DRUM! Magazine unleashed its 2008 readers poll awards today. No big Drummie! surprises here: Neil Peart still reigns as everyone’s favorite living drum god, Travis Barker is apparently the best punk drummer on the planet (but only when Tré Cool and Green Day haven’t released an album), and Chad Smith is the youngsters’ funkster of choice. Let the verbal fisticuffs begin.
Word of warning: under each category, the name presented in caps is the official winner; all the subsequent names under a category are considered by DRUM! to be “runners-up,” not necessarily “second,” “third,” “or “fourth” place winners. Why? We haven’t a clue…
I. DRUM SET CATEGORIES
Drummer of the Year
NEIL PEART
Stanton Moore
Mike Portnoy
Jimmy Sullivan
Rising Drum Star
THOMAS PRIDGEN
Cody Hanson
Matt Smith
Spencer Smith
Best Progressive Drummer
MIKE PORTNOY
Neil Peart
Gavin Harrison
Danny Carey
Best Metal Drummer
CHRIS ADLER
Jason Bittner
Joey Jordison
Brann Dailor
Best Jam Band Drummer
CARTER BEAUFORD
Stanton Moore
Matt Abts
Jim Donovan
Best Jazz Drummer
STEVE SMITH
Peter Erskine
Billy Hart
Billy Kilson
Best Funk Drummer
CHAD SMITH
Stanton Moore
Zoro
Aaron Spears
Best Urban Drummer
?UESTLOVE
Aaron Spears
Trevor Lawrence Jr.
Teddy Campbell
Best Mainstream Pop Drummer
TAYLOR HAWKINS
Neil Peart
Chad Smith
Travis Barker
Best Alternative Rock Drummer
SAM LOEFFLER
Brooks Wackerman
Atom Willard
Travis Barker
Best Punk Drummer
TRAVIS BARKER
Tré Cool
Brooks Wackerman
Bill Stevenson
Best R&B/Blues Drummer
ZORO
Stanton Moore
Aaron Spears
Teddy Campbell
Best Country Drummer
JIM RILEY
Paul Leim
Eddie Bayers
Ben Sesar
Best Drum Clinician
THOMAS LANG
Jojo Mayer
Stanton Moore
Mike Mangini
Best Studio Drummer
VINNIE COLAIUTA
Steve Gadd
Josh Freese
Rodney Holmes
Best Live Drumming Performer
NEIL PEART
Stanton Moore
Jimmy Sullivan
Mike Portnoy
II. PERCUSSIONIST CATEGORIES
Percussionist of the Year
LUIS CONTE
Giovanni Hidalgo
Fausto Cuevas
Taku Hirano
Rising Percussion Star
CESAR ESPINOZA
Carlos Maldonado
A.B. Bermudez
Eric Velez
Best Latin Percussionist
RICHIE FLORES
A.B. Bermudez
Giovanni Hidalgo
Poncho Sanchez
Best Jazz/Fusion Percussionist
SAMMY FIGUEROA
Richie Flores
A.B. Bermudez
Cyro Baptista
Best Percussion Clinician
JESUS DIAZ
Giovanni Hidalgo
Alex Acuña
Valerie Naranjo
Best Rock/Pop Percussionist
LUIS CONTE
Fausto Cuevas
Raul Rekow
Jim Donovan
Best Worldbeat Percussionist
VALERIE NARANJO
Zakir Hussain
Taku Hirano
Cyro Baptista
Best Percussion Ensemble
HIP PICKLES
Blue Man Group
San Jose Taiko
Blue Devils
Best Drum Circle Facilitator
JIM DONOVAN
Valerie Naranjo
John Scalici
Chet Doboe
Best Studio Percussionist
LUIS CONTE
Lenny Castro
Emil Richards
Robert Vilera
Best Live Percussion Performer
MARC QUIÑONES
Alex Acuña
Hip Pickles
Jim Donovan
III. INDUSTRY AND PRODUCT CATEGORIES
Best Drum Kit
DW COLLECTOR’S TWISTED EXOTICS
Pearl Masters MCX
Tama Starclassic Perfomer Bubinga/Birch
Ludwig Legacy
Best Snare Drum
BLACK PANTHER THICK FLAME MAPLE
Tama 13″ Warlord Limited Edition
Pro-Mark 50th Anniversary
Yamaha 14″ x 5.5″ Kabuto
Best Custom Drum Maker
SJC CUSTOM DRUMS
Pork Pie Percussion
The Craviotto Drum Company
Orange County Drum & Percussion
Best Cymbal
ZILDJIAN ARMAND SERIES
Sabian 20″ HHX Evolution O-Zone Crash
Paiste Twenty Series
Zildjian 22″ K Medium Dark Ride
Best Drumhead
EVANS EC1
Remo Powerstroke X snare head
Remo Vintage A snare head
Aquarian Super-2
Best Drum Stick
VIC FIRTH DANNY CAREY NYLON TIP SIGNATURE
Vater Limited Edition 2007 Stewart Copeland Standard
Zildjian Backbeat Series
Pro-Mark Chris Adler model
Best Hardware
DW 8000 SERIES PEDALS
Tama Iron Cobra Rolling Glide Pedals with Cobra Coil Speed Spring
Pearl 900 Series
Tama Stage Master
Best Percussion
LP JOHN DOLMAYAN MINI-TIMBALE
Pearl Travel Conga
LP More Cowbell Ridge Rider Bell Pack
Remo Key-Tuned Djembe
Best Drumming Accessory
