Why Foo Fighters Fans Are Already Upset with New Drummer Josh Freese

From Loudwire.com:

Why Foo Fighters Fans Are Already Upset with New Drummer Josh Freese

By Jordan Blum, June 3, 2023

It’s only been about two weeks since Foo Fightersannounced that Josh Freese (Weezer, Guns N' Roses, Nine Inch Nails) is their new drummer. Somewhat unsurprisingly, fans on Reddit are already voicing complaints about how he compares to late drummer Taylor Hawkins (who died unexpectedly on March 25, 2022).

In a thread entitled “Does Freese” started on the band’s official Reddit page three days ago (May 31), one user posted:

He’s clearly a great drummer. But after watching some of the recent live performances with Josh Freese I’ve concluded that compared to Taylor he really rushes the beat. Taylor was a very “in the pocket” drummer so to speak. Freese plays like a machine but you can hear the rest of the band struggling to keep up with him. ‘Everlong’ was so so fast. It just makes the loss of Taylor hit home even more. He was the perfect drummer from FF. This is just my opinion and of course ymmv.

Between then and now, said thread starter has received numerous replies that also criticize Freese’s technique. For instance, someone else wrote, “[He’s] rushing. Definitely rushing. There was one track during the live stream that was super fast. Afterwards, Pat [Smear] said ‘That was Shane Hawkins tempo!’”

That said, just as many Redditors – if not more – came to Freese’s defense. Specifically, one fan cheered: “I’m actually stoked they are faster. Monkey wrench almost sounds like a hardcore song now. I really hope they let Josh play the way he’s been playing.”

Likewise, another user declared:

It’s literally Josh Freese’s job to play in a way that satisfies the needs of his employers. It’s how he’s had the career he’s had for the last 25 years, and it’s why he’s universally considered one of the best drummers alive. If Dave has any issues with what he’s doing, I guarantee it’s being discussed, will be discussed after this run, or has already been addressed in rehearsals that I’m willing to bet went on longer than any of us know.

I’d highly doubt Dave’s asking him to adhere to every specific fill and nuance Taylor ever recorded or performed live. He’s nothing if not one to want music to reflect the humans playing it, so it’d make sense to think they worked together to get to a place where he’s playing with respect to the legacy of the music, but also has the freedom to be himself as a musician. Is it weird, as a fan, to hear things done differently than they’ve been down for the last 25 years? Of course.

But the only constant is change, and changing a member will ALWAYS change nuance. It just will. But JF is hands down the best drummer for this band now, and we should trust that these guys maybe know what they’re doing after all these years instead of armchair quarterbacking bpms and time stamps.
Of course, some people have shared more neutral, understanding and unemotional responses, such as one person who expressed: “Give them time to adjust and correct. These are his first few live shows. There's going to be a learning curve even for the most experienced person.”

You can read the entire Reddit thread here.

Obviously, people had passionate reactions to Freese joining the Foos as soon as it was announced, too.

In addition to the aforementioned global live stream, the new Foo Fighters lineup has played a handful of concerts so far (with their first one taking place at New Hampshire’s Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion on May 24, 2023). Thus, fans arguably already have enough evidence with which to judge how Freese is fitting into his new role.


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Fans need to give the bloke a chance to settle in.

Society has a knee jerk reaction to everything these days. Everything has to be so immediate.

 

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

 

Foo Fans are over-thinking this massively. I mean, it's not as if their 10th-rate band is operating in Mahavishnu Territory.

 

People say all kinds of stuff about bands/musicians.

I don't have any skin in this game but Josh Freese's resume speaks for itself as far as I'm concerned.

 

When your frontman is a drummer, you'd think fans would assume he has enough knowledge to determine if the guys up to the job or not.

 

Mr Freese gets a frosty reception? Say it ain’t so

 

Mr. Freese has nothing to worry about. If Kenney Jones could last 10 years with The Who being a drastically different drummer than Keith Moon, than Josh will have no trouble sticking around with The Foos.

 

I'm sure 1000s of Foo fans will bail on the band because they don't love the drummer!

 

That was my thinking, too. I'm sure Grohl has a pretty good idea of what he wants out of a drummer.

 

Josh is a killer drummer
of course things are going to be different, because he's a different person....

some people just complain about everything, i swear.

Josh is the very first person i thought of for that spot when Taylor passed and he is going to fit nicely in the band i think.
i loved that free livestream they did a couple of weeks ago

 

HA!

I was going to post something similar, but not quite as harsh.

But you are correct. They are a pop-rock band, that write some decent hooks and choruses. It's not as if chops and deep knowledge of musical language are in any way related to what they do.

 

Doesn't lore tell us that there were plenty of unhappy Pete Best fans when Ringo came on?

 

I enjoyed seeing them cover March of the Pigs. I'll never understand the sentiment of wanting a band to keep doing the same thing over and over.

 

Ah HA!!!!
NOTHING IS BEATLE PROOF!!!!!!!!
Fantastic and good job matey!!
Beave

 

Well, that comparison doesn't bode well, considering that the last six years of that ten year span The Who were almost entirely defunct.

 

Oh my god, give the guy a f’n break. The job of replacing a beloved and deceased band member is as thankless as it gets.

 

So now Reddit threads make the news?

 

No question Josh Freese is pushing the tempos. It does seem like the others are struggling to keep up. But like several have said, if DG was unhappy, he'd be outta there.

 

Many people just like to complain.

It’s like when Charlie Watts died and Steve Jordan got
the drum stool.

Of course he’s not gonna be Charlie or play exactly like Charlie but he’s an amazing drummer and I think he’s great with the Stones.

If Josh is good enough for Dave and Steve is good enough for Keith etc.. end of story for me .

Otherwise I’ll leave it up to the internet drumming
“experts” to figure out how to raise Taylor and Charlie back from the dead if that’s their only acceptable drummers for the bands.

 

Sounds great. I really couldn't stand Hawkins, all that singing Queen crap got on my nerves.

 

Good thing about media is that you can find anybody who thinks anything, if you're looking to write a story about it.