Premier Rock Forum

Steve Shelley is completely necessary to Sonic Youth. I think people find fault with him because he isn't as obviously flashy or exciting as the rest of the Youthers. But that's exactly what he has to be--solid, consistent, no frills, steady, and level, in order to keep the whole thing together. Who else is going to bring that band back down from their freakouts? The only thing that bums me out about Shelley is he supposedly hates the Washing Machine album, and some of those songs are great.He must have endless amounts of patience for their bullshit, too. And I like Sonic Youth.

OrthodoxEaster wrote:There are so many! Peter Criss! Pelican guy! Meg White! My Bloody Valentine guy whose name is too Celtic to spell properly. Dozens more.i feel sorry for the pelican guy. he's known for being bad. i'm sure he's been mentioned many times over in this thread. i can't count the number of times i've heard someone say "well pelican sure has something interesting going on, except for that drummer, he just ruins everything."oh, meg white is unbearable. i think people just give her points for effort because they don't expect that a girl would play drums.dontfeartheringo wrote:The MayorofRockNRoll wrote: I like Matt Cameron's drumming.Yeah, can't hide from the truth. Dude's got something good going on.hell yeah. he's easily the best component of soundgarden. he has this dope song with tony iommi and phil anselmo called "time is mine," though the drums on that one are nothing too unique (as so much of his drumming is), just grooving and slamming.

i saw sonic youth in november (one of their last shows, actually) and i would say that steve shelley is the core and main member that wraps the band together. what he does is awesome, super simple and tight and locked-in. everybody was surprised by how good he was, and how terrible the rest of the band were playing.

Steve Shelley's snare sound is pretty great, most of the time. Definitely different. Reminds me a bit of the snare sound on Telephone Landslide Victory, which is a really good thing.

Man, I hate Chad Smith with the white hot fire of a hundred suns.

The MayorofRockNRoll wrote: I like Matt Cameron's drumming.Yeah, can't hide from the truth. Dude's got something good going on.

I haven't read the whole thread, but people think Murph is a bad drummer?Outta your damned minds.

OrthodoxEaster wrote:Still, I often wonder how the above material would sound w/a much stronger rhythm sectionIt would sound like Unwound. And it would be miles better.

Steve Shelley is fantastic on that High Confessions record.

Tommy wrote:I'd have to revisit those records but I remember at the time Crooked Rain's drumming being leaps and bounds better than Slanted. I think I actually said, holy shit, they got a drummer. I just remember Slanted's drumming being high school basement bad. Then again, I'm a guitar player just learning drums.AnthonyCinder wrote:I've never heard good drumming in Pavement. Probably one of the main reasons I can't get into Pavement.I don't think I've played a Pavement record in the last five years or so. And I'd pull one out right now, but I'm on vacation in Korea. Off the top of my head, I seem to recall some real moments of percussive goodness on Texas Never Whispers, Frontwards, Summer Babe, No Life Singed Her, Perfume V, Fame Throwa... Don't expect maximum tightness or grace. But there's a nice, loose-limbed psych-rock vibe and a lot of creativity. Good, swinging feel, strange fills. Almost like a really fucked-up Mitch Mitchell at times.Elsewhere in this thread: I do not understand the disrespect for Robo, Karl Burns, or Murph. To my ears, all three are pretty damn interesting by punk drumming standards. Robo plays like a sloppy Latin percussionist, totally odd and effective placement of accents, albeit monochromatic. Burns is a bit heavy-handed on Live at the Witch Trials, but he breathes nicely and sounds fantastic during his second stint in the Fall, especially w/Hanley as a second drummer. And Murph hits way hard and often drags the beat in an pleasingly heavy manner (although I haven't paid much attn to Dinosaur in decades), although he does seem to love riding that open hi-hat.Inept drummers who worked brilliantly well in their strange context: Karri Laitinen in Liimanarina (weird and great Finnish band that makes Mike Leigh-era Fall sound like Supertramp); Bradley Field in Teenage Jesus and the Jerks (deliberately vacant but so tight and simple on that two-piece kit, like a trained monkey); Bobby Gillespie in early Jesus and Mary Chain (who the hell was paying attn to the drums anyway?); Bob Bert in Pussy Galore (still not much of a drummer, but the use of metal percussion spiced his playing up considerably compared to his work in Sonic Youth); those two guys from Neubauten (see also: Pussy Galore)...Oh yeah: Chad Channing, now there was a crummy drummer.