Drumming up support.
May 27, 2018 10:24 PM Subscribe
What role do drums play in Rock? Should that be keeping the beat or leading from the front? Who are some of the greatest drummers in rock music? Jim and Greg from Sound Opinions focus on the contributions of drummers to rock music with drummer Joe Wong. Wong also hosts a podcast on drummers called The Trap Set.
Oh, I wish there was a transcript for these. I’ve played the drums since I was 9, and I love it when people point out drummers drum parts that work really well with the song/album/band.
Please tell me Ringo Starr is mentioned. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people, especially drummers, put down Ringo’s drumming.
Also, how can you tell if a drummer is at your front door? The knocking keeps getting faster.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:02 AM on May 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
Please tell me Ringo Starr is mentioned. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people, especially drummers, put down Ringo’s drumming.
Also, how can you tell if a drummer is at your front door? The knocking keeps getting faster.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:02 AM on May 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
What do you call a musician who can't read music? The dru.... ahh, cheap shot.
I've seen 3 rock drummers in my life who I would characterize as lead drummers - two
successfully: Blondie's Clem Burke. and, of course, Keith Moon, and one sort of of mixed results: Ginger Baker. Rock drumming is a strange beast, imo. It's hard to be really bad, because then there isn't really any music at all, and it is hard to be really, really good, because, as indicated by the posting, you're leading, following, and in lock step time in any given microsecond of performance.
posted by Chitownfats at 12:19 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've seen 3 rock drummers in my life who I would characterize as lead drummers - two
successfully: Blondie's Clem Burke. and, of course, Keith Moon, and one sort of of mixed results: Ginger Baker. Rock drumming is a strange beast, imo. It's hard to be really bad, because then there isn't really any music at all, and it is hard to be really, really good, because, as indicated by the posting, you're leading, following, and in lock step time in any given microsecond of performance.
posted by Chitownfats at 12:19 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
drummerworld.com has an area on this page called "The Rock Legends," if you want to argue about (I mean discuss) who should be on the list. Personally, I never was a fan of Bonham or Peart. The first rock drummer of the ‘Legends’ I ever loved might have been Mel Taylor, of The Ventures; my favorites I ever saw personally probably were (in order of apperance): Dino Danelli, Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell, and Keith Moon.
p.s. The classic Mel Taylor video.
posted by LeLiLo at 1:12 AM on May 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
p.s. The classic Mel Taylor video.
posted by LeLiLo at 1:12 AM on May 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Danny Carey.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:30 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:30 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Dale Crover. I was lucky enough to see the Melvins on the Bride Screamed Murder tour, when they had Coady Willis (himself an excellent drummer) alongside Crover. The two drummers were set up with identical but mirrored kits front and centre in the stage, and the guitarist and bassist were practically off-stage on the wings. It was phenomenal, like a religious experience. And entirely drum-led.
posted by Dysk at 2:23 AM on May 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Dysk at 2:23 AM on May 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
This was great! Thanks for posting!
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:18 AM on May 28, 2018
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:18 AM on May 28, 2018
> Also, how can you tell if a drummer is at your front door? The knocking keeps getting faster.
The "Time" episode of Damon Krukowski's brief and very sweet podcast Ways of Hearing discusses among other things the nature of tempo within a song and how differently a human drummer keeps time from an electronic drum track. He starts by describing his own tendency to speed up during the choruses of songs, and later discovering that this in fact natural; everybody who's not held down by a mechanical timekeeper tends to speed up during the chorus and then slow down again on the next verse; it's a human tendency. And then digs deeper into how this affects remix culture, because it makes combining samples of arbitrary bars of the same song trickier. It's not news to anybody whose listening habits tend towards electronic productions because of your familiarity with the end product and how it was made, but it's interesting hearing the thoughts of somebody from the source material side of the sampling chain discuss this in a nonjudgemental way.
posted by ardgedee at 6:18 AM on May 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
The "Time" episode of Damon Krukowski's brief and very sweet podcast Ways of Hearing discusses among other things the nature of tempo within a song and how differently a human drummer keeps time from an electronic drum track. He starts by describing his own tendency to speed up during the choruses of songs, and later discovering that this in fact natural; everybody who's not held down by a mechanical timekeeper tends to speed up during the chorus and then slow down again on the next verse; it's a human tendency. And then digs deeper into how this affects remix culture, because it makes combining samples of arbitrary bars of the same song trickier. It's not news to anybody whose listening habits tend towards electronic productions because of your familiarity with the end product and how it was made, but it's interesting hearing the thoughts of somebody from the source material side of the sampling chain discuss this in a nonjudgemental way.
posted by ardgedee at 6:18 AM on May 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
Should that be keeping the beat or leading from the front?
