Music Popular songs with awesome drums

[Cheimoon]

No Phil Collins yet? Burn this thread to the ground.

What's a popular song of his with great drums though? I've been thinking about it myself, but his earlier Genesis stuff doesn't qualify, and I haven't been able to think of any of his Genesis hits or solo work that's interesting enough to mention. Maybe Follow You Follow Me? That's a nice groove. Except if you want to highlight THAT break of course.

Edit: I did actually mention Turn It On Again already! (And I'm listening to Just A Job To Do now, which is drummed pretty OK; but a little too functional to stand out.)

(He's also played on about a million other recordings of course, but I'm not aware of when it was him specifically.)

 

[Salt Bailly]

What's a popular song of his with great drums though? I've been thinking about it myself, but his earlier Genesis stuff doesn't qualify, and I haven't been able to think of any of his Genesis hits or solo work that's interesting enough to mention. Maybe Follow You Follow Me? That's a nice groove. Except if you want to highlight THAT break of course.

Edit: I did actually mention Turn It On Again already! (And I'm listening to Just A Job To Do now, which is drummed pretty OK; but a little too functional to stand out.)

(He's also played on about a million other recordings of course, but I'm not aware of when it was him specifically.)

The one with the gorilla.

 

[FireballXL5]

 

[Salt Bailly]

 

[Superunknown]

Some great examples here.

Out of curiosity, do you play drums?

I've found Jimmy Chamberlain to be a real drummer's drummer. I didn't really appreciate just how technical his style was until I started playing. I played Siamese Dream to death when I was in high school and somehow he just didn't stand out to me. Perhaps I just started noticing drumming styles more as a result of playing, but his style is incredible complex, but doesn't appear overly flashy or fill-heavy. Massively underrated.

Yes, I'm a drummer. Picked up my first kit when I was around 15 or so, but then had to put it on the side lines when I moved away for uni. Got back into it again around 2 years ago and it's just like I picked up where I left off.

Completely agree with what you say about him being a drummer's drummer. His hi-hat foot just tapping/clicking/chinking away on that Siamese Dream album is a signature sound on that album. It's there, most people don't know it's there, but those that do and can pick it out can hear and feel it. It's a bit of an obscure thing to notice or spot, or even appreciate, but I love it. Love his fills on Geek USA and how he knows when to step it up with a flashy fill or when to just sit there and groove it out. He's a huge influence for me.

It's a shame we didn't get his drumming on the Adore album. I'd love it if they could somehow re-do that album with Jimmy's drumming.

 

[Cheimoon]

The one with the gorilla.

What gorilla?

That's why I said 'popular songs' in the thread title though. There are plenty of amazing drummer performances in strictly album tracks or by bands (or entire genres) that never achieved general popularity. What I'm looking for here (as much as posters can do whatever they want, of course) is drummers doing an amazing jobs in songs with mass appeal. Wot Gorilla doesn't quite fit that bit.

But while I'm on the subject: Wot Gorilla is a good example of why people are wrong who blame Collins primarily for Genesis becoming less prog. In the period of Trick Of The Tail, Wind & Wuthering, and And Then They Were Three, Collins was heavily into fusion and would have loved Genesis to get more into that. The rest of the band wasn't on board with that (I suspect Banks and Rutherford have zero affinity with jazz, certainly Banks) - but Wot Gorilla is where Collins got his way a bit. Obligatory Wikipedia quote (link):

Collins describes "Wot Gorilla?" as one of his favourite tracks on the album as it brought in his influences of jazz fusion and Weather Report. Rutherford said of the track, "[it is] a reprise of a section out of 'Vine'. It was Phil's idea to play a fast, jazzy rhythm", that built on the success of "Los Endos" from the previous album. Hackett was less enthusiastic and initially declared it "a very inferior instrumental", but later said it was "good rhythmically, but underdeveloped harmonically."

