True... But we're talking about talent... Maybe a drummer who can only play one beat on the kick drum over and over is good for certain styles of music and bands like The White Stripes, who require a simplistic approach to begin with... But many many styles require a little more, if you wanted to be in a band like Judas Priest (whom you admire) you can't just pick any random guy off the streets simply because they can get the job done.. You need someone who can do something a little extra, i'm talking about folks who can compose original pieces of music AND play it, not just immitate the simple music they listen to and do everything they are told... I have no problems with musicians like Meg White and Cliff Williams who just do their job and nothing else, but i also don't see any reason to bash drummers or bassists simply because they assert themselves and are confidant enough of their talents to actually use it as opposed to playing bitch to the singer and guitarist... To put it simply, i'm disturbed by your assertion that any musicians who go beyond straight 4/4 rhythms and power chords are automatically wankers.
Neil Peart, Steve Vai and many musicians worked damn hard to be as good as they are on their instruments, so to say they don't care about the music simply because they prefer a complex or flashy approach to power chords and pop songs is pretty ignorant... You make it out like they view music in a passionless way and only care about the attention and excess, if that were true they would be making more accessible, profitable music like the kind you seem to prefer, it's not like they couldn't write a simple, basic pop song if they want to, they just don't.
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