I'm no drummer but my favorite drum part from Motley has always been the intro on Primal Scream. When you pair that with Mick using a slide on the Guitar that intro and entire song is just badass.
Makes u honest, actually...bc most in comment sections are bullshitting about their favorite, they just wanna give the "correct opinion". Meanwhile, they'll be enjoying some song or band that's way more flawed than they critized u for
we need this with Gar Samuelson. That dude blows me away every time I listen to early megadeth. I can listen to just the drum tracks and still enjoy myself
Somewhere along the line Tommy became a punch line amongst so-called "serious" drummers, but it's totally undeserved. He -- along with Neil Peart -- was the reason I even picked up a set of sticks in the first place. His showmanship was what hooked me in the beginning but when I got some more knowledge under my belt I realized that he has a lot of really fucking cool grooves and unique techniques. You highlighted his unique approach to fills by starting them with the kick -- that's something that fattens up those fills so much that I can't even extricate it from my playing anymore. He's always stated that John Bonham was his number one influence and you can really hear that in his playing -- especially the early days. That groove that kicks off Dr. Feelgood is one of the best drum grooves of all time.
all right , Neil Peart and Tommy Lee are 2 names that should never be in the same sentence. Don't care what you say , I am a drummer too and that is just preposterous. I have seen Motley Crue live and Tommy was probably so wasted that he missed pretty much all the punch on the drum parts. He deserves his reputation
@@martinberthiaume4971 I was just going to say that those two name that should never be mentioned in the same sentence. Maybe Cozy Powell, but never Tommy. This should not even be a video.
He always did mention John Bonham and Tommy Aldridge as his influences. I've always said, as a guitar player, I always wanted to have a drummer with the same style as Tommy Lee. Puts a good solid groove and looks cool doing it too.
Soooo…..half of the band ARE great musicians then? Vince blows these days, mostly because he only sings every third lyric as he can’t breathe and won’t lose weight…but still, even though he was never a great singer, he did have a style that worked back in the early days. I have no idea how technically good Nikki is as a bass player, but the Crue never features the instrument. Surprisingly though, from what I understand Nikki writes most of the songs, so he must be a good musician in some respects.
@@mnmade9062 technically speaking, Nikki is terribly sloppy, he sounds like a beginner who hasn't practiced the song enough in many isolated tracks, sounds good enough in the mix tho, so it doesn't really matter
@@joey_ramone_96 - I don't know sometimes isolated bass track sound like that. Check out the bass track for "Battery" by Metallica. I was surprised. But NOBODY would say Cliff made that song sound worse.
Tommy is very underrated. Great feel and sense of time. Listen to how he plays behind the beat on Shout at the devil making it heavy, then plays right on the beat for something like Looks that Kill keeping it solid, and Bastard is my favorite example, changing feels within the same song -WAY behind the beat in the verse (listen to snare placement) then switches to playing on top of the beat for the chorus, totally makes the song!
Thanks for the Tommy Lee tutorial. While I have great regard for drummers like Dave Weckl, Steve Smith, and Mike Mangini, the truth is that Tommy Lee is my favorite drummer. It's easy to dismiss him because he plays with Motley, but he's an incredibly musical player. His work on the '94 Crue album is testament to his greatness. Thanks for this video.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who sometimes plays different instruments in videos than what the TH-cam name implies. Great taste in music btw, love your stuff.
You're so awesome brother. I love it when someone breaks down the techniques of what makes the uniqueness of a particular musician. Thank you for your channel bro.
Tommy and Bonham were the two that turned me on enough to make me actually start playing drums myself...and then of course many more after them. People that put him down are idiots. He's exciting, thunderous and creative.
about a year ago i saw the techniques of mick mars, searched for other things found lars and bonhams videos, and i said when’s the tommy lee video coming out and it’s finally here. also love your channel, especially the art of drumming section, make more drumming vids, but i’ve gotten a lot out of all the technique vids so thankss
I love that you’re doing these videos for drums now too! I’m a guitarist and a drummer too. I’d love to see you do Sean Kinney from Alice In Chains! He’s super underrated.
Awesome, thank for posting. Tommy has always my fav drummer, cool to see somebody acknowledge his drumming. When i first heard Theatre of Pain, the whole albums rhythm n sound gave me chills
On most of his stick twirls, he twirls the right hand stick, while bringing his left over to hit the hat, and comes out of the twirl in time for the next beat. Watch their "Looks that Kill" video to see this.
@@dcmastermindfirst9418 oh please it's a tasty touch musically. He knows how to economically fill a sparse arrangement with tasty things like cymbal chokes in interesting places.