And apparently, finding out from Chester Thompson that Weather Report played Follow You Follow Me in its tour bus regularly was one of Collins's prouder moments as a drummer. Genesis turning non-prog was really something they did together.

Actually, that might be another one: Chester Thompson including one of his Zappa drum breaks in live versions of Afterglow (not Follow You Follow Me, but from the same period and pretty accessible), which was a request by Genesis when he joined them as their touring drummer. It's the long break here just after 4:00:

 

[Cheimoon]

Also, I'll be my typical self and will add a but more Sting to the thread - or more precisely, Vinnie Colaiuta playing for Sting. It's Saint Augustine In Hell from.the Ten Summoner's Tales album. It's really a very relaxed groove that doesn't sound all that special, but the beauty here to me is in the ride. The song is in 7/8 time and Colaiuta plays that ride every other eight, causing it to shift from bar to bar, like this: -2-4-6- | 1-3-5-7 | -2-4-6 etc. It's extremely subtle but a great way to add some variation to an otherwise pretty unremarkable groove. (Although it's an art in and of itself to play a 7/8 groove in a way that it sounds so relaxed and natural.)

Great first choice with Stewart Copeland!

My two favourite drummers are Jimmy Chamberlin from the Smashing Pumpkins and Danny Carey from Tool. These two are easily two of the best drummers on the planet and are all-time greats, for different reasons. Both are two of my favourite musicians and have been highly influential for me.

A Pumpkins classic: Geek USA. Probably some of his best work.

Then there's Cherub Rock, which is much more well-known. I've included Geek USA because it's a highly regarded Pumpkins classic, but I can't tell how much it's known outside of their fanbase. Pretty sure everyone knows Cherub Rock, however.


There's so many great Tool tracks to name. Lateralus, Forty Six & 2. Tbh, any Tool song usually has an amazing drum part. The newest album has some of his best work, too. Pnuema, hnggggg.

I'm going with Ticks & Leeches:


and

I've never been able to see the attraction to Smashing Pumpkins but I should bite that bullet and get seriously into Tool. I like individual tracks when I hear them, I liked them live (festival set), so it's time for albums and some Serious Study.

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

 

[Superunknown]

Also, I'll be my typical self and will add a but more Sting to the thread - or more precisely, Vinnie Colaiuta playing for Sting. It's Saint Augustine In Hell from.the Ten Summoner's Tales album. It's really a very relaxed groove that doesn't sound all that special, but the beauty here to me is in the ride. The song is in 7/8 time and Colaiuta plays that ride every other eight, causing it to shift from bar to bar, like this: -2-4-6- | 1-3-5-7 | -2-4-6 etc. It's extremely subtle but a great way to add some variation to an otherwise pretty unremarkable groove. (Although it's an art in and of itself to play a 7/8 groove in a way that it sounds so relaxed and natural.)



I've never been able to see the attraction to Smashing Pumpkins but I should bite that bullet and get seriously into Tool. I like individual tracks when I hear them, I liked them live (festival set), so it's time for albums and some Serious Study.

Check out the Siamese Dreams album for the Pumpkins at least, because it's such a good album. It may just change your mind.
For Tool, Lateralus is the album that defines the band, although I'd start chronologically with them. Aenima is a very good album, too.
There's a seriously good video of Tool performing Pnuema live, with a camera focused on Danny Carey the entire time. It's basically music porn. I've watched that video maybe 20 times+ since it hit.

 

[SparkedIntoLife]

Not a drummer or drumming enthusiast but, just to say, I'm digging your appreciation of Sting. He's probably my favourite artist of all time and I was fortunate enough to speak to him on Live and Kicking back in the early 90s. His first few solo albums (The Dream of the Blue Tutles, Nothing Like The Sun, The Soul Cages and Ten Summoner's Tales in particular) were musically stunning and massively underrated. He always had great musicians around him (drummers he used were Omar Hakim, Man Utd Katché, Vinnie Colaiuta and Stuart Copeland in The Police). Shame he went downhill from the Sacred Love album onwards, besides a few decent songs here and there.

