John Bonham, but Neil Peart is right up there. John was tribal, unconcious, tapped into thunder and conquest. Peart is the most superb technical percussionist that has ever lived (my opinion). He is THE master of timing and nuance. I put Keith Moon in that category as well... not as technical as Peart, but a master of timing and groove.
Then there’s Buddy Rich.
And I’m not even a drum player. I play guitar.
Have at it boys and girls.
:-)
Too late tonight for me to chime in, but I’ll see your Neil Peart and Keith Moon, and raise ya a Buddy Rich ... as well as toss in a Ping for a fellow FReeper .....
If you like Peart, you’ll LOVE Portnoy. In fact, there are a lot of guys like that, it’s just that Peart is the most well known.
Dream Theater (Portnoy’s band) has about 12 CDs out since the 80s. They’re just less famous than Rush. In fact, they do some Rush covers in their act, and they do them flawlessly and even cleaner than Rush does them!