Best/Most important Progressive Drummer

SuperHokie wrote: BaldFriede wrote: Again this is a question of where you live. Drum magazines with its origin in America will of course focus on American drummers. I, however, live in Europe. Peart is a minor figure here (at least in Germany). "Important" also definitely has a personal connotation. The importance of Peart for me personally equals nil. My drumming style is mostly influenced by Moerlen, followed by Vander and Neumeier.   Peart is not American....he is a French Canadian.    I understand your point regarding personal interpretation of 'most important'.  I was not thinking subjectively when I named Peart.  I was thinking objectively and leaving my personal opinions aside.   What I have observed, what I have read, and what I have seen with my own eyes is the level of impact Peart has had on others (especially drummers I have worked with throughout my 20+ years of recording and performing live).    I personally prefer Bruford's drumming style above all others.  However, being subjective I recognize that Neil Peart's name and influence surpasses Bruford's.    Peart as 'most important' is not my personal opinion, but rather what I have observed in others.

I did not say "US-American". I know Peart is Canadian. It may come as a surprise to you, but America is a continent .


Edited by BaldFriede - July 17 2007 at 10:46

SuperHokie wrote: [QUOTE=BaldFriede] I did not say "US-American". I know Peart is Canadian. It may come as a surprise to you, but America is a continent .

And I can assure you that in the musical circles I move in the importance of Peart is equally nil. It is definitely Moerlen here. Other drummers who are held in high esteem in my circles are Christian Vander, Mani Neumeier and to a certain extent Bill Bruford. But Peaart - who's that?

SuperHokie wrote: Bruford's name is not as recognized outside of the the Prog community whereas it is pretty common for "non-Proggers" to know who Neil Peart is.

Edited by ghost_of_morphy - July 17 2007 at 11:01

SuperHokie wrote: ghost_of_morphy wrote: SuperHokie wrote: Bruford's name is not as recognized outside of the the Prog community whereas it is pretty common for "non-Proggers" to know who Neil Peart is.   Get serious.  I saw Bruford's name on a list of top 100 JAZZ drummers a couple of weeks ago.   He was number 46, which is pretty darn good for somebody competing against the likes of Rich, Roach, and Krupa.   Good for him.      That has nothing to do with the fact he is less well-known (as a name) than Neil Peart, but good for him nonetheless.

You can only speak for the area you live in. Hardly anyone knows Peart here, except for Rush fans. Bruford on the other hand is very well known here. I am afraid most of the Rush fans live in the USA and Canada (though of course there are some here)..
Also of course there is no such thing as an "objective viewing". We all see and hear what we want to hear and disregard the rest. That's a phenomenon known as "selective perception". Of course the principles of this selective perception apply to me as well.

BaldFriede wrote: You can only speak for the area you live in. Hardly anyone knows Peart here, except for Rush fans. Bruford on the other hand is very well known here. I am afraid most of the Rush fans live in the USA and Canada (though of course there are some here).. Also of course there is no such thing as an "objective viewing". We all see and hear what we want to hear and disregard the rest. That's a phenomenon known as "selective perception". Of course the principles of this selective perception apply to me as well.

Firefly - Morgan Agren is a monster

Rover - have some Pierre Moerlen, he's worth it.

The eternal Peart vs Moerlen issue - In Poland Peart is definitely better-known than Moerlen. And I really have no idea what kind of people here, apart from any Gong fans and some drumming specialists, would really know and appreciate Moerlen. I guess the rock drummers would listen to the standard fare of Bonham, Paice and Peart, and jazz guys to the equally standard set of Jones, Haynes, DeJohnette etc.

But sure, fame and notoriety differ depending on what social circles one looks at - and in my social circle of one, a drummer named Fenriz used to be much more famous than Peart and Moerlen put together    .

And, of course, the whole point is moot - the best drummer is Ringo, followed by Charlie Watts, Bonham, Meg White and Joey Jordison     .

Edited by Visitor13 - July 17 2007 at 16:25

No, of course not. There is this talk here of who is the better known drummer, Peart or Moerlen. And I can't help thinking this is really about who is the better drummer.

And so, the whole point is moot, because the drummers I mentioned are more famous than Peart or Moerlen. But are they really better?

Visitor13 wrote: No, of course not. There is this talk here of who is the better known drummer, Peart or Moerlen. And I can't help thinking this is really about who is the better drummer. And so, the whole point is moot, because the drummers I mentioned are more famous than Peart or Moerlen. But are they really better?

I don't know about most influential, but as far as "best" goes, the only drummers on the list that I acknowledge as really really really good (and by this I mean at a level that is not met by most professional drummers, let's face it, there are a lot of unknown drummers out there that have totally surpassed some of our beloved prog drummers) are Billy Cobham, Terry Bozzio, and Virgil Donati.  I don't like Terry Bozzio or Virgil Donati's playing, or more specifically the music they usually play along to, and I enjoy Cobham and his music a fair amount, so I choose Cobham.  He's my favorite on the list anyway.

Firefly wrote: I wonder who's the most famous drummer ever, no matter the genre, and no matter where you come from.  Bonham?  Ward?  I've actually no idea.

oh christ... it isn't that hard... Keith Moon.  Larger than life... both behind the kit and out from it.