Was Keith Moon a good drummer?

[Lorraine]

Watched some Tommy tour footage today. Propulsive.

 

The 1969 Amsterdam audio boot is magnificent. He's so dynamic and exciting.

 

Hatch, do you happen to know of a good sounding boot from the Quadrophenia tour? ReGor and I am on the lookout for one.

The Who Spectrum 1973

Thank you!

You can preview it on youtube.

 

Haha, I can't preview anything. I'll let ReGor preview it and let me know. :)

[Lorraine]

I listened to Who Are You last night and I think Keith Moon's drumming is a notch or two down from earlier Who albums. It's a shame. Addiction is a bitch.

 

I just thought of something akin to you saying "addiction is a bitch."

 

How about Jimmy Page? His five year heroin addiction didn't seem to affect his guitar playing.

[ReRushed]

I listened to Who Are You last night and I think Keith Moon's drumming is a notch or two down from earlier Who albums. It's a shame. Addiction is a bitch.

 

I just thought of something akin to you saying "addiction is a bitch."

 

How about Jimmy Page? His five year heroin addiction didn't seem to affect his guitar playing.

His addiction affected the recording of In Through the Out Door.

 

Guys like Keith Richards and Jimmy Page were able to handle their addictions. Guys like Keith Moon didn't.

[Blue J]

I listened to Who Are You last night and I think Keith Moon's drumming is a notch or two down from earlier Who albums. It's a shame. Addiction is a bitch.

 

I just thought of something akin to you saying "addiction is a bitch."

 

How about Jimmy Page? His five year heroin addiction didn't seem to affect his guitar playing.

His addiction affected the recording of In Through the Out Door.

 

Guys like Keith Richards and Jimmy Page were able to handle their addictions. Guys like Keith Moon didn't.

 

Oh, I think heroin really did affect Jimmy Page's talents. There were some times that he really had it together, and some that he really didn't. Zeppelin's last tour of North America in 1977 bears that out- some of those shows were brilliant, amazing, and some were completely perfunctory. And I would argue that was not due to the rhythm section. It was Page. And then Knebworth was pretty great in '79, but the music had shifted away from him a bit by then. His solo spots, even on the older material, were less grand than they once were. And I think the same is true for the European tour in 1980.

 

But it's incredible to me that anyone can be that strung out and still be able to make music or even function at all.

 

I'm not as much in tune with how much Keith Richards' playing did or didn't change, so I won't speak to that.

[Lorraine]

But it's incredible to me that anyone can be that strung out and still be able to make music or even function at all.

 

Me too, especially when it comes to heroin. I never took it, but I understand it's a real nodding-out drug. Not exactly the type of drug you'd take to go on stage and give a performance.

 

Apparently though, some musicians like it. Who was it that said if God had made anything better than heroin, he wasn't aware of it?

[Lorraine]

Maybe there is some type of preservative quality in heroin - both Keith and Jimmy are in their seventies and still going strong. At least in Jimmy's case, he looks better than ever. Keith looks like he's always looked - just more ancient.

[Blue J]

Maybe there is some type of preservative quality in heroin - both Keith and Jimmy are in their seventies and still going strong. At least in Jimmy's case, he looks better than ever. Keith looks like he's always looked - just more ancient.

 

This is true!

[Blue J]

But it's incredible to me that anyone can be that strung out and still be able to make music or even function at all.

 

Me too, especially when it comes to heroin. I never took it, but I understand it's a real nodding-out drug. Not exactly the type of drug you'd take to go on stage and give a performance.

 

Apparently though, some musicians like it. Who was it that said if God had made anything better than heroin, he wasn't aware of it?

 

I never tried it, either- though I was in recovery with some people who had been through it. A good friend of mine at that time (early in my recovery) had been deep into heroin and Ketamine, which is a horse tranquilizer (and which he called 'Vitamin K'). He came out of that and is doing great, to this day.

 

I believe it was Charles Mingus who said of heroin, "If God made anything better, He kept it to Himself."

[EagleMoon]

That's why I like him and Bonham. And (I'll probably catch hell for this but ...) that's why I prefer both of their drumming styles to Neil's.

Why would you catch hell?

 

Neil Peart isn't my favorite rock drummer. He's in my personal top three behind Bonham and Ringo Starr (eff u haters).

 

I'm not the biggest Keith Moon fan in the world. I like a lot of other drummers before him. Will I catch hell on this thread?

