Everyone gives the guitarists all the credit. And even when the light gets shined on the skin bashers, the focus is generally put on the past. But drummers are an integral part of bands, and in some cases, the crux. The primal draw is obvious, the thud of the heart, the trudge of the multitude.
But there’s something more to drumming these days, something more cerebral and cultured. Whether it’s just plain chops, structuring a grove, getting the band to move forward, or being the centerpiece of the set, in 2013, the virtuosity behind drum kits skyrockets. It's understandable you'd miss someone exceptional behind the skins, unless they hit you in the face with a stick.
But a good drummer should not, cannot, go unnoticed—so to give them the recognition they deserve we’ve cropped the 20 best.
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