Drummers take a lot of flak. Often justifiably, lots of them really do just keep time, which is what makes remarkable drummers stand out. This doc has lots of them taking about why they love playing, what inspired them and how they do what they do. Stewart Copeland (Police) is very entertaining, Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) effortlessly cool, Topper Headon (The Clash) typically humble. The emphasis is predictably on rock, but with plenty of nods to jazz and even a delve into 80s drum machines. Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) could really do with his own doc, he’s a lot to say and it’s all brilliant. Even Roger (total prick) Taylor comes off well. It’s not all old white men, Samantha Maloney (Hole) and Cindy Santana (Lenny Kravitz) are just a couple showing that they can hit just as hard if not harder than anyone out there. There’s enough history too from Ginger Baker to John Bonham and how could you forget Keith Moon! I’m a bit surprised that they did forget Neil Peart though. I don’t like Rush, but this does seem like a glaring error. My fave though is Stephen Perkins (Janes Addiction) who feels like he drives a lot of the structure of this, along with Jess Bowen (The Summer Set) who I’d never heard of but is brilliant behind a kit. A fairly standard doc, but thoroughly enjoyable and a bit of a must for rock fans. “If the guitar plug comes out it’d be a bummer, but if a kick drum pedal breaks, that’s a problem. You’ve got 100,00 people like ‘Now what?’.
6/10
