Count Me In

This show should have been titled the Honorable mentions of drummers and the Women of Rock Drums. Too much time spent on women drummers you never knew (except for Blackman) of and not enough time on drummers who defined the art and took it to the next level. Unanimous in these comments is the glaring omission of my all time favorite drummer. Neil Peart. Also leaving out greats such as Steve Gadd, Vinnie Calaiuta, Jeff Pocaro, Mike Portnoy, The Rev, Joey Jordisson, Gavin Harrison, Matt Cameron, Dave Abbruzzese, Bill Ward, Bruford Carl Palmer Phil Collins, Don Henley and many others, leaving a massive void in what could have been a cool documentary that drummers and non drummers alike could have endorsed.

There are some fun, interesting and even technically revealing aspects to 'Count Me In' that make the doc worth a watch for both musicians, especially drummers, and a wider audience. It is well put together, with enough vintage footage and original contemporary material stuffed between compelling, generational and gender-ational commentary to keep things uptempo and rolling along to a fun, if gimmicky, crescendo ending... but, like a growing number of voices, I too was waiting for the conversation to turn to Neil Peart and was shocked when that didn't happen. It's impossible to believe that none of the featured drummers brought him up-- my guess is they all did --so it is clear that a decision was made by director Mark Lo to exercise him from the film. And the only conclusion I can draw is that it was for political reasons. That is, it seems that Lo doesn't like Peart's ideas, or maybe Lo doesn't like the idea that Peart had ideas. What else could it be? Because Peart's indisputable artistic contributions as a composer, innovator and player make him one of the great rock drummers of all time. It is an injustice, insulting to the film and ultimately the drumming genre, to not even mention him... like he never existed.

Started out interesting giving shout outs to the greats of the day but then trails off with some drummers who I'm sure are great but are no legends. They say nothing of Neil Peart who is without a doubt a top drummer in any list. No word on Metal drummers who have taken drumming skills beyond their predecessors. The omission of Peart makes this a non watch for me.

So glad they focused 1/4 of the film on a couple drummers who have only been playing for about decade, if that. Wouldn't want to mention some Canadian drummer guy who was just kinda ok, what's his name? Neal Perl? Or was it Alex Peart? Oh well. Nobody knows who he is anyway. I would have turned it off if they had mentioned that lightweight stick banger from Tool. They're just some wannabe punk band anyway right? So boring with the same 4/4 beat all the time. *a note for the thick brained among us, I am BEING SARCASTIC!

Not one mention of Neil Peart, one of the greatest and most influential drummers of all time doesn't even get a mention. Meanwhile they're showing some stupid drum circle that no one cares about. But the segments on the other drummers were surprisingly good.

Spoiler: Neil Peart, arguably the best drummer of all time, was not even mentioned once. Instead you have a documentary that comes across as a bit self-indulgent when mentioning certain artists. There is a worthless sequence of drum shopping, simply to fill run time, I think. It seems to focus a lot on female drummers, none of whom are influential, and Cindy Blackman being the only one who is successful. There is a lot of focus on Keith Moon... who I think is terrible, but he did elevate the drums. Too much focus on Samantha Maloney, while a good drummer, not in the same stratosphere as some of the others mentioned. Oh, and no mention of Neil Peart. Which as a drummer who has been playing for 35 years, I find just plain offensive. If you're a drummer, there is no need to watch this. If you're not a drummer, there is no need to watch this. I was really excited to watch this when it popped up... what a let down.

A limited retrospective, not clear how you have a documentary on drummers, without Neil Peart. Edit: Hadn't read the other comments prior to my post. Nice to see so many others had the same thoughts.

I'm just adding my voice to the chorus of dismay at the omission of Neil Peart. Not a word or pic or anthing in reference to perhaps the greatest technical rock drummer of them all! As someone said, it must be deliberate. You simply don't just forget to include such a titan of the drums. The rest was ok, but my growing disbelief at the complete exclusion of Neil Peart spoiled it for me.