I'd always heard that this was the never-ending argument that finally broke up The Police.
posted by lagomorphius at 6:24 AM on May 28, 2018
I'd always heard that this was the never-ending argument that finally broke up The Police.
posted by lagomorphius at 6:24 AM on May 28, 2018
Is this an appropriate time to shoehorn in a link to Watching the Detectives so that we can all marvel at Steve Goulding's intro to that again?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:31 AM on May 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:31 AM on May 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
One of my biggest pet peeves is when people, especially drummers, put down Ringo’s drumming.
100% agree. He was never very flashy, but he did what the music needed him to do, and he did it well.
@LeLiLo: I don't really care for Peart, but the two things that have always made me love Bonham were a) that most of his really complex work was done with a very simple kit and no double kick pedals or anything like that, just being really good with the ordinary tools, and b) he built his beats to integrate with/mirror the melody rather than just running underneath it, a tool that Zep often used to turn songs into sets of interlocking rhythms rather than the more traditional layering of complimentary parts. I think it really helped people think of the drums as an instrument in the same way they think of a guitar or keyboards, rather than as simply an accompaniment for the "real" instruments.
The only person on that Legends list I've seen play is Charlie Watts, and I love his laid back stage presence. Mitch Mitchell's work on "Fire" was the reason I picked up drumsticks, though.
I'm a big fan of Al Cross, who I don't think a lot of people have heard of, and would likely not make anybody's list, unless perhaps it was an all-Canadian list.
posted by Fish Sauce at 7:37 AM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
100% agree. He was never very flashy, but he did what the music needed him to do, and he did it well.
@LeLiLo: I don't really care for Peart, but the two things that have always made me love Bonham were a) that most of his really complex work was done with a very simple kit and no double kick pedals or anything like that, just being really good with the ordinary tools, and b) he built his beats to integrate with/mirror the melody rather than just running underneath it, a tool that Zep often used to turn songs into sets of interlocking rhythms rather than the more traditional layering of complimentary parts. I think it really helped people think of the drums as an instrument in the same way they think of a guitar or keyboards, rather than as simply an accompaniment for the "real" instruments.
The only person on that Legends list I've seen play is Charlie Watts, and I love his laid back stage presence. Mitch Mitchell's work on "Fire" was the reason I picked up drumsticks, though.
I'm a big fan of Al Cross, who I don't think a lot of people have heard of, and would likely not make anybody's list, unless perhaps it was an all-Canadian list.
posted by Fish Sauce at 7:37 AM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Seconding the wish for a transcript!
Does "leading from the front" mean basically acting as the conductor?
posted by inconstant at 7:44 AM on May 28, 2018
Does "leading from the front" mean basically acting as the conductor?
posted by inconstant at 7:44 AM on May 28, 2018
I've always felt the key thing for a great drummer (in a band setting) is for the drummer and the bass player to have good synergy, to feel the beat in the same place, and to work more or less as a unit. That drives the band's rhythm and frees them both to improvise, decorate, and awesome it up.
When your drummer and your bassist don't mesh, there's no fixing it and the sound will always be awkward.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:54 AM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
When your drummer and your bassist don't mesh, there's no fixing it and the sound will always be awkward.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:54 AM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
The drummer has one of the hardest jobs in the band. S/he has to start each song with the right beat and in the correct tempo. As the pianist, I can come in a beat or two later, or adjust my comping in the first measure or two. But if a drummer doesn't get it right, and changes the speed of the song in the second or third measure, even the non-musicians in the crowd are going to notice. I'm guessing the podcast gets into subtler drumming issues...
posted by kozad at 8:02 AM on May 28, 2018
posted by kozad at 8:02 AM on May 28, 2018
Roger Taylor. Terry Bozzio.
posted by Splunge at 8:08 AM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Splunge at 8:08 AM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
World’s Greatest Drummers Salute Ringo Starr. Questlove, Stewart Copeland, Max Weinberg and more demonstrate why Ringo is awesome. Dave Grohl’s mancrushing is particularly adorable.
posted by zooropa at 8:23 AM on May 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by zooropa at 8:23 AM on May 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
I could watch a good drummer all day.
