I'm having a debate with a friend about who was better.
I say Roger
Thoughts?
I'm having a debate with a friend about who was better.
I say Roger
Thoughts?
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There is no "better" in art. But for the sake of argument, they were both great in their own ways. Bonham is an absolute favorite of mine, and even with all the praise he's gotten over the years, I think even many of his fans don't recognize some of what made him great beyond the bombast. Having said that, I almost think I have to go with Taylor on this one. He's criminally under-recognized for what a great drummer he is. Check out some old live vids from when Freddie was still with us. Killer playing, not to mention his great vocals.
I'd have to say Taylor as well. As stated above, criminally under rated IMO. His early work was fantastic. And even with the schlock they were doing at the end of Freddies run here, those guys blew up the stage every time they were on it!
Taylor couldn't swing though. LOL
I'd say they were equally suited for the bands they were in.
Better at what?
I'm a huge Queen fan, and only a casual Zep fan, but I'd rank Bonham above Taylor. Roger never really impressed me much as a drummer.
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Bonham was great at what he did, Roger is more versatile. Bonham couldn't play with Queen, but I bet Roger could handle himself nicely in Zeppelin. Just one drummer's opinion.
Better is a very subjective thing. For me, while Taylor may be a slightly more accomplished player (and I'm saying may be because, with Bonham, we'll never know what he might have become), I can listen to Bonham all day, every day, and never get tired. He had great ideas, and an attention to tone that few drummers, especially back then, had. At a time when producers were trying to dampen drums with towels and all kinds of sh&t, Bonham had that massive wide open sound that let his drums ring, his cymbals splash....in other words, do what they were designed to do.
I just love his sound, and even if all he played was a straight four back beat, I was never less than totally convinced. Roger Taylor's great, but for me, Bonham was transcendent.
Tough...IMHO Bonham was a better pounding rock drummer but Roger had more finesse and that fantastic voice. It's a tie - which is to say they were both a perfect fit for the band they played in
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I love that distinctive slight opening of the hi hats Roger Taylor does on the off beat with the snare, no one else does it the way he did.
One thing both have in common to me is I dislike the sound of their drums on the studio albums. I dunno what it is exactly, their drums just don't sound 'right' on the studio albums.
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Totally agree. Roger Taylor had a higher pitch than Freddie Mercury and was able to really give Queen tremendous backing vocals (check out what he does during the bridge of their song 39). As far as drummers though, I have to go with Bonham. I don't think anyone has a faster food on a single bass drum than Bonham did. Someone said Taylor was more versatile but I wouldn't say that. Bonham was great at heavy metal, bluesy rock, jamming and the little bit of prog they veered into.
Roger was excellent, and certainly underrated. But I personally prefer Bonham. He was more adventurous imo and just had more feel. And for god's sake, when Taylor developed that "open the hats on the snare beat" fetish be became borderline unlistenable,
> I just love his sound, and even if all he played was a straight four back beat, I was never less than totally convinced. Roger Taylor's great, but for me, Bonham was transcendent.<
This.
> Tough...IMHO Bonham was a better pounding rock drummer but Roger had more finesse and that fantastic voice. It's a tie - which is to say they were both a perfect fit for the band they played in <
Agree about them being perfect for their respective bands and about Roger's voice. But the finesse comment? YMMV but Out On The Tiles, Since I've Been Loving You and Good Times Bad Times leave me curious as to what if anything Roger ever played with close to that amount of finesse.
Taylor is still alive. He wins.
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bring back that leroy brown... wondering if bonham could have handled that. kashmir has plenty of that semiopen hihat. Although it gets annoying at times... RT was great prog drummer back then (up until Jazz). JB was straightforward blues hard rock.
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