Two Surprisingly Good "Top Ten" Music Lists

Yesterday, I saw these two lists on msn.com, and they were surprisingly good, considering the source. Of course, as they were likely compiled by regular people instead of bitter old failed musicians like the losers from 'Rolling Stone', it shouldn't be that surprising...


There's was only one glaring error(it's at the end) which actually might've been an April Fool's joke, considering the lists were put up yesterday.


BEST FIRST SONG ON DEBUT ALBUM


1. Good Times Bad Times - Led Zeppelin


2. I Ain't The One - Lynyrd Skynyrd


3. Can't Get Enough - Bad Company


4. Holidays in the Sun - The Sex Pistols


5. Welcome to the Working Week - Elvis Costello


6. Runnin' With the Devil - Van Halen


7. Next to You - The Police


8. Good Times Roll - The Cars


9. I Will Follow - U2


10. Loser - Beck


No real problems here, IMO, although I'm sure "Hey, Joe" could probably work it's way on here somehow.

One of my personal picks would be "Rock The Nation" from the first Montrose album, which introduced a young "Sam" Hagar to the world, and is, IMO, the 2nd best debut album ever, behind only "The Cars", which is likely to never be topped in this category. BTW does "Space Oddity" qualify for this list?


BEST DRUMMERS


1. John Bonham


2. Keith Moon


3. Bill Bruford


4. Neil Peart


5. Mitch Mitchell


6. Stewart Copeland


7. Matt Cameron


8. Jimmy Chamberlin


9. Danny Carey


10. I told you there was one glaring error.... Phil Collins. Jeez, the guy ain't even the best drummer in his own band, Chester Thompson is.


My nominee: Dave Grohl. Yeah, I know, I hate the Poo Fighters as much as anybody, but his work in Nirvana was incredible, and he certainly belongs here if the drummers from Soungarden/Pearl Jam & Tool do. I'm also a fan of Pearl Jam's old drummer Dave Abrussezze(sp?) and think Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction is vastly underrated. Cozy Powell probably belongs on here somewhere, as well; in fact, he definitely does; gotta bump Jimmy C., I guess.


I also think that Steve Gorman from The Black Crowes is great. He and keyboardist Ed Harysch were the real stars of the "Live At The Greek" Led Zep covers CD.


Page & Plant oughta get rid of whomever they got now and pick up these two, now that the Crowes have apparently bit the bag.

One of the best drummers ever was Topper Headon from the Clash. He could play any style, from punk to reggae/ska, to jazz., etc., Joe Strummer from the Clash says he was one of the main reasons the Clash were able to expand the type of music they did (some would criticize them for this, saying they were juat ripping off rockabilly, or jazz, or reggae). Whatever, but the bottom line is Toppper's drumming allowed them to do this.

I think Beck sucks so I would knock him off List 1. and add "Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath. Also, replace U2 with Ramones "Blitzkreig Bop".


I would also add Sabbath's Bill Ward to List 2. He would be #1 on any list of best drummers to hardly ever use a high hat. I would also add Jim White from Dirty Three. He is the best drummer I have ever seen live. Like watching an octupus play.


I agree with Alec about Topper Headon too. Rat Scabies of The Damned was the 2nd best punk drummer and is better than all the "Alternative" guys, save maybe Grohl, IMO.


KJS

You're absolutely right about "Black Sabbath". I was going to mention it, but spaced it.


I have a friend who is a great drummer and he ranks Bill Ward behind only Bonham & Powell. He esp. loves Ward's work on "Hole In The Sky". He's great when he was 'on', IMO, but he was also inconsistent. Of course, it would be hard for anyone not to be overshadowed by Ozzy & Iommi.


The best live drummer I've seen is Matt Abts of Govt. Mule, and the best drum solo was done by Jerry Mercer of April Wine.


Speaking of Ozzy, Lee Kerslake did a fantastic job on Ozzy's first two solo albums. Tommy Aldrige(another great one) was credited on "Madman", but both it and "Blizzard" were recorded at the same time.


Brian Downey of Thin Lizzy is probably the most underappreciated drummer in rock history, and, giving fair credit where credit is due, Tommy Lee is not just the best drummer but the best musician, by far, from all the hair-metal bands, with the rather LARGE exception of Slash, of course.

Top four drummers:


Mitch Mitchell


Mitch Mitchell


Mitch Mitchell


Ginger Baker

Mitch definitely deserves a spot. However, I would rather jab out my eardrums with a pencil than listen to Baker do "Toad" or "Train Time". The popularity of the drum solo is one of the black marks on 60s/70s rock and roll IMHO.

