There is no "best drummer". My personal favourites would have to be Bill Ward, Bill Bruford, Utrillo Kushner, Billy Cobham, Dale Crover, Tomas Haake, Nick Mason, Jon Theodore, and Danny Carey.

Regarding the lyrics: the fragmentary nature of it is precisely the idea. They are even written in order to get that exact point across, i.e. that they are fragmentary and unrelated, in the CD artwork booklet (each sentence is separated from the next by fairly large circles, as if separating the names of two different songs. That the theme is clichéd is a rather moot point, as what metal themes these days are not? The main purpose of their lyrics is simply to conjure up an image that fits the mood of the music, and they do that just fine.

About the voice, I'm not buttering anything up. I admit that he hasn't got a particularly good voice. Neither does the other vocalist. But they make it work somehow, and the result is part of the appeal for those who like the sound - hence the comparison with Corgan.

There's no point arguing in favor of standing out vs not. There are literally dozens if not hundreds of tentative variables that come into those sorts of discussions. Ultimately, it's all perception and subjectivity anyway; if something doesn't stand out to one person, nothing's going to convince them otherwise.

Neil Peart

I like you.
He was the reason Volta was immense at one point. For me anyway, I got a thing for great drumming...

Fuck John Theodore...i got some live bootlegs from a recent TMV show with the new drummer Thomas Pridgen...he is fanominal..absolutely amazing.

Riiight...

Their new drummer is really really good, I was checking into his other stuff for Scott when he mentioned a new Volta drummer, and this was before he'd done a thing with the Volta and I knew he was going to be good. Thomas Pridgen was a good choice, hes phenomenal.

"Thomas Pridgen is the current drummer for The Mars Volta from El Cerrito, California. He won the Guitar Center Drum-Off at age 9 and at age 10 was the youngest recipient for a Zildjian endorsement in the history of the company. Thomas has studied with Dave Garibaldi, Walfredo Reyes Jr, Troy Luketta, and Curtis Nutall. He is endorsed by DW Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo Drumheads, LP Percussion, Rhythm Tech, and Zendrum. Thomas was also the recipient of a 4 year scholarship to Berklee College of Music at the age of 15; he was youngest musician to ever receive this scholarship. He has played in clinics with Walfredo Reyes, Jr. and Dennis Chambers. Besides his work with The Mars Volta, he has also been involved with Wicked Wisdom and Christian Scott." - Wikipedia

I really like Hellhammer and Tony Loreaneau(sp?). But I guess im just talking about speed. I think Chris Adler has a really original style.

I love Chris Adler as well. Awesome kicks.