The drum break Mac McNeilly plays here on the Jesus Lizard's "Puss" (5:42) is astounding. So rock solid and at once powerful and restrained. JL's rhythm section is one of the best ever.
Zach Barocas might be my favorite drummer. So inventive and present in the songs without being overly flashy. Absolutely not what you'd expect from a drummer in a punk band. Totally elevated Jawbox's game and being the not-so-secret weapon of any other band he's in. So damn good.
Any discussion of amazing rock drummers needs to include Jason Gerken of Shiner. I remember being amazed just at the kit the dude plays--GIANT kick, one huge rack tom, three floor toms (!!!).
Brendan Canty. Brendan. Canty. Watching Fugazi live makes me feel so inadequate as a musician, like how are four mere mortals that good?
The drummer from Plebeian Grandstand might not be human.
posted by Maaik at 8:37 AM on May 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
The drum break Mac McNeilly plays here on the Jesus Lizard's "Puss" (5:42) is astounding. So rock solid and at once powerful and restrained. JL's rhythm section is one of the best ever.
Zach Barocas might be my favorite drummer. So inventive and present in the songs without being overly flashy. Absolutely not what you'd expect from a drummer in a punk band. Totally elevated Jawbox's game and being the not-so-secret weapon of any other band he's in. So damn good.
Any discussion of amazing rock drummers needs to include Jason Gerken of Shiner. I remember being amazed just at the kit the dude plays--GIANT kick, one huge rack tom, three floor toms (!!!).
Brendan Canty. Brendan. Canty. Watching Fugazi live makes me feel so inadequate as a musician, like how are four mere mortals that good?
The drummer from Plebeian Grandstand might not be human.
posted by Maaik at 8:37 AM on May 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
Carl Pannuzzo is the most musical drummer I have ever heard, bar none. It's a real pity so few recordings exist.
I still carry self-inflicted skeletal injuries acquired half my life ago from spending every Sunday afternoon and evening for years dancing like a loon in front of his band during their residency at the Great Britain Hotel, and don't regret a single ache. So worth it.
If you're in Melbourne and you have a chance to take in a Checkerboard gig, do.
posted by flabdablet at 8:56 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I still carry self-inflicted skeletal injuries acquired half my life ago from spending every Sunday afternoon and evening for years dancing like a loon in front of his band during their residency at the Great Britain Hotel, and don't regret a single ache. So worth it.
If you're in Melbourne and you have a chance to take in a Checkerboard gig, do.
posted by flabdablet at 8:56 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
And speaking of drummers who might or might not actually be human, there's no forgetting the one and only Blues Fucker.
posted by flabdablet at 9:09 AM on May 28, 2018
posted by flabdablet at 9:09 AM on May 28, 2018
> Please tell me Ringo Starr is mentioned.They use Come together as an example for "sometimes the drum part is inseparable from the song".
posted by farlukar at 9:13 AM on May 28, 2018
But no mention of bands who actually put their drummer on the front of the stage (NoMeansNo, Shellac …)
posted by farlukar at 9:16 AM on May 28, 2018
posted by farlukar at 9:16 AM on May 28, 2018
Deantoni Parks
Jon Theodore
and what I should have included above, a little bit of Al Cross.
posted by Fish Sauce at 9:45 AM on May 28, 2018
Jon Theodore
and what I should have included above, a little bit of Al Cross.
posted by Fish Sauce at 9:45 AM on May 28, 2018
Rock and roll music is fundamentally about drums, not (as some people would have it) guitars. To the extent to which is is about guitars, its about guitars being played rhythmically, percussively... like drums.