Amazing video! Every part was great. I would love to see it broken down slow with notes for us slow learners. Tommy Lee lays it down, and great job pointing out those details. You have a great ear for music. Thank you for the video, that was inspiring!
People who crap on Tommy's drumming need to listen to the 1994 Crue album with John Corabi. Specifically the track "Power to the Music". Those Bonham-esque fills bring the thunder! Always loved Tommy as a drummer. Has good swing, a powerful groove, looks cool while playing, and he actually has pretty good fills that - even though aren't the most technical - fit the songs very well.
🤘🏻🔥 love this! I still need to get a few more Mötley Crüe albums, only have Dr Feelgood so far, I get CD'S but even they are still pretty expensive these days. The Dirt is definitely worth a watch.
Thanks to TAOFG, a terrific tutorial. At 70 yo, and solely a recreational player in retirement, unfortunately, arthritis (spinal, hips, and more ), limits my speed and versatility, buy I still Enjoy It so Much. I resurrected playing after 50 Years and love being able to play an Instrument. I play for about an hour a day, to My Music which ranges from Allman Bros (not all), Beatles, Clapton, Dobbie Bros (that drummer was much better than he was given credit for), Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Hornsby, Hollies, Jethro Tull, Mellencamp, Petty, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Rait, Santana, Ten Years After ..... etc. I really like some of the "grooves" of Tommy Lee and you present them fabulaously. I'll keep trying, How Knows - Maybe a Geriatric Band could be in my Future :):) Happy New Year!!
Really cool. Stuff that is do easy to gloss over in the moment but when you hear it in an instruction like this, it helps me appreciate Tommy's style. Cheers man. Great tuition.
Even though I only program drums for my songs with Toon Tracks or Superior Drummer these types of videos are still helpful in creating a nice beat and grooves. I have since upgraded to the Native Instruments Mashine beat box and the pads are velocity sensitive. So hitting them harder changes the sound and feel. Very cool playing with just your fingers
You were doing his cymbal choks and I remember learning wild side learning it from the album and then seen the video of him hitting and choking that part with both hands right before he started spinning upside down and became who I modeled my drumming after. A few years later I heard pull me under went and bought images and words. And spent well the 90 s trying to figure out half the grooves and fills that Portnoy was smoking.
Tommy Lee and Vinnie Paul are just 2 players just having a blast behind the kit. I can not stress how much they influenced my style of playing. Tommy was my first favorite drummer. I learned every Motley Crue album first. I would rewind and restart every song until I nailed it down. Over and over until it became second nature. His style is what locked in my timing.
I'm 44 and when I started at 13, I was a T. L. clone... earrings, nose ring and... that's all I could afford. he was the biggest influence on my drumming and life at the time. still underrated😤
Great video my friend. Thank you for bringing the techniques of Tommy Lee to light. Great drummer, always loved his style. By the way awesome drum sound too!!!! Stay safe my friend and may God bless 🙏✝️
HAHAHA Yesss!!!! Fuck ever since finding your channel and your drum tutorials, I was hoping you'd get to Tommy Lee. He's the guy who made me want to drum in the first place! Thank you!
Great job, lot the video. My favorite song to drum is Wildside. You could do a whole video on that song. I love when he does the snare roll fill and hits the bass drum, snare w/crash then bass and crash that leads into the shuffle. 😳😊
Happy New Year 2022 to all the worldwide fans of The Crue !! Personal Tommy Lee faves: 1. Beautiful opening cymbal work, massive opening drum fills, and groove w/ one-handed cymbal chokes on DANGER. 2. Bad-ass drum fills over guitar solo section in KNOCK EM DEAD KID. Very hard-hitting & frantic !! 3. Smooth flanger groove in openings of LOUDER THAN HELL + Double-bass power quads in BASTARD. 4. Double handed hi-hat dance rhythm w/ stomping bass drum in verses, half-time ride cymbal swing choruses w/syncopated breaks in WILD SIDE -- probably my all-time favorite. So much fun to play!!🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁
I think what you're trying to say is, Tommy leads with his left foot. Slayer's drummer does the same. And, John Bonham used to lead with his left foot, for those triplet patterns everyone loves so much. A lot of players who learned "traditionally", use the hi-hat as a timekeeper, which they started with the left foot. It was then transferred to the bass drum, more out of a habit, than trying to sound good. Sounding great was an unintended by-product.
The flange effect on drums started with John Bonham I believe. He was the first I heard use it. He used it during his live solos and on a few studio tracks, including Kashmir and When the Levee Breaks. But I'm pretty sure Tommy Lee was a huge Bonham fan, hence the 26" bass drum He always plays with. You can easily hear the Bonham influence all over his style.
