Keith Moon vs. John Bonham POLL

yup, good thread.

(btw that first fill after the samba part in "fool in the rain" is totally overdubbed btw)

do people feel that bonham was consistently brilliant througout his career in zep?

yes, people do.

i wish he had lived to be an 80's - 90's session dude

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

if he'd lived, i'm pretty sure he'd be getting by fine without playing shoddy studio gigs.

sure, he wouldn't have had to play at all, but i'd hope that at some point he would've wanted to do something other than play w/the same three dudes

John Bonham would have sounded excellent playing behind about anyone, as he has that rare combination of power and bounce but I cannot really imagine what The Who would have sounded like without Keith Moon. Take something like "Going Mobile", Moon is going so batshit crazy on the fills on the last part of that song, I just don't see how ANY other drummer could have made it work like that. While the songwriting in The Who was really well done, I cannot see The Who having the success they did without Moon, as they would probably have been a lot more straight ahead sounding and would not have gotten as wild and might not lead to Townsend going as far out on his songwriting.

Led Zep definitely would not have been as epic if say Ansley Dunbar was the drummer, but they would have probably still have been a pretty good blues rock styled band. I can't see them getting as far out as they did.

I'll tell you this, Steve Shelley at one point in Sonic Youth would get that forever drum roll like Keith Moon, especially in the Daydream Nation/Sister/Dirty era. At one point that crazy drum rolls like Moon just quit happening and to me, I really think that is the point I lost interest in SY.

Bill Ward is the dude that I think doesn't get the props he should, especially considering the stature of Black Sabbath. That dude could groove like Bonham and at points would get really wild with the fills, maybe not as much as Moon, but pretty out there like on Wheel of Confusion.

Ian Paice is also a really killer drummer.

Steve Shelley is way underrated.

Ian Paice is also a really killer drummer.

the weird free-groove breaks in 'flight of the rat' are mind-blowing

I voted for Moon because any time I really fucking need to hear some drums I play Happy Jack.

Keith Moon by far

1. Better drummer

and

2. The wildest human being ever in showbiz

And even though he was rather unique in his drumming style, his extramusical life and behaviour are my main reasons for going for Keith Moon. :)

Btw. whatever happened to that movie they were supposed to be making about his life? I was really looking forward to it.

Supposedly Daltrey (who started and is overseeing the Moon bio-pic project) has yet to find a decent script, and has already rejected more than a few.

I'll tell you this, Steve Shelley at one point in Sonic Youth would get that forever drum roll like Keith Moon, especially in the Daydream Nation/Sister/Dirty era. At one point that crazy drum rolls like Moon just quit happening and to me, I really think that is the point I lost interest in SY.

OTMFM. The rapid decline in Sonic Youth's music can be directly traced to the sudden lifelessness of Steve Shelley's playing.

"Bill Ward is the dude that I think doesn't get the props he should, especially considering the stature of Black Sabbath. That dude could groove like Bonham and at points would get really wild with the fills, maybe not as much as Moon, but pretty out there like on Wheel of Confusion.

Ian Paice is also a really killer drummer."

Both points OTM. Paice's finest moment is the album Burn. What a fucking drummer.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

poll results tough but fair

with that kind of turn out it's more or less scientifically proven

yesss, ilx had me worried there

(high turnout!)

xp

by this point I assume that whoever's getting the most vocal praise on a poll thread is going to lose

(now we should do page vs hendrix)

There's really only one proper response (at 5:12):

It's not that John Bonham wasn't technically capable of doing something like that; but brilliant as he was, he was a Rock Drummer, and he reveled in the conventions of drumming. Keith Moon was a lead percussionist, and the vast vocabulary he created is still sitting there, largely untouched, waiting for the truly adventurous to dig in and expand on it.

so Bonham is a better drummer and Moon the better "lead percussionist". I voted Bonham.

