Drummers you thought sucked,but...

pgm554

Platinum Member
turned out to be fairly good technically.

I remember seeing Dave Grohl(basher) and Karen Carpenter(pretty,but no talent) play and saying what a waste.

Then saw Grohl and Carpenter on YouTube clips and went whoa,they have decent chops.

Anybody you have second thoughts on?
 
Can't think of any drummers, but I went to a Chicken Foot show with Michael Anthony on bass and he was killer. Never know it listening to VH albums.
 
Karen Carpenter had great chops! Jim Gordon was another star-crossed drummer from that era that doesn't get the name recognition in this era, but had some ridiculous facility/chops/discipline that many drummers don't know about.
 
Karen was a terrific drummer! Even though she was one of the most popular female pop singers she thought of herself as a drummer first.
 
turned out to be fairly good technically.

I remember seeing Dave Grohl(basher) and Karen Carpenter(pretty,but no talent) play and saying what a waste.

Then saw Grohl and Carpenter on YouTube clips and went whoa,they have decent chops.

Anybody you have second thoughts on?

Karen Carpenter.......no talent?..Are you smoking rubber bands? Forget chops,she had a great voice as well,and by all definitions,was an excellent musician as well.I'm not a big Carpenters fan,but give the lady her due.

Steve B
 
Karen Carpenter.......no talent?..Are you smoking rubber bands? Forget chops,she had a great voice as well,and by all definitions,was an excellent musician as well.I'm not a big Carpenters fan,but give the lady her due.

Steve B
You misunderstood the point,seeing her drum at the time back in the 70's on TV seemed like she was a made up pop diva like so many others.

I caught her special on You Tube and saw her really play and went OK,she's not just another pretty face.
 
I entertain a lot of links via this forum. The standard run of the mill "i play along with" kind of crap. Mostly they suck. When I was very young and equally ignorant I couldn't tell a good drummer from an over produced hack. So yes, there are drummers I thought sucked who were/are very good......and vice versa.
 
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I entertain a lot of links via this forum. The standard run of the mill "i play along with" kind of crap. Mostly they suck. When I was very young and equally ignorant I couldn't tell a good drummer from an over produced hack. So yes, there are drummers I thought sucked who were/are very good......and vice versa.

I once thought that Peter Criss was a petty good drummer.

But after reading an interview with Gene Simmons and watching a couple of videos of Kiss while straight,he's not all that good.

Turns out a lot of sound effects, lights and mind altering substances inflated my opinion of him.
 
When I was young, I actually thought Ringo, Helms, Watts and Moon were lousy drummers. Oh my, I was so so ignorant. Well trained, but ignorant non the less. Years later I finally had a more informed frame of reference of music and understand now their brilliance and high musical talent. Today, I am still inspired by their musical depth and still learn from their example.
 
When I first started to play, back in the mid 80's, I was clueless. I thought Artemis Pyle was good and Steve Smith and Phil Collins were average. Got that one wrong.
 
When I was a teen, Phil Rudd was the easy target. Now when I listen back to him all I hear is his massive pocket and wonder how I could have ever missed it. I think my epiphany with him came when Chris Slade replaced him the first time. He's great too, but it didn't have that signature feel.
 
When I was a teen, Phil Rudd was the easy target. Now when I listen back to him all I hear is his massive pocket and wonder how I could have ever missed it. I think my epiphany with him came when Chris Slade replaced him the first time. He's great too, but it didn't have that signature feel.

Totally agree. Drummers, on this forum, often suggest AC/DC songs as easy to play. True, Rudd has never even heard of a fill, but to lay it down, with the feeling he has is not easy. Charlie Watts is another one, sure his playing is not cluttered, but I have heard good drummers butcher Stones songs because they do not get it.
 
Not sucked, but perhaps didn't get as much until later.

Dave Ghrol: When Nirvana got big, I didn't get what the big deal was and certainly didn't get why everyone was calling Ghrol such a great drummer. Competent, solid, right for the band, sure, but not great. But over time hearing/seeing what he's done with the Foo's, and various other projects, I get it now. And I even (somewhat reluctantly) admit he's influenced my playing.

Chad Smith. Again, competent, and right for the Peppers. Good player, but not quite the great some make him out to be. I didn't get why he was getting hired for so much session work, and why so many hold him in such high regard. Then I saw him live at one of the Bonham tribute shows. He came out and played Achilles Last Stand, and just rocked it, and played with so much confidence and energy, and yet barely broke a sweat. And I realize, yes, if I were hiring a drummer for a rock session, thats exactly what I'd want.
 
I thought John Bonham didn't know how to play the drums right, when Black Dog came out. I was only about twelve then, so I didn't have much sense. Come to think about it, I still don't have much sense.
 
Karen Carpenter is one I'd say I never thought could play but that's just ignorance and only listening to the voice.

Some of the old clips put up on youtube give her the credit she deserves. Plus when you listen to some Carpenters tracks you here little things on the drums in there and think yeah that's cool.

The dude from Animals as Leaders as well, from the recordings they sound so programmed but he pulls it off live. It's drumming by maths rather than feel and it spins you out trying to think about it.

I saw Carl Palmer with Asia and I knew he was top drawer and so is his family as I studied under his brother Steve for a year but hands down this guy is the best I've seen live. Not old enough to see Buddy Rich, he last played in Wolves in 1984 and I'd have been 10 months old.

I've seen people I've really rated disappoint live. Mike Portnoy being the main one the first time I saw DT I could see down the side of the kit and check his hands and feet and it wasn't as good as I thought it would be but I still love his playing on the albums up to Octavarium, very well thought out parts.
 
Can't think of any drummers, but I went to a Chicken Foot show with Michael Anthony on bass and he was killer. Never know it listening to VH albums.

Few guys can hold down those pounding 4th/8th/16th note chugging bass line grooves like Michael Anthony. Before Sammy Hagar replaced David Lee Roth, he was also by far the best singer in the band.
 
I used to think Don Henley was sub-par when I was a kid. After years of overplaying I began to realize just how hard it is to play sparingly, and in service to the song. He may not be a technical wizard, but who cares. His playing is perfect for the music he plays.
 
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