Mike, If I'm Not Mistaken, I think Ringo was the first to use Flanges to affect the sound of his drum Playing. he was knocked for not being agreat drummer, but tghe more you listen to him play, the more you will appreciate his playing.....sometimes less is More. There are sooo many great drummers, it's hard to keep track. Hell, I'm 70 yo, and "play" drums, resurrected as a retirement Pleasure after a 50 Year Hiatus (1969 at 18 years old). I play to My Music : CCR, Petty, Stones, Beatles, Mellencamp, Fleetwood Mac, Clapton, Winwood, Cars, Talking Heads, and some more including Bonnie Rait and Linda Ronstadt (so throw in The Eagles too). I can't touch Bonham, or Tommy Lee, or Copeland, Gaad, but i try :):):). Happy New Year and Happy Drumming !!
I love Tommy Lee on drums. Nothing really fancy, but he's got great feel and style. GREAT rock drummer. Sidenote - Steven Adler did a lot of that hihat/cowbell count in stuff too.
Great video. It's good to see someone giving the man credit for his work instead of his other antics. He is one of the best drummers in Rock but is never placed on the list of the greatest drummers.
But it does sound -at least for me- that he doesn't open the HH with the foot, just having them lay on each other and getting the tone with the stick. Could be wrong, maybe there's a vid of him playing
How can you not touch on his groove from Hooligans Holiday? I know it's off the self titled album with John Corabi but the drums on that song (and album) are amazing.
10:29 Yeep this is also done by Alex Van Halen ,Roger Taylor ,Phil Rudd and Chad Smith . Roger Taylor and Phil Rudd did this a lot...like a lot . I think this one Tommy was definitely inspired by all of these guys mentioned ☝️☝️
I think Tommy got the cowbell fill idea in the cut-time part of Live Wire from the bridge feel by Tommy Aldridge in Snortin' Whiskey. After all, Tommy likes Tommy.
Is there a chance we can get a greatest techniques video for Billy Gibbons? Everyone seems to love the Rev but there's not that many good videos on his style besides just note for note lessons of songs
Thanks for doing this! He is SO underrated. Think you covered it all! I guess I don’t have to make this video now lol. Oh…Steven Adler did the cowbell/Hihats a lot on Appetite as well. Wonder if he got it from TL…
Some within motleys tracts, limit Tommy's actual abilitys. He's up there along side Travis, both have extraordinary closures. Very difficult to deliver out of the world closures, post lengthy difficult tracts., endurance within both is extraordinary, Which if you view Travis or Tommy, both are stellar very thorough double bass drummers Veteran legacy's that still learn within times, to expand towards not falling into lack within variety catagory. .
David stock - Uuuuh…. Well… look .. man.. I also Love ❤️ Tommy Lee I grew up as a young teen in 80s as a Drummer myself and even though I Love his Drumming on albums… Uumm… He is actually NOT A GREAT DRUMMER AT ALL BUDDY LOL HAHA 😂👎 Haha haha LoL 😂 FACTS - He creates Awesome Beats to Songs Yes 👍 TRUE! BUT When he goes ( FREE STYLE) uuuuhh… 👎 it’s completely Amateur time! Haha LoL 😂 Look 👀 I myself have seen him in I believe EVERY SINGLE CONCERT since 1984!!! Every Drum 🥁 solo he is ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE 😞 HE CANNOT DO ANYTHING AMAZING at all… LoL 😂 It’s just a standard Medium speed Double Bass constant while doing Some Tom Rolls and hits the Cow 🐮 Bell 🔔 here and there..??? Haha LoL 😂 That’s Basically EVERY SINGLE DAMN TIME I HAVE WATCHED HIM..! Again he’s A Great 👍 “ Band Song Drummer “ But absolutely TERRIBLE Amateur hour during Free Play or Drum Solo.. 👎👎🔥🤣🤣 I still LOVE HIM THO!!
@@petergriffinelectricdrums4164 I feel the same as you. Tommy was my idol growing up. I had the hair, had all their albums, could do his stick twirl, and could do his cigarette/lip tricks. Haha. But after exposure to more musicians and drummers, I see that he's not a GREAT drummer, but was great with Crue. (and tbh, think the same of Travis. Actually, I think even less of Travis, and think he's overrated.)
