Is there a better way to kick off a song than by bludgeoning the listener with prodigious percussive prowess? Drum intros are among the best ways to grab the attention of the listener, and they need to be celebrated. The only general rule for this list is that each intro has to sort of be its own thing, and not just the verse groove without the rest of the instrumentation. Enjoy some of the greatest intros ever struck!
How do you follow up a landmark debut solo album like “Blizzard Of Oz?” Well you start with a pummeling drum intro, obviously. While the attention rightfully goes mostly to Ozzy himself and guitarist Randy Rhoads, there is not doubt that this drum intro commands your attention.
There’s some discrepancy as to who actually played drums on the album, though, as Tommy Aldridge was credited on the album, but the drum track was actually recorded by Lee Kerslake. Regardless of who played it, it remains an iconic intro to a legendary album.
It may be a stretch to call this an all-time great drum intro, but it’s my list and I’ll do what I want with it. I really just wanted to include Lars Ulrich on here somewhere. He gets a bad rap for his idiosyncratic accents and is generally regarded as Metallica’s weakest link, but that’s not entirely fair.
He has some great moments, including this galloping intro from one of the band’s most underrated deep cuts. I would feel a little bit bad for Lars, but he’s made more money in his career than I could ever dream of, and he did subject us to that literal garbage can snare sound on “St. Anger,” so we’ll call it even, Lars.
Here I am, once again shoe-horning my favorite band into my list because – and I can’t stress this enough – it’s my list and I’ll do what I want with it. What makes Blake Richardson’s intro on this track so compelling isn’t how hard he hits, though he certainly does that. No, it’s how it transitions from the previous track, “Informal Gluttony” that makes it truly special.
If you’ve never listened to Between The Buried And Me, they’re progressive metal psychopaths with a penchant for writing entire albums where every track flows directly into the next. Their landmark release “Colors” is essentially just an hour of continuous insanity, and this intro is just one of many shining moments.
You really feel this one in your chest. The greatness of musicians like drummer Nick Menza and guitarist Marty Friedman can easily be overshadowed by Dave Mustaine’s rabid ramblings, but this album closer is most notable for its incredible drum intro. Take that, Dave.
Another classic. While this one might not be as technically flashy as some of the others, it perfectly grabs the listener and throws them into the verse groove. Much like “Over The Mountain,” it kicks off the follow up to an absolute metal classic, and as such there were colossal shoes to fill, but drummer Nicko McBrain was up to the challenge. Best name in the business, and one of the best drum intros to boot.
This intro is pure hype. It prepares you for the madness that awaits you on “Blood Mountain” and it really makes you feel like the wolf is, in fact, loose. Brann Dailor’s single stroke rolls are the stuff of legends. They may put some people off of the band’s early output because they’re “too busy” or he’s “overplaying,” but that’s hogwash. If you read what’s in those quotes with a snarky, hipster voice, then you are correct. His drum parts are amazing, and so is this intro.
Cozy Powell’s frenetic and ear-catching intro sets the listener up perfectly for the high-fantasy opus that Ronnie James Dio and Ritchie Blackmore are about to deliver. It’s one of the most legendary drum intros in the history of rock music, and to omit it would be blasphemy.
This is, without a doubt, the horniest song on this list. If you watch the video, you’ll be deprived of Alex Van Halen’s amazing intro. Instead, you’ll be greeted by a bizarre, traumatic bus ride inexplicably led by David Lee Roth. Who thought that was a good idea? Where are those kids’ parents?
While the double bass shuffle in the verses is iconic in its own right, the true intro should not be missed.
Mike Portnoy is indisputably one of the all-time greats. Traditional wisdom might go for the blistering beginning of “Honor Thy Father,” but this track sounds so delightfully dated, I had to include it.
Everything about it is so perfectly emblematic of the late 80’s and early 90’s, the transitional period between hair metal and grunge where bands like Dream Theater just sort of float in the ether in between. It nearly breaks my only rule for this list, as it primarily is just the verse groove by itself, but it starts with that delicious fill, so it still qualifies.
Lists like these are always so subjective, and arguably pointless, but I think there is one single, objective number one, and it’s “Painkiller.” As many of the intros on this list do, it kicks off the album in dramatic fashion, punching unsuspecting listeners in the face with unrelenting ferocity.
It’s insane that a legacy metal act could release such a scorching hot slab of metal like this 21 albums into their career, but they did it. You only get once chance at a good first impression, and drummer Scott Travis’s debut with the band didn’t waste a single second. The entire song is an absolute face-melter from start to finish, and the intro is really the only possible selection for the number one spot.
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