Your Top 5
Drum Songs
Your Top 5 was born out of my love of music and reading and the book and film High Fidelity. Each week, I ask a new guest to give me their top 5 tracks or artists relative to a topic.
Like any of the previous top 5 lists, there are some tough choices to make. Part of the allure1 of picking a top 5 is winnowing down your personal favorites to an even narrower selection of personal favorites. This week I have S.W. Lauden author of Remember The Lightning joining me to talk about drum songs or songs with great drumming. It’s going to be tough because he is an actual drummer while I am but a casual listener and sometime guitarist. We’ve had some great selections every week as well as some lively discussions in the comments—let’s keep that ball rolling!
S.W. Lauden’s Top 5
Writing is my main creative outlet these days, but for many years I played drums in punk and rock bands. So, my ringing ears are naturally tuned to the back beat. Thanks to Christopher for letting me stop by to share some of my favorite drum songs. As you can imagine, picking just five was torturous, so here’s a quick shout out to “She Said She Said” by The Beatles, “Shattered” by The Rolling Stones, “Uncontrollable Urge” by Devo, “Live Wire” by Mötley Crüe, “We Got The Beat” by The Go-Go’s, “Closer to the Star” by Soul Asylum, “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” by Wilco, any video of Karen Carpenter playing drums, and all the incredible drummers in the essay collection I curated, 'Forbidden Beat: Perspectives on Punk Drumming.' You can find more of my music writing at Remember The Lightning.
If one musician shaped my understanding of rock drumming, it has to be Keith Moon. And when I think of tracks by The Who that draw my ears to the beat, I often come back to “My Generation.” This song was released a couple of years before guitarist Pete Townshend coined the term “power pop” (describing “Pictures of Lily” in 1967), but I think a lot of the power behind the band’s pop during this early era is generated by the transcendent drumming. I have always loved guitar pop songs where it feels like the wheels might fall off and Moon was a master of controlled chaos.
His drumming on “My Generation” has a sense of unbridled, rhythmic danger accented by unpredictable fills and hook-worthy accents perfectly aligned with the snotty lyrics and blaring guitars. The combination of double-snare hits on the back beat and flashy flare-ups create momentum, but Moon truly delivers once set free during the extended outro. This is a song—and a drum performance—for the ages.
From a percussion perspective, this is almost like picking another track by The Who since Blondie drummer Clem Burke was such a Keith Moon acolyte—but Burke’s take on pop rock drumming was somewhat slicker than his idol’s. The collision of punk, disco and new wave that made up Blondie’s sound demanded it.
Whether you’re listening to the album version of “Dreaming” or watching any of the sensational performances on YouTube, Burke gives a masterclass on how to hold down a solid back beat while pushing the song forward. He’s absolutely punishing his toms in a way that really demands your attention even as the band plies their perfect pop. I’ve been trying to write about if for 30 minutes, but I stop typing every time I hit play. I fear I’ll never finish this paragraph. If you’re reading this, send help…
3. “Fool in the Rain” by Led Zeppelin
The groove on this track is simply unbeatable. The song itself is a standout from Led Zeppelin’s final studio album, In Through the Out Door, but it’s John Bonham’s drumming that takes this one to another level. He was renowned for his superb kick drum work—a notoriously thick thump in perfect lock step with John Paul Jones’ impressive bass playing—but it’s positively mesmerizing here. It’s impossible to hear this one without bobbing your head.
Do yourself a favor and check out the isolated drums on YouTube where you can practically hear the kick drum pedal squeaking—there’s no better way to appreciate just what an incredible performance he so effortlessly delivers. The initial “Fucking hell!” and his count in alone are worth the price of admission, but hearing this track soloed out gives a real sense of just how musical Bonzo’s drumming was. The foundational beat is absolutely hypnotic (you can almost hear the other instrumentation in his playing alone), but the tasty ride cymbal bell work and the snare shuffle in the bridge are out of this world.
4. “No One Knows” by Queens of the Stone Age
Long before Dave Grohl became the face of Gen X alternative rock as the Foo Fighters front man, he was the hard-hitting Muppet who helped propel Nirvana into the stratosphere. Unless you were into the Washington DC hardcore band Scream, Nevermind (and its ubiquitous grunge anthem “Smells Like Teen Spirit”) was probably your introduction to the sweaty, shirtless whirling dervish that gave us one of the most memorable drum intros of the ‘90s. So, it hardly seemed fair when he traded his sticks for strings and a microphone (although he did find an equally incredible replacement to fill his throne in Taylor Hawkins).