Also I was listening to The Process of Weeding Out (that Black Flag instrumental EP) yesterday and while that record may be of questionable value, Bill Stevenson (and Kira Roessler!) absolutely tear it up all the way through.
posted by The Horse You Rode In On at 9:46 AM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also I was listening to The Process of Weeding Out (that Black Flag instrumental EP) yesterday and while that record may be of questionable value, Bill Stevenson (and Kira Roessler!) absolutely tear it up all the way through.
posted by The Horse You Rode In On at 9:46 AM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
One of the best drummers I have seen close up was Keith Carlock. It was this show. There were moments where he was playing a simple backbeat - nothing special, any bar band drummer can play it - and I realized that it was so incredibly strong, it had an internal integrity that was just rock solid, it had immense energy and drive. That, to me, is great drumming: not what you play, but how you play it.
The bass player was really good too.
posted by thelonius at 10:23 AM on May 28, 2018
The bass player was really good too.
posted by thelonius at 10:23 AM on May 28, 2018
I highly recommend this Paul Ingles radio doc: In Praise of Ringo: His Beatles Drumming.
There's a companion piece on Ringo's singing, as well. Which I especially appreciate because I think Ringo's vocals on "Boys" (YouTube) are absolutely ripping, and that his singing on "With a Little Help" is spot on.
Ingles' Beatles (and other music documentaries) are excellent. I know more than I should about the Beatles and still these have led me to think about their music in all kinds of new ways.
posted by young_simba at 10:41 AM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
There's a companion piece on Ringo's singing, as well. Which I especially appreciate because I think Ringo's vocals on "Boys" (YouTube) are absolutely ripping, and that his singing on "With a Little Help" is spot on.
Ingles' Beatles (and other music documentaries) are excellent. I know more than I should about the Beatles and still these have led me to think about their music in all kinds of new ways.
posted by young_simba at 10:41 AM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
> I'm a big fan of Al Cross, who I don't think a lot of people have heard of, and would likely not make anybody's list, unless perhaps it was an all-Canadian list.
"AL CROSS, KING OF THE DRUMS!" I saw Big Sugar pretty much every time they rolled through Kingston between 1992 and 1996, so I probably saw him behind the kit, but Big Sugar went through a few drummers during that span of time and I don't think I ever saw them sober, so...
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:42 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
"AL CROSS, KING OF THE DRUMS!" I saw Big Sugar pretty much every time they rolled through Kingston between 1992 and 1996, so I probably saw him behind the kit, but Big Sugar went through a few drummers during that span of time and I don't think I ever saw them sober, so...
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:42 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't know if Cross was ever their touring drummer, and he for sure hasn't been for anything after their Dear Mister Fantasy EP. I've seen them three times and he wasn't there for any of them. I think he stuck to the studio, for the most part.
posted by Fish Sauce at 10:47 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Fish Sauce at 10:47 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
The drummer from Plebeian Grandstand might not be human.
I felt that way when I started watching Jojo Mayer videos.
And I always liked Brandon Khoo’s quick demonstration of why Ringo was so good.
p.s. Fish Sauce: thanks for your words about Bonham. He is the perfect example of a drummer driving the band from behind, while somebody like Keith Moon is out front showing off. The guys on the linked podcast disagree about Moon’s effectiveness – and I usually dislike showoffs – but for whatever reason I think he really made things work.
posted by LeLiLo at 11:45 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I felt that way when I started watching Jojo Mayer videos.
And I always liked Brandon Khoo’s quick demonstration of why Ringo was so good.
p.s. Fish Sauce: thanks for your words about Bonham. He is the perfect example of a drummer driving the band from behind, while somebody like Keith Moon is out front showing off. The guys on the linked podcast disagree about Moon’s effectiveness – and I usually dislike showoffs – but for whatever reason I think he really made things work.
posted by LeLiLo at 11:45 AM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
One of the things to remember about Ringo is that the rest of the Beatles spent the best part of 18 months trying to get him to join. If you believe at all that John, Paul and George were any kind of geniuses, you have to credit that they knew who would be the best drummer for them.
posted by YoungStencil at 12:10 PM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by YoungStencil at 12:10 PM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
John Bonham.
