My faves (all are oldskool):

Phil Collins
Buddy Rich
Ralph MacDonald
Harvey Mason

Eric Singer is the best... nuff said

other great drummers

Jason Bittner - Shadows Fall
Dave Lombardo - Slayer
Scott Travis - Judas Priest

I haven't heard much of Eric Singer. I know who he is. I know he's endorsed by Pearl and has a pretty sweet signature snare drum. What makes him so great? Personally, I never saw the big deal behind Kiss, considering none of the songs do anything for me whatsoever. Seems like more show than music, but that's all beside the point. And, for what it's worth, I am a drummer and play mostly metal.

So tell me what's so special? (I'm not being a jackass, I'd really like to know)

Dave Lombardo
Sean Reinert
Jimmy Chamberlain
Jean Paul Gaster
Shannon Larkin

http://www.kamworld.net/chris/images/Butthead.jpg

Uhh, if I wanted to read, I'd go to school.

:)

Eric it the main go to drummer. (hired gun)

Regardless of what you think of Kiss, that is a poor repreentation of his work (although he's been with Kiss forever he only recorded 2 albums with them and that was over a decade ago)

His work with Alice Cooper is a better representation especially live, Alice lets Eric really cut loose on drums solos which is almost nonexistent in Kiss.

you also need to look at Sabbath, Badlands and the other umpteen projects he's been part of.

Cozy Powell
Mongo Santamaría

Topper Headon of the Clash. My favorite drumming songs of his are Guns of Brixton, Train in Vain, and Straight to Hell.

For me what I love about Eric Singer is that he's a hybrid of the 70's Rock drummer, and the 80's Metal drummer. Having a Jazz backgroud gives him the ability to play all the finesse stuff. He's got the double bass chops to play full on metal like Scott Travis, but he can play with a groove and feel that Travis has never shown (maybe he can and just hasn't done it on album or live, but Travis' playing on straight rock songs always sounded a little stiff to me). Don't bet me wrong, I think Scott Travis is one of the best Heavy Metal drummers around...

I would disagree that Eric Singer's work with KISS isn't indicative of what he can do. Listen to his playing on Alive III, Carnival of Souls, and Unplugged and you get a much better picture of what he's capable of. (His live solos back then were nothing short of amazing.)

I also saw him live playing for both Paul Stanley and, later on, Alice Cooper. In both cases I came away from the shows in awe of his ability to play for the song first, but still show off chops and to really hot rod some of the songs (such as "Parasite" which was on the original post for this thread). Compare the KISS songs he plays with the original versions - even the Eric Carr stuff from the 80's like "Creatures of the Night," and in just about every case he adds more flash without losing any of the feel of the song.

My favorite version of "Deuce," is the Alive III version where he adds the triplet drum beat to match the guitar riff. The song sounds right the way he played it then, and whenever I hear it played differently - even on the original version - it just sounds a little wrong.

And he makes it all look so damned easy!

finally a mention of buddy rich. hes a fuckin maniac on drums!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQwBdHsVGag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgeX9iYOFSQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erE8WTngaAY buddy rich vs animal from the muppets!

I'd also like to add a current favorite, Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney. Their last album, "The Woods", rocks so fucking hard, thanks in part to her drumming.

Damn, I'm gonna miss them.

Buddy Rich is the guy who I always pick when the topic of BEST drummer ever comes up.

And, unlike just about everyone here, I actually saw Buddy play live 4 or 5 times in the late 70's and early 80's.

Best I ever saw was in the late spring or early summer of 1983. His solo left my jaw on the floor. He looked at me with my KISS T-Shirt on and smirked, kind of like he was saying, "You think THAT'S music kid? Let me show you something..." And show me he did. WOW!!!

You've got to watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwJAAlXomVk

It's a "Drum Battle" between Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. Rich chews Krupa up and spits him out. Krupa's just big arm motions and very little finesse.

Buddy kicks Krupa's ass - AGAIN!!! (They used to tour on "Battle of the Drum Legends" bills back in the 50's and 60's.)

After watching all these videos it just reminds me that BUDDY RICH IS GOD!!!

(The God of drums, anyway...) ;)

By the way - the look on Animal's face towards the end - that is EXACTLY what I looked like during Buddy's solo at the show I saw in 1983. (I'm not kidding!)

This seemed like a good place for this video:

<object width="464" height="392"><param name="movie" value="http://embed.break.com/MzkwNTU4"></param><embed src="http://embed.break.com/MzkwNTU4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="464" height="392"></embed></object><br><font size=1><a href="http://www.break.com/index/amazing-drum-tenor-solo2.html">Amazing Drum Tenor Solo</a> - Watch more <a href="http://www.break.com/">free videos</a></font>

I agree that Eric Singer is an amazing drummer. Seen him with Cooper in both 05 and 06 and talked to him both times after the show. Great drummer and cool person.

Also Brian Doerner is an amazing drummer from up here in Canada. He's worked with Helix, Saga and countless others.

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WCp2W1jVLTI&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WCp2W1jVLTI&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Check him out in his brothers band Brent Doerner's deciBel. Great stuff!!

For me its gotta be Danny Carrey

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LSxw6o0YAjM&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LSxw6o0YAjM&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>