Nice breakdowns. I'm only a quarter through the vid, and I'll finish it later. The Crüe were one of the earlier hard rock bands I "cut my teeth" on. A few years after getting into hard rock, then metal, I picked up a drumset. I never really gave Tommy Lee his due, back then. It's taken me a number of years to realize that he's a very "unconventional" player. My brain works more (and processes more) along the lines of AC/DC, as opposed to Tommy Lee, or even more extreme, Portnoy or Haake. I keep waiting for accents or snare hits in "normal" places, and when they're not there, I kind of tune out - that's all on me, not the drummer I'm listening to. I've begun to refer to Tommy as the Dominick Cruz of drumming. Definitely his own unique style, it seems pretty sporadic, a little all across the board, and hard to follow, but man...he takes care of business on that kit, and gets it done!!!🤘🤘
Very cool take on this. I grew up idolizing Tommy. As soon as I saw the title I thought muted crash. That was always something I loved from him. I wonder if a lot of what he played was natural and not really planned out. Anyway. Please put a Swiffer to those drums. The dust is distracting. Lol
Love the sound of your drums! Too many mix out the natural depth of the drum tone and all you hear is the attack of the head making them all sound virtually the same.
I think the pulsing hats thing was done quite few times by Steven Adler and even Rikki Rocket in their respective bands. Steven Adler certainly did that on "Wellcome to the Jungle". Chad Smith does a little version of this though.
I'm no drummer but my favorite drum part from Motley has always been the intro on Primal Scream. When you pair that with Mick using a slide on the Guitar that intro and entire song is just badass.
Agree with you.
Agreed too!
And the bassline. Even though very simple, it just works for the song.
The white snake riff rip off .
AGREED!
Maybe I'm dumb but Tommy Lee has always been one of my favourite drummers. He just hits them so hard. I'd take that over fancy tippy taps any day.
I'm tempted but I won't.
He’s an okay drummer but not very technical kinda like Lars but I’ll give you that about the playing hard he has emotion in drums
Makes u honest, actually...bc most in comment sections are bullshitting about their favorite, they just wanna give the "correct opinion". Meanwhile, they'll be enjoying some song or band that's way more flawed than they critized u for
@@MitsubishiLancerEvo you should see him drinking bottle of jack while keeping a steady rythm
I agree man, i Love Tommy.
we need this with Gar Samuelson. That dude blows me away every time I listen to early megadeth. I can listen to just the drum tracks and still enjoy myself
+1 to this. Could not agree more
Yes for me also. especially the first album. Just phenomenal.
Yes! Gar is by far my favorite drummer. His approach to writing parts has only been matched by a few other drumming greats
Yep. I absolutely loved his jazz like fills. They sound like a Gatling gun.
Yes, yes and yes.
I love the sound at the start of Wild Side, it has that "thump and ping" sound like a sledgehammer.
Somewhere along the line Tommy became a punch line amongst so-called "serious" drummers, but it's totally undeserved. He -- along with Neil Peart -- was the reason I even picked up a set of sticks in the first place. His showmanship was what hooked me in the beginning but when I got some more knowledge under my belt I realized that he has a lot of really fucking cool grooves and unique techniques. You highlighted his unique approach to fills by starting them with the kick -- that's something that fattens up those fills so much that I can't even extricate it from my playing anymore. He's always stated that John Bonham was his number one influence and you can really hear that in his playing -- especially the early days. That groove that kicks off Dr. Feelgood is one of the best drum grooves of all time.
all right , Neil Peart and Tommy Lee are 2 names that should never be in the same sentence. Don't care what you say , I am a drummer too and that is just preposterous. I have seen Motley Crue live and Tommy was probably so wasted that he missed pretty much all the punch on the drum parts. He deserves his reputation
@@martinberthiaume4971 I was just going to say that those two name that should never be mentioned in the same sentence. Maybe Cozy Powell, but never Tommy. This should not even be a video.
He always did mention John Bonham and Tommy Aldridge as his influences. I've always said, as a guitar player, I always wanted to have a drummer with the same style as Tommy Lee. Puts a good solid groove and looks cool doing it too.
You picked up because of Neil not Tommy. Tommy can't hold Neil's jock strap.
Motley isn't known for being great musicians but Tommy is a great drummer. Mick is a great guitarist and he's underrated.
Soooo…..half of the band ARE great musicians then? Vince blows these days, mostly because he only sings every third lyric as he can’t breathe and won’t lose weight…but still, even though he was never a great singer, he did have a style that worked back in the early days. I have no idea how technically good Nikki is as a bass player, but the Crue never features the instrument. Surprisingly though, from what I understand Nikki writes most of the songs, so he must be a good musician in some respects.
@@mnmade9062 technically speaking, Nikki is terribly sloppy, he sounds like a beginner who hasn't practiced the song enough in many isolated tracks, sounds good enough in the mix tho, so it doesn't really matter
@@joey_ramone_96 - I don't know sometimes isolated bass track sound like that. Check out the bass track for "Battery" by Metallica. I was surprised. But NOBODY would say Cliff made that song sound worse.