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:08 PM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:08 PM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
That's a big part of it; you don't need to be the Best Drummer, you need to be the Right Drummer For That Band. People like to rip on Meg White, but The White Stripes didn't need someone who could play in 17/38 time or whatever.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:26 PM on May 28, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:26 PM on May 28, 2018 [9 favorites]
I imagine ppl may tear me up in here (and most other places where ppl talk about "legendary musicians"), but one of my fav drummers is Travis Barker, of Blink-182 (and The Aquabats, of course). I solidly believe that his style of drumming changed that band from a mostly mediocre pop-punk band to a solid power house of their genre.
I can't think up a coherent list of favorite drummers, however. Most of my favorite drums are on weird death metal and technical metal albums, or motorik and krautrock stuff, and math-rock, and definitely music that I don't know enough about to list their members or even specific songs (was listening to a Chic record the other night and love the drummer for them, who I just learned played with two guys from Duran Duran and Robert Palmer in another band).
posted by gucci mane at 3:10 PM on May 28, 2018
I can't think up a coherent list of favorite drummers, however. Most of my favorite drums are on weird death metal and technical metal albums, or motorik and krautrock stuff, and math-rock, and definitely music that I don't know enough about to list their members or even specific songs (was listening to a Chic record the other night and love the drummer for them, who I just learned played with two guys from Duran Duran and Robert Palmer in another band).
posted by gucci mane at 3:10 PM on May 28, 2018
> you don't need to be the Best Drummer, you need to be the Right Drummer For That Band.Another fine example of this is Nick Mason. He's not quite the virtuoso, but the rhythms he knocks out just fit.
OTOH I went to see Lightning Bolt a while ago, and Brian Chippendale being the super-technical showoff doesn't stop them from being super-entertaining.
posted by farlukar at 3:25 PM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Pat Mastelotto (here for XTC) and Dennis Davis (here for Bowie, and another; here for Stevie Wonder) are two of my fave session drummers.
And Davis' teachers were Max Roach and Elvin Jones. My god.
posted by droplet at 4:12 PM on May 28, 2018
And Davis' teachers were Max Roach and Elvin Jones. My god.
posted by droplet at 4:12 PM on May 28, 2018
Yeah, the neat thing about Bonham is that he figured out a distinctive style which sounds simple on the surface but has a unique twist to it that makes everything come into focus.
Paraphrase old Pete Townshend quote: "I play drums, John plays lead, and Keith plays keyboards".
My fave rhythm section was seeing Sly & Robbie with Black Uhuru at an outdoor stadium in the early 1980s with a really cool live sound mix.
The right drummer for the Band is Levon Helm.
(jam with enough bands and you'll realize that the right drumming for the context is precious & priceless;)
posted by ovvl at 4:37 PM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Paraphrase old Pete Townshend quote: "I play drums, John plays lead, and Keith plays keyboards".
My fave rhythm section was seeing Sly & Robbie with Black Uhuru at an outdoor stadium in the early 1980s with a really cool live sound mix.
The right drummer for the Band is Levon Helm.
(jam with enough bands and you'll realize that the right drumming for the context is precious & priceless;)
posted by ovvl at 4:37 PM on May 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
I saw The National play a small show in the round last year and was snug up against Bryan Devendorf's kit. I was already a fan of his drumming, but that show left me agog. He's described in this Modern Drumming profile as "machine organic" and that is exactly right.
(Also at the same gig, and speaking of drumming gods? So Percussion played a swoon-worthy set)
posted by minervous at 4:40 PM on May 28, 2018
(Also at the same gig, and speaking of drumming gods? So Percussion played a swoon-worthy set)
posted by minervous at 4:40 PM on May 28, 2018
Mitch Mitchell's work on "Fire" was the reason I picked up drumsticks, though.
Mitch Mitchell had serious jazz chops, which was what made the Jimi Hendrix Experience distinctive. His work on "Manic Depression" doesn't just rock; it swings.
posted by jonp72 at 6:58 PM on May 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Mitch Mitchell had serious jazz chops, which was what made the Jimi Hendrix Experience distinctive. His work on "Manic Depression" doesn't just rock; it swings.
posted by jonp72 at 6:58 PM on May 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Another band that does the drumset front and center live show is Tortoise - still my all time favorite live act. Two sideways sets facing each other, with a bank of xylophones and laptops behind, and the bass and guitar almost tucked into the wings. They're all multi-instrumentalists and will often switch around mid-song, so you can't really credit one drummer for leading or following.
