Somehow I missed this thread. There have been many great drummers in the rock genre. Some are superb technically, and less interesting artistically, like Carl Palmer. Others are less technically adept, but are just born with what it takes to be great. Clive Bunker, Jethro Tull's first drummer comes to mind.
For me, the best combination of incredible technical mastery combined with superb artistic creativity was embodied in the late great Mitch Mitchell. As an example, I would cite his performance on "Straight Ahead", originally released on "Cry of Love". All these years later, and I am still amazed.