You just named 2/3’s of the band.
@@joey_ramone_96 I heard Nikki say , if I spent 6 months in the woodshed practicing , I'd be Ok on the bass
Tommy is very underrated. Great feel and sense of time. Listen to how he plays behind the beat on Shout at the devil making it heavy, then plays right on the beat for something like Looks that Kill keeping it solid, and Bastard is my favorite example, changing feels within the same song -WAY behind the beat in the verse (listen to snare placement) then switches to playing on top of the beat for the chorus, totally makes the song!
Thanks for the Tommy Lee tutorial. While I have great regard for drummers like Dave Weckl, Steve Smith, and Mike Mangini, the truth is that Tommy Lee is my favorite drummer. It's easy to dismiss him because he plays with Motley, but he's an incredibly musical player. His work on the '94 Crue album is testament to his greatness. Thanks for this video.
Ohh man that album is insane, Tommy did a great job on that one.
That was PRIME Tommy Lee! @@rogeliofernandezjimenez3053
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who sometimes plays different instruments in videos than what the TH-cam name implies. Great taste in music btw, love your stuff.
You're so awesome brother. I love it when someone breaks down the techniques of what makes the uniqueness of a particular musician. Thank you for your channel bro.
I got really into drumming back in 83 I was 13 and Tommy was my go to.. My style today still feels a lot like Tommy's.
Tommy and Bonham were the two that turned me on enough to make me actually start playing drums myself...and then of course many more after them. People that put him down are idiots. He's exciting, thunderous and creative.
about a year ago i saw the techniques of mick mars, searched for other things found lars and bonhams videos, and i said when’s the tommy lee video coming out and it’s finally here. also love your channel, especially the art of drumming section, make more drumming vids, but i’ve gotten a lot out of all the technique vids so thankss
Tommy was the best at making a simple thing look really hard and sound really cool. I always liked playing to his tracks.
I love that you’re doing these videos for drums now too! I’m a guitarist and a drummer too. I’d love to see you do Sean Kinney from Alice In Chains! He’s super underrated.
Sean was always one of my favorites... Still Is...
Sean is an excellent drummer, very underrated
Great video man. If it wasn’t for Tommy I wouldn’t be a drummer. He’s a total groove machine, and such a great drummer!!
Awesome, thank for posting. Tommy has always my fav drummer, cool to see somebody acknowledge his drumming.
When i first heard Theatre of Pain, the whole albums rhythm n sound gave me chills
Never thought of Tommy Lee as a good drummer, but this video made me realize he is. Well done
Well, if you never thought of Tommy Lee as a good drummer you're a brainless moron
HE CAN DRUM WHILE SPINNING OVER THE AUDIENCE.
WHO ELSE CAN DO THIS?????
.i am not serious.
I find most professional drummers are good drummers. Its jsut some are more talented than others.
On most of his stick twirls, he twirls the right hand stick, while bringing his left over to hit the hat, and comes out of the twirl in time for the next beat. Watch their "Looks that Kill" video to see this.
For massive pulsing hi-hat, Tony Thompson, Power Station, "Bang A Gong".
So glad to see someone giving credit to his "playing." You really pulled out the subtleties here. Great Video! 🤘
His patented cymbal chokes at odd times is my favorite technique from TL.
That's not a technique.
Any idiot can do them.
I love that he does it with the same respective stick hands he hits them with. It's a simple sound but watching him do it makes it look really cool
@@dcmastermindfirst9418 Someone just doesn't like Tommy
@@dcmastermindfirst9418 oh please it's a tasty touch musically. He knows how to economically fill a sparse arrangement with tasty things like cymbal chokes in interesting places.
Good to see another drummer/guitarist. I came to drums second, but they definitely reinforce each other. Great stuff as always!
What a video... Really fun to see you talking about the the drumming , while explaning how you realised the way he does
Amazing video! Every part was great. I would love to see it broken down slow with notes for us slow learners. Tommy Lee lays it down, and great job pointing out those details. You have a great ear for music.
Thank you for the video, that was inspiring!
Slice of Your Pie... I can't get enough of the drums in the song, especially at the start.
People who crap on Tommy's drumming need to listen to the 1994 Crue album with John Corabi. Specifically the track "Power to the Music". Those Bonham-esque fills bring the thunder! Always loved Tommy as a drummer. Has good swing, a powerful groove, looks cool while playing, and he actually has pretty good fills that - even though aren't the most technical - fit the songs very well.
YES! MORE MOTLEY CRUE!!! Please do an artist series on Geroge Lynch from Dokken/Lynch Mobb
Great video! Love Mötley Crüe and Tommy Lee. Thanks for breaking down some of his technique!
