10 Best Hard Rock Drummers Of The '90s

10. Brad Wilk - Rage Against the Machine

Hip hop is a genre that lives and dies on the rhythmic structure. Given its prior antecedents in funk and rock, the inner workings of a hip hop flow have to be perfectly in time if it wants to be taken seriously. While this sounds like a bit of an unorthodox way of talking about a rock band, the blunt force of something like Rage Against the Machine would not exist if not for Brad Wilk.

Across every one of these rap rock gods' classic albums, Wilk is the one guy who tends to get overshadowed the most. Then again, it's easy to not be seen when you have to compete with the militant voice of Zack de la Rocha and the mad scientific experiments coming whenever Tom Morello strapped on a guitar. Even with the odds stacked against him, Wilk's drumming was always what held the songs together, whether it was the unstoppable momentum of something like Bulls on Parade or leaning into the groove on Bombtrack.

The accolades don't stop there either, with Wilk's talents extending to the post Rage outfit Audioslave and even being called in to assist Black Sabbath on their final album 13. Though Zack de la Rocha may have been the unquestionable mouth of the band in the early days, he wouldn't have had a leg to stand on if Brad Wilk hadn't laid the groundwork.