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
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who sometimes plays different instruments in videos than what the UA-cam name implies. Great taste in music btw, love your stuff.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
@@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!
🤘🏻🔥 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.
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
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!!🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁
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
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 🙏✝️
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 !!
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!!
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 ☝️☝️
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.
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.
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 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. 😳😊
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
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
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.
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.
I've been playing drums for 30 years and I can say that Tommy Lee is one of the greatest rock drummers ever, right up there with Tommy Aldridge and Bonham. Pretty much EVERY 80s rock and metal drummer copied everything he did The only technique I think you missed is when he delays the snare beat, like in the chorus of 10 Seconds To Love. That's like the quintessential Tommy Lee technique
Saying Tommy Lee is up there John Bonham is a crime in itself. John Bonham is literally in his own dimension has a drummer. The man was a genius and changed rock drumming forever, can’t really say Tommy Lee innovated drumming or changed anything.
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!!!🤘🤘
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.
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.)
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!
From what I gather , Tommy plays how you would hear it in your head. Just like humming a song , without the music you often add notes and Lars is the same way. They both add extra notes in order to stay in time and to start exactly when the time measure begins.
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.
"Come On And Dance". It's on the Too Fast For Love album. That is rhythm Tommy plays in the middle of the song. I'm a drummer and used to play along with that album a lot back in the day.
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
That snare tuning/EQ/reverb is AMAZING =O Am I too intrusive if I wanna know how you mixed these drums? I'm drummer too and I would love to get a similar sound.
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.
Bob Rock mentioned Tommy Lee is one of the best drummers he has recorded. Tom Werman mentioned Tommy is the second best drummer he recorded...Ben E. Carlos is his #1. Respect to Tommy.
How do you get your drum tone? It's awesome, & I'd love to get that for my own home studio! (It's why I only use samples.) (Is it triggers with samples?)
Motley Crue are all great musicians what are you talking about in their earlier albums Too Fast and Shout At The Devil, are masterpieces. Vince’s vocals are incredible especially on live wire Micks guitar licks rock on the border of Metal, Nikki wrote most of the songs and really knows his compositions and Tommy has always been a great drummer. Don’t know what you’re saying or listening to but they are known for their musical chops as well as their partying and sex appeal they’re a product of their time.
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 in the 80s my girlfriend was a huge Crue fan so naturally she wanted me to play some of their songs, as a mainly learn-by-ear player (like Tommy) there was a lot of little details in his technique I never would have noticed, and yes, figuring out how he used the high-hat was frustrating sometimes. He's unorthodox, but then so am I, I'm right handed but my kit was always backwards because I play Southpaw, it would be like driving a car in Europe, like mirror image and opposite.
The things that you pointed out are definitely happening. Although, with all the other things that are going on during the songs, probably only trained musicians would hear the subtle sounds that you brought to our attention. Thanks for the info
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
@@YeeY5 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’m so glad I’m not the only one who sometimes plays different instruments in videos than what the UA-cam name implies. Great taste in music btw, love your stuff.
I love the sound at the start of Wild Side, it has that "thump and ping" sound like a sledgehammer.
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
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Tommy was the best at making a simple thing look really hard and sound really cool. I always liked playing to his tracks.
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 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!!
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.
This is a great analysis of a drummer’s technique, style, and uniqueness. Awesome video, man!
So glad to see someone giving credit to his "playing." You really pulled out the subtleties here. Great Video! 🤘
Good to see another drummer/guitarist. I came to drums second, but they definitely reinforce each other. Great stuff as always!
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.
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!
Great vid Mike, I love playing drums too. Lets attach our sets to the ceiling and really go Tommy Lee style 🤘
For massive pulsing hi-hat, Tony Thompson, Power Station, "Bang A Gong".
Great video! Love Mötley Crüe and Tommy Lee. Thanks for breaking down some of his technique!
Tommy is a big reason I started drumming.
🤘🏻🔥 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.
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
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!!🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁
Slice of Your Pie... I can't get enough of the drums in the song, especially at the start.
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
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😤
He use to be my ideal drummer when I was getting into music.
Excellent video!!
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 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 🙏✝️
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!
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!!
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'm guitarist/bass now, but started on drums, I always liked the way he kept it simple, but his cymbal work is really cool to me
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 definitely hits the snare and the kick together. Double time on the KICK Heavy He’s a great ROCK Drummer
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.
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.
As weird as it sounds, I subscribed because of your drum videos. Keep ‘’em coming!
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. 😳😊
YES! MORE MOTLEY CRUE!!! Please do an artist series on Geroge Lynch from Dokken/Lynch Mobb
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
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.
can you make a video about how you get that snare sound because holy hell it sounds huge
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.
the cowbell work on the groove was so cool i'm gonna steal that
Tommy is great. Your drum sound and playing too...
Thanks for making this video - Tommy is one of my fave drummers of all time!
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.
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
What about the high hat in Primal Scream? One of the greatest drum tracks and sounds as well. Great video.
I've been playing drums for 30 years and I can say that Tommy Lee is one of the greatest rock drummers ever, right up there with Tommy Aldridge and Bonham. Pretty much EVERY 80s rock and metal drummer copied everything he did
The only technique I think you missed is when he delays the snare beat, like in the chorus of 10 Seconds To Love. That's like the quintessential Tommy Lee technique
Up there with Bonham?
Lay off the meth buds.
Putting Lee up there with John Bonham is REALLY a stretch.
Saying Tommy Lee is up there John Bonham is a crime in itself. John Bonham is literally in his own dimension has a drummer. