Re: Chad Smith. Like? Dislike? come in.
i think hes a bit over-rated, but hes got some tight grooves, but nothing real special.
I believe he is good but nothing really stands out to me as worth analyzing further. I believe he gets mentioned more due to the band's popularity and longevity.
I would put him in the same level of Travis Barker. Both have comparable chops and similar level of fame. I know people who really like RHCP and would call him a drum god, same with some Travis fans. Me, I listen to a lot of metal so I can't say that I am a big fan of either band, I do like a few of their songs but that is as far as my like goes.
Below are some metal and non metal drummers that I believe have good groove:
Abe Cunningham (Deftones) Not only are his recorded drums amazingly great sounding, he knows when to hit hard and when to restrain creating that push pull that makes the band unique. Example song Digital Bath.
Zeb Rose (Spiritbox) They play metal but a lot of their music is not, Is more like
pop meets metal. Example song Secret Garden (not metal at all).
Vessel 2 (Sleep Token) Same they have some metal elements but I consider them mostly pop. Example song Jaws.
Clay Aeschliman (Polyphia) I guess we could call their music... Guitar oriented? Example song Champagne.
Mikkey Dee (King Diamond, Dokken, Motorhead, Scorpions) If you listen to any of the KD albums where he played, his playing was very technical but it didn't distract from the rest of the instruments, plus that strange drum sound was just great. Example song Welcome home from King Diamond.
Jose Pasillas (Incubus) Very underrated. IMO if they needed to replace Chad, I believe there could be no better choice. Example song Priceless. (That snare sounds massive).
Vlad Ulasevych (Jinjer) Not only do his drums sound great (and yes they sound the same live) but his groove is uncommon for most metal bands. Example song Perennial.
Morgan Rose (Sevendust) Very groovy and heavy hitting drummer, plus he does backup vocals. Example song Black.
Alex Van Halen Nothing else needs to be said about him. Example song Hot for teacher of course!
John Dolmayan (System Of A Down) Many different time changes and random beats in each of their songs, not to mention their iconic Toxicity which is also the example song.
I can keep going but I will stop here.
I also didn't mention drummers like Mike Portnoy or Danny Carey who obviously have groove but the reason I fell they were not right to be included on this list was the fact that their music relies on
constant tempo changes which (IMO) just kills the groove which is why I am not really a fan of either band. Yes I do listen to some of their stuff, but I would not go out of my way to buy it or see them live.
The drummers on the list on the other hand are the opposite, they groove for the most part, injecting tasty fills or subtle accents to serve the music. The only exception might be Mikkey Dee on the KD albums, but he still managed to not overshadow the other instruments.