Anyway, back on topic...

 

[Cheimoon]

Check out the Siamese Dreams album for the Pumpkins at least, because it's such a good album. It may just change your mind.
For Tool, Lateralus is the album that defines the band, although I'd start chronologically with them. Aenima is a very good album, too.

Okay, I'll give them a chance then. I kinda know Tool already actually, my brother is a big fan and I know their career. Just never got into it myself.

There's a seriously good video of Tool performing Pnuema live, with a camera focused on Danny Carey the entire time. It's basically music porn. I've watched that video maybe 20 times+ since it hit.

He's a full kit wanker!!

Yeah, cool video. One thing I find interesting about Tool is that their rhythmic patterns can be hard to decipher: they can be quite stretched out, and it doesn't help that all playets do their own thing to some extent, blurring the accents and making them harder to identify.

Also, I love player-centric cameras. Those concert videos where the camera angle switches every two seconds (literally, if not actually less) and you never get to see the musicians actually playing their instrument annoy me to no end.

Not a drummer or drumming enthusiast but, just to say, I'm digging your appreciation of Sting. He's probably my favourite artist of all time and I was fortunate enough to speak to him on Live and Kicking back in the early 90s. His first few solo albums (The Dream of the Blue Tutles, Nothing Like The Sun, The Soul Cages and Ten Summoner's Tales in particular) were musically stunning and massively underrated. He always had great musicians around him (drummers he used were Omar Hakim, Man Utd Katché, Vinnie Colaiuta and Stuart Copeland in The Police). Shame he went downhill from the Sacred Love album onwards, besides a few decent songs here and there.

Anyway, back on topic...

Yeah, Sting is amazing - and a bit of a musicians' musician I guess, since there is so much going on that you don't necessarily notice if you're not looking for it. I agree that his first four solo albums are an insane winning streak (even if I'm less fond of Nothing Like The Sun). I love the rich arrangements on The Soul Cages as well. And Bring On The Night is of course an amazing live album, one of my favorite of any band, that really adds (a LOT) to his studio albums. Rick Beato from that YouTube channel I referred to earlier is a big fan, and this is a video I was watching the other day (not much drums in there though, it's mostly about harmonics):

 

[Cheimoon]

I owe a proper contribution about drums after that, so here is the great Steve Gadd making history in Paul Simon's 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. That's a great and very creative groove:

 

[psychdelicblues]

Money for nothing - Dire Straits
Mitch Mitchell’s work with The Jimi Hendrix Experience

https://cdn.veojam.com/video/720/4/4044_7ccd04e4be.mp4

 

[Jimble]

May not be a popular song, but this still gives me goosebumps every time I watch it. Just the scale of the whole thing, and the pounding drums

 

[Jimble]

this is also amazing. The raw power when he starts on the drums is absolutely banging. Super talented bloke as well, the whole composition is brilliant.

 

[Beachryan]

Check out the Siamese Dreams album for the Pumpkins at least, because it's such a good album. It may just change your mind.
For Tool, Lateralus is the album that defines the band, although I'd start chronologically with them. Aenima is a very good album, too.

These are great takes. If you like the Pneuma video, this is an awesome view of how ridiculous the drumming on Geek USA is (). So effortless.

As a drummer, here are a few where I feel the drums help make the song, rather than the part being necessarily amazing:
Everlong - Foo Fighters
Spoonman - Soundgarden
Knights of Cydonia - Muse
Rosanna - Toto (someone must have already said this)
My Sharona - The Knack
Tripping Billies - Dave Matthews Band
Trains - Porcupine Tree
Metalingus - Alter Bridge

Anyway, great thread

 

[Superunknown]

These are great takes. If you like the Pneuma video, this is an awesome view of how ridiculous the drumming on Geek USA is (). So effortless.