Then, in 2002, the alt rock gods parted the clouds and delivered Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age featuring their new drummer [Insert collective Gen X GASP!]…Dave Grohl. After a few years away from the drum riser spotlight, the former Nirvana basher delivered a series of incredible performances heralded by lead single “No One Knows.” The tight, bouncy drumming in the verses is almost claustrophobic in its restraint, but Grohl lets lose in the choruses where he unleashes a thunderous series of Ringo-meets-Bonham fills that still stun 20+ years later. If you haven’t heard it lately, it’s worth revisiting.
I first fell for Matt Barrick’s drumming when he was in the ‘90s indie rock/post punk band Jonathan Fire*Eater. I remember seeing JF*E on one of their first tours through Los Angeles and being impressed with his playing even then. But I was blown away a decade later when I heard “The Rat,” the first single from his next band’s second album, Bows + Arrows.
The song itself is a relentless post-punk paean to a bad break up (Drug addiction? Isolation?), but it’s the drums that immediately capture your attention. The sheer velocity and athleticism of Barrick’s playing is enough to send sympathetic pains shooting down your arms as you listen to those breakneck sixteenth notes punctuated by urgent, angular drum fills. I saw The Walkmen live around the release of this album and was stunned by how good this song sounded in a large club—and distinctly remember the guitarist trading sympathetic smiles with Barrick once they’d all gotten through it. Great song, incredible drum performance.
My Top 5
When the Levee Breaks—Led Zeppelin
There is only one Led Zeppelin, unless of course you have a particular love of Greta Van Fleet—which is basically the Temu or Wish version. Anyway, a lot of good drumming to choose from when it comes to Zep, and you will all notice that “Moby Dick” is absent from both of these lists despite being exhibit A of John Bonham’s virtuosity slapping the skins. However, I went with my personal favorite—When the Levee Breaks. Why you ask? Because of how badass the drums sound due to the creative mic’ing of the stairwell and lobby of Headley Grange.
One of my favorite films is It Might Get Loud and in that movie Jimmy Page goes into detail of the achievement of that specific sound for this song. With a playlist of stone-cold classics by Zep, this one stands out to me the most—especially the drumming.
Jump Into the Fire—Harry Nilsson
Nilsson occupies a musical space post Beatles that kept their late career delve into psychedelic rock alive. Before that he was creating excellent music, but the album, Nilsson Schmilsson, and this song are my favorites of his work. Widely regarded as merely a “hard rock” song, I like to think it is more of a psychedelic rock song, especially when you include the epic drum solo that comes seemingly out of nowhere.
Most folks will remember this song for its inclusion in the Goodfellas soundtrack and for the memorable scene of Ray Liotta driving around town paranoid because of the helicopter in the sky. The franticness of that scene always gives me anxiety, so credit to Scorsese, Nilsson, and Liotta for their talents.
This song live is a lot of fun because Wilco drummer, Glenn Kotche has a lot of fun with it by twirling his sticks and throwing them and doing other fun drummer tricks. Jeff Tweedy often changes the lyrics around a bit as well—”she lifted up her shirt at the battle of the bands” as opposed to “I sincerely miss those heavy metal bands.” There’s also some live versions out there where Tweedy will change the “playing KISS covers” to “playing Slayer covers,” or “playing Puddle of Mudd covers…” Etc.
While not exactly a virtuosic drum performance, it paints a picture of a groupie or superfan who happens to really be into the band’s drummer. I think many drummers reading this might appreciate that a little bit.
Flamethrower—King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
I could pick any thrash metal song for this list—basically could just slap “Slayer’s entire catalog” on here, but instead I wanted to go with a more recent thrash song by the great KGLW. Long-time subscribers2 know of my devotion to KGLW and last year’s PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation is their second foray into thrash metal and it is done right in my opinion. This particular song has some intense drumming.
Now, I know the old adage is “less is more,” but when it comes to the drums, particularly thrash metal drumming, more is more. Give this epic 9 minutes jam a listen and be ready to have some whiplash from all the headbanging.
Long-time readers will also note my love of boogie rock. This Van Halen track has some great double-kick shuffle into a boogie rock jam that we all know is a classic. This song has every Van Halen hallmark in it, great drumming, outstanding guitar work, and raunchy taboo lyrics expertly sung by the man himself, David Lee Roth.3
It’s inclusion on this list in purely for that beginning sequence of double kick drums to boogie that always has me air drumming along.
So there you have it, I will say that there is one song, sort of a 6th man of these starting five, that I wanted to include here—The End by the Beatles which illuminates Ringo’s yeoman’s work on the drums for the Fab 4. I am sure that there are plenty of others I may have missed, but I am interested in hearing yours—so comment away!
Or curse.
Like the last 3-4 months.
There is no other singer in Van Halen, anything after Roth is a black hole of mediocrity.
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That was a blast. Thanks for letting me stop by.
Great stuff - I also love those "little moments" the great drummers give you in songs. A particular favourite is that gorgeous pick-up JB does after the breakdown in Whole Lotta Love before the riff comes crashing back in.