the worst drummers

Absolutely punishing!

 

Nick Mason. There's minimalism and then there's THAT (I love Pink Floyd though)

 

Does Micky play drums on Forget That Girl? To me that sounds more advanced than some of his other drumming.

 

Well, not necessarily. Just feeling a bit conflicted.

 

There's apathy. There's lethargy. And then there's Masonry.

 

Charlie Watts is fantastic...I understand the difference between a great time keeper and a virtuoso.

First...lets get this out of the way; calling KISS a cheesy pop band automatically tells me you know nothing about music. KISS are one of the 4 cornerstones of heavy metal; end of story. And KISS has had their share of killer drummers in both Eric Carr and Eric Singer.

Second; having seen Jamie Oldaker with Ace Frehley I can tell you not only was he a sh**ty time keeper but I think a 5 year old could play better or have more interesting fills.

 

I likely know more about music than any 3 people you know personally. And give me a break. kiss. The Archies of the 70s.
I am thinking if Jamie Oldaker was playing with a kiss member and there were problems, it wasn't with Mr Oldaker.
The guy didn't get to be one of the most popular studio drummers and most sought after rock drummers for having bad timing.
I suspect it is you who know little about music, especially if you think kiss is anything but an industry created gimmick.
You are right about Charlie Watts, and he also can do far more on drums than he needs to with the Stones.
Part of being a good drummer is not playing more than you need to in order to augment the music.

 

I get not liking Kiss, but I can't hear how any of the original four were bad musicians. Peter wasn't a hard rock drummer and he came up with some cool parts, and I prefer his style to any of his successors, who could annihilate him technically.

 

Peter wailed until about 1977...then it was downhill. Certainly tracks like 100,000 Years show he had the chops at some point.

 

Since I'm defending the Dolenzes, Crisses, and Clarkes of the world, I may as well take a shot at whoever keeps slamming the crash cymbal all over Steve Miller's "The Joker".

 

Peter Criss. Just listen to his so called drum-solo in God Of Thunder. Awful.

Lars Ulrich is even worse.

 

I don't know about the worst drummer, but Lars is without question the douchiest.

 

Yeah. It's nothing particularly complicated but he obviously had enough innate musicality to come up with effective parts that worked for the song.

Also, I give him credit for making it work on that weird right-handed/left-footed set-up he used.

 

If you really wanna know how bad Lars is, just watch the documentary "making of black album"

He played every song for weaks and they eventually had to cut the small pieces together to get a good track.

 

Charlie Watts. Boooooooring. Charlie, you play in a rock and roll band. Ever watch Chuck Berry's drummers?? Every watch Jerry Lee Lewis' drummers? This guy just does the bare minimum with minumum energy. Ringo wasn't an amazing drummer but at least he could play harder and played some interesting sequences. Sure he wasn't a meister of fills and flash, but he hit the skins hard once in awhile.

Charlie was a jazz drummer looking for a gig. And based on his ability to play rock, I doubt he was a very accomplished jazz drummer. No creativity, no energy, just collecting very large paychecks.

And I would also add that Lars Ulrich and Meg White are bad too.

Lars basically plays the style he learned from listening to Diamond Head and early Def Leppard. Very utilitarian, just does the job. You know James would of rather had Dave Lombardo, but Lars was the one with all the contacts when they started.

Meg White, yea. Not even going to comment. The White Stripes are absolutely boring. Rock to fall asleep to. Her drumming is most of the problem.

 

Lars is a GOD! the best drummer ever.

 

Well, as a player for 38 years I'll throw some notes on here.
Peter Criss was not great but not the worst. He declined in the late seventies as his demons kicked in and he was emotionally already out of the band for the most part.

Kenny A is a killer session player but does have a certain ON TOP of the beat sort of style that some can find grating and almost sound like he's rushing but many producers and artists like urgency it gives.

Mickey Dolenz? All those albums where cut by the famous LA "wrecking crew" which featured the great Hal Blain.

Steve Millers tracks often have an odd way of having the base tracks looped. If you listen back to some of those tracks the fills which fit in certain sections suddenly appear later in the song and in entirely different sections of music. Classic example is "Take The Money and Run". Chorus fills pop up all over the second half of the song.

Phil Collins? Please, the guy is great. I fall into the belief that if a players style is such that in one measure of music you know who the player is, that's a great player. I'd also put Watts, Ringo, Steve Gadd, Moon and Bonham in this category.

This brings me to an earlier question, can a player be great in one situation and not in another? Yes. Neil Peart.
As great as he is within the realm of Rush, he is just stiff and plodding in almost any other situation I've heard him in. Just YouTube any of his Buddy Rich Memorial concert videos and you will see the most UN hip, UN swinging guys out there. And if you look at his face he knows it. It's brutal. I love Neil's performances on the Rush stuff but he is downright unlistenable in a big band.

Just my $.02.

 

Y

yes, he did a good job but if you listen to practice takes you can hear how off he gets

 

Well if you have to list someone...

 

If I may ask, why? A good performance is a good performance.

 

And impossible to play on VH "Guitar Hero" without a second bass pedal!

 

I know more about music than any 4 people you know personally.

 

He also didn't play it live, instead using tapes. Or at least that's what more than one person who saw VH live in the 80s told me.

 

Agree 100%. Creativity and feel trump technical skill in rock music. I find the work of his successors to be much less interesting, even though in terms of skill they are certainly "better."