Matt, that version of Bargain -- and specifically the Moonburst at 5:12 -- is EXACTLY what I was thinking of when I mentioned the clumsy Bird/Night In Tunisia analogy upthread.

i like zeppelin more than the who usually (though i'll take the 10 or so best who songs over the best zep songs) but moon's drumming is my favorite part of almost every who song ever. the drum rolls in "i can see for miles" alone are mindblowing.

disappointing results imo

(now we should do page vs hendrix)

Page vs Clapton vs Beck would be better.

but there's no point doing that one

I tend to notice Bonham's drumming in a way I never noticed Moon's, though I do love the Who. I agree Bonham comes off sometimes as "behind the beat" but then he also "owns the beat" so the slight "behind-ness" of it is what actually rules in the end (what in god's name Libcrypt was on about earlier in this thread re: "unwinding the clock", though, I don't know). I'm intrigued that people here seem to think Moon was a genius, but then, not everyone's musical brains are wired the same and I'll confess there's only been a few drummers that I have especially noticed at the expense of all the other instruments in a given band. Jaki Leibezeit from Can is one, Loz Colbert from Ride is another (especially on "Vapour Trail"), Richard Thomas from Dif Juz...and most of all, John Bonham. Maybe it's to do with production somewhat, too...bands who have dared let the drums be front and center vs. those who wouldn't. Certainly that is a variable at least, here, however minor.

I love hearing how MAD Keith Moon was, and the crazy look on his face when he played drums in all those Who videos, but Bonham is like the ultimate as a rock drummer, I think.

That I don't get. Love him, hate him or think he's worse than Bonzo, Moon seems extremely difficult not to notice.

Also WTF is a "lead percussionist" in a band that didn't have any other...percussionists? You want the two-drummered version of The Fall, mate. Don't get confused.

And what the hell was Eddie Van Halen all by himself in all those Van Halen videos?

HAHAHAHAHAHHA
I was gonna mention Van Halen for some insane random reason like 20 min. ago!!!

how can u listen to the who and NOT notice keith moon exactly

Must have been listening to "Sunrise"...

Also WTF is a "lead percussionist" in a band that didn't have any other...percussionists? You want the two-drummered version of The Fall, mate. Don't get confused.

Moon's percussion played a lead role, as opposed to the supporting role that percussion/drums normally plays in a group of that format.

It's true. I always catch myself humming along to the drums when the Who come on the radio.

bop bop a chinka clunk

That's weird. I tap out Roger's singing with my feet and hands.

It's true. I always catch myself humming along to the drums when the Who come on the radio.

Well you see, I think that hits the nail on the head really. I'm such a massive fan of Townshend and what he can do with melody and his voice (when he finally takes the mic from Roger) that though Moon did a fantastic job of drumming (I Can See For Miles comes to mind) it's just NOT the main reason why I listen to the Who at ALL.

unexpected poll results, given all the moon love in this thread

There's really only one proper response (at 5:12):
http://www.youtube.com/v/uzeq-tEmQmQ&hl=en

i listened to this and while i can agree that he adds a lot of excitement and character and that the band might not benefit from a drummer who plays less, it's still not something i really want to listen to. it also seems very dated in a way...given how music has gone in the last 30 odd years, bonham's huge groove has aged a lot better.

One of the great things about The Who is the noninterchangeability of the personnel. They played the way they did with each other because they were inventing it as it happened.

If John Entwistle was keeping the time, it is because that is how they evolved together. Perhaps Moon could have played a more traditional drumming role in that band or another, but I'm glad it wasn't necessary, because I like how the three of them played together, as interdependent and entwined as any trio I've heard.

As useful and great as having a Charlie Watts or Bonham or Stewart Copeland, Ringo, in your band might be, I love The Who because they were a great organic forceful mess.

"Aged a lot better" is in the eye of the beholder. Both still sound pretty huge today IMHO.

aw I'd been thinking about starting this poll for like a month now

good thing I searched first

I think Moon here, by a big margin.

agreed, i love bonzo but moon is sui generis

why can't rock bands/producers/engineers make drums sound this good anymore????

seriously!