a thread to appreciate under-appreciated drummers

man, murph from dinosaur jr. is god damn incredible. he really elevated his game on the comeback albums too. technical and muscular.

My first thought is Orestes Morfin of Bitch Magnet, Walt Mink and Blake Fleming of Laddio Bollocko, Dazzling Killmen, both incredible drummers.

Tom Zinser, pinback drum tech: https://open.spotify.com/track/5M3Y9Bb6Ooy05ZhYVkKHnS

Corey Fogel was really good on Gowns' Red State album

mitch mitchell

I always forget about the other drummers in Walt Mink after Joey Waronker

Kenny Jones who sadly got turned into a punch line because he replaced Moon in the Who but is super grooving and was so good in Small Faces/Faces (and the Who for that matter)

I've been geeking out over Kris Kuss from Pile lately

Kenney Jones seconded
Phil Krauth from Unrest

global taking the piss, grandma isn’t overrated

As is largely forgotten now, the 1979 Who shows with Kenney Jones were widely praised. There were few (if any) takes along the lines of, “yeesh, they obviously shouldn’t have continued.” It wasn’t until the ‘81 and ‘82 tours (and It’s Hard) that he started shouldering the blame for the Who’s new crapulence.

Opeth's drummer, Martin Axenrot, is terrific — he adds a lot of the jazz feel to their current 70s prog/hard rock style.

Mick Tucker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgaRwm4FBOM

Sara Lund.

I should dig into her post-Unwound material.

Just saw the start of this thread is about Murph. Watched the DJr streaming site the other night and loved the fact that the mix, camera work, & set selection were all top notch. He is indeed a tasteful beast of a drummer & locks in very well with Lou, which gives room for J to do his stuff with the songs. I miss seeing them live, but this streaming show was very dope.

Alan White gets lambasted by some Yes fans for not being Bill Bruford (and for his debut being the live Yessongs, for which he was under-rehearsed), but some of his work on Tales From Topographic Oceans and Relayer is exquisite.

Alan White gets lambasted by some Oasis fans for not being Tony McCarroll, but some of his work on Morning Glory and Be Here Now is exquisite.

Alan Whyte gets lambasted by some Smiths fan for not being Johnny Marr.... no, sorry, can't go through with it.

Clem Burke I think has cred in certain circles but certainly doesn't turn up in best drummer conversations

every time I hear "Dreaming" by Blondie I'm blown away

Yes!

clem burke is a superhero, it's true

Is Richie Hayward under valued?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIOGL-Fu0c4

Alan White, definitely. I think he's quite good on Yessongs though.

as far as prog drummers go...John Weathers of Gentle Giant is an absolute beast. when I watch the live videos he comes off like the most technical drummer I've ever seen

Yukihiro Takahashi doesn't really get many props as a drummer but I really like his style. Kinda simple technique but it works really well for them.

Takahashi was a monster in the Sadistic Mika Band, he definitely simplified things for YMO.

Kevin Higuchi's tough work on this year's Jeff Rosenstock helped kick it up a notch from pop-punk to something with hardcore intensity, and actually swings, too.

i know i've discussed elsewhere that alan white's performance on yessongs is damn-near majestic given the circumstances

Was just marveling about Brain in this song especially. Dude had to follow one of the 90s greats and just put his own spin on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfVKkEN7CsU

John Weathers had to keep up with all the tempo and dynamic changes of Gentle Giant's music, but the rest of the time he alone was the one giving them the propulsion of a rock backbeat. It's the way he worked both sides of their music that's so impressive.

My choice for underrated prog-rock drummers is Guy Evans of Van Der Graaf Generator.

Richie Hayward way underrated yes. Lowell’s rep would be a lot less stellar without him.

huh i never knew where that loop for "Jimmy Mathis" by Bubba Sparxxx came from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoYymnKUhZQ

shout out to Mimi Parker. not sure if she's rated one way or another but she does a lot with a minimal drum kit.

Jean-Paul Gaster of Clutch is a really good drummer. Probably one of the drummers more known for playing heavy rock that has really tapped into that New Orleans style drumming in his style. Gaster could play with anyone and it would work.

Jim White

Although in drummer mags he kind was already a big deal, I always thought it was cool that Steve Ferrone ended up as a regular member of the Heartbreakers as he really wanted to be a regular member of a good band again and not just be sideman for hire. Dude ended up playing with Tom Petty for over 20 years.

that is cool, I had no idea

Lindy Morrison! ever-inventive, in an unobtrusive way that serves the songs

Steve ferrone and Abe Laboriel jr: oh I always get those two mixed up

Mimi is a great answer, truly developed her own style that is so tied with the band's overall aesthetic

Lindy Morrison has a great habit of opening up the hi-hat just before the snare; I think many of the great drummers will add something small to even a straightforward 4/4 beat

from what i remember from the tom petty biography, steve ferrone was just a really good guy who everyone liked.

every so often i dip into the faces bbc live stuff and kenney jones stands out as a great rock drummer.

I just watched the Alice in Chains Unplugged and that dude was just perfect

kenney jones stands out as a great rock drummer.

OTM.

Scott Plouf of the Spinanes and Built to Spill

(& Sara Lund seconded)

Ralph Molina is one of my favorite drummers - great feel and sound and always plays the least necessary to make the song work.

Royal Trux's (pre-reunion) late-period drummer Ken Nasta kicks ass and doesn't get nearly enough credit.

He's absolutely *not* under appreciated, but his drumming is mostly appreciated by fellow drummers: Simon Phillips. What a mutant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeXf90OGTHE

Literally never gave Gregg Bissonette a single thought beyond not wanting to hear him based on the has-beens he always seems to be playing with, but this solo is pretty killer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwNkRrsWjfk

The two-sticks-in-one-hand jungle beat is one of my favorite tricks, but not as slick as doing it with one hand (have yet to try that one)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOwZ5HzVguM

Huh. Never heard of him, so perfect for the thread!

Here's this Italian dude that seems to mostly do youtube "covers" of pop songs, but man, this guy's playing ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDf3ycLbiFw

Ridiculous. Wow, I didn't think it was possible to search for drummers on youtube and not run across Louis Cole. :)

I've been mostly posting my instagram and youtube drummer finds to
Drum geek sick chops youtube thread

ooh, probably a better place for that Italian guy, his chops are sick!

He's incredible, all his chops are totally in the pocket. But it's also funny to watch his one video playing with a live band and how it sounds kind of awful, even though he nails every fill:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaRnyKqKfzI

I get it, he's just young and talented and that's from like 8 years ago, I'm sure he would overplay less now. But outside the context of a shedding video, it's like, you get ONE of those fills, or you need to really pick your spots and save it for the outro.