So much fun though, if you ever have a chance to catch one of their shows don't pass it up. One drummer will fuck with the other by, like, intentionally missing a beat and raising his eyebrows to challenge the other not to mess up, and you can see both trying not to crack up laughing, all while maintaining the layered textures and rhythms that define their sound.
posted by mannequito at 11:01 PM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
So much fun though, if you ever have a chance to catch one of their shows don't pass it up. One drummer will fuck with the other by, like, intentionally missing a beat and raising his eyebrows to challenge the other not to mess up, and you can see both trying not to crack up laughing, all while maintaining the layered textures and rhythms that define their sound.
posted by mannequito at 11:01 PM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
As for The Police, compare Sting's concept of his song "Shadows In The Rain" with the Copeland-ized Police version.
posted by thelonius at 3:22 AM on May 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 3:22 AM on May 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
My favorite drummers:
J Farriss of INXS: Dancing on the Jetty Not difficult drumming, but the simple fills and rhythm are great. The Swing in general has great dumming with the drum solo on Melting in the Sun turning an album track into something unique. The album before, Shabooh Shoobah also has great drumming with the chorus on "The One Thing" being carried by drums. On later albums where they reigned him in, the more boring they got.
Ted Leo Ballad of the Sin Eater The Hearts of Oak album by Ted Leo has powerful drumming so they gave him a solo on this track.
Rage Against the Machine - Freedom In my opinion, everyone in Rage is a boring hack except for the drummer. The only thing they held them back from being nu-metal was the lyrics and drumming.
Everybody loves Led Zepplin except me and I'm neutral at best. I find 'Rock N Roll' endless (drums/guitars/lyrics/everything), so Vampire Weekend's liberal borrowing from it in Diane Young features drumming that is just as good and they varied the sound more than Zep so you don't get bored halfway through. Though the drumming on their first album is better.
Loud Family- Nice When I Want Something This isn't one of the Loud Family's better songs, but the drum fills all sound like a bunch of marbles running of a table. It sounds even better in concert.
Worst drumming: Loverboy Working for the Weekend. This song is fine, but the drumming holds it back. The Ramones drummer had more talent. REO Speedwagon. Again, boring guitars, boring drums. Take your pick: Take it on the Run or Can't Fight This Feeling.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:09 AM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
J Farriss of INXS: Dancing on the Jetty Not difficult drumming, but the simple fills and rhythm are great. The Swing in general has great dumming with the drum solo on Melting in the Sun turning an album track into something unique. The album before, Shabooh Shoobah also has great drumming with the chorus on "The One Thing" being carried by drums. On later albums where they reigned him in, the more boring they got.
Ted Leo Ballad of the Sin Eater The Hearts of Oak album by Ted Leo has powerful drumming so they gave him a solo on this track.
Rage Against the Machine - Freedom In my opinion, everyone in Rage is a boring hack except for the drummer. The only thing they held them back from being nu-metal was the lyrics and drumming.
Everybody loves Led Zepplin except me and I'm neutral at best. I find 'Rock N Roll' endless (drums/guitars/lyrics/everything), so Vampire Weekend's liberal borrowing from it in Diane Young features drumming that is just as good and they varied the sound more than Zep so you don't get bored halfway through. Though the drumming on their first album is better.
Loud Family- Nice When I Want Something This isn't one of the Loud Family's better songs, but the drum fills all sound like a bunch of marbles running of a table. It sounds even better in concert.
Worst drumming: Loverboy Working for the Weekend. This song is fine, but the drumming holds it back. The Ramones drummer had more talent. REO Speedwagon. Again, boring guitars, boring drums. Take your pick: Take it on the Run or Can't Fight This Feeling.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:09 AM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Josh Freese is, in my mind, one of the best working drummers in the rock world today. Aside from being an actual member of The Vandals, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, DEVO, and Guns N Roses, he's a very in-demand session drummer (just look at his AllMusic credits), and has toured or filled in with what seems like everybody. He's got a distinctive sound, but enough versatility to work within a lot of different styles.
Here's Josh playing with...
...Nine Inch Nails
...Sting
...DEVO
...The Vandals
posted by curiousgene at 10:40 AM on May 29, 2018
Here's Josh playing with...
