Has Frank been relegated to a touring drummer?

[UncleJosh]

You would be surprised how many bands use session drummers on their albums and a lot are not even credited. Many times the official drummer in the band is good live but cannot replicate it in the studio at least to how the band and or producer wants it to sound.

[D4NNY]

1 hour ago, allwaystired said:

There isn't any evidence to suggest he's anything other than a touring drummer is there? 

 

I would agree but then there’s the tracks on CD that Frank was on and his individual picture along with all the other members in the CD booklet would suggest he was/is a full member. I find the the choice to not have him playing on the recent 3 tracks very weird as he’s the one who’s been committed to the band for the last 17 years, if I was Frank I’d be instantly insecure and insulted for not being included but we don’t know the in and outs so who knows 🤷🏻‍♂️

[ZoSoRose]

1 hour ago, ChristianGNR said:

Nothing against Frank at all, but if he is not good enough for studio recording sessions, I’d rather Brain to come back.

He was fine on the 2008 version of the album I thought

[allwaystired]

16 minutes ago, WildStar said:

And also that Frank wouldn't be able to play as well as Brain

"I think we should remove all these good drums and get this other guy to do it, not quite as well" 

 

 

[DoMw94]

20 minutes ago, HollyWoodRose84 said:

See my previous post.

 

A drummer is the heartbeat of every single band.
 

Frank isn’t “talented” he’s average. And again, not a knock to him at all. You can’t tell me you’ve left any live gig with him playing going “damn the drummer is awesome.” All previous GnR drummers were immensely talented and added to the feel, live experience and recording process.
Brain was their all around best drummer. But from  a kick your face in perspective, that spot goes to Matt. 

Think of any band. The drummer's almost always first to go, always the easiest to replace, very few stand out as 'stars' and none of the five drummers GN'R's had have been 'stars'.

Outside of this forum, nobody gives a damn who's playing drums, and that's why they've been able to go through so many with so little consequence.

Led Zeppelin aside, most bands carry on as-is when they replace a drummer. The same can't be said for a guitarist or singer.

Some big bands who's drummer was well regarded or a key part of their sound: The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Foo Fighters, Kiss, The Who – all still going with replacement drummers and it hasn't harmed their sales. Even AC/DC did alright without Phil Rudd more than once.

Frank's clearly not bad, he's in Guns N' Roses, but he's just as interchangeable as every single person who's sat in that seat before him – if they weren't they'd still be there.

In the grand scheme of things, who plays the drums has never been a crucial element of this band, I think you're placing way too much importance on it. Every release has had a different player, even now they're able to pick and choose just to get the thing over the line. The position isn't important anymore. Slash and Axl are the deal-breakers for Guns N' Roses, not one of many no-name drummers that nobody outside of these four walls has heard of

Edited August 20, 2023 by DoMw94

[Makkun]

idk if things related to drums changed since reunion, but back in 2009 this was the panorama 

[tommyrai]

Frank's on Chinese appetite for democracy and on the live recordings of hardskool, maybe he's just happy, he shared the release of the new single, he could be on the general, either way I'm sure he's a happy guy ...:)

[Tyler Drama]

1 hour ago, allwaystired said:

Reasonable theory I'd say. 

It's equally likely though that there was just no need to replace the drums. 

Slash and Duff needed to be added, for publicity and authenticity and personal politics reasons......other than that, there maybe just wasn't a reason to re-do stuff that already sounded good? 

This. The drums were recorded years ago and already sounded good. Having Frank re-record the song playing the same thing would be pointless. It’s not like they had Brain come in recently and record these drums parts.

If they actually decide to make a brand new song from scratch, Frank will record the drums.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Tyler Drama

[Questions]

As Axl said, GNR has two drummers. Frank hasn't been relegated to anything because his role is the same it's always been.

[Tyler Drama]

17 minutes ago, Questions said:

As Axl said, GNR has two drummers.

How long ago did he say this?

[Nintari]

55 minutes ago, HollyWoodRose84 said:

See my previous post.

 

A drummer is the heartbeat of every single band.
 

Frank isn’t “talented” he’s average. And again, not a knock to him at all. You can’t tell me you’ve left any live gig with him playing going “damn the drummer is awesome.” All previous GnR drummers were immensely talented and added to the feel, live experience and recording process.
Brain was their all around best drummer. But from  a kick your face in perspective, that spot goes to Matt. 

Steven had the best groove and "feel". Matt was the best technical drummer. Brain was a huge step down in feel and a decent-sized step down in technique, but was still serviceable. Frank is basically a human metronome.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Nintari

[klakly]

2 hours ago, Caught_in_a_Coma said:

E Brain è il miglior batterista che i GN'R abbiano mai avuto?

No.

To me it's Matt Sorum, than Steven Adler.

[Silence]

Frank Ferrer won the music lottery, but he paid his dues. Seems like a really cool feel good story to me. 

[Makkun]

2 hours ago, Caught_in_a_Coma said:

And is Brain the best drummer GN'R ever had?

for me, he's in top along Josh. 

[Live Like a Suicide]

41 minutes ago, Makkun said:

idk if things related to drums changed since reunion, but back in 2009 this was the panorama 

Just saw this, from the perspective of Brain back in 2010:

-Are you out of the band? If so, did you get any official confirmation? Give us details about that.
Brian: i'm out of the currant touring band.  i hope i can still be a part of the recordings!!!

