All Those Drum Solos... Cool Lookback

This is cool: Ultimate Classic Rock has compiled 30 years of Tommy Lee's drum solos. As Motley Crue continues on their "Final Tour," Tommy is playing on the Cruecifly - a giant roller-coaster. Some of the older tours are interesting to me. Makes me nostalgic and a little sad for sure.

Comments

[Ace Steele]

Y'know what's really sad about this? Once upon a time, Tommy used to actually play an actual drum solo that showed off his once formidable drumming skills.

That ended with the Girls. Girl, Girls tour. After that, it's been song samples, & EDM trance crap, while all Tommy does is play basic 4/4 time & the occasional roll. What a waste. because Tommy is/was a truly exceptional drummer. Now he's overshadowed by hardware.

[Rita]

I saw this show a week ago Saturday and it was great. They were amazing, as was Alice. It made me sad to think that that would be the last time seeing them live.

First time for me was '83 and this show almost rivaled the first one. I guess I'm not ready to say goodbye to seeing them live. Vince was really good this time. He really stepped up his game.

[Bob]

There are really two main aspects to being a drummer: laying down the groove that anchors and propells the rest of the band, and soloing when it's your turn to do so. Tommy is truly one of the best drummers I've ever heard when it comes to establishing a sick groove that holds the band together, yet pushes them forward at the same time.

However, when it comes to playing a traditional solo, (Just the drummer and his/her kit without any extra nonsense), Tommy is serviceable, but certainly not a good enough soloist to do a traditional one year after year. I remember the solo he did on the "Shout at the Devil" tour. It started out with him playing a really cool 4/4 groove that was anchored by 16th notes on the kick drums. It wasn't technically complicated to play, but he used his whole kit to great effect, and it sounded awesome. But then, he launched into the old standby that too many drummers were leaning on during the mid 80s. Snare snare, kick kick, tom tom, kick kick, tom tom, kick kick, etc. He'd play it really slow, stop, and then say, "Do you want to hear it faster?" Then he'd play it a little faster, stop again, and bla bla bla.

The point to all of my rambling is that, I think Tommy was smart to turn his solo spot into something other than just a traditional solo -- a medium in which his abilities are limited. Of course, I'd also argue that he swung too far in the other direction. He could do some traditional soloing while enhancing it with all the other stuff.

Even as I write this, it occurs to me that Tommy is a world-famous rock star, while I never made it out of the bar scene, so maybe I shouldn't be the one giving him advice.

[Gary]

Ace, you beat me to it!!! Lol

[Dj]

Song sampling and electronics can be a pretty cool thing as long as it's only used as a tool. Just my opinion though. A lot of his solos have been cool and over the top. The crucify I thought was really cool. People tend to forget that he is an excellent rock drummer. I'm wondering if he'll do any rock type stuff once the Crue is done.

[Ace Steele]

"People tend to forget that he is an excellent rock drummer."

Maybe if he played drums instead of messing with his samplers?

Just a thought. ;)