Reply #100: Steve Zimmerman [View All]

[Mike Niendorff]

Just listen to the drum work on Fates Warning's "No Exit" (Metal Blade, 1988). I love to contrast the drumwork on this album against Neil Peart's work on early 80's Rush albums. The rhythmic territory was similar, but Zimmerman approached it like a drummer, whereas Peart approached it like a technician. Zimmerman's approach to odd meters and rapid-fire shifts in timing is just so much more musical than Peart's. Simple, not overly flashy, but extraordinarily effective. The transition to Mark Zonder (who replaced Zimmerman after this album) also exposes this fundamental difference in approach, much to the detriment of the band's subsequent work.


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