-In February 28, 2009, when asked if you were still in the band, Axl said "Last I checked. Brain works on several things with Guns either from his home or in the studio." How does that work?
Brian: i'm doing some top secret shit right now!!!!!!!!

http://www.gnrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?pid=172599#p172599

[Stay.Of.Execution]

We won't really know until they'll write and record new songs from scratch. They already had the drum parts for the last three songs, so there was no use for Frank to re-record them.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Stay.Of.Execution

[GnR Chris]

I always thought Brain was still a member and studio guy for GNR. To me, it’s as simple as GNR has two drummers. 

Edited August 20, 2023 by GnR Chris

[Sosso]

Axl uses musicians when he needs them. He added Caram on the keys for example. That doesnt mean Melissa's role was reduced. He just felt that Caram was more suitable for the track. Same scenario with Brain.

[Tom2112]

2 hours ago, allwaystired said:

Reasonable theory I'd say. 

It's equally likely though that there was just no need to replace the drums. 

Slash and Duff needed to be added, for publicity and authenticity and personal politics reasons......other than that, there maybe just wasn't a reason to re-do stuff that already sounded good? 

This. The drums were done, they were happy with arrangements etc. so they used them.

Why did Richard and Melissa get to do parts? well, Richard got to redo parts because Slash replaced the guitar parts and changed around some riffs, in order for it to sound authentic Richard needed to adapt to Slash's new master rhythm track. Melissa was 'probably' added because Axl doesn't want to pay Pitman any extra... I'd imagine they don't speak any more after the lawsuit. AND it's pretty easy for Melissa to work, she can literally record her parts in a hotel room and email them to whoever's putting the record together.

I think that IF Gnr manage to get into the studio for a new record, Frank will be the drummer on the album. However, if he was relegated to live drummer only status, that isn't a complete snub. He is absolutely 100% good enough to record in the studio though, there should be no doubt about that. He fitted right in on Chinese and most people wouldn't even know there was more than 1 drummer performing on that album. I think if Brain was the reunion drummer and he was playing the way he played during his original tenure, people would give him shit too and still bang on about Matt and Steven OR possibly say "I wish they had just used Frank for the reunion", people cannot be pleased😄

The answer for right now is 'yes', but I don't see it as a permanent thing. 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Tom2112

[Sosso]

3 minutes ago, GnR Chris said:

I always thought Brain was still a member and studio guy for GNR. To me, it’s as simple as GNR has two drummers. 

There is a similar case with L.A. Guns. Adam Hamilton is their studio drummer and Shawn Duncan is their live drummer.

[Bansidhe]

1 hour ago, D4NNY said:

I would agree but then there’s the tracks on CD that Frank was on and his individual picture along with all the other members in the CD booklet would suggest he was/is a full member. I find the the choice to not have him playing on the recent 3 tracks very weird as he’s the one who’s been committed to the band for the last 17 years, if I was Frank I’d be instantly insecure and insulted for not being included but we don’t know the in and outs so who knows 🤷🏻‍♂️

I'd practice more.

[Tom2112]

1 hour ago, D4NNY said:

I would agree but then there’s the tracks on CD that Frank was on and his individual picture along with all the other members in the CD booklet would suggest he was/is a full member. I find the the choice to not have him playing on the recent 3 tracks very weird as he’s the one who’s been committed to the band for the last 17 years, if I was Frank I’d be instantly insecure and insulted for not being included but we don’t know the in and outs so who knows 🤷🏻‍♂️

He might just be really chill about the whole thing? I'm sure he'd like to record parts, but he probably has the mantra that he'll get his chance when it's time. The last thing Frank should be doing is to blow up and start screaming because he'd be on the first plane back home and Brain would be the recording AND touring drummer then.

[DoMw94]

17 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

He is absolutely 100% good enough to record in the studio though, there should be no doubt about that. He fitted right in on Chinese and most people wouldn't even know there was more than 1 drummer performing on that album. I think if Brain was the reunion drummer and he was playing the way he played during his original tenure, people would give him shit too and still bang on about Matt and Steven OR possibly say "I wish they had just used Frank for the reunion", people cannot be pleased😄

This is exactly right!

The way I see it, there's three distinctive sounds to Guns N' Roses' catalogue: Appetite, Illusions, Chinese.

Personally, I didn't much like Matt or Brain's playing of Appetite songs. At the same time, would Steven have done a song like Coma justice? And how would Matt and Steven sound on the Chinese Democracy stuff? Matt probably okay, Steven? I doubt it.

They can't exactly tour with three drummers, so they need a compromise (and I don't mean that negatively), someone who can blend all three distinct styles into a single cohesive-sounding show. I think Frank does that just fine.

But as you said, no matter who is sat behind the kit, there would be complaints. Bring back Steven, bring back Matt, bring back Brain, Steven can't hack it, Frank's no good, and so on...

One (unrelated) thing I will add is I do find it funny when people talk of Josh being the band's best drummer. Give it a rest 😂 He played on one released track and a handful of demos we weren't supposed to hear.

We know he's a world class drummer, but he never played a show with the band. We have no idea how he truly sounds in the context of 'Guns N' Roses' fully. It could be a case where, like Frank, he's a competent drummer, but fans might not like how he fits in to the overal group.

I'm a massive Josh Freese fan, but to have him in the conversation of Guns N' Roses' best drummer is laughable

Edited August 20, 2023 by DoMw94

[guitarpatch]

It’s $ driven. Recording drums requires time spent in a nice studio. Frank wouldn’t play anything much different than Brain and you have these takes from multi million $ sessions in top studio rooms to use

[Free Bird]

Was Frank ever more than an touring drummer? It's not like he had the chance of being something more.