Exeter have concocted?
Another one that's very easy to pick out is Philthy Animal Taylor. Bizarre technique (if you can even call it that), but exactly what Motorhead needed.
Quick journey into 'tracks 1 thru 5' from Firepower and I'm already penning a love letter. I'm hearing some kind of classic-modern hybrid of sounds and playing styles which in conjunction with Halford's Peter Pan vocal, has forced me to even greater quantities of Saturday night 'Nun. Oh, The Rapture!
It's funny, we were just talking about Cozy in another thread, and I realized I needed to come back here and nominate him for the great drummers quest. Definitely Rainbow Rising. Also I am a huge Schenker fan so MSG (his 2nd solo album) and his One Night Live at Budokan are way up there with Cozy in my book.
Few albums that come to mind (I’m leaving aside the obvious but must listen albums by Led Zep, Rush, early Black Sabbath and many others from that era): Motley Crue’s self titled album from 1994 (best drumworks by Tommy Lee) Dragonforce’s Sonic Firestorm (speed!) Any Motorhead album with Mikkey Dee on drums. Sacrifice comes to mind. Thunderous drumming. KISS’ Carnival Of Souls (Eric Singer shines on this album in my view). Geddy Lee’s My Favorite Headache (Matt Cameron on drums plays a great Neal Peart style). Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger Baroness - Purple (check the Chlorine and Wine video) The Coverdale - Page album. GnR’s Appetite For Destruction Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite sadness Any Dream Theater album Extreme’s Waiting For The Punchline (with Mike Mangini on drums). I’m sure there’s many more that I’m missing.
Agree, I think Altars sounds best overall. Sandovals best drum work is on the Terrorizer stuff, he boots the absolute sh1t out of World Downfall. The bassist, Juan Alderete, aw man.... scary good!
Speaking of MSG, I know he's just a session drummer, but Simon Philips has played on two great albums, the MSG debut and Priest's Sin After Sin. Excellent performance on both, there's some great interaction between him and Schenker on "Into the Arena".
That's a lot of recommendations, thanks. I do know a lot of these, gonna check out some of the rest. Was never into band's like Baroness, for example, but I'll hear them just for the good drumming.
I like him too. Twisted Sister had a lot of cool songs, it's just that two of their worst ones became such big hits, it's put everyone off the band. Another problem with Stay Hungry is how thin the album sounds. The title track is excellent, but it's crying for punchier drums, the kind that you can hear on You Can't Stop Rock & Roll. Now, that's a monster drum sound.