Matt Sorum

I searched for a Matt Sorum topic, but came up empty..!
Just watched him kick the hell out of the Buddy Rich Big Band. Awesome drumming. I've only heard him as part of Neurotic Outsiders and the Buddy Rich thing. Oh, and the Cult I think, too. Was his drumming with G&R anything less that great?

Armor of Light said:

I searched for a Matt Sorum topic, but came up empty..!
Just watched him kick the hell out of the Buddy Rich Big Band. Awesome drumming. I've only heard him as part of Neurotic Outsiders and the Buddy Rich thing. Oh, and the Cult I think, too. Was his drumming with G&R anything less that great?

Click to expand...

If you like that Pat Boone/Debbie Boone fill, his stuff with GnR will be right up your alley!

Seriously, though, he is a solid player that plays with a lot of power, groove and clarity. Other than that one fill that inexplicably dominates Use Your Illusion I and II, his stuff on GnR is great.

Hewitt2 said:

If you like that Pat Boone/Debbie Boone fill, his stuff with GnR will be right up your alley!

Seriously, though, he is a solid player that plays with a lot of power, groove and clarity. Other than that one fill that inexplicably dominates Use Your Illusion I and II, his stuff on GnR is great.

Click to expand...

The story is Axl wanted the same fill through out November Rain, to make a like a signature rhythmic hook.

Matt's a solid rock drummer. He gives the music what it needs. And I've always dug what he on "You Could Be Mine" with GnR and the 1st Velvet Revolver album.

Somewhere around this site I have a funny meeting Matt story.

DrumEatDrum said:

The story is Axl wanted the same fill through out November Rain, to make a like a signature rhythmic hook.

Matt's a solid rock drummer. He gives the music what it needs. And I've always dug what he on "You Could Be Mine" with GnR and the 1st Velvet Revolver album.

Somewhere around this site I have a funny meeting Matt story.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I have heard that story too, but the rest of the album is littered with that fill, so Axl's apparent request doesn't totally explain it.

Matt's a great player, so I am sure there was some reason as to why he decided to use that fill.

Hewitt2 said:

Yeah, I have heard that story too, but the rest of the album is littered with that fill, so Axl's apparent request doesn't totally explain it.

Matt's a great player, so I am sure there was some reason as to why he decided to use that fill.

Click to expand...

While I can't say for sure, but per Slash's autobiography, Matt was only given a very short short time to learn all the songs for the entire double album before he laid down the drum tracks. So maybe it was just part of the time constraint

Or perhaps it was more of Axl being Axl and telling him to keep repeating the same fill.

DrumEatDrum said:

The story is Axl wanted the same fill through out November Rain, to make a like a signature rhythmic hook.

Matt's a solid rock drummer. He gives the music what it needs. And I've always dug what he on "You Could Be Mine" with GnR and the 1st Velvet Revolver album.

Somewhere around this site I have a funny meeting Matt story.

Click to expand...

That had to be killer meeting Matt. I've always loved him as a musician.

Double Talkin' Jive on UYO was outstanding too.

Hewitt2 said:

Yeah, I have heard that story too, but the rest of the album is littered with that fill, so Axl's apparent request doesn't totally explain it.

Matt's a great player, so I am sure there was some reason as to why he decided to use that fill.

Click to expand...

Every time I see his name all I hear is "blit-bloom-doom,doom,doom"........just can't help it.

I would love to see him play some big band stuff to help change that perception of him......

Great drummer, with a lot more chops than most people give him credit for.

Hewitt2 said:

Matt's a great player, so I am sure there was some reason as to why he decided to use that fill.

Click to expand...

He didn't; it was Axl's idea. Mike Portnoy (in one of his many social media snafus) commented on it once, and Matt responded (with a bit of snark, presumably because he's tired of hearing/seeing this comment constantly for the last 20 years):

Naigewron said:

Great drummer, with a lot more chops than most people give him credit for.



He didn't; it was Axl's idea. Mike Portnoy (in one of his many social media snafus) commented on it once, and Matt responded (with a bit of snark, presumably because he's tired of hearing/seeing this comment constantly for the last 20 years):

Click to expand...

Yeah but listen to Use your Illusion and count the songs where this fill is frequently used. It's a lot more than just the ones that Axl requested. Just off the top of my head, I can also name Yesterdays, Live and Let Die, The Garden, knockin' on heavens door, etc. etc.

That one fill and its variants dominates that album...

After all this talk so far, I'm kind of glad I'm not a huge G&R fan!..

I'll have to listen to some of that to hear what everyone is talking about.

River19 said:

Every time I see his name all I hear is "blit-bloom-doom,doom,doom"........just can't help it.

I would love to see him play some big band stuff to help change that perception of him......

Click to expand...

Trying to embed video..


https://youtu.be/RHP1hU-0AIM

Hewitt2 said:

Yeah but listen to Use your Illusion and count the songs where this fill is frequently used. It's a lot more than just the ones that Axl requested. Just off the top of my head, I can also name Yesterdays, Live and Let Die, The Garden, knockin' on heavens door, etc. etc.

That one fill and its variants dominates that album...

Click to expand...

Matt didn't record Knocking on Heavens Door.

Adler recorded that one before getting fired.

Per Duff's book though, it was such a long process of trying to get Steven Alder to get a good take, with much cutting and pasting (pre-protools mind you) of takes to get the final version that appears on album.
And due to Alder's struggle to record that song, they replaced Steve with Matt.

So the phrase was set before Matt was in the band. And then Axl wanted it carried through more songs. And the remaining of the drum tracks were recorded in a hurry, so it probably just became habit to play that fill to get good takes fast.

And it's not like GnR were a prog band.

In both Slash's and Duff's book they discuss Steven Alder joined GnR playing a large drum kit, and Izzy, Duff and Slash would hide pieces various pieces of his kit until he had no choice but to keep it simple with the 4 pc. When Matt joined, that template was already pretty set.

Dude, you sure about that?

I know for sure civil war is Adler but Knockin' on heaven's door sure sounds like its Matt Sorum. That's a whole different drum sound and approach.

Adler himself has acknowledged in interviews that his only track on the album is civil war....

Hewitt2 said:

Dude, you sure about that?

I know for sure civil war is Adler but Knockin' on heaven's door sure sounds like its Matt Sorum. That's a whole different drum sound and approach.

Adler himself has acknowledged in interviews that his only track on the album is civil war....

Click to expand...

Doh!, you are right, it was Civil War the story is about.

but I'm sort of right.

Matt is on the Use Your Illusion version of Knocking.

GnR had recorded an earlier version with Alder that was on a soundtrack, but re-recorded it with Sorum for the album.

Adler also played Knocking on Heaven's Door live on the Appetite tour well before they ever record a studio version, thus my confusion.

Anyhow, I'm not defending Matt's use of the fill, I'm just talking about the reasons of why he might have done it.

From what I've seen online, Matt Sorum seems like a really nice guy. Very into charitable causes and enjoys responding to fan feedback via social media.