 

You would ask such a question on a Rush forum? Did you not know that Neil is a god who can do no wrong?

 

Said no one on this forum ever. :)

[EagleMoon]

Another reason why I asked this question is because when I was listening to Quadrophenia, I noticed that he seemed to be a "single minded" drummer. By that I mean it sounded to me like Neil was/is able to do more things on the drums at once than Keith did. If this isn't correct, what am I not hearing?

 

What I do love about Keith's drumming is the fierceness and the loudness. Neil is too controlled and disciplined for me.

 

I think that control and discipline in Neil is a matter of just absolute precision. I don't think Neil would ever want to play as wildly and as all-over-the-place as Keith Moon. It's interesting to me that Moonie was such an influence on Neil, because their playing styles are so different.

 

Neil's approach has always seemed to be very measured and, of course, technically precise- whereas Moon was just all over the place.

 

It may be the reason that it seems Neil can do more things all at once is because that's what he wants us to be able to hear- every beat, every trill of the hi-hat, every individual beat in a roll. Moon was also taking on a ride through his mind- the signals from his brain, his intent, that translated into every flick of his wrist, and pounding with his arms. They both just come out sounding much different.

 

 

And no, I can't possibly be any less pedantic or verbose than that. That was as succinctly as I could answer the question. :P

 

Well said.

 

Neil and Keith are almost polar opposites in their drumming styles. I always got the feeling that Neil wanted to be more spontaneous like Keith, wanted to be able to just let go but still play with the same precision.

[Lorraine]

That's why I like him and Bonham. And (I'll probably catch hell for this but ...) that's why I prefer both of their drumming styles to Neil's.

Why would you catch hell?

 

Neil Peart isn't my favorite rock drummer. He's in my personal top three behind Bonham and Ringo Starr (eff u haters).

 

I'm not the biggest Keith Moon fan in the world. I like a lot of other drummers before him. Will I catch hell on this thread?

 

You would ask such a question on a Rush forum? Did you not know that Neil is a god who can do no wrong?

 

Said no one on this forum ever. :)

 

Maybe not. But one can get that impression. :)

[EagleMoon]

That's why I like him and Bonham. And (I'll probably catch hell for this but ...) that's why I prefer both of their drumming styles to Neil's.

Why would you catch hell?

 

Neil Peart isn't my favorite rock drummer. He's in my personal top three behind Bonham and Ringo Starr (eff u haters).

 

I'm not the biggest Keith Moon fan in the world. I like a lot of other drummers before him. Will I catch hell on this thread?

 

You would ask such a question on a Rush forum? Did you not know that Neil is a god who can do no wrong?

 

Said no one on this forum ever. :)

 

Maybe not. But one can get that impression. :)

 

With thread titles like "Is Neil a selfish prick?" :D

[Lorraine]

That was locked. Even I thought it was over the top.

[Xanadoood]

I will say that Peart does sound Moonlike the most on FBN. The influence is there, no doubt. By the time AFTK rolled around, he had gotten a lot more clinical.

[Lorraine]

I have a question that I'll stick in this thread.

 

Is there a drummer in a popular band that isn't quite up to snuff as a drummer?

[Xanadoood]

I have a question that I'll stick in this thread.

 

Is there a drummer in a popular band that isn't quite up to snuff as a drummer?

 

Lars Ulrich

[Jaminbenb]

From my seat, as a drummer for a pretty long time...ok almost all of my life... I think he's probably one of the first rock drummers to take things to a different level... I'm not going to say whether he was good or bad, he was the RIGHT drummer for The Who, and he did what was needed for the songs. When you listen back to some of their stuff, and hear what he played, and how he played it, you knew that he was the right guy for them, no questions..... How he would have played for a different band....who knows? But he took that old "four on the floor" attitude, and went up a few notches. I think he opened the door for a lot of guys (Peart included) to not be afraid to experiment, and take things to another level.

 

"Technically" now... I would say that most people that look at drumming as an "art" would look at his style and say he was sloppy, unruly, and just not the best technician there was sitting behind a drum kit....but it didn't matter with The Who.

[Jaminbenb]

I have a question that I'll stick in this thread.

 

Is there a drummer in a popular band that isn't quite up to snuff as a drummer?

 

Lars Ulrich

 

Easily!

