This is absolutely sick. The Paice vs. Lombardo thing comes down right now to influence, mainly since the breakdown ends up:

Influence: ?
Innovation: Lombardo
Originality: Lombardo
Creativity: Paice
Skill: Paice
Stylistic Versatility: Paice

I don't think anyone will argue Lombardo being more original than Paice, the question right now is since Influence is 2 if Lombardo takes it it's 4 - 3, if Paice takes it it's 5-2, so that's right now what we're trying to prove. Lombardo has been said his influence reaches to nearly every metal drummer since, I say Paice has far more influence total throughout every genre of rock, however I can't really find solid ways to prove it, though I'm certain it's true. If you have a case for his influence, he wins, it's clear Paice is more creative (IMO), skilled, and has more varied drumbeats and styles.

PS CRJ can't find the recent post you made thanking me for nominating you as mod here...dude it's a pleasure and I'm so happy I did it...this forum is fucking sick and you're the best mod on this site right now imo. And probably the best mod I've ever seen at DDD, along with Jim from the old DDD

So should we expand this list to those who have a large body of rock work or whose central genre is rock, hence rock drummer?

No, YOU take care.

He did something similar later with the Brian May Band:

I'm also going to move Paice above Lombardo, I am the mod so I can make decisions, and I intuitively know (if not know from knowing lots of drummers and looking around) that Paice has more influence, so that I'm going to fix. Other than that, I may move Copeland above Porcaro and then I think top 20 is good. If you want Stu to expand upon Benjamin please do, I also don't know too much about him.

To describe Benny Benjamin as a drummer, one word comes to mind...EXPLOSIVE. Prior to Motown, Benny played with a lot of blues artists like Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Lowell Fulsom, and others. Essentially a jazz drummer, Benny, along with James Jamerson and a few others crafted the style which became known as The Motown Sound. A typical session would start with a chord sheet for the musicians...then either Benny or James would kick something off and those two would lock on something. At that point...the rest of the band could come in as song after song was created in this manner. Berry Gordy would cancel sessions if both Benny and James were not available. Listen to the intros to a couple of Temptations songs like "Girl, Why You Wanna Make Me Blue" or "Ain't Too Proud To Beg"...and you can see of the intro just how those tracks developed. If Websters dictionary defined "locking" between a bassist and drummer...James and Bennys picture would have to be there. Perhaps thats why both were two of the earliest inductees as sidemen in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

One of the keys to Bennys playing were the fills and pickups he used which were unique only to him. In later years as drummers like Uriel Jones and Pistol Allen took on some of the workload at Motown, they imparted their own pickups...but as Uriel admitted...all three of those pickups came from "Papa Zita"...Benny Benjamin.

Bennys somewhat flawed lifestyle which brought about his early demise, also brought along a history of tales and folklore. Never reliable, he would show up late for sessions with some of the wierdest stories possible to explain his tardiness. At times his drums would end up in the pawn shop and his bandmates would have to get them out for a session. Benny was notorious for playing sessions with the tips broken off his sticks, or putting a hole in his drum head and just turning his drum over and finishing the session playing his snare upside down...anything to get the job done. Fortunately...there are hundreds of Benny Benjamin tracks out there for musicians and drummers to analyze and study. As The Beatles John Lennon put it...perhaps best..."When that Motown drummer hits his drum...it sounds like he's hitting it with a bloody TREE".

... you are both excellent mods ... Take care