Getting psyched up for next week’s King Crimson show, I started spinning some disks. This morning I played Red on my way to work. I could not help but to notice the awesome precision, timing, and tasteful drumming Bruford does while hitting so many notes.

I really like his style along with other greats like Wekl, Chambers and the likes. Red is from 1974, I was in 7th grade diggin this and had no idea of its lasting over the years. I started to think about bands like The Who, who I never really liked growing up and still don’t like the majority of their music. Everyone always raved about Moon. Maybe he was one of the better parts of the group and yeah, he hit a lot of notes. But, it always seemed like he was in his own little world playing a solo. Playing over his bandmates and lacking the timing and taste of when to hotshot (and still fit in to the tune), and when to lay back.

So what kind of drumming do you prefer? Bass, snare, hi-hat…over and over? Jazzy but fit into rock drums? Or do you not even listen to the drums and let them fade into the background and only pay attention to vocals?

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