Favourite Sabbath replacement drummer poll

[KazolOrajia]

I've been wanting to this for a while, since the Bill Ward fiasco started. I've been wondering what the board's consensus on who the best replacement drummer for Sabbath was. I was going to make it best drummer period, but that would be unfair, since I already know Bill would have won (and rightly so IMO).

I'm only including drummers who played on albums, so Bev Bevan, Mike Bordin, etc. won't be included.

EDIT: I accidentally didn't capitalize Bobby Rondinelli's name. I know it's not a big deal, but I'm OCD about things like that, so I apologize. If anyone knows how to edit it (I couldn't figure it out), please let me know.

[Thelemech]

Vinny for me but I could have easily picked Cozy too. Tough choice between those two, at least for me.

[KazolOrajia]

For me, it's Bobby Rondinelli hands down. He's such a powerful player, beating the crap out of his drums, but has a fluidness to his playing that other power drummers like Powell seemed to lack. His fills are great and don't sound forced, and his beats are more complex than Appice's or Powell's without being too technical or flashy. He seems like a fusion of Bill Ward's loose-but-controlled style, but without the jazziness, and the more straightforward powerhouse playing of Powell and Appice.

Eric Singer would be a very, very close second however, and I was tempted to vote for him, especially since he's so underrated. His style is similar to Rondinelli, but slightly simpler and more straightforward. It's a damned shame they both only got to play on one album. Both are among my favourites though.

[Ochlocracy]

Vinny. I love the Mob Rules and I think he can play better than most people give him credit for.

[Pink Led Rush]

For me, it's Bobby Rondinelli hands down. He's such a powerful player, beating the crap out of his drums, but has a fluidness to his playing that other power drummers like Powell seemed to lack. His fills are great and don't sound forced, and his beats are more complex than Appice's or Powell's without being too technical or flashy. He seems like a fusion of Bill Ward's loose-but-controlled style, but without the jazziness, and the more straightforward powerhouse playing of Powell and Appice.

Eric Singer would be a very, very close second however, and I was tempted to vote for him, especially since he's so underrated. His style is similar to Rondinelli, but slightly simpler and more straightforward. It's a damned shame they both only got to play on one album. Both are among my favourites though.

Eric played on both Seventh Star and Eternal Idol just so you know. I voted Cozy as he's one of my favorites of all time but I love all the others as well, and each have their own unique style that can be appreciated. (Well except for the drum machine LOL)

[-E5150 StarWanderer-]

As a drummer Powell is number two on my list of all time greatest drummers, only second the Brian Downey. But since the question is "who was the best replacement drummer for Sabbath", my vote goes to Appice.

Despite of Appice getting bashed by the fans, I think he had a great chemistry with Geezer. And without Geezer it doesn't matter who is behind the skins, the rhytm section isn't the same. Powell of course never played with Geezer (aside from the Dehumanizer sessions), so I can't say if he would have fitted Geezer's style better than Appice. I think the answer would be no, because Powell was such a strong percussionist who would take over a song and maybe wouldn't have formed such a strong bond with Geezer. Appice's style on the other hand isn't flashy but really straight forward. Hence he kind of sat in the back letting Geezer work his magic, but still reacted well to Geezer's flurry fills and rhytm patterns. He had a very different approach to drumming when compared to Ward, less fluid and not jazzy like Bill's, but he still fit Geezer's style really well.

[Charger]

Well Cozy is one of the greatest drummers ever, but as far as Sabbath goes it has to be Vinny...his sound fitted the band perfectly...

Ans as StarWanderer there said he and Geezer had seamless co-operation.

But Bobby ain't too far behind either. I really loved his drumming too! Tony sure could pick awesome drummers!

Oh and you forgot Terry Chimes...who wasn't bad either...well...atleast not horrible!

[KazolOrajia]

Eric played on both Seventh Star and Eternal Idol just so you know. I voted Cozy as he's one of my favorites of all time but I love all the others as well, and each have their own unique style that can be appreciated. (Well except for the drum machine LOL)

I know he played on Seventh Star, and I love his work on that album, but personally I don't consider it a Sabbath album.
Yeah, the drum machine option was just a joke. Agree about them all being good in their own way. That's how I feel about the different Sabbath line-ups in general.

Oh and you forgot Terry Chimes...who wasn't bad either...well...atleast not horrible!

I'm only including drummers who played on albums. Terry Chimes was only a live player.

[Josef_K]

Cozy is my favorite drummer of all time, but not because of the Sabbath albums he played on. On Headless Cross he played well but the production could have been better (though I still think the typical 80s drums fit the dark atmospheric sound of that album much better than the standard 80s rock songs that had the same drum sound). On TYR he was flawless and on Forbidden he was tied down by a producer that had no idea what he was dealing with. Despite that, he still manages to stay just a millimeter away from the great Vinnie Appice, mainly because of the TYR album which is again quite flawless. Vinnie is great, but a bit lifeless at times, maybe too precise as many people have stated before me. Bobby and Eric are both great, but they didn't contribute to the sound in the same way as Cozy and Vinnie. Eric was with the band in its most unstable time, with great material but a mess otherwise, and Bobby just filled in on one album and really didn't seem to change the sound too much. I don't think he was really allowed to though ^^ So yeah, Cozy all the way here!

