He’s a rock icon and is part of a legendary band. He has my undying respect. But I don’t think there’s anything special about his playing. He plays pocket which is great but he’s often sloppy. Nothing he’s done has wow’ed me. He’s not bad in any sense of the word. But I don’t think he’s as good as everyone says he is š¤·āāļø
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People say heās good?
This is the wrong group to have that opinion with. 99% of us know fuckall about drumming. I’d guess 80-90% of people don’t know who Chad Smith is offhand.
You mean Will Ferrell? Heās awesome, and heās hilarious. You should see Step Brothers.
To be fair I donāt think have ever heard people laud him as one of the greats. Heās good at what he does and seems like a genuinely good person, but yeah I mean heās no John Bonham.
Chad Smith might not seem particularly impressive when compared to drummers who push technical boundaries or redefine the genre, but he is still firmly among the top 0.01% of drummers. The claim that he āisnāt that amazingā is less a reflection of a lack of talent and more a consequence of being measured against other world-class drummers.
Heās a damn good drummer. There isnāt really any refuting thatā¦.
His drumming isn’t about showcasing his mastery of the instrument, it’s about serving the song; more like Ringo Starr or Charlie Watts than Neil Peart.
Define this. I never heard anyone prop him up as some icon drummer other than as part of a quirky band (that I like) and he looks like
Will Ferrell. Heās āgoodā this much is true.
But idk. I guess this is unpopular enough.
He’s only lauded because he’s a talented musician in a bro band that mostly got famous for being twats and shitty bros lol he and John are talented, Flea and Anthony are pretty average but carry the gross ultra-masc image that propelled them to fame.
But if John was a drummer in a band of talented musicians, he would not really get much attention.
chad smith doesnt have to be an amazing drummer to be chad smith. thats the whole point.
I have never heard a drummer refer to him because of how skilled he is.
Upvote because I completely disagree. This is coming from someone thats not really a big fan of the Chili either, but I do think hes a very talented dude.
I agree with you. There havenāt been many moments while listening to RHCP that I go āOh man these drums are the best!ā One example I do have is their song āThese Are The Waysā now that drumming is gooooood
Heās the example of a guy who loves to drum. People donāt argue heās some example of āmost technically giftedā or something. He can count, he can play most things by ear especially if the song is simple enough.
https://youtu.be/HMBRjo33cUE?si=N09i1i6JvYFaLw0L
The guy plays to The Kill almost bang on to the original despite never hearing it before. He just gets it and thatās inspiring.
Itās more that heās a lot of peopleās favorite, rather than lauding him as some savant.
Dude is a human metronome. Sometimes that’s all that’s required.
He’s very charismatic and has a loose style of playing that complements the sound of RHCP. Not every drummer needs to be razor-precise to be considered great.
100% agree, never understood the hype.
As a drummer I can tell you that
Chili peppers drum charts are perfect for people breaking into intermediate level, they have a lot of staple 16th note ghost kick and snare patters as well as great hi hat technique. They are mostly simple funk grooves that translate into a lot of different styles of playing and they are worth learning for anyone serious about drums.
Chad smith might not be a technical genius but he has fundamentals locked and most importantly, he has pocket with the bass player which is the only thing that really matters
Sure, he’s not going to blow your mind with technical proficiency like Thomas Lang, but the drummer’s job isn’t to look good, but to make the rest of the band sound good.
Chad Smith makes the bands he’s in sound great. The “slop” serves the song and improves it. He’s out to impress musicians, not ProTools kiddies.
I thought the same until I saw him on drumeo recently
Counterpoint: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xck26sQHEnU
This is a fantastic performance of a song that requires significant musical talent and nuance.
Nah dude him perfectly figuring out the drum line to The Kill without having ever heard the song is GOAT shit, dude is an insanely talented drummer
Drummers are ancillary. They keep the beat. Kind of like the bass. They are there to keep rhythm and make the leads sound better. He does well at that.
Itās like hendrix. He isnāt the best technical guitarist of all time but he did things with the guitar no one had done before.
Considering heās one of the few white guys thatās permitted to unironically wear a ball cap backwards says all you need to know.
Some play music, some perform impressive tricks
Iāll go further: none of the rhcp members are that great, new or old. They just have a very distinct style theyāre playing and they all fit in and know how to serve the song.
This has nothing to do with the quality of their music or appeal.
Outside of RHCP, he has drummed on a TON of pretty big tracks that you’re probably not even aware of. He’s they guy you get if you can get him, can manage any style, extremely versatile.
He’s and amazing and terrific drummer.
What legendary band is he in?
My drum teacher, who taught beginners, once looked through all the drum notes from Stadium Arcadium, because an ex-student had lent it to him.
But didn’t want to teach it because he found it too boring for anyone to learn anything from. š
And a friend of mine once said, after watching a video of his, “Would be nice if didn’t spend 80% of his energy trying to look cool, and instead on playing drums”.
I will always remember both. š
I personally think Smith is a great drummer, but he rarely shows it. Doesn’t seem like he ever really challenges himself. He clearly likes posing while playing stuff that’s easy for him better.
So he’s great, even though what he plays, and how it sounds, you don’t need a great drummer for.
RHCP always impresses me with guitar and bass, but I rarely ever listen to any song longer than 90 seconds because I find the drums and vocals to be incredibly bland. Though that’s not necessarily unusual in popular music.
That is a red, hot, chili pepper of an opinion you have there.
This is just a dumb opinion
Good attitude, shows up, stays clean, easy hang, no trouble, can play the songs. Didn’t die.
Add a little talent and boom, success. Might how you keep the job in any business.
God I hate the Chili Peppers.
Clearly you haven’t listened to his side project, Chad Smith and the Bombastic Meatbats.
Iām pretty critical of bad drummers and heās pretty damn good. His playing is really in the pocket, itās loose not sloppy. He has his own sound within such a generic rock drums style. High energy, groovy and can be explosive when he needs to be, Iām surprised he still sounds the same at his current age. Tasteful too. Honestly canāt think of another drummer that will do him better than him.
I mean you donāt have to smash the drums like Bonzo to be a good drummer.
RHCP a “legendary band”???
i dont know how well the average redditor can evaluate this. that probably makes it an unpopular opinion. amongst learned musicians i would say this is generally well understood.
he literally loses the 1 because hes showboating for the camera in the drumeo performance of his own song. hes a good enough player but hes clearly human and definitely not anywhere near virtuoso.
lol he has one drum pattern for each song mme and my buddies always laughed itās the first pattern we learned too