As a drummer, here are a few where I feel the drums help make the song, rather than the part being necessarily amazing:
Everlong - Foo Fighters
Spoonman - Soundgarden
Knights of Cydonia - Muse
Rosanna - Toto (someone must have already said this)
My Sharona - The Knack
Tripping Billies - Dave Matthews Band
Trains - Porcupine Tree
Metalingus - Alter Bridge

Anyway, great thread

That video, fecking hell. I've died and gone to heaven.

Here's another one. Pumpkins at their peak. Some hero kept the camera on the drums for the entire time. What a guy.

 

[choccy77]

Suppers Ready Apocalypse in 9/8

Genesis

 

[choccy77]

3.54 onwards is pretty great drumming by Phil and Chester on extended version of Abacab

 

[Cheimoon]

I really like Loel Campbell, the drummer of Wintersleep. He has a tendency to decorate his grooves with little snare rolls and hihat slides (is that the right word?), which in my experience is pretty unique (his specific style) and really adds to the variety of the music. It's a great band anyway, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not sure what's their best track to showcase this style, but this one kinda works:


Campbell also played with Holy Feck, a group that plays dance through cheap keyboards and random gear, with live bass and drums. You can hear his style there as well. Great timing to keep the energy up, too:

As a drummer, here are a few where I feel the drums help make the song, rather than the part being necessarily amazing:
Everlong - Foo Fighters
Spoonman - Soundgarden
Knights of Cydonia - Muse
Rosanna - Toto (someone must have already said this)
My Sharona - The Knack
Tripping Billies - Dave Matthews Band
Trains - Porcupine Tree
Metalingus - Alter Bridge

Anyway, great thread

Thanks - that'll keep me busy tomorrow. I suppose lots of Toto songs could be included here!

That video, fecking hell. I've died and gone to heaven.

Here's another one. Pumpkins at their peak. Some hero kept the camera on the drums for the entire time. What a guy.

I've been trying Smashing Pumpkins again yesterday and today, but it really isn't for me. Primarily, I just find it very ugly music, which makes it hard to listen to properly. (I don't want to hear the drums of layering, I just want to turn it the feck off...) Sorry!

I can see why you like the drummer though. I have to admit that I don't hear it so well when just listening to the song, but that drummer cam video of Geek USA is amazing. I still don't like so much what he plays, but the way he does it is great. (I didn't even know Cherub Rock btw; Smashing Pumpkins weren't at all a big mainstream radio band in the Netherlands in the 90s, and didn't play much on alternative radio afterwards apart from a handful of bigger hits.)

 

[arthurka]

Anything with Sterling Campbell he is great.

 

[strongwalker]

 

[markhughes]

Waterfall - Stone Roses

It's quite understated but beautiful.

 

[Florida Man]

The whole album really. All Arctic Monkeys songs really.

 

[djembatheking]

Waterfall - Stone Roses

It's quite understated but beautiful.

Good call,

 

[markhughes]

Good call,

He just makes it look so easy, what a drummer.

 

[Cheimoon]

Just so I'm not always posting complex or famous drummer stuff: I really like the drummer of The Motorleague. I don't know if his technique is any good, but a good.part of the band's appeal to me is how he pushes the music forward (what's the technical term for the opposite of laidback drumming?), and how he adds in lots of little details. For example:

Everyone Is Digital:


Alone in the Universe (especially the bit from 2:17):


Also, for songs made by their drums, let me be the first to state the obvious:

 

[Cheimoon]

Kinda on the topic of the thread: has anybody seen the Count Me In documentary on Netflix? It's a kind of hagiography of 'the rock drummer', but apart from talking about how awesome drums and (specific) drummers are, it also goes into some elements of technique and what makes individual people great (and in that sense fits the thread). Pretty interesting I thought.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Was listening to some metal the other day after ages - Maiden and Metallica, and proper loud drums are such a huge part of that style of music. Even a 'ballad' like nothing else matters has far louder drums than I would recall it having.

