who here thinks prince is one of the best drummer's around???

Please...

tonyat said:

It's true!

From several drummers/percussionists point of view (including myself) I can say that he's pretty decent drum-wise, but not "great". He has a solid pocket for sure and it's great for most of his music, but he's in nowwhere near the league of people like:

1) Neil Peart
2) Peter Erskine
3) Steve Smith
4) John Blackwell
5) Sheila E.
6) Manu Katche
7) Terry Bozzio
8) Greg Bissonette
9) Dave Weckl
10) Michael Bland

EMattP said:

Neil Peart is definitely my favorite drummer of all time!!!! I never thought Prince was all that great on drums. Better than me though

tonyat said:

If you think Prince is a good drummer, check out this other lil'fella:

http://www.boreme.com/bor...ckid=v4741

djdaffy1227 said:

Oh my God, Manu Katche before Michael Bland ?!!!

And what about Tony Williams ?

EMattP said:

Agreed. But it is already a miracle that he is so good at so many instruments. Let's always keep that in mind.

didntreadthepostproperly edit.


[Edited 10/25/05 5:32am]

yeah....i thought he played pretty well....since that's not his speciality

but have you listened to songs like automatic...uptown... & lady cab driver lately...

unless that was someone else on the drums....

tonyat said:

Or listen to the Madhouse "8" album for some of his jazz-funk drumming. It's really slick. The drumming on "Crystal Ball" is pretty impressive too (or "Tamborine", "Irrisistable Bitch", "Sexual Suicide", "New Position", "Yes", "Sussanah's Pajama's, "Let's Work", etc., etc.....)

The drumming on Sexual Suicide is pretty tight.. however.. his wrists and back 2 fingers are making the kicks and set ups sloppy on Irrisistable Bitch...although some will argue that this slopiness gives the track it's character..

I don't know if he's one of the best... but the drumming on "Darling Nikki" is awesome.

Prince (IMO) is not a "technical" musician. Every instrument he plays is more about feel with a little flash. Dave Weckl is THE tightest drummer I've ever heard, but I don't "feel" him. He sounds great, but that bit of "soul" is missing from his playing. Prince has that "feel" to his playing. It's not gonna technically blow you away, but all the fills and licks "feel" right.

I doubt even Prince thinks that.

Years ago he said Jacob Armen was "the most frightening drummer" he'd ever heard.

EMattP said:

I'd put Alex Van Halen and David Garibaldi on that list too.

EMattP said:

I thought Sheila played drums on IB.

FUNKHUNTER said:

Say what?



Nothing impressive about it if you ask me.

doeineffect said:

I also thought she played on Crystal ball and sexual suicide too . I've heard conflicting things about the credits on the crystal ball tracks, made further confused by knowing that he remixed/rerecorded some of them.

jacktheimprovident said:

I thought it was Sheila on SS and Prince on CB.

He's not the best technically but he has a "voice" on the drums, a recognizable sound. That is rare for a multi-instrumentalist. I don't think he likes his own drumming to be slick -- the sloppiness is fully intended.

jacktheimprovident said:

Didn't the Crystal Ball notes say that Sheila E. came up with the beat, and then Prince took the drum sticks and recorded? Something like that I think.

coolcat said:

They did.

RepoMan said:

Why not? It's tight, it's funky, it's tasty....the drummer Questlove from "The Roots" even copied the drums from "New Position" in a slowed down version on the song "Africa" from D'Angelo.

I don't think he is one of the best drummers around but he's pretty good. He is a lot better than even some of his fans give him credit for.


Omar Hakim is the best drummer in the world in my opinion.

It is prince on "sexual suicide" after learning a new pattern from sheila e.... right?

and according to one of his past sound engineers, he is extremely under rated and unknown as a drummer and that engineer considered him to be an excellent drummer.

Prince is drumming on a majority of his studio songs...

yeah...very excellent drummer...that was one of the very

first things that stood out when i heard most of his songs...

that's why i made this post because i didn't see any post on

the subject....but i'm still new so maybe i missed it

BeautifulFrance said:

Yeah....what about him ?

FUNKHUNTER said:

On Prince's drumming: He's far better than he is credited. His strengths are his style on the snare, hi-hat, and his accents on the cymbals.
On Omar Hakim: He is truly great, and a fantastically down-to-earth person. If I knew how to post a picture in this post, I have a cool pic of me and Omar.

Peace.