Can You Really Tell the Difference from Each GN’R Drummer?

[BangoSkank]

I'm not a drummer or an expert on musicianship, but I can tell them all apart except Frank.

 

[Powderfinger]

4 hours ago, Tom-Ass said:

Off topic but my all time favorite drummer is Bill Ward.. That is one of the few bands where I listen to the drums almost as much as the other instruments. I was very skeptical that he wouldn't be involved with the 13 and End tours but Tommy Clufetos did a phenomenal job.. I just wish Guns could have found someone like him who could really do the songs justice. Much easier job doing it in Gn'R than Sabbath..

Clufetos did a brilliant job with Sabbath, I saw Sabbath live 5 times, once with Bill and the rest with Clufetos. I'm glad I saw the original Sabbath but (I hate saying this) they were better Clufetos. I'd love to have seen them with Ward late 60's early 70's. He was a great drummer then.... 

I like drummers like ward, he played the kit as an instrument, like Moon & Baker....

 

[RONIN]

44 minutes ago, Top-Hatted One said:

Brain is a much better fit for Slash and Duff. He knows his place in songs. He gets the push and pull thing.

Freese is very flashy but he is so world class that he also can play in the pocket. He proved he could on Slash's solo record. He would have to tone it done for GNR with Slash and Duff. 

I just think of Freese as more of a world class Studio & Live Drummer For Hire than a band guy. 

 

Bingo - completely agree. He's an unbelievable drummer though. Axl had such great taste in musicians back in the 90's. 

 

36 minutes ago, soon said:

Oh, thanks for saying so.  I really admire his playing in general.  His arrangements on APC's debut are really well crafted, imo.  Drumming for NIN is kinda a bench mark to me, too.  As for his playing in GNR, honestly, Ive always felt a bit at a loss to asses.  Mostly because by coming late to the CD saga Im not sure what - if any leaks - he played on?  CD certainly has the Brain "feel" that Axl instructed him to bring so I find that a little perplexing.  But the drum patterns are really tight on all of CD.  Better, a Brain arrangement, is my favourite but all of it is really great, to my ears.

I think he crushes it on OMG! Intense beats. Verses are very tasty and he manages to, locking in with Tommy, make a rather plodding chorus interesting rhythmically with out over doing it.  I love how he avoids cliches in the disco beat section and builds it to a very rocking climax at end.  So going by that Im really into his work in GNR.

How about yourself?

Edit: forgot you had already shared your thoughts on Freese.  

Appreciate you sharing your thoughts - I forgot all about Oh My God. You're right, there's some immense drumming on that track.

From what I recall, Chinese Democracy's drumming is a blend of Freese and Brain. Brain was asked to play Freese's stuff note for note but play it in his way (add some funk/swing to it I imagine). So Freese is really the architect and creative element behind the drumming of Chinese Democracy (most of it anyway). 

[The Matinator]

I think it"s funny that Freese gets so much praise from GN'R fans even though he only really plays on one song.

[Stress Fracture]

Yes, I can tell the difference between the drummers. I can also tell the difference between Frank’s drumming with this line up and the previous one. I actually think he used to be better and a lot tighter. As good as Brain was, I don’t think he’d be allowed to sound the same with this line up either.

[Tom-Ass]

2 hours ago, Ralphelmo said:

I believe Slash found that guy 7 years ago and you know him well

Fitz would be the next best thing behind Steven...

[RussTCB]

11 minutes ago, The Matinator said:

I think it"s funny that Freese gets so much praise from GN'R fans even though he only really plays on one song.

It's all about what you can't have with this fan base sometimes lol

[Tom-Ass]

11 minutes ago, The Matinator said:

I think it"s funny that Freese gets so much praise from GN'R fans even though he only really plays on one song.

That is pretty much sums up of the whole CD era.. The quality of every little thing about it is vastly overblown and exaggerated.. 

[Sosso]

7 minutes ago, Stress Fracture said:

Yes, I can tell the difference between the drummers. I can also tell the difference between Frank’s drumming with this line up and the previous one. I actually think he used to be better and a lot tighter. As good as Brain was, I don’t think he’d be allowed to sound the same with this line up either.

It's true that the pre-2016 rhythm sections were a lot tighter. 

Richard, Tommy and Brain are my favourite rhythm section in GN'R 

[Tucknroll]

The drummer situation in gnr was always confusing to me.  They hid Stevens drums to make the kit basic, then fired him and Matt's kit was huge compared to Stevens, then he was fired even though he was perfect for the direction axl wanted to go, now their mainly living off appetite but don't want Steven. He must get under their skin really bad! Anyway, I can tell the difference in them. Steven plays like he's drunk, Matt plays like a robot and Frank plays like a black musician. Nothing racist but there is a difference 

[Pixeb]

Frank is a cool guy, great drummer. A drummer with a lot of swing and taste. But he changes the drum patterns in every old gnr song. I just don't like that. I would like to have another drummer from the past. Or please Frank do it like it should be.

[AxlRoseCDII]

1 hour ago, The Matinator said:

I think it"s funny that Freese gets so much praise from GN'R fans even though he only really plays on one song.

I agree. I barley even consider Freese a member to be honest, like yes he counts but at the same time really doesn’t since he was barely on any actual material and played zero live shows.

[DieselDaisy]

Brain used to speed the tempos up bit. I think Frank Ferrer does that also. Adler basically does a Charlie Watts thing and Sorum is more Bonham-esque. Freese drums on the Slash solo album.

