HIARI I'tttle 0uet;n The passionate power Michael Derosier brought to the band's 1970s hits is as stunning today as it was all those years ago.

Fock'n'roll's scrap heap is lousy with '70s. Perhaps that's because he kept I lbands that tried to dumb down Led a pretty low profile after exiting Zeppelin's sound to Hammer of the Gods Heart in the early'80s, serving brief backbeats. hack blues riffs. and lemon- stints with Boston offshoot Orion squeezing wails. Sisters Ann and Nancy the Hunter, Richard Marx, and Alias. groove, as Derosier's tubs sport the same Wilson of Heart understood there was light But based on his contribution to Litfle room-y "thwack" heard on Zeppelin and shade to Zeppelin, as guitarist/ Queen alone-not to mention the other recordings. And no matter how daredevil producer Jimmy Page often said of his classic Heart albums he's featured on, like the fills, the pocket never suffers-an blueprint for the band. For every "When Dreamboat Annie (1976), Dog and Butterfly unmistakable Bonham trait. the Levee Breaks," there was a "Battle of (1978), and Bebe le Strange (1980)- But for all the fills and thrills Derosier Evermore"; for every "lmmigrant Song," a Derosier absolutely deserves to be delivers on Little Queen, one of his best "Tangerine." And that's why the earthy mentioned in the same breath as players performances is so subtle, you hardly early incarnation of Heart in the'70s did like lan Paice, Cozy Powell, and, yes, John even know he's there or what he's doing. Led Zeppelin better than anyone else who Bonham, whose style Michael emulated. On Nancy Wilson's tender ballad "Treat ever tried, especially on 1977's Little Queen. When we first hear from Derosier on lltfle Me Well," Derosier plays spare waltz time Having a keen understanding ofwhat Queen he's blasting his way into "Barracuda" in the verse with ride cymbal, kick, and really made Zeppelin Zeppelin, and via a quick fill ending with a four-stroke ruff rimclick, and then follows the vocal cue infusing the band's sound with that spirit, down the toms. Without missing a beat he with a simple fill right into a st(aight 4/4 is one thing. What enabled the Wilsons to locks in with the chugging electric guitars, for the chorus. Before you even know blend acoustic and electric, ethereal and punctuating the song's galloping gait with what's happened, he gives a little cymbal heavy, so effectively was having a beast of halting stops and an extra beat in the swell and 4/4 morphs back into 3/4,tidily a drummer like Michael Derosier behind verses. Throughout the tune he spills a and sweetly. them-a deep groove player who covered succession of fills featuring memorable From those nuances to the punchy lilt a lot of ground. hand/foot combos-in fact, the drums implied on "Say Hello" (accenting the "&" Derosier rarely gets his due in discus- play such an integral role in "Barracuda," of 2 and 4 in the verses) to the chops sions of the great rock drummers of the it's no wonder Derosier receives a flashed on "Barracuda" and "Go On Cry," cowriting credit on the tune. Little Queen shows Derosier to be a Derosier features prominently on multidimensional timekeeper, one of the "Barracuda," but ultimately he's working to greats of his era. With Heart's induction ilBariagudal keep a tight rein on the song. On the ' r',QUl0K'8ft4$lli$ 0penet into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in !$,4.,, 1 I.,' thrill-a-second joyride; picking out hot mofients is album-closing "Go On Cry," however, he's 2013-during which Michael rejoined his

.,!'!ie,sh0qtinglriqhl .,,, i if|''a btirel,, Extmtles.ol,ona, 0t,. :, like a man who was given one simple ex-bandmates 1976hit"Crazy , j, on their on Derosiei'a.1Av0ilte' liek double,s4$h.,otelturor', instruction before the tape started rolling: You"-perhaps the time has finally come quick bass drum hits--{an be heard at 1:20,2',16, Play your ass off. Derosier dominates the when he gets his full due. and 3:51. mostly instrumentaljam. To start, he sets Patrick Berkery up a relaxed, wide-open groove, in INDEFINABLE tHTENSITY often the differenc€ which g{8,&lneqs groups of measures are capped with grand ,, rbe,!weeq:,0lof€!sl0!4li.sm.,e!:!d ]t9:t. mgtt!,| , ot, arum lnel plalir$rrovei alalabove fills. Then he turns on a dime, leading the , trO* r ,**nrt.t. , j,,,preqigiqrl:,&l€tlig li$llttiiii,0:latt 3zndinotg:',:i :'lri,] band into a busy 12/8 feel that finds him snare-to-tom rcll aI1:42 0n the ihalbum's title track. accenting the upbeats on the hi-hat and r rr th!!;!s; w!q!, :when liaY d :.:: I r r r :,::t:t 0gopls imban t eventually flipping the beat around. As the drummer "grabs listeners by the thr0at." track winds down, Derosier falls back into the 4/4 groove, this time laying into the ,Ll$rlT-AtlDl$HAl,.E,1!E0RY t|tl Asr9!:'$iftilai t0.:

r,lahi'80iJha$rrs wolli:o|] Le{r Zqppelinrsr JRarlibLei'ii, ri beat and fills with more might as Ann 0n, Derosier blends hand percussion and kit work Wilson lets it fly like an airraid siren. on "Love Alive." He taps out a simple tabla part in Bonham's influence is felt the most in quiet the beginning section, building a bridge to the the hip-hugging funk of the title track, full band entrance with heavy tom hits on 2 and 4, another song on which Derosier is credited r,r,bqlqfefelli[g]ri|rt0ra ruqk:$eAdy:gr00ve,!ha!,,,,..,,,,1,1, as lt anchors the song's soaring modulation. a cowriter. almost sounds as though lg=l it's Bonzo himself laying down the fat L?rl

32 | ModernDrumrner I Februa4r2014