🤘🏻🔥 love this! I still need to get a few more Mötley Crüe albums, only have Dr Feelgood so far, I get CD'S but even they are still pretty expensive these days.
The Dirt is definitely worth a watch.
The song Wild Side will change your life. Or the riff from Girls, Girls, Girls.
@@TheArtofGuitar Mick Mars sneaks in some world-class stuff and doesn't get enough credit for it.
Thanks to TAOFG, a terrific tutorial. At 70 yo, and solely a recreational player in retirement, unfortunately, arthritis (spinal, hips, and more ), limits my speed and versatility, buy I still Enjoy It so Much. I resurrected playing after 50 Years and love being able to play an Instrument. I play for about an hour a day, to My Music which ranges from Allman Bros (not all), Beatles, Clapton, Dobbie Bros (that drummer was much better than he was given credit for), Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Hornsby, Hollies, Jethro Tull, Mellencamp, Petty, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Rait, Santana, Ten Years After ..... etc. I really like some of the "grooves" of Tommy Lee and you present them fabulaously. I'll keep trying, How Knows - Maybe a Geriatric Band could be in my Future :):) Happy New Year!!
the cowbell work on the groove was so cool i'm gonna steal that
Great video man...I love Tommy's drumming and I'm a guitarist that's trying to get better at the drums so this was awesome 🤘
Great vid Mike, I love playing drums too. Lets attach our sets to the ceiling and really go Tommy Lee style 🤘
Tommy definitely hits the snare and the kick together. Double time on the KICK Heavy He’s a great ROCK Drummer
He use to be my ideal drummer when I was getting into music.
Tommy is a big reason I started drumming.
Really cool. Stuff that is do easy to gloss over in the moment but when you hear it in an instruction like this, it helps me appreciate Tommy's style.
Cheers man. Great tuition.
Even though I only program drums for my songs with Toon Tracks or Superior Drummer these types of videos are still helpful in creating a nice beat and grooves. I have since upgraded to the Native Instruments Mashine beat box and the pads are velocity sensitive. So hitting them harder changes the sound and feel. Very cool playing with just your fingers
As weird as it sounds, I subscribed because of your drum videos. Keep ‘’em coming!
You were doing his cymbal choks and I remember learning wild side learning it from the album and then seen the video of him hitting and choking that part with both hands right before he started spinning upside down and became who I modeled my drumming after. A few years later I heard pull me under went and bought images and words. And spent well the 90 s trying to figure out half the grooves and fills that Portnoy was smoking.
Tommy Lee and Vinnie Paul are just 2 players just having a blast behind the kit. I can not stress how much they influenced my style of playing.
Tommy was my first favorite drummer. I learned every Motley Crue album first.
I would rewind and restart every song until I nailed it down. Over and over until it became second nature. His style is what locked in my timing.
This is a great analysis of a drummer’s technique, style, and uniqueness. Awesome video, man!
Great video, lots to take away and think about and chuck in my playing.
I'm a really big fan of Tommy's opening drum part on Danger, and nobody ever talks about how great it is.
I'm 44 and when I started at 13, I was a T. L. clone... earrings, nose ring and... that's all I could afford. he was the biggest influence on my drumming and life at the time. still underrated😤
Great video my friend. Thank you for bringing the techniques of Tommy Lee to light. Great drummer, always loved his style. By the way awesome drum sound too!!!! Stay safe my friend and may God bless 🙏✝️
Thanks for making this video - Tommy is one of my fave drummers of all time!
HAHAHA Yesss!!!! Fuck ever since finding your channel and your drum tutorials, I was hoping you'd get to Tommy Lee. He's the guy who made me want to drum in the first place! Thank you!
Great job, lot the video. My favorite song to drum is Wildside. You could do a whole video on that song. I love when he does the snare roll fill and hits the bass drum, snare w/crash then bass and crash that leads into the shuffle. 😳😊
Happy New Year 2022 to all the worldwide fans of The Crue !! Personal Tommy Lee faves:
1. Beautiful opening cymbal work, massive opening drum fills, and groove w/ one-handed cymbal chokes on DANGER.
2. Bad-ass drum fills over guitar solo section in KNOCK EM DEAD KID. Very hard-hitting & frantic !!
3. Smooth flanger groove in openings of LOUDER THAN HELL + Double-bass power quads in BASTARD.
4. Double handed hi-hat dance rhythm w/ stomping bass drum in verses, half-time ride cymbal swing choruses w/syncopated breaks in WILD SIDE -- probably my all-time favorite. So much fun to play!!🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁
Tommy is great. Your drum sound and playing too...
