under-rated drummers

[Sepulchrave]

Richard Christy. He's pretty good. And unheard of. A lot of drummers from the less known prog groups are generally excellent.

[SteveR]

Jason Finn- The Presidents of the United States of America.  His massive cymbal arsonal consists of a ride, hi hats, and 2 crashes (1 ten inch and 1 twelve inch)  ;D

[bilkay]

Bill Stewart
Jimmy Chamberlain
Billy Martin






Phil Collins?

[Snake]

-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.
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"

Ditto.

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.

Ditto.

brad wilk (rage against the machine)

Ditto.

And I'll add Kenny Aronoff.  I think he's one of the true greats of the last 25 years (and so do about a million artists, producers, etc. - have you seen his list of credits?  :o ), but I rarely hear/see his name mentioned in the online drumming community.  He's probably the most tasteful drummer I've ever heard.  And he's classically trained, so he's overflowing with chops.  He's just one of those guys that gets it - he plays only what the song requires, nothing more.  I love that.  

[Christopher]

I'd say that Roger Taylor (from Queen) doesn't/didn't get the proper acculades for his playing. Ever hear the Queen song "Dragon Attack"?

Also, I like Stan Lynch (from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) as an under-rater.

Great, great feel.

[rdmitch]

While I wouldn't cosider him under rated, I just got the album CAB4  which features Dennis Chambers.  After reading the 5 star review of this album in Modern Drummer last month (May 2004 issue) I had to check it out.  While it's really not my favorite style of music,  Dennis is incrediburgable !  It helps having Bunny Brunel on bass and Brian Auger on keys.   Definitely worth checking out if you like wild jazz fusion.

I have to say the Gary Husband ranks up there in my opinion  (he puts little splashes where they wouldn't seem to fit, yet they do!) as well as Steve Smith and Jeff Pocaro.  Cool grooves, steady as all git out and when they throw in a fill its usually something thats innovative and not that I would ever think of. Hey, selective copying is my middle name.

[topleywonder]

Mitch Mitchell for Jimi Hendrix Experience
Also Dean Butterworth who Plays for Ben Harper, at least i think he did for most of his c.d's, correct me if i am wrong.

[thealmightytaco]

Yeah the President's guy is coo'!!

I was gonna add Jabo Starks and Clyde Stubblefield too, I never hear anything about them but @$%# they're funky.

And I can hear that Matt Cameron is in time, and has very good technique, but I just can't feel him. At all. It's like seeing a young lady, who is by the book a fine specimen of beauty, but you just don't care. Weird.

[Seraphina]

Ryan Vikedal,great straightahead rock drummer and a great jazz drummer too.

[irishthump]

As far as underated drummers go, I have to say, Phil Collins.
Regardless of his crappy solo material, the guy is a fine drummer.

Also, Ringo Starr! He's not under-rated by drummers, but I still find other musicians tend to rubbish him, A LOT!!!

[hezGMS]

y'all are right, about Lars, I love metallica (or at least they had some really great songwriting) but I think the drummer for Dishwalla (cant remember his name) is underrated, i guess it just goes to show that he is in fact underrated, cuz i dont even know his name!!!!!

[Monk Man]

Ralph Molina from Crazy Horse. you expect him to do one thing and he does another or does nothing.
Levon Helm-The Band. every time i listen to his playing i hear another cool beat.
Ralph Johnson from Earth Wind and Fire. goove and chops for days.

[dougstiers]

Bob Siebenberg(drums and percussion)- Supertramp

[bonejoy]

NICK MASON - the most atmospheric drummer I ever heard....Knows just what to do, and exactly when to do it....

He's the reason I started drumming....just loved his style.

[KVon]

Most definitely Brann Dailor of Mastodon is an underrated drummer (mostly cuz he's unheard of), and although I wasn't really all about the type of music he plays, I was blown away by his pure skill and unique style.

Lars Ulrich sucks; to call him a drummer at all is overrating him.

Yes, I agree with others who said that Phil Collins was a damned good drummer pre-solo career.

Also a good drummer-John Dolmayan from System of a Down.

[Emerson]

 I think the truly underated drummers are the ones who influenced the way drums are played.
Take Kenny Clark for example, he inovated the Bebop concept which paved the way for all modern drum styles. He moved to france in 1956 and was a major figure on the European jazz scene. Because he left, he was never fully Recognized (not in the states at least).
What about the Jazz pioneers, the early Rock & Roll drummers who inovated the Straight 8th feel on the drums, or the early Rock drummers. Especially those comming from England.
Here is a list of of drummers that are underated:

Warren "Baby" Dodds
Zutty Singleton
Papa Jo Jones
Earl Palmer
D.J. Fontana
Panama Francis
Fats Domino
Hal Blaine
Sandy Nelson
Mitch Mitchell
Ginger Baker

There are many others. But, these are only the ones that i can remember off hand.

[ChemBob]

I'm not so sure that Ginger Baker is all that underated. There was a Modern Drummer a few years ago, I believe he was on the cover (can't remember for sure) but they referred to him in a large font as "The Master." He's certainly never been underated by me. I think he's among the elite of drummers.

ChemBob

[Nubert Thump]

BJ Wilson(Procol Harum, Joe Cocker--Mad Dogs & Englishmen)
Bev Bevan(The Move, ELO)
Bobby Elliott(The Hollies)
Dino Danelli(Rascals)
John Siomos(Peter Frampton among others)
Herb Lovell (session player)

[DoubleC]

As far as underated drummers go, I have to say, Phil Collins.
Regardless of his crappy solo material, the guy is a fine drummer.

Also, Ringo Starr! He's not under-rated by drummers, but I still find other musicians tend to rubbish him, A LOT!!!

It's funny - I know a lot of non-drummers that really love (including myself) Ringo but most drummers I know don't appreciate his playing.

I think the drummer from the Cars (David Robinson?) is really good as well.  Simple fills, simple beats but man, his stuff is musical to me.  The guitar player is really awesome too!!!

I don't think Ricky Lawson gets a lot of props either but I really enjoy his playing on the first Yellowjackets release.

David Van Wagineen (sp?) is another drummer that doesn't get much props either.  He usually plays with Andy Narell.

dc

[Drummz]

Nicko McBrain is the only one that comes in mind right now. On the other hand, LARS ULRICH really sucks!!!

Stefanos, I agree on both accounts! Nicko is a great drummer. I saw his clinic back in '88. He is not the most technical guy in the world but he does some amazing things with some very cool fills and ride patterns and is a serious powerhouse drummer. He sure blows me away!

I am with you, Lars is WAY over-rated! If you haven't seen him live, let me tell you his timing is awful. I think with a click track and Bob Rock controlling his drum takes he sounds better in the studio, but playing live he is very unimpressive.

My vote is for Deen Castronovo among many others. A very impressive drummer and a heck of a nice guy.