 

[Cheimoon]

Was listening to some metal the other day after ages - Maiden and Metallica, and proper loud drums are such a huge part of that style of music. Even a 'ballad' like nothing else matters has far louder drums than I would recall it having.

Can't listen to it now, but this makes me think of One, where the drums have the metal sound throughout the song - also in the first half, where the song isn't metal otherwise. It's kind of a sound clash there (the ballad with the metal kick etc.), but of course it works well for them.

 

[Salt Bailly]

What gorilla?

I actually meant this:

 

[Red Stone]

He doesn't really play "popular" music, but Marco Minnemann is an absolute fiend on the sticks. Has an insane knack for creating the most sumptious grooves, and can play the most unbelievably technical stuff too. I recommend checking out everything he's done with Steven Wilson, but most of all what he does with The Aristocrats. Absolutely ridiculous skill level on all three members, and all of it is simply playing fun music because it's fun. I had the pleasure of watching The Aristocrats live and they are just a mind-bogglingly mental band.

A small taste of Marco's talents, in a song where they are just goofing off and purposefully fecking everything up at times, but their ability still shines through every second of the way:

 

[Bondi77]

Dave working his arse off;

 

[led_scholes]

The first rock beat;


What a way to introduce yourself as the first English punk band;


At the firs page I posted When the levee breaks, and another poster Achilles last stand. There is also Carouselambra and the lovely Fool in the Rain but watching the trailer for their new documentary reminded me how truly awesome and interesting this groove is.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Can't listen to it now, but this makes me think of One, where the drums have the metal sound throughout the song - also in the first half, where the song isn't metal otherwise. It's kind of a sound clash there (the ballad with the metal kick etc.), but of course it works well for them.

Yeah, it's interesting how now that I make my own music as a hobby that it stands out clearly how loud their drums are relative to the rest of the music. Probably noticing it more as I don't give it that much importance myself!

 

[Cheimoon]

Yeah, it's interesting how now that I make my own music as a hobby that it stands out clearly how loud their drums are relative to the rest of the music. Probably noticing it more as I don't give it that much importance myself!

It's interesting how drums are mixed and what it does to the music. I was listening to XTC's Nonsuch album through headphones, and the drums stand out so clearly that it's almost as if they are mixed on top or in front of the rest of the music, if that makes sense - it's so loud in the music! But it doesn't get in the way since the whole thing (which can be fairly layered in their case) is mixed very transparently. Like here:


I much prefer this sort of mix over the muddled sort of sound where every part is kinda buried into the mix - but I imagine this transparent sound is much harder to accomplish. (Certainly in my own dabbling in music the mix definitely tends to become very muddy; but then I am a total amateur and know next to nothing about production.)

 

[Cheimoon]

I actually meant this:

Wait, so it's a complete coincidence in your post that Genesis also have a song called Wot Gorilla?

 

[Cheimoon]

The first rock beat;


What a way to introduce yourself as the first English punk band;


At the firs page I posted When the levee breaks, and another poster Achilles last stand. There is also Carouselambra and the lovely Fool in the Rain but watching the trailer for their new documentary reminded me how truly awesome and interesting this groove is.

Coincidentally, the drummer from The Damned is interviewed in that Count Me In documentary I mentioned above! (And Bonham also, of course. )

 

[Salt Bailly]

Wait, so it's a complete coincidence in your post that Genesis also have a song called Wot Gorilla?

Yes

Had no idea that track existed, though I am now wondering if its title inspired the famous commercial.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Okay, I'll give them a chance then. I kinda know Tool already actually, my brother is a big fan and I know their career. Just never got into it myself.

He's a full kit wanker!!

Yeah, cool video. One thing I find interesting about Tool is that their rhythmic patterns can be hard to decipher: they can be quite stretched out, and it doesn't help that all playets do their own thing to some extent, blurring the accents and making them harder to identify.

Random contribution but every time I think of Tool these days I think of this video.


Loads of drumming and percussion footage for you. Special shout out to the wee kid banging two sticks together.