Let's List Bands That Got Worse with the Departure of a Drummer

1. The Cure (post-Boris)
2. The Who
3. Gang of Four
4. The Clash

PJ Harvey (still good, but nothing like the first two albums)

nm, Wikipedia says he's still a regular on all the albums.

R.E.M.

xtc
roxy music

Therapy?

http://www.rushisaband.com/images/200906/1195.f.jpg

The Replacements

Slayer

US Maple

4. The Clash

Do you mean post-Terry or post-Topper? Because Topper was a huge improvement.

Echo & The Bunnymen

Pavement (jk?)

x-post Post Topper, natch. Topper figured in my Bands That Got Better With the Addition of a New Drummer post.

Spiritualized post-Johnny Mattock

Tom Petty post-Stan Lynch

Devo

US Maple

Disagree

Test Dpt
gene krupa orchestra

x-post I love "Acre Thrills" but was let down by "Purple On Time." I blame the drummer.

King Crimson, post-Bill Bruford

Pavement seconded. Still a very fine band, but not like with GY

Jesus Lizard

any band with bill bruford, post-bill bruford.

there are so many bands that got better w/ new drummers that it's kind of an interesting challenged to think of people who traded down or had the perfect drummer and lost him one way or another

Guns N Roses
Primus
The Posies

Black Sabbath
Blue Oyster Cult

The Velvet Underground
Pavement
OoioO
Spinal Tap

Don Caballero

Bruce Springsten

Springsteen, too.

who you mean, Vini Lopez?

I am afraid Dream Theater will join the list now.

I'm afraid that I agree w/US Maple too. Don't hate AT, but it's just not up to snuff.

Wait, I meant "Don't hate POT..." Acre Thrills is great.

xxx-post yes! vinnie >>>>>>>>>>>> max weinberg

james brown, eventually

The Feelies

(I don't agree, just wanted to nip this one in the bud, 'cos you know it was coming)

the carpenters

oh you!

I was waiting for Genesis because let's be honest, nobody bought Calling All Stations.

sadly they were beyond redemption way before then

Smashing Pumpkins, though that case also proves that the reintroduction of said drummer (and only that drummer) can be even worse.

Killing Joke after 'Big' Paul Ferguson (78-86) departed. The ride and crash cymbals added by subsequent drummers muted a lot of their idiosyncrasy.

I was waiting for Genesis because let's be honest, nobody bought Calling All Stations.

At least very few did, but it was still artistically much better than "We Can't Dance".

AC/DC

Soft Machine post Wyatt

Immortal (Abbath)
Emperor (Frost)
Enslaved (Trym)

AC/DC for sure. No Rudd, no thud.

Butthole Surfers

x-post Post Topper, natch. Topper figured in my Bands That Got Better With the Addition of a New Drummer post.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, February 11, 2011 7:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Tory Crimes was pretty ham-fisted as Topper's replacement. But Pete Howard - at least, based on the one Mick Jones-era show he played with them, at the US Festival - was tremendous. Watching that show, you can easily imagine a vital/viable post-Topper Clash.

Not a "departure" necessarily, since he's technically still in the band, but Cheap Trick without Bun E. just isn't Cheap Trick. Daxx has all of Bun E. laidbackness without the disarming aggressiveness that gave said laidbackness a sinister edge.

some would say The Jesus & Mary Chain (but i would not be one of them)

I'd say Squeeze's music didn't get worse after Gilson Lavis left (though Domino was shite), though they changed drummer pretty much every tour afterwards until their second split, let alone albums (3 more).

The Stone Roses, though the replacement was still pretty good and certainly wasn't the reason they got worse

The Feelies

(I don't agree, just wanted to nip this one in the bud, 'cos you know it was coming)

i do agree w/this. [ducks] post-anton feir Feelies are good but rhythmically staid & conventional compared to "crazy" 1st album

Oasis

Wire

A better question is are which ones of these are because of the new drummer and which one is because of other factors and the new drummer was a mere coincidence.

Kraftwerk (apres Karl Bartos - he counts as a drummer, right?)

certainly in the case of King Crimson I would say their post-Bruford decline was directly attributable to his absence, they did two albums after he left and they were among the worst ever KC albums

xp

x-post Wire, who I considered, deserves an asterisk, because they did change their name for the one album without Gotobed. Oasis, on the other hand, I sort of disagree with. The band was in decline before Ringo's kid took over, and once he did, their further decline had absolutely nothing to do with his quality playing (see also: the Who).

