The rhythm section is a very important part of a song, especially in rock music. Though guitars are often the main characters of songs in this genre, a good riff is nothing without a strong musical backbone to work off of. The four songs below all feature superb drummers. The work they came up with is so powerful that they’ve taken what is usually relegated to background noise and given it a brighter spotlight. It’s impossible to ignore the rhythm in these songs, and it’s what people still talk about from them today.
“When The Levee Breaks” — Led Zeppelin
This Led Zeppelin classic is seductive to say the least. Every instrument has a heaviness to it that gives it oodles of appeal. There are many main characters in this song, but the opening drumbeat, which plays without any other instrumentation, is really what makes this track recognizable.
John Bonham is responsible for this thundering drum fill. His distinctive playing shines through even with his other bandmates firing on all cylinders.