[Lorraine]

From my seat, as a drummer for a pretty long time...ok almost all of my life... I think he's probably one of the first rock drummers to take things to a different level... I'm not going to say whether he was good or bad, he was the RIGHT drummer for The Who, and he did what was needed for the songs. When you listen back to some of their stuff, and hear what he played, and how he played it, you knew that he was the right guy for them, no questions..... How he would have played for a different band....who knows? But he took that old "four on the floor" attitude, and went up a few notches. I think he opened the door for a lot of guys (Peart included) to not be afraid to experiment, and take things to another level.

 

"Technically" now... I would say that most people that look at drumming as an "art" would look at his style and say he was sloppy, unruly, and just not the best technician there was sitting behind a drum kit....but it didn't matter with The Who.

 

Why didn't it matter with The Who?

[Lorraine]

I have a question that I'll stick in this thread.

 

Is there a drummer in a popular band that isn't quite up to snuff as a drummer?

 

Lars Ulrich

 

n a brand new interview with Sticks For Stones, former DREAM THEATER and current THE WINERY DOGS and METAL ALLEGIANCE drummer Mike Portnoy was asked if he thinks somebody like METALLICA's Lars Ulrich is a good drummer. He responded (hear audio below): "Well, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Lars, even though he takes a beating in the drum community. To me, his value is not necessarily in drumming, but it has to do with him being a part of a musical revolution that he was a huge, huge part of starting. He's been a tremendous asset to METALLICA, not only as a writer, but as a businessman and his abilities to market things and his ability to arrange music and his performance on stage — he's a very animated player on stage. And to me, I would rather watch somebody like Lars Ulrich on stage than one of these technical drummers that can do quadruple paradiddles at 240bpm. To me, that's boring. Who cares about that?"

 

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/is-metallicas-lars-ulrich-a-good-drummer-mike-portnoy-weighs-in/

[Jaminbenb]

From my seat, as a drummer for a pretty long time...ok almost all of my life... I think he's probably one of the first rock drummers to take things to a different level... I'm not going to say whether he was good or bad, he was the RIGHT drummer for The Who, and he did what was needed for the songs. When you listen back to some of their stuff, and hear what he played, and how he played it, you knew that he was the right guy for them, no questions..... How he would have played for a different band....who knows? But he took that old "four on the floor" attitude, and went up a few notches. I think he opened the door for a lot of guys (Peart included) to not be afraid to experiment, and take things to another level.

 

"Technically" now... I would say that most people that look at drumming as an "art" would look at his style and say he was sloppy, unruly, and just not the best technician there was sitting behind a drum kit....but it didn't matter with The Who.

 

Why didn't it matter with The Who?

 

Their music wasn't cut and dry...squared off...and perfect...it had a sloppy quality to it that made them The Who! If you go see them now, they're more like a tribute act than anything else...some of the old recordings of things I've heard were so off the charts unruly, that you got into them more than the bands that played "like the record".

[Lorraine]

From my seat, as a drummer for a pretty long time...ok almost all of my life... I think he's probably one of the first rock drummers to take things to a different level... I'm not going to say whether he was good or bad, he was the RIGHT drummer for The Who, and he did what was needed for the songs. When you listen back to some of their stuff, and hear what he played, and how he played it, you knew that he was the right guy for them, no questions..... How he would have played for a different band....who knows? But he took that old "four on the floor" attitude, and went up a few notches. I think he opened the door for a lot of guys (Peart included) to not be afraid to experiment, and take things to another level.

 

"Technically" now... I would say that most people that look at drumming as an "art" would look at his style and say he was sloppy, unruly, and just not the best technician there was sitting behind a drum kit....but it didn't matter with The Who.

 

Why didn't it matter with The Who?

 

Their music wasn't cut and dry...squared off...and perfect...it had a sloppy quality to it that made them The Who! If you go see them now, they're more like a tribute act than anything else...some of the old recordings of things I've heard were so off the charts unruly, that you got into them more than the bands that played "like the record".

 

I couldn't bear to see them now. I'd rather remember them as they once were and when I saw them in 1974.

[RUSHHEAD666]

I have a question that I'll stick in this thread.

 

Is there a drummer in a popular band that isn't quite up to snuff as a drummer?

 

Lars Ulrich

Amen my brother! Many of my friends with free tickets begged me to see Metallica at AT&T Park on Saturday before the Stupor Bowl. I said, "HELL NO." I can't stand Lars/. I absolutely loathe all Metallica after Cliff died.

[RUSHHEAD666]

Bun E. Carlos

[RUSHHEAD666]

Mike Portnoy :P