Being a drummer myself it seems silly to not have Josh Friese (i don't know if that's the correct spelling) on the list. What a fucking joke that guy is amazing and he is world famous for playing in all kinds of music, plus to make things better he even plays some punk, so he's not just always playing that slow crap that permeates almost all music. Anyway there are so many good drummers in punk bands and metal bands that are unknown, but as good or better then most of these slowpokes, who just have a bunch of knowlege and talent, but don't really sound that good. Another famous drummer is the new guy in Bad Religion- after 20 years of two mediocre drummers, they landed this guy named Brooks Wakerman who is just awesome. I just saw them on sunday and they were all amazing, 1 1/2 hour set and NO fuckups. Finally I agree about that guy from Janes Addiction, he is damn good too, but I think that band sucks so go figure.


Kris

i agree wholeheartedly re: Black Sabbath, Ramones (though id bump Beck instead of U2) and Bill Ward.

i always put G'n'R above the hair metal category. i mean, sure they came out in '87, and they did have some big hair and crazy antics, but they were so much better musically than Poison, Ratt, Winger, and all the other hair-metal bands. plus, they stuck around a little bit longer. some of that stuff i listen to every once in a while because it brings back funny memories. But G'n'R i love because they just tore it up, and are(were) a reaaly great band.


so, yes, i'd agree about:


1. Slash

2. Tommy Lee

3. Nikki Sixx

Then you must hate Sandy Nelson. I was going to add him to my list, but didn't want to explain who he was; I feel old enough already.

Yeah, GnR ain't really a hair band, but they're not a "classic metal" band like AC/DC or Sabbath, and they're certainly not a 'hybrid metal'[my term] band, like Soundgarden or Jane's. The two best examples of the hybrid style are "Badmotorfinger" & "Angel Dust"


Actually, there IS another band in the same 'category' as Gnr, even though their musical influences were vastly different. That would be The Cult, whom I saw Gnr open up for in Sept '87. I'd never heard of GnR and I remember thinking: good band, great lead guitarist, but they gotta lose screechy the singer... /images/smile.gif


BTW, speaking of most underrated musicians, I'd put Billy Duffy of the Cult right underneath Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy, and Billy certainly belongs at number 2 on the 'best musicians of the '80s' list, just behind Slash.

AGREED! The Aberduzze fellow from '10' was a frickin' WITCH behind the skins. As far as I'm concerned he WAS that album (although I'll give heavy props to Mike McCready's (sp?) solo at the end of 'Alive', which ranks as the best guitar solo of the 90's.)


All in all I was quite impressed by the drummer list. Matt Cameron is a solid 7, and Mitch Mitchell a good 5. Neil Peart, however, should probably be number 1; I admit he doesn't give you the goosebumps like Bonham and Moon, but Nei's technical wizardry is beyond parallel.


The best song list is, I think, a bit dicier. "Living with the Law" should probably be up there (off the first Chris Whitley album), although I recognize that isn't an obvious (or necessarily unanimous) choice. I may also put up a vote for "Hit the Lights" off of "Kill 'em All", but I'd have to think about that. "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls is a no-brainer, but it's not clear whether you can count them as rock and roll.

"Tommy Lee is not just the best drummer but the best musician, by far, from all the hair-metal bands, with the rather LARGE exception of Slash, of course."


NO! This can't be. The best musician from the hair metal bands was probably George Lynch from Dokken, or maybe Paul Gilbert in Racer X. You could conceivably cast a vote for Vai when he played on Diamond Dave's "Yankee Rose" album (whatever that was called).


I don't remember much about Tommy Lee, but I know Mick Mars sucked. And I don't get all this talk about Bill Ward; he rules in "The Wizard", but I can't listen to the drumming in "War Pigs" without moaning in pain.

hmmm. can't say i agree with the indigo girls. i just can't dig their stuff. but i was thinking that perhaps 'Cowboys from Hell' from the album CFH (Pantera) could qualify for the list somewhere. I know it wasn't technically their first album, but they changed so much, its hardly fair to call CFH a continuation of the same band even.

just thinking abou G'n'R and how 'Welcome to the Jungle' from Appetite for Destruction should almost certainly be on that list. 'Bombtrack' from Rage Against The Machine came to mind as well, though im not sure how many people here would vote for it.


then there's a completely different list of track one's if you take away the debut album stipulation.

I think you could go with that.


I also think "Cult of Personality" should be on the list somewhere.