under-rated drummers

[chefdoug]

Give me your top 3 under-rated drummers. For me, the 3 that come to mind are:

-Jerry Gaskill of Kings X- I've seen them live a couple of times and they are SICK! Jerry's timing is impecable, very simple and tasteful drummer. I'll never understand why Kings X never got more popular.

-Chad Sexton of 311- The guy has great chops, I never really hear much about him. He can solo really well too.

-Matt Cameron of Soundgarden- Why did Soundgarden have to go away? Matt is an awesome drummer with a pretty unique style, Just take a listen to Jesus Christ Pose, wow. I also enjoyed his playing on Geddy Lee's "My Favorite Headache"

[BlackEvovii]

Jerry is a really good drummer.  On the album dogman, its song 7 or so, he does some awesome fills.


Chad Sexton was praised, sorta about 5 years ago.

Same with Cameron


I dont know of any under rated drummers, since alot of the music i listen to is not main stream :( .......

Id say Incubus's drummer.  Although, you woldn't know it now.

[Mark Schlipper]

steve jansen of japan, rain tree crow, and stuff under his name.  japan got lumped in with the whole "new romantic" thing.  they were different though.  very polyrhythmic and angular.  jansens ability to pull all that off and keep the flow is admirable.  as he/they matured so did the music.  he can play a simple downtempo back beat with such smooth flair its sick.  hes got such a knack for holding off that snare hit til just ... the ... right ... moment.  and adds tiny little flourishes in his ride patterns that give  things just a bit more motion.  his later playing is subtle, but perfect.  the album "stone to flesh" with him and richard barbieri is a great example among many.

[BretScherm]

Jeremy taggart of Our Lady Peace - On the older albums he was amazing.  Possibly one of the best rock drummers out there today.

Chad Gracey of Live - Great feel and touch for some one who was completely self taught, and from what I hear not a very dedicated practicer.

Scott Underwood of Train - Nothing flashy but really solid with some pretty cools fills every now and then.  I dunno nothing really special i'm just a big fan of his playing.

[daveabbruzzese]

mike malinin (goo goo dolls)
brad wilk (rage against the machine)
pat wilson (weezer)

in no particular order

[Kryogh]

Tea Party.

This is a so unestimate canadian band. I dont understand why.

[Mark Schlipper]

tea party is indeed underrated, as is thier drummer :)  and im not even canadian.

[Carlos Benson]

I just have one today. His name is Dan Wojciechowski. In Dallas he's known as "Wojo". He's just one of the baddest drummers I've ever seen. He's currently with Leanne Rimes. He's also #1 session drummer in Dallas. I had just moved from Los Angeles to Dallas back in 1993 and went out one night to a little club and saw this band with pretty good players, but "Wojo" stood out from the others. And then it came time for his solo and it left my jaw on the floor. Now I've lived in every major music city in the US, seen tons of drummers, local and national acts, but this guy  :o ....whew! Now to top it off, Wojo never stops smiling when he's playing and he's the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet. So, ya know the CD Bartman has for sale "Sessions Minus One" ??? You guys should get it, that's Wojo's CD. I think Bartman would back me up on this very underrated drummer, the "Wojo" man. 8)

[humain]

Zak Najor - Greyboy allstars

Willie Jones III - Various

Marc Erbetta - Érik Truffaz

[Kelly Brady]

Morgan Rose of Sevendust. Talented young cookie.

[SteveG]

All of the top session guys in Nashville and the first tier road drummers for the major Nashville acts. They work because they can play.

[Peter Jeffery]

mike malinin (goo goo dolls)
brad wilk (rage against the machine)
pat wilson (weezer)

in no particular order

Well, I do like your namesake  -Dave (ex) of Pearl Jam- .....but I think the first two guys on this list are OVER-rated if anything.    Especially Brad Wilk from RATM (and I like(d) the band overall)....I think he's really lacking.   I always considered him to be VERY lucky to have found his way into that band.  

I do like Pat Wilson for his simple but cool groove and he was great in his part in the 'Buddy Holly' vid.

Mike Malinin, the Goo's second drummer is a hell of a nice guy and a great athlete but I don't think he's superior in any way, shape or form as a drummer.   At least he's certainly not a  'drummer's drummer' by any means.   Maybe he's a good early influence for young rock drummers though......that's worth something.   That aside, he's perfect for what the Goos' need and I don't blame them for choosing him at all.  It's just that I can think of a couple hundred guys who can play him into the ground....most of them unknown.

IMHO

[Carn]

Morgan Rose of Sevendust. Talented young cookie.

i agree with that, i would love to see him with a non-rock band once though, because his sevendust stuff is pretty straightforward...but he is awesome live!!

[Peter Jeffery]

Tea Party.

This is a so unestimate canadian band. I dont understand why.

My band supported Nelly Furtado, Tom Cochrane and  The Tea Party last year (Salmon Festival 2001; Newfoundland, Canada).

I totally agree!!    8)

(and a word to the wise ---if you EVER have the chance to drink with singer/guitarist Jeff Martin  -DON'T!!!   ....he'll drink 10 times as much as you and then laugh as you crawl away!!    Jack Daniel's is merely Kool Aid to this guy!)

Jeff Burrows is an amazing drummer.   I'd like to see him doing a Page/Plant thing.

[Mark Schlipper]

(and a word to the wise ---if you EVER have the chance to drink with singer/guitarist Jeff Martin  -DON'T!!!   ....he'll drink 10 times as much as you and then laugh as you crawl away!!    Jack Daniel's is merely Kool Aid to this guy!)

LOL! i dont doubt it, im quite the lightwieght when it comes to drinking.

a friend of mine toured with type o negative and has similar stories of pete steel and vodka :)

[Ratamatatt]

I'm going to get hammered for this, but, I think Ringo was underrated.  

Dan Wojciechowski?  Wasn't he a character in Barnie Miller?  (Great theme song, did he play in that)?  No, wait, he's the whoops coach an Duke, right?

Ratamatatt

[BlackEvovii]

Chris Houck of Nothingface.....amazing drummer.

[Mark Schlipper]

the wierd thing about ringo is that he became one of the most influential drummers of all time (meaning that he was what made a ton of people want to play) based on live performances that with the exception of televised stuff, couldnt really be heard (stadium show with no drum p.a.?).  from what i understand, the recordings on beatles albums werent actually him.  but alan white, bernard purdie, and even paul on occassion.

[JoshP]

Patrick Wilson - Weezer
Jose Pasillas - Incubus
I forgot his name!!!!!!!! the drummer for Radiohead! What is his name! i hate that when you know it and you dont! oh well...

[James Walker]

I don't know if these guys would qualify as "under-rated," as those who know their work know how good they are - but I don't think these guys garner anywhere near the attention they deserve...a couple from the jazz corner, if I may:

Adam Nussbaum - I mentioned him in an earlier "underrated drummers" thread, but I have to mention him again.  Why is this guy heard more often?  Great sound, great chops, and fantastic energy.  He's right at the top of my, "he can play with my band ANY DAY!" list.

Ricky Sebastian - check out his work with Tania Maria, or with Charles Fambrough (esp. his CD, Blues at Bradley's), among others - extremely tasteful, great groove, knows his styles inside and out, and has a great, great, GREAT snare drum sound (great sound overall, but that snare drum...OH that snare drum!).

Jeff Hamilton - another one of these guys who doesn't seem to be the first name in many "who's your favorite drummer?" conversations, but among those who are familiar with his work, well...we know how serious a player he is.

IMHO, FWIW, YMMV, etc....