Oh, the Jesus Lizard!

Whoops, didn't see it above.

Your hear more people these days saying they preferred Tony Macarroll to Alan White.

If I heard anybody expressing a preference on that issue I wd either move swiftly away or laugh my knackers off.

Oasis music is so straightforward that I honestly don't have a preference either way - its just that I care for very little of their output past the Definitely Maybe era.

The point is people generally tend to prefer everything about the sound of their first album than to (even) their second

John Mellencamp, I guess.

Slayer really is the definitive answer here. I mean, when you're Slayer & u lose Dave Lombardo, where do u go from there?

The Birthday Party.

Though their output was still very strong, losing Calvert on the Throne and going down to one guitar was not in their best interests.

Public Image Limited?

a number of times....

No-one's mentioned the Ramones yet?

Yeah, that one is odd: Markie Bell was a fine drummer, but when I saw them on their farewell tour, Johnny's count-ins were just there, and Marky started in his own good time.

Abe Vigoda

I may be the only one to admit to liking their first album, but Razorlight's drummer made it listenable. Don't think anyone would deny they got worse after.

this is pretty subjective, but i only liked Death Cab For Cutie at all when they had the drummer that's on The Photo Album

Kids aren't encouraged to learn drums like they are other instruments, and they are expensive. And loud. Kind of sad, think of how awesome bands would be if more kids had serious drum lessons.

The Feelies

(I don't agree, just wanted to nip this one in the bud, 'cos you know it was coming)

they were different, but i wouldn't say they got worse. and i'd say that Luna got worse (though by no means terrible) after the departure of feelies drummer stan demeski. i think he's a fantastic drummer.

Re: Slayer, at some point aroung 2000 the Absu guy was supposed to join them - even if only for one album, it would've been fucking cool to hear Slayer with a more extravagant/virtuoso drummer.

Pavement
Guns N' Roses
R.E.M. omg yes
Smashing Pumpkins

The weird thing about Pavement is that the dulling of the rhythm section may not have been Steve West's fault - listen to the demos with GY on "CRCR: LA's Desert Origins," and the drum beats are the same stolid midtempo 4/4 as in the final versions with Steve West. Still a great band 'til the end - "Brighten the Corners" could be their best track-for-track - just not always an exciting one.

No-one's mentioned the Ramones yet?

― Tom D has taken many months to run this thread to ground (Tom D.), Tuesday, May 31, 2011 6:14 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yeah, that one is odd: Markie Bell was a fine drummer, but when I saw them on their farewell tour, Johnny's count-ins were just there, and Marky started in his own good time.

― Mark G, Tuesday, May 31, 2011 6:16 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

mark bell on the dust album is a fucking BEAST

honestly i think the change of drummer just happened around the time they were probably going to start getting worse either way

Oh, I have no doubt...

But then, Drummers have this thing where it has to be *them* that does the 1/2/3/4 and in (usually by tapping drunsticks together) and get realllll pissy if the vocalist moves into this territory. Johnny being Johnny, is the boss man of the band, so I can imagine this being some sort of compromise "you can go 1234, but we start when I do!"

Captain Beyond

But then, Drummers have this thing where it has to be *them* that does the 1/2/3/4 and in (usually by tapping drunsticks together) and get realllll pissy if the vocalist moves into this territory. Johnny being Johnny, is the boss man of the band, so I can imagine this being some sort of compromise "you can go 1234, but we start when I do!"

Best argument for drum machines I've ever heard.

Still fantastic, but I didn't love MX-80 Sound's single-drummer period (with the late Dave Mahoney) period as much as their earlier two-drummer era (Mahoney and Jeff Armour) - which was still superior to their later NO-drummer stuff (featuring Norm Beat, the drum machine.)

Their very early three-drummer lineup (Mahoney, Armour, Kevin Teare) never existed long enough to be documented, alas.

xpost ha.

then again, you ever tried arguing with a drum machine?

Let's list producers that got worse with the change of their drum soundbank.

DJ Shadow

Prince.