What drummer had the most affect on their bands sound / identity??

[1988fxlr]

Did he change heavy metal to death metal?

No that was Chuck Shuldiner of Death, to the extent you can credit a single musician. the distinction seperating death metal from other subgenres is mostly vocal.

 

[Ray Dee Oh King]

Bun E of course. Just listen now, as opposed to then. No comparison IMO.

 

[1988fxlr]

If we’re discussing instead of just naming incredible drummers, I’m still sticking with Ginger Baker. Almost everyone has named incredible, inventive drummers who raised the bar with new ideas or increased abilities compared to predecessors in their genres. Ginger fits that bill, but also just made super weird and distinctive choices in addition to great technical ability. We can all practice technique and increase our musical vocabulary, but still wouldn’t come up with Ginger Baker choices

 

[drumstuff66]

I'll focus only on the "identity" part of the OP's question and mention Tommy Lee. Motley Crue had temporary replacements, but Tommy Lee was/is integral to their band identity, IMO. He's basically become the face/spokesman for the band. Live, he does most of the talking to the audience while Vince tries to catch his breath, and I think a lot of non-drummers & non-musicians go to see TL be TL...

In some ways, maybe like Peter Criss, it wasn't so much the playing or sound, it was more the personality or persona that had the affect.

Just my $.02, now worth about $.0175...

Edit: spelling

 

[Mayan]

Richie Hayward was a big part of the sound of Little Feat.

 

[kdgrissom]

In regards to Identity, I can't separate Bobby Columby with "Blood,Sweat and Tears" and Danny Seraphine with CTA/Chicago.

 

[GretschMan61]

Hal Blaine - the number of number one and top ten records and Grammy winning records he performed on is incredible . He had the unique ability to come up with wonderful catchy grooves and hooks .

 

[JDA]

this is where internet participation nets negative income.

Next: which drummer had least affect
or May as well just continue drone naming every freaking known band ever

Truly the internet has diminished meaningful activity of any and all kind

 

[Vicey]

I'm going with Keith Moon. Perhaps not the greatest technical drummer being mentioned here, but an integral part of the sound and identity of The Who. Put anybody else in that seat and it's a different band. As a personality, he was at least 25% of the band's meaning.

 

[Steech]

Can you find the clip please?
I like Densmore too. I have noticed he doesn’t hang with the drummers of his time, while everyone talks about drumming techniques they used 50 years ago and stuff, he’s very much into poetry.

It’s on drum channel in a longer series of clips with Keltner, Peart, Doane Perry, and Don Lombardo (sp?) moderating. I spent some time yesterday trying to find exactly where in one of the clips he said it but couldn’t find it.

In a nutshell he said he liked Densmore but felt that he was “so limited” technically and that he would say that to his face if he were there. I found that pretty tasteless as Keltner was sitting between Neil and Doane, both pretty technical players, whereas I never thought of Keltner as being a chops guy. It seemed like he was trying to build up his chops cred by putting down another pro drummer behind his back.

 

[robthetimekeeper]

Steven Adler. GNR were never the same without him.

 

[Houndog]

@Cauldronics made a case for Neil in another thread , after further thought he might just be right as to no one affecting a band more than Neil .

I’m going to put Moonie and Ginger right behind The Professor …

P.S. Add Copeland

 

[JimmySticks]

Although Lynyrd Skynyrd was a real guitar driven band, Artimus Pyle's distinct sounding, i.e. dead, flat sounding drums kind of stood out.

I actually hated that sound and I think it kind of ruined some of their songs.

 

[Tornado]

Although Lynyrd Skynyrd was a real guitar driven band, Artimus Pyle's distinct sounding, i.e. dead, flat sounding drums kind of stood out.

I actually hated that sound and I think it kind of ruined some of their songs.

I'm not a fan of much of the drumming on Skynyrd songs.

 

[Bandit]

Neil!

 

[JDA]

Sad.

 

[fibes3]

Alan White of Yes.
Bruford was a unique act to follow but White made his own way very nicely!

I know he's one of many drummers for Jeff Beck but Simon Phillips on "There and Back" was memorable.

 

[Houndog]

Although Lynyrd Skynyrd was a real guitar driven band, Artimus Pyle's distinct sounding, i.e. dead, flat sounding drums kind of stood out.

I actually hated that sound and I think it kind of ruined some of their songs.

It’s likely you speak of Bob Burns he was on the hits I believe.

 

[High on Stress]

I’m the opposite. I hated PJ with Abbruzzese. He seemed to overplay and rush his fills. Jack Irons was solid and made the music feel right.

I think Eddie Vedder wanted PJ to be perceived as more of a punk rock band, not a bunch of musos. He didn’t like Dave A. being in Modern Drummer and endorsing gear. He was stung by criticism that the other Seattle bands were more legit alternatives to major label corporate rock than Pearl Jam. Getting Jack Irons in the band gave them some street cred.

I don’t think they were a punk band. I saw them as having more roots in metal/hard rock and they were kind of, uh jammy on that first record. Stone and Jeff were glam rockers, McCready was a SRV wannabe at that point. Dave A.’s style was perfect for that early material and kind of defined ‘90s alt rock drumming, for better or worse. Much like Vedder’s voice back then, I find the style a bit dated today.

I love Matt with Soundgarden but not at all with Pearl Jam. When I listen to that live drum cam video of Even Flow, he sounds too fast, too stiff, lacking in dynamics and just not grooving to my ears.

 

[JimmySticks]

It’s likely you speak of Bob Burns he was on the hits I believe.

Yeah, you could be right.

Still, lousy sounding drums.

 

[JimmySticks]

If this thread goes on much longer, I think every rock drummer that ever played in a rock band will have been mentioned!

 

[Stone Wilcoxon]

You want to talk about a guy whose drumming defined the sound of the band, let's bring up Floyd Sneed with Three Dog Night. Since the band was built around having three very strong lead vocalists, most people focus on that feature, but Floyd's distinctive style is immediately recognizable on every one of their many hit records. Without him, TDN is a different band.