I remember it like it was yesterday. It was 1981 and I was with my uncle at his buddies house. We were tight! I was 4 years old at the time.
Keeping a long story short... my uncle and his friend were about to head into the garage, but before that... his buddy came up to me and said, "I want you to listen to this and tell me what you think when we get back." He calmly placed the album on the player, put the needle to it.. and walked away. Before he even left the room I heard and incredible sound comming from his Sony speakers. It was the opening riff from "Live Wire." IMMEDIATELY, it hit me like something I had never made a connnection to previously. I remember, I was sitting a foot or so away infront of the right side speaker. Then, BAM... I felt the double bass section kick in.
I was hooked.
Ever since that day, I have followed Tommy's career. One thing I will say about Tommy that has always impressed me... He never played BEYOND what the music called for,and he added some serious flare and showmanship to it.
Gospel and Blues ended up having a child, and that childs name was Rock n' Roll. Tommy Lee is a product of that generation. Nothing extremely fancy... but he does blow your mind every now and then with his abilities.
I would consider myself to be a true Tommy Lee fan. I'm not here to argue about how great or NOT of a drummer he is. From all of this, one simple fact remains. Tommy is a pioneer... not necessarily when it comes to the technical side of drumming, but when it comes to a huge shift in music. Much like Nirvana was the major shift for the industry in the 90's, Tommy Lee w/ Motley Crue was the largest part of the shift for the 80's and my generation.
Having been to every Motley Crue tour since (Shout At The Devil) and watching Tommy grow in his style... I am seriously impressed with his abilities. For the most part, unless he was an inspiration to you, he will be just like every other drummer. One needs to see and hear him LIVE to gain the most from his ability.
Tommy Lee is a true pioneer for his time, respectively.