Worst Drummers

^"And you know, it don't come easy"-great song, actually

I would nominate Other- Dave Holland in Judas Priest, very unimaginative (his playing in Trapeze was better, though) 

Edited by presdoug - August 15 2012 at 16:48

Snow Dog wrote: Ringo wasn't so bad. Pretty good actually.

I don't think he's bad either. He doesn't do anything fancy, but he's solid at what he does. His voice doesn't have much range, but is pleasant enough. How can you dislike his songwriting? Octopus' Garden? Awesome.

No Simon King should not be on this list

Like all of the Beatles, Ringo has little technical skill. And like the rest of the Beatles, he made the most out of it. Every single performance of his is spot-on, and several of them are intriguing in their own right (Come Together comes to mind). Of course he shouldn't be considered among the best drummers in history - too little of his work is remarkable - but he certainly doesn't belong among the worst either. For what it's worth, I prefer him over Charlie Watts. I think a lot of the Ringo bashing comes from the fact that he played simple, generic rhythms in a lot of songs that didn't need anything more. Not every instrumentalist has to stand out in every song.

Lars Ulrich is extremely limited and I don't like a lot of what he plays. His drumming is so stiff and heavy-handed that is sounds like a dead weight that pulls the music down. Thrash metal is fast by nature, and with speed always come some kind of lightness and agility. Lars Ulrich lacks that. Yet, I wouldn't call him one of the worst drummers either.

Meg White is just a gimmick, really.

I think Ringo was a great drummer.  Lars too.

bytor2112 wrote: I lol'd so hard at the Shaggs, was that supposed to be serious! Worst drumming I've ever heard.

The story of the Shaggs is actually kind of fascinating.  Their dad was a bit of a wackjob, and he had a dream that his daughters were going to have a band and be the biggest band in the world, so he took them out of school and forced them to play instruments that they didn't have the first clue how to play.  Then he hauled them into a studio to record their album.  The guy who ran the studio said maybe they should learn how to play first, but dear ole dad was having none of it - wanted to capture them "while they're hot".

Still, there's a certain primitivist charm there.....

Alan White

Equality 7-2521 wrote: The T wrote: He's still horrendous. And an atrocious singer. And a bad songwriter. He was very lucky. Whaa??? Where is he horrendous? Nobody saying he's some technical phenom, but the guy had some cool fills and kept time. Plus, he wrote Octopus' Garden which is better than like 90% of songs written.

Horrendous in relation to absurd claims saying he was incredibly good. He knew how to keep time properly and do ultra-basic fills. The music didn't really demand more and that played to his strengths. The Beatles was never about technique but about clever songwriting after all. He still is a mediocre drummer.

Octopus's Garden is the one moment of pseudo-brilliance in an otherwise weak songwriting career. Have you ever seen in tv ir live a performance of his own band? His music is rock that can't be any more generic and plain. His lyrics are poor too.

Lars Ulrich is in pure technique quite atrocious but he has come up with some really good drumming for what the band needed from him. Obviously, if they try to make him play outside of his metal comfort sone he'll suffer.

Mike Pointer should be on the list. Nowadays he finally learned how to make fills that don't sound cut in the middle. He's still mediocre at best though.

Now of course worst drummer will always be one who can't even keep time properly. And few bands that record commercial albums will dare employ one of those.

I always thought Mick Fleetwood was a hack. Can he play in anything other than 4/4? Does he know what polyrhythms are? Has he even heard a jazz record in his life? That guy also plays with his mouth open. I'm surprised he hasn't choked on a fly yet.

dwill123 wrote: Alan White Ginger Baker