Drums

[Rockindeano]

Anyone out there listen to live shows with a careful ear?

I listened to Captured '80 and Escape '81. I then listened to Tokyo '04 and Fresno '06.

The biggest difference I hear are the softer sounding Sonar set of Steve Smith versus a heavier thump of DC.

Anyone else hear the difference?

[Matthew]

Definitely. Smith plays with subtlety and groove. Deen just thumps the crap out of his kit.

[Rockindeano]

I was truly wondering if Perry wanted that particular sound. I do recall him (SP), speaking on how they would "drum around a word" to make it easier for Steve, and also to make it sound better. Now Deen, who can sing, but is NOT a singer, does beat the crap out of his kit, but I would love him to answer this. When singing WCN, Faithfully, or OA, I wonder if he too, drums around the vocals..his own vocals.

[Red13JoePa]

I think that Deen does a very good, if more aggressive, fascimilie of Steve Smith on the classic material but he does bring a more hard-hitting speedballing style the new Journey stuff with less obvious Smittyisms than when covering Smitty's old parts.


Bottom line, fucking guy is a FORCE and he worships Smitty.

[StyxCollector]

I actually interviewed Smitty back in college around 93 or so for Vital Information. Nice guy.

Anyway, remember that Smitty was a more versatile drummer to begin with. He's done numerous rock records, but I don't think of him as a rock drummer. I see him more as a jazz guy who dabbles in rock. Jazz guys tend to be much more in tune with phrasing and lead lines to accentuate (or not). Bottom line: he brings different sensibilities to drumming than Deen does. Deen is clearly a rock drummer through and through. Both are great drummers, just different approaches.

[Carlitto H@kk]

Bottom line, fucking guy is a FORCE and he worships Smitty.

Exactly.

I'm just curious...
With the recent add of 'La Do Da' and ensuing solos, what are they like?
Is Ross playing something simlilar to the classic 'Captured' version?
And Deen, is his remenicent of Smitty's from that era?

[Rick]

Not to hijack the thread but this guy is fun to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pesdq5Ce5KE

[Red13JoePa]

Yep, Deen C's got a well-earned solo now, C H@kk. Can't WAIT to hear this.

The Smitty solo on Captured is so much of what a drum solo should be....I like the Houston DVD one a little less still great though.

PS, why can't the Flyers beat the Pens?

[Carlitto H@kk]

PS, why can't the Flyers beat the Pens?

Who cares... except mabye BullyWinkle

Bob Clarke didn't bulid a team to fit the 'new' NHL rules.
He kept building with big, slower skaters.
They can't keep up with the pace of today's game.
But I think they are heading in the right direction.
The Flyers will be a TOTALLY different team next year.

But the Kansas City Penguins are going to be a PowerHouse
for the next 3-5 years, just watch!

[JrnyScarab]

Not to hijack the thread but this guy is fun to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pesdq5Ce5KE

He is one of the greatest drummers in rock. Plays hard but with great precision. Neil created some of the most unique sounding drum fills I've ever heard. There are those that play faster and those that groove more, but for straight ahead rock creativity I gotta go with Neil.

Ed

[Rick]

Not to hijack the thread but this guy is fun to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pesdq5Ce5KE

He is one of the greatest drummers in rock. Plays hard but with great precision. Neil created some of the most unique sounding drum fills I've ever heard. There are those that play faster and those that groove more, but for straight ahead rock creativity I gotta go with Neil.

Ed

And he does it all with minimal movement. The dude is like a robot.

[Art Vandelay]

Good topic. I've spent many years studying drums, drummers and their individual techniques. Aynsley Dunbar, who was also a jazz trained drummer, was a heavy hitter. He was a monster. I always enjoyed hearing Smith's interpretations of Dunbar's songs, before he made them his own (he took WITS in a whole new direction). I remember hearing/reading Smith say that when he joined Journey, he was more of a top-heavy drummer, and wasn't hard on the kick drum. He would notice the engineers boost his kick drum to get more of a rock feel, so he taught himself to be more bottom heavy.

[Art Vandelay]

I also remember reading an interview with Smith back in '96 (during TBF). To gear up for the reunion, he went back and studied the drum parts of Perry's and Schon's influences (Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson, Jackie Wilson, Hendrix, Cream, etc.), so that he could take an approach more to their comfort level.

I always wondered if he was referring to just the new songs recorded for TBF, or if he was planning to restructure some of his parts on the classics.

It gets me sick thinking of what we could have seen happen back then.