[RONIN]

1 hour ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

I agree. I barley even consider Freese a member to be honest, like yes he counts but at the same time really doesn’t since he was barely on any actual material and played zero live shows.

Well he was Axl's original and preferred drummer for Nu Guns and Axl wanted Brain to basically play Freese's work note for note.  Freese to me is the DNA of Chinese Democracy's drumming, even if Brain's playing and adding his own flair to it.

Edited December 2, 2017 by RONIN

[DieselDaisy]

And he ended up playing for Slash!

[Top-Hatted One]

2 hours ago, Tucknroll said:

The drummer situation in gnr was always confusing to me.  They hid Stevens drums to make the kit basic, then fired him and Matt's kit was huge compared to Stevens, then he was fired even though he was perfect for the direction axl wanted to go, now their mainly living off appetite but don't want Steven. He must get under their skin really bad! Anyway, I can tell the difference in them. Steven plays like he's drunk, Matt plays like a robot and Frank plays like a black musician. Nothing racist but there is a difference 

I don't understand? Frank is Cuban

[AxlRoseCDII]

7 minutes ago, RONIN said:

Well he was Axl's original and preferred drummer for Nu Guns and Axl wanted Brain to basically play Freese's work note for note.  Freese to me is the DNA of Chinese Democracy's drumming, even if Brain's playing and adding his own flair to it.

Very good point. It sucks his original drumming has pretty much been buried by Frank and Brain since but that is correct that Freese led the way for them in terms of Chinese. In terms of actual drumming, I feel like each got progressively worse- Freese was the best, Brain was slightly under Brain, and then Frank is just...eh.

[Tucknroll]

44 minutes ago, Top-Hatted One said:

I don't understand? Frank is Cuban

Then he plays like a Cuban I guess. He definitely don't play like a dirty white boy or a robot. I'm just going by him saying something about bringing old school hip hop or something like that to guns. And of course he looks black too

Edited December 3, 2017 by Tucknroll
Add something

[ToonGuns]

1 hour ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

Very good point. It sucks his original drumming has pretty much been buried by Frank and Brain since but that is correct that Freese led the way for them in terms of Chinese. In terms of actual drumming, I feel like each got progressively worse- Freese was the best, Brain was slightly under Brain, and then Frank is just...eh.

To my ears on the demos we have Brain's drumming was not note for note to Freeae's. I far prefer Brain's. On those early demos the drumming is very average I think. Not saying Freese isn't good (his discography speaks for itself) I just don't hear anything special on the CD demos.

[RONIN]

17 minutes ago, ToonGuns said:

To my ears on the demos we have Brain's drumming was not note for note to Freeae's. I far prefer Brain's. On those early demos the drumming is very average I think. Not saying Freese isn't good (his discography speaks for itself) I just don't hear anything special on the CD demos.

Could be a drum machine on some of those demos? I always wondered if that might be the case on that Catcher demo w/ Brian May

[RONIN]

1 hour ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

Very good point. It sucks his original drumming has pretty much been buried by Frank and Brain since but that is correct that Freese led the way for them in terms of Chinese. In terms of actual drumming, I feel like each got progressively worse- Freese was the best, Brain was slightly under Brain, and then Frank is just...eh.

Yep - that first nu guns lineup just kept getting downgraded each and every iteration after Buckethead joined. As much as I love Brain's work, I still maintain that Guns needs a punk rock drummer and Freese is the more apt choice out of all the GnR drummers since Adler. If they wanted to really go in an experimental direction though, then Brain would probably be the better fit. 

[DieselDaisy]

The line-up changes are truly bizarre in this band. Freese leaves; Rose gets Brain to pencil in note-for-note Freese's drums (rather than give Brain a freehand); Brain has buggered off when the album finally comes out which anyhow now has new drums by somebody called Frank!! 

[RONIN]

8 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

The line-up changes are truly bizarre in this band. Freese leaves; Rose gets Brain to pencil in note-for-note Freese's drums (rather than give Brain a freehand); Brain has buggered off when the album finally comes out which anyhow now has new drums by somebody called Frank!! 

Axl always does that - I think it originally started off as a way to spite the previous member - and then later on it became a means of including new members in the project. Like he removed Izzy's guitar from TSI (why?) and there is a very good reason imho to suspect that if he had his wish to delay UYI, he would have removed Izzy's songs and possibly Izzy's guitar as well to screw him over. 

When Finck left the first time in the late 90's, iirc he mentioned in an interview how he planned to replace his guitar with the incoming member. And so on and so forth. He couldn't do that to Buckethead but he still had Bumblefoot wank over Chinese Democracy. As you said in a prior thread, only Rose would have the gall to replace Brian May's guitar with Bumblefoot.

Either way, he brought down the quality of TSI and Chinese by doing these shenanigans.

Edited December 3, 2017 by RONIN

[DieselDaisy]

Here is another one,

Finck leaves; Buckethead replaces Finck; Finck returns and they expand into a three-piece (guitar) band; Buckethead leaves, to be replaced by a guy with a similarly silly sounding name, Bumblefoot; Finck leaves to be replaced by Ashba. So why didn't they just revert to an one piece when Bucket left? If the intention 1999, when Robin was first in the band, was to have one lead guitarist, what changed?

What a mess of a band! The only common denominator in Guns N' Roses is a complete absence of any sort of logic. 

[Sosso]

@DieselDaisy They rehearsed as a two guitar player band prior to the 2006 tour. It was not until several weeks before the first concerts that Bumblefoot joined GN'R. 

Edited December 3, 2017 by Sosso