10 Greatest Drum Performances In Rock Music History

There are hardly any drummers who can really compete with the stamina of John Bonham in his prime. While some might be faster and some might try to do things more technically, you're never going to find someone who put the same kind of soul into his craft as Bonzo did. Up in Canada though, a professor behind the kit found a way to make the complex side of drumming and the intense side of drumming play nice together.

Even though Rush get called too prog heavy even by prog standards, Neil Peart's drums could practically be the lead instrument in the band apart from Geddy Lee or Alex Lifeson. If you run through songs like La Villa Strangiato, Neil could be on the grid to the smallest nanosecond, always making it as precise as possible. When he learned to lay into a groove around the '80s though, Tom Sawyer may be the one moment where he reached perfection, laying down a demanding groove to start out with and always keeping a pocket in between the more complex chords coming from the guitars.

When the guitar solo finally drops out though, Neil goes into what might be the greatest drum fill of all time, as the guitars hold out long notes while he stretches across every layer of his drumkit, going across his toms, annihilating his kick drum and then getting the most out of his cymbals. There was always a lot of drums set up on that stage whenever Rush went out on tour, and in just a few seconds, Neil seemed like he was trying to get as much out of every single extension as he could.