[gunman42782]

Not sure why Cozy is in the poll, as he is no longer with us. Anyway, I think Vinnie is the obvious choice.

[scorpio 2000]

I voted Cozy. I love his drumming on Headless Cross and Tyr. Im surprised Vinnie is leading since so many people on this site hate him. Comparing him to a drum machine, thats harsh.

[IommiGeezWallofSound]

For me, it's Bobby Rondinelli hands down. He's such a powerful player, beating the crap out of his drums, but has a fluidness to his playing that other power drummers like Powell seemed to lack. His fills are great and don't sound forced, and his beats are more complex than Appice's or Powell's without being too technical or flashy. He seems like a fusion of Bill Ward's loose-but-controlled style, but without the jazziness, and the more straightforward powerhouse playing of Powell and Appice.

Eric Singer would be a very, very close second however, and I was tempted to vote for him, especially since he's so underrated. His style is similar to Rondinelli, but slightly simpler and more straightforward. It's a damned shame they both only got to play on one album. Both are among my favourites though.

I agree EXACTLY.

[Josef_K]

Not sure why Cozy is in the poll, as he is no longer with us. Anyway, I think Vinnie is the obvious choice.

Because the poll says "who WAS the best replacement drummer for Sabbath?". Meaning this poll has nothing to do with the album they're working on at the moment. I agree it's a bit confusing though, with all the talk about who is going to replace Bill this time around going on at the same time :D

[Billy Underdog]

The sad thing is there's never been a real replacement for Bill. Every other Sab-drummer since 81 has just been average boring basic time-keeping drum-machine style with no flavour (Save for the H&H-album, where even Bill starts to fade away). Which is probably the reason the Sabs got really boring in the 80's & 90's. I dont wanna vote in this poll as i'm totally against the whole idea of a Sabbath without Bill (as well as Geezer and Ozzy).

But from the choises in the poll, if i had to choose, i'd vote for the drum-machine. They all sound like machines anyways, so why not just go all the way? Atleast, that way the others won't get cred they don't deserve...

[Josef_K]

The sad thing is there's never been a real replacement for Bill. Every other Sab-drummer since 81 has just been average boring basic time-keeping drum-machine style with no flavour (Save for the H&H-album, where even Bill starts to fade away). Which is probably the reason the Sabs got really boring in the 80's & 90's. I dont wanna vote in this poll as i'm totally against the whole idea of a Sabbath without Bill (as well as Geezer and Ozzy).

But from the choises in the poll, if i had to choose, i'd vote for the drum-machine. They all sound like machines anyways, so why not just go all the way? Atleast, that way the others won't get cred they don't deserve...

I didn't know you hated Cozy Powell as well :D Does that apply only to his time in Sabbath or is it Rainbow/other projects as well? Just curious, you are fully entitled to your opinion Saying that songs like "Battle of Tyr" and "Stargazer" is drum-machine like is something I just can't even begin to understand though haha ^^

EDIT: Ok fine "Battle of Tyr" was a bad example, I remembered it with much more drums, but I think "Anno Mundi" can be a good replacement :D Man, I gotta listen more to "TYR"... after all it's one of my favorite Sabbath albums and I don't even have it on CD... wtf is that...

[Billy Underdog]

I won't say i hate Cozy, but i think he's an overrated drummer... Then again, i've got a very distinct taste of drummers. Having played drums myself for 20 years, i'm not easily impressed anymore...

[Josef_K]

I won't say i hate Cozy, but i think he's an overrated drummer... Then again, i've got a very distinct taste of drummers. Having played drums myself for 20 years, i'm not easily impressed anymore...

Well fine ^^ All I know is that Cozy is probably the ONLY drummer who can play a solo that keeps me fully interested the whole time. Especially that awesome 1812 Overture solo he did with Rainbow :D

[The Wretch]

I went with Cozy, as he is one of my favourite drummers (along with Bill, Ian Paice, Brian Downey, Nicko McBrain, Clive Burr, Neal Peart, Les Binks etc)

Vinnie is a very close second.

No love for Mr Singer at all? He is at least better than a drum machine! Although I prefer his playing with Badlands and on Kiss 'Revenge' to his work with Sabbath if I'm honest.

[clockwork]

I voted Bobby Rondinelli but I prefer Vinnie Appice of course, it's just that he refused so many times now, it's not funny anymore :(:(

[Axe fiend]

IMO, Bobby Rondinelli was the best drummer Sabbath ever employed. His drum solos haven't impressed me and the stuff he's done outside of Sabbath leave me going "Meh". But Bobby in Sabbath just fucking rules! Check out the "Cross Purposes Live" or the "Gzira, Malta '95" show and hopefully you'll hear what I mean.

[Malchik]

Drum Machine. He never missed a beat.