...Nine Inch Nails
...Sting
...DEVO
...The Vandals
posted by curiousgene at 10:40 AM on May 29, 2018
Max Weinberg, right from joining and only getting better after 40 years, in his ability to just follow Springsteen wherever the Boss wants to go on stage. A different riff, a different tempo, jump off into a different song, no problem.
I saw Buddy Rich a half dozen times in the late 70s/early 80s and I have to say that man had an ego bigger than Justin Beiber's but he had the goods to back it up. If the economics of Big Band Jazz were different...
posted by billsaysthis at 4:40 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I saw Buddy Rich a half dozen times in the late 70s/early 80s and I have to say that man had an ego bigger than Justin Beiber's but he had the goods to back it up. If the economics of Big Band Jazz were different...
posted by billsaysthis at 4:40 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Please tell me Ringo Starr is mentioned. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people, especially drummers, put down Ringo’s drumming.
Another fan here of Ringo's drumming style, and him personally. He was the real natural humourist in the Beatles, not Lennon, who tended to be a little contrived and forced, IMHO. Ringo never took himself too seriously and just was who he was, and that was genuinely funny.
My favourite Beatle. :)
posted by Pouteria at 6:16 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Another fan here of Ringo's drumming style, and him personally. He was the real natural humourist in the Beatles, not Lennon, who tended to be a little contrived and forced, IMHO. Ringo never took himself too seriously and just was who he was, and that was genuinely funny.
My favourite Beatle. :)
posted by Pouteria at 6:16 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
As for The Police, compare Sting's concept of his song "Shadows In The Rain" with the Copeland-ized Police version.
Man, yeah, I like some of Sting's solo output, but his pointless takes on Police songs were a waste of players like Omar Hakim and have not aged well. Even worse for me is "When the World Is Running Down...": simple perfection vs. pseudo-jazz, busy drums, and embarrassing rap.
posted by mubba at 6:16 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Man, yeah, I like some of Sting's solo output, but his pointless takes on Police songs were a waste of players like Omar Hakim and have not aged well. Even worse for me is "When the World Is Running Down...": simple perfection vs. pseudo-jazz, busy drums, and embarrassing rap.
posted by mubba at 6:16 PM on May 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Here's Adam Robertson providing Magic Dirt with everything that's required and nothing that isn't.
posted by flabdablet at 6:47 PM on May 29, 2018
posted by flabdablet at 6:47 PM on May 29, 2018
a waste of players like Omar Hakim
I think those guys did the first Sting solo album and tour for two reasons:
1) In the 80's, jazz musicians respected two rock bands, for the most part: The Police, and Talking Heads
2) truckload of money
posted by thelonius at 7:16 PM on May 29, 2018
I think those guys did the first Sting solo album and tour for two reasons:
1) In the 80's, jazz musicians respected two rock bands, for the most part: The Police, and Talking Heads
2) truckload of money
posted by thelonius at 7:16 PM on May 29, 2018
Oh hell yes to the double drummer version of the Melvins.
Here they are doing "Night Goat" live that way and I swear to gawd, the drums sound like God is stomping down the hallway pissed off and unbuckling his belt to give you a whooping.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:58 AM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
Here they are doing "Night Goat" live that way and I swear to gawd, the drums sound like God is stomping down the hallway pissed off and unbuckling his belt to give you a whooping.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:58 AM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
One of my biggest pet peeves is when people, especially drummers, put down Ringo’s drumming.
Like John Lennon, who said he wasn't even the best drummer in the band? (referring to Paul)
posted by e1c at 11:23 AM on May 30, 2018
Like John Lennon, who said he wasn't even the best drummer in the band? (referring to Paul)
posted by e1c at 11:23 AM on May 30, 2018
Although I love Ringo's drumming, highly underrated through the years, but that McCartney, he is one talented dude.
posted by e1c at 11:27 AM on May 30, 2018
posted by e1c at 11:27 AM on May 30, 2018
« Older “Everything begins and ends at exactly the right... | The happy wedding vowes Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
(XTC fanboys always recognize Terry Chambers, but Partridge always gets the credit. Nice that there’s a nod here, fwiw.)
(That PIL album!)
Okay, now to listen.
posted by notyou at 10:52 PM on May 27, 2018 [2 favorites]