ZILDJIAN TRAVIS BARKER ARTIST SERIES CYMBAL AND DRUMSTICK BAGS
Vater Safe ‘N Sound Earplugs
SKB Roto-X cases
Aquarian Super-Thin Kickpads
Best Electronic Percussion
ROLAND HD-1 V-DRUMS LITE
Yamaha DTXpress IV
Roland PM-01 Personal Monitor
Alesis DM5 Pro
IV. MEDIA CATEGORIES
Best DVD
SECRET WEAPONS FOR THE MODERN DRUMMER (Jojo Mayer)
In Constant Motion (Mike Portnoy)
Ultimate Realistic Rock (Carmine Appice)
Billy Cobham Live At 60 (Billy Cobham)
Best Drumming Book
ON THE BEATEN PATH (Rich Lackowski)
Drumming Out Of The Shadows (Jason Bittner)
Hands, Grooves and Fills (Pat Petrillo)
Jimi Hendrix: Smash Hits Drums Play-Along
Best Drumming Album
HELLYEAH (HellYeah)
Obzen (Meshuggah)
Avenged Sevenfold (Avenged Sevenfold)
Echos, Silence, Patience & Grace (Foo Fighters)
Best Hand Percussion Album
THE MAGICIAN (Sammy Figueroa)
Global Drum Project (Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo)
Con Alma (Mark Weinstein)
Raise Your Hand (Poncho Sanchez)
Marimbula (Luis Conte)
Best Web Site
DRUMMERWORLD.COM
Pearldrum.com
drumsmith.com
drumbum.com
Best Print Ad
PEARL’S “CHAD SMITH GRAMMY MAGNET / REFERENCE SERIES” AD
DW’s “My Name Is… And This Is My Custom DW Kit” campaign
Pro-Mark’s “Say It With Your Music” campaign
Tama’s “Uncharted Rhythmic Terrain / Blue Man Group” ad
As usual…the masses seem to always stick to the cool and popular…overlooking what’s actually practical and true. Just because something is popular dosen’t mean it’s a good product or the BEST for that matter,reader pole or no. I actually voted in this one, who counted the votes…the Bush administration?
I guess DrummerConnection.com and bigdrumthump.com will have to be on Next Year’s Best Website list
Damn bloody right, drumfreak!
Travis Barker is the best Punk Drummer!!
and Tré Cool is the best too!
LOL that’s great!
I’ll bee the best some day.. you’ll see
Best Punk Drummer
ANNA DANGER
believe me! =P
tre cool is the best drummer on this world!!!!!!
green day rules!!!!!!
think the same as greeny
oh Tré cool is the beeest drummer in the hole world!
GreenDay’s beest!
Best Punk Drummer = Tré Cool
Tré Cool is the best drummer ever!
whatever,, GREEN DAY RULES!
Who the fuck is Thomas Pridgen, and how the hell did he beat Spencer Smith? Spencer should’ve won that category.!
And Tre Cool could beat Barker as a drummer ANYDAY.
This was rigged, I bet.
Tre Fucking Cool is the best drummer period.Green Day is the best fucking band in the world, even though they’ve been gone for so long =[
Blink 182 is not punk so theres no way that that kid can be better than Tre Cool, because Tre and Green Day are punk.
Oh ya and suck my lesbo cock, you fuckheads left out the best drummer ever…. John Bonham!!!!!!!
Best Punk Drummer = Tré Cool
all you green day worshippers, please shut the fuck up. just because you enjoy green day like MTV tells you to doesn’t mean tre cool is the best drummer in the world, let alone ever. listen to some real percussionists for once.
I don’t think that Travis Barker is a pure punk drummer. Knowing his influences ( Pop, R’n B…), he is not totally punk. For me the best punk drummer is Atom Willard followed by Tré Cool. I think we can include Dean Butterworth ( not mentionned in the lists of drummers).
^^^ I never listened to Green Day because MTV tells me so xD And you could listen to Tre Cool at once.. Go, try it!
And btw, everyone likes something else..
For me.. TRE COOL = Best Drummer ;]
It’s a shame this list has travis barker and tre cool listed as the best drummers. Sure they are good, but in punk category they are only above Brooks Wackerman because more people know green day and blink than Bad Religion.
best punk drummer = Tre’ Cool
yay! Jimmy Sullivan runner up drummer of the year i dont care he the best! woo! and best live drummer performer runnner up! yeah A7X drumming album! yay!
