12 Best Hard Rock Drum Solos

No list on hard rock bands would be complete without a bit of Black Sabbath. In terms of best drummers in the rock sphere, Bill Ward tends to get pushed to the side, but his more subtle approach to his craft always added something different to the sound of the band.

Instead of learning from the rock drummers of old, Ward's training drifted towards the jazzier side of the spectrum, with drummers like Gene Krupa among his influences. In a song like "Rat Salad," the drumming that he does almost seems reactive to the guitar part. The entire first section feels like a sparring session between Tony Iommi's guitar and Ward's drums before the final minute lets him absolutely explode. While there is some fast-tempo beats on parade, it never ends up being too fast for its own good, with his syncopations cascading across one another to create this relentless wall of noise.

This not only gave Ward a featured piece on a Sabbath record, but also opened the door for more eclectic influences to seep into the world of hard rock. If Sabbath were going to become the definition of heavy metal, they needed one of the best backbeats they could get, and "Rat Salad" proves that Bill Ward was the right guy for the job.