<p> Listening to <em>Blue Oyster Cult</em>&#39;s &#34;Cities on Flame&#34;, I realized that the reason all of these older albums I love have comparatively wimpy-sounding drum tracks is because the drummers are too good–to make a big goddamned noise, you have to hit so hard that you lose any notion of subtlety.</p> <p> John Bonham is arguably the prominent exception. Even when he&#39;s beating the crap out of his kit–on &#34;We&#39;re Gonna Groove&#34;, for instance (though listening back to it, its drum track is less in-your-face than I imagine it to be)–he&#39;s still got a very subtle way with timing.</p>