You should do a series of "Art of techniques that don't add anything to your playing but look freaking cool" 😂
Close eye, open ear
I think what you're trying to say is, Tommy leads with his left foot. Slayer's drummer does the same. And, John Bonham used to lead with his left foot, for those triplet patterns everyone loves so much. A lot of players who learned "traditionally", use the hi-hat as a timekeeper, which they started with the left foot. It was then transferred to the bass drum, more out of a habit, than trying to sound good. Sounding great was an unintended by-product.
The flange effect on drums started with John Bonham I believe. He was the first I heard use it. He used it during his live solos and on a few studio tracks, including Kashmir and When the Levee Breaks. But I'm pretty sure Tommy Lee was a huge Bonham fan, hence the 26" bass drum He always plays with. You can easily hear the Bonham influence all over his style.
Mike, If I'm Not Mistaken, I think Ringo was the first to use Flanges to affect the sound of his drum Playing. he was knocked for not being agreat drummer, but tghe more you listen to him play, the more you will appreciate his playing.....sometimes less is More. There are sooo many great drummers, it's hard to keep track. Hell, I'm 70 yo, and "play" drums, resurrected as a retirement Pleasure after a 50 Year Hiatus (1969 at 18 years old). I play to My Music : CCR, Petty, Stones, Beatles, Mellencamp, Fleetwood Mac, Clapton, Winwood, Cars, Talking Heads, and some more including Bonnie Rait and Linda Ronstadt (so throw in The Eagles too). I can't touch Bonham, or Tommy Lee, or Copeland, Gaad, but i try :):):). Happy New Year and Happy Drumming !!
My favorite "Tommy Flanger" track, is in the beginning of "Louder Than Hell". It's really minimal, but it really compliments the beat!
I love Tommy Lee on drums. Nothing really fancy, but he's got great feel and style. GREAT rock drummer.
Sidenote - Steven Adler did a lot of that hihat/cowbell count in stuff too.
Great video.
It's good to see someone giving the man credit for his work instead of his other antics.
He is one of the best drummers in Rock but is never placed on the list of the greatest drummers.
Great video, I love Tommy. Take a look at Frank Beard's drumming on Tejas, some of it sounds insane to me, quite unique too.
What about the high hat in Primal Scream? One of the greatest drum tracks and sounds as well. Great video.
Steven Adler does the pulsing HH in "Welcome to the Jungle." It really does drive the beat doesn't it?
Yeah I have seen a lot of drum covers that fail to notice that. Drives me crazy because it is such an integral part of the song.
But it does sound -at least for me- that he doesn't open the HH with the foot, just having them lay on each other and getting the tone with the stick. Could be wrong, maybe there's a vid of him playing
can you make a video about how you get that snare sound because holy hell it sounds huge
Great video man. Love the crue. I didn't know you played drums though
How can you not touch on his groove from Hooligans Holiday? I know it's off the self titled album with John Corabi but the drums on that song (and album) are amazing.
Ty. U opened my eyes. That was great
The cowbell in Live Wire was a quirky fill but fitting as fk!
Thanks Mike, I stumbled upon your video, very informative and educational! Well done, Spot on!
Can we get nick menza techniques now ???
10:29 Yeep this is also done by Alex Van Halen ,Roger Taylor ,Phil Rudd and Chad Smith . Roger Taylor and Phil Rudd did this a lot...like a lot .
I think this one Tommy was definitely inspired by all of these guys mentioned ☝️☝️
Yeah....that's a Roger Taylor thing..
I really like the in depth drum videos as well.
Excellent analysis of drum bits
Excellent video!!
Great video, nice playing, but what struck me most of all is the Satch shirt…nice digs, bro! 🤣 met Satch in ‘16 and got him to sign my Ibanez RG470!
Very good heartful Demonstration 👍thank you for your work🤟
I think Tommy got the cowbell fill idea in the cut-time part of Live Wire from the bridge feel by Tommy Aldridge in Snortin' Whiskey. After all, Tommy likes Tommy.
Excellent video! Learned a lot I never realized, thanks !
Tommy come right out of high school. He learned to play on his own, EVH could not write or read sheet music, What Tommy does come naturally
Great video, thank you!! 🔥🥁🔥👏🏻👏🏻🤘🏻😊🤘🏻
Fantastic content excellent job very entertaining
You would love dream theaters mike Mangini on there new album “ a view from the top of the world “ amazing album and fabulous drummer
Is there a chance we can get a greatest techniques video for Billy Gibbons? Everyone seems to love the Rev but there's not that many good videos on his style besides just note for note lessons of songs
I'm not sure I understand the connection between Rev and Billy..
The Rev or the Reverend Willie G is a nickname for Billy Gibbons. He wasn't referring to the former Avenged Sevenfold drummer.