TRE WINS.
okay, if you people seriously think that being on mtv makes people not punk, you completely have lost the idea of punk . its about not letting poeple tell you what to do, and saying “f*** off” to the authority. and loud music. xD
even if you are on MTV, you can do that. There are plenty of real punks who have also made it in the mainstream music scene.
*shakes head*
:end rant:
I’m with you, moomoo. Green Day haters constantly say stuff like that idiot up there. We don’t listen to Green Day because we watch MTV. I’ve only had cable for a few months!!!
But yeah, Tre Cool, best freaking drummer, along with JIMMY SULLIVAN/THE REV. Can’t believe neither of them won anything. What a shame.
tre cool is the best punk drummer, nobody else . it’s my own opinion, of course, but.. .
HE’S THE BEST!
greetings from poland
Nutty, are you an idiot? Listen to the drumming on Wax simulacra by Thomas’s band The Mars Volta, and then reconsider your arrogant statement.
Well, for all the talk about it being a popularity contest I find the most interesting winner to be 18 year old Matt Smith (3rd in the Rising Star category). Here’s an up and coming guy with serious name rec because of youtube and internet stuff and his amazing technique, but with no endorsements or exposure in a major band.
This shows that Drum Magazine is pretty even handed.
To that david davidson asshole, I’ll let you know that I fucking hate MTV. It’s stupid. I never watch it, so it couldn’t tell me anything about Tre Cool. So shut the fuck up, because you don’t really know anything like you think you do.
And to christian, you’re the idiot. I’ve heard that shit before, and I still know that Tre is the best drummer. He’s the fucking shit, man. I’m not arrogant, I just know good music when I hear it, thank you very much, asshole.
Nutty, I wasn’t referring to tre, I was referring to spencer smith.
Whatever. This is stupid shit, anyways. I really don’t enjoy arguing with people I’ve never met when it’s on the internet. Can you said, “Pointless?” I CAN. :]
Thank you veeery much.
I’m going to go listen to some Cobra Starship.
I’m really not in the mood to be a bitch right now, so I won’t be.
Does anybody here write fan-fictions?
I need a sno-cone, damnit.. ]:
Travis is shitttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..The real winner should be Tre Cool…….
it was a set up!!!!…those judges don’t know how to pick a true punk drummer.what ashit..Tre Cool!!!!!!!!!!!! is the real winner
I think that Dominic Howard from MUSE is one of the best drummers on progressive rock style!!
Greenday is best tré is crazy drummer
First readers vote here, not judges. And how is this poll a popularity contest when a cult favorite like Matt Smith gets in the Rising Star section? Sometimes it’s just different than you think it is.
WTF? Chad Sexton isn’t mentioned anywhere on this website. Sexton is a drumming God
I’d have to say none of my favourite drummers (I’m specifically talking about ones that are still alive) appear to be on that list. I can’t believe there’s no drummers from Dischord Records on there. There’s some talent on that list, just not my favourites.
I’ve always felt tre cool and all, but have you ever heard or for that matter seen Darren King of Mute Math? Don’t know what category he fits in but who cares.
I definitely agree with tchek on that one…
Darren King is by far one of the best drummers out there, an honorable mention at the least.
I’m not entirely sure where he would fit, but hey. He’s still pretty damn good for playing a 40 year old four piece kit with old ass hats and one crash/ride.
Also, Dom Howard should be in the Progressive section.
He has a killer sound to him, he’s flawless live, uses jazz influences to make his sound his own, is a lefty, AND sometimes dresses up as Spiderman whilst playing.
Awesome?
I thought so.
mike portnoy best progresive drummer?
im larfing rite now. i mean no offend, but damn.
holy shit
mike portnoy kicks ass, fully deserved 1st place in prog
why so much talk bout punk drumming
green day is for 14 year olds
prog and metal drummers way better
I agree with most things on this list, but one thing. Anyone who thinks Travis Barker is the best anything is an idiot. I mean, he’s not bad by any means, he’s a pretty decent drummer. Decent. He’s not the best anything. At all. It makes me sad that because he can bash and wail and maybe has a little speed that people think he’s amazing. *tear drop*
I just gave it another look…Tre Cool and Chad Smith aren’t anything special either (in the realm of the best drummers). Epic Fail!
Ok, a few things. Travis Barker’s crap, Mike Portnoy is hugely overrated and certainly not better than Neil Peart.
One more thing. Muse suck in every possible way. Including their musicianship. And they are NOT progressive rock, they’re rubbish pop with self-importance. And Matt Bellamy is a smug, talentless tosser. Were it up to me they’d all be hanging from the yardarm, and never have released any of their embarassing crimes against music.
EUGH. Muse. I look forward to the hatemail I will no doubt receive.