Who Is the Most Underrated Rock Drummer?

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To be considered underrated, a musician must be highly skilled, have significant exposure through hit records and tours, yet remain largely unrecognized. The discussion highlights drummer Albert Bouchard from Blue Oyster Cult, noted for his subtlety and originality, as an example of this phenomenon. Comparisons are made with other drummers like Ian Paice, who, despite his talent and exposure, is often overshadowed by more celebrated drummers like Neil Peart and John Bonham. The conversation also touches on the varying perceptions of drummers such as Ringo Starr, who, despite his popularity, is sometimes dismissed in discussions about technical skill. The concept of "underratedness" is explored through various formulas that consider musical ability, record sales, and levels of praise, suggesting that even highly skilled musicians can be overlooked in favor of more famous counterparts. Overall, the thread emphasizes the complexity of recognition in the music industry and the subjective nature of what defines an underrated artist.
  • #61
Hornbein said:
I never thought much of Bill Ward until I saw this.



He's #42 on the Rolling Stone list.

She has listened to this!

Not his strongest though. Symptom of the Universe, Supernaut and Fairies wear boots.
 
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  • #62
Alex Van Halen really gets overshadowed by his brother. I don't think he cared, however.

Frank Beard is another name that doesn't get mentioned much.
 
  • #63
Mondayman said:
Alex Van Halen really gets overshadowed by his brother. I don't think he cared, however.

Frank Beard is another name that doesn't get mentioned much.
Alex is #51 on the Rolling Stone list. I think what he does on Jump is super.

Frank Beard is one of my faves and he isn't on the list! We may have a winna. Great tone and feel combined with a total disdain of flash. How underrated can you get.

When Frank was asked what he did with his first big royalty check he responded, "I spent it on drugs."
 
  • #64
Hornbein said:
When Frank was asked what he did with his first big royalty check he responded, "I spent it on drugs."
....and probably squandered the rest!
 
  • #65
Mondayman said:
Alex Van Halen really gets overshadowed by his brother. I don't think he cared, however.
He didn't stand out on the early stuff but does on Live Without A Net. Great tone. It seems ahead of its time to me but I wasn't following things at the time.



I was never crazy about Van Halen's albums but Live Without A Net is da bomb. Hear that crowd roar.

More than once I've been at gigs where the drummer has bad tone and I think, that must be a cheap kit. Then some other drummer gets on the same set and sounds great. Or vice versa.

"Upscaled to 4K". I once bought a program that did this but it was so slow I got my money back. It would have taken at least 90 hours of CPU time to process the VHS, maybe much more. Now that brings up something interesting. You could do a similar thing with music. Take old recordings and give them modern sound quality.
 
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  • #66
Ringo Starr, while not completely unnoticed, was definitely underrated. I don't know about actual virtuosity but in terms of never intruding or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, acting in complete support of the music at hand. Just plain excellent taste.
 
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  • #67
Barriemore Barlow:

Aynsley Dunbar:
 
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  • #68
How about Phil Collins with Brand X? Some drummer said this was his favorite thing in the world so I checked it out. Phil is very impressive. The beat is the same as Mahavishnu's Vital Transformation but a lot more subtle. I had no idea he could do this.

There's no money in this sort of stuff so Phil gave up on it. Indeed I heard Brand X way back in 1976 and didn't notice Phil. His work was over my head, as they say.



He's #46 on the Rolling Stone list but not for this so I say that doesn't count. Way underrated!
 
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  • #69
Travis Orbin at his most apocalyptic.

 
  • #70
News flash! Senri Kawaguchi says her first trap drum idol was/is Ian Paice. Now she maximally digs Larnell Lewis of Snarky Puppy.

Here she is with a fusion big band in Poland. I bet they paid for her trip. They wanted to play with SK.



"The noisy is not OK in Tokyo." Indeed is could be the quietest of cities. People there are very sensitive to sound. I call it the City of Silence. Laptop computers are banned in libraries : the key clicking is too disturbing. So musicians pay to practice in heavily soundproofed studios. Such services aren't cheap.
 
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