Thanks for doing this! He is SO underrated. Think you covered it all! I guess I don’t have to make this video now lol. Oh…Steven Adler did the cowbell/Hihats a lot on Appetite as well. Wonder if he got it from TL…
Back then, we all knew Tommy was a beast. I don’t get how he became so underrated.
im a bassist who plays drums like a bassist, so hitting the snare and kick at the same time isnt wrong? hell yeah!
tommys not the only one who does it, no such thing as wrong!
good job on this vid... life long cruehead here, and drummer.... thnx t bone ...CHHOICCE.!
Some within motleys tracts, limit Tommy's actual abilitys. He's up there along side Travis, both have extraordinary closures. Very difficult to deliver out of the world closures, post lengthy difficult tracts., endurance within both is extraordinary, Which if you view Travis or Tommy, both are stellar very thorough double bass drummers Veteran legacy's that still learn within times, to expand towards not falling into lack within variety catagory. .
David stock - Uuuuh…. Well… look .. man.. I also Love ❤️ Tommy Lee I grew up as a young teen in 80s as a Drummer myself and even though I Love his Drumming on albums… Uumm… He is actually NOT A GREAT DRUMMER AT ALL BUDDY LOL HAHA 😂👎
Haha haha LoL 😂 FACTS - He creates Awesome Beats to Songs Yes 👍 TRUE!
BUT
When he goes ( FREE STYLE) uuuuhh… 👎 it’s completely Amateur time! Haha LoL 😂
Look 👀 I myself have seen him in I believe EVERY SINGLE CONCERT since 1984!!!
Every Drum 🥁 solo he is ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE 😞
HE CANNOT DO ANYTHING AMAZING at all… LoL 😂
It’s just a standard Medium speed Double Bass constant while doing Some Tom Rolls and hits the Cow 🐮 Bell 🔔 here and there..???
Haha LoL 😂
That’s Basically EVERY SINGLE DAMN TIME I HAVE WATCHED HIM..!
Again he’s A Great 👍 “ Band Song Drummer “
But absolutely TERRIBLE Amateur hour during Free Play or Drum Solo.. 👎👎🔥🤣🤣
I still LOVE HIM THO!!
@@petergriffinelectricdrums4164 I feel the same as you. Tommy was my idol growing up. I had the hair, had all their albums, could do his stick twirl, and could do his cigarette/lip tricks. Haha. But after exposure to more musicians and drummers, I see that he's not a GREAT drummer, but was great with Crue. (and tbh, think the same of Travis. Actually, I think even less of Travis, and think he's overrated.)
Which Motley tribute do ya play? I'm a drummer in Motley Crude in the UK. Great vid dude
Happy new year with lots of health and new videos
Sweet vid as always, I'd love to see a drum technique video on Ringo Starr, Alex Van Halen or Nick Mason from Pink Floyd
Nice breakdowns. I'm only a quarter through the vid, and I'll finish it later. The Crüe were one of the earlier hard rock bands I "cut my teeth" on. A few years after getting into hard rock, then metal, I picked up a drumset. I never really gave Tommy Lee his due, back then. It's taken me a number of years to realize that he's a very "unconventional" player. My brain works more (and processes more) along the lines of AC/DC, as opposed to Tommy Lee, or even more extreme, Portnoy or Haake. I keep waiting for accents or snare hits in "normal" places, and when they're not there, I kind of tune out - that's all on me, not the drummer I'm listening to. I've begun to refer to Tommy as the Dominick Cruz of drumming. Definitely his own unique style, it seems pretty sporadic, a little all across the board, and hard to follow, but man...he takes care of business on that kit, and gets it done!!!🤘🤘
Awesome! Love your drummer focused series. Any chance of doing one for Jimmy Chamberlin?
Very cool take on this. I grew up idolizing Tommy. As soon as I saw the title I thought muted crash. That was always something I loved from him. I wonder if a lot of what he played was natural and not really planned out. Anyway. Please put a Swiffer to those drums. The dust is distracting. Lol
cool video man! the drum pattern in dr feelgood is one of the all time greatest rock patterns
Love the sound of your drums! Too many mix out the natural depth of the drum tone and all you hear is the attack of the head making them all sound virtually the same.
I think the pulsing hats thing was done quite few times by Steven Adler and even Rikki Rocket in their respective bands. Steven Adler certainly did that on "Wellcome to the Jungle". Chad Smith does a little version of this though.
Wild Side is my favourite drum beat of Tommys
Nice work! 🥁
I think Tommy is using herta fills in smokin in the boys room? Very interesting video!👍
I Love Tommy my favorite drummer.
excellent video
Great job,