Tommy Lee

like i said in a earlier post....a big part of tommy's playing is the attitude and power....not necessarily his chops.....he does have great chops, but it's the way he pushes and carries the song that is where he makes his biggest mark.....

so you're liking that tommy lee, huh madeline?
 
To me....you can sum up Tommy Lee with one word........PASSION.

I don't know from technique, or precision.....I just know I love his style...!!!
 
I also don't understand why people bash some drummers (like Tommy Lee or Travis Barker.) I mean you yell about how's he not good and all this crap. Then what the hell are they supposed to do about it, be like.."yeeup your right, I will somehow magically make my drumming skills so magical" or like just be "yeah I suck at playing drums, i'm gonna quit doing something I love." I mean like seriously, you nit pick at him for being a crappy drummer, what the hell's he supposed to do. We all have our limits and we all can't be Buddy Rich, he's just playing the drums. He's on beat ain't he--isn't that him doing his job?
 
It's not all about the chops or the speed. Tommy Lee is one of the few rock drummers that still understand the less is more philosophy. I suppose there are people who would say that Ringo was a below average drummer. The reason he was hired was that he was a professional drummer. Personally I would hate to hear a Beatles album with Neil Pert or Mike Portnoy playing for them. It is about fitting the music. And for that I will give Tommy Lee credit. Althought I do get a kick out of Beatallica.
 
I love Tommy for being a great hard rock drummer in my opinion. He also brings a lot of fun into the shows by being a showman. I won't try to change any one's mind if they dont like him, but to say he not technically a good drummer is kind of unfair. Listen to Hooligan's Holiday or Missunderstood from the album Motley Crue, or Let Us Pray from Generation Swine. Those are KILLER drum tracks.
 
Re: tommy lee's solo

yeah. what cdawg said. it wasnt to much of a solo.
 
agreed. that wasnt his whole solo thow. i could only record bits of it on my digital camera. i didnt have much space lol.. but i was serching on youtube and i did find his whole drum solo from the carnival of sins dvd. but i have to warn everyone it has lots of swearing in it so dont complain. i dont want to get kciked off of DW for this or anything

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGYvg8lC8lo&search=tommy lee drum solo

- John
 
Jaymasta said:
I think hes better than what you guys are saying about him I'm sure hes great I bet he can do alot of stuff but I never heard his drumsolo's so if anyone has make an attachment because I would like to hear it thanks...

I believe Mr. Lee is a great drummer. I would love nothing more that whichever of you keep bashing him could hold up to a drumming contest. I believe that Tommy would blow you guys away. Please stop picking on him. He has come through alot in the past years and perservered with a great attitude, love for his sons, and he plays better know than he ever has. Give the man a break, what have any of you done so great with your life that someone wants to start a page about you?
 
cutie36 said:


I believe Mr. Lee is a great drummer. I would love nothing more that whichever of you keep bashing him could hold up to a drumming contest. I believe that Tommy would blow you guys away. Please stop picking on him. He has come through alot in the past years and perservered with a great attitude, love for his sons, and he plays better know than he ever has. Give the man a break, what have any of you done so great with your life that someone wants to start a page about you?
You got it Cutie, it's all about envy, or jealosy or whatever. Fact is, Tommy has been there, done that, is still doing it & will probably keep right on doing it & he doesn't have to prove anything to anybody. Tommy Lee paid his dues in the business before most of the people on this forum were even born.
 
He is a great rock drummer. Check out a Richard Marx CD called Rush Street. He plays a solid groove and does some cool licks, plus its also got some tracks with Porcaro,Bozzio,and Jonathan Moffett.
 
Primal Scream, find it, give it a good listen, and then tell me T-bone sucks!!! Is being a good soloist what makes a good drummer, or is there something to be said about a rock solid groove. If its about playing with a major Ego..... I dont think I want to know ya!!
 
Okay, I'm gonna give this a stab, here, and some of you may agree and some of you may tell me to go pound salt. Remember this, opinions are not facts, just a fancy name for personal preference. These are mine.

If it wasn't for Tommy Lee - as my life history goes - I wouldn't be a drummer today. As far as his drumming within the context of Motley Crue goes, he fit what the music called for and as drummers, that's our job. He is also known for becoming one with the click. A well known live show progammer named Micheal McKnight said he was a solid as solid gets. During his career, he has come up with some very interesting fill ideas and groove patterns. He played on a couple Pink songs, a couple of Janet Jackson songs and wrote 3 solo records. So, he's done a few things. You would be hard pressed to find another drummer in the past 20 years who influenced so many others to persue drumming. His live shows are cool and he is a great showman.

Yes, he has made mistakes in his life, we all have. But we don't have the mainstream media in our face everyday either. However, I do think he has let a lot of that go to his head and it's affected his playing and his attitude. But, he is human. Are his solos works of drumming magic? Nope. But I ask this...How many records have Thomas Lang and Marco Minnemann sold? I think that impressing other drummers is the stupidest thing on the planet. Learn from other drummers and respect other drummers, absolutley. But why would anyone care about impressing another drummer? Drummers do not hire drummers. Another drummer will never hire a drummer for a gig, tour or session work, unless he is a drummer turned producer or something. Our job as drummers, when you get right down to it, is to make the music feel good. That's what Tommy was all about.
I mean, his band has sold around 23.5 million copies of thier records over the years. That's a lot of damn record sales.

As I was looking through some of the posts, a lot of people were throwing names like the 2 mentioned above and many others, most being drum wizards. But, at the end of the day, it's all about the music and the groove. If you can blaze chops all day, a non-drummer or average music fan probably won't care. But, if you can make musical phrases and unstoppable grooves that makes people move involuntarily, then you're doing something. Music and it's feel are what it's all about, sometimes a bazillion chops and lighting fast speed, muck it all up. Music needs to breathe and have life and a pulse. That's our job. Tommy Lee did that job for many years with Motley Crue.
 
tommy is KING!!
as far as im concerned thats the truth. if there was no tommy behind the drums neither would i be. now just cause he dosent play a 10 minute solo of all 32nd notes dosent mean hes not great. he didnt want to be the next neil peart. but he did want to put on a great show which he does every night.so what if he does a tv show he does it cause he can and more power to him. in my mind tommy is greatness and my hero, everytime i hear the crue i wanna start palying till my arms fall off thats what tommy does to me as a music fan and a musician. im a big fan of rush and neil peart, but i dont wanna have a huge kit like that and be able to play as fast or intricate as him thats not my thing. my thing is to lay down a good beat that fits well in the song, and to have a good time doing it (live or jamming) being a drummer, infact being any kind of musician isnt about how talented you are its about the music you create.
 
I do not understand why certain musicians do not respect other musicians that are not incredible technicians.

Listen to Nirvana. I happen to not like their music. However, they influenced an entire generation. To not give Kurt Cobain credit as a guitar play would not be fair. And I will say that Tommy is a hundred times better than Kurt was on the guitar.

Tommy is actually a very solid drummer.
 
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I don't know why, but lately I have been on a bit of a Motley & Korn kick. I think alot of us go through these periods. Please don't read into the lyrics of these kicks, just the music, just the music. I guess what my comment is relates to some of the live music that has finally surfaced after all these years. I am really impressed by the quality of the drumming. Tommy rarely screws up. He is extremely consistant, and does all the little things correct.
Also a ??? is Tommy the drummer who started the trend to have two diffrient sized bass drum. I think going back to the Dr. Feelgood, that was the first time I had seen the diffrient sized bass drums. Ironically Korn sounds like there are two diff sized bass drums, although I have not looked up the kit specs on the mfg web sites.
Also, does anyone know where I could find sheet music for the drum portion to Crue songs?
Corey
 
It's been nearly 6 months since my last post on this topic. And... this thread is still running strong.

Basic answer is...

Tommy is one of the greatest rock drummers ever. If you disagree... your welcome to your opinion. But, you have a world of ignorance blocking you.

Smell the reality.

Bring one of your favorite drummers who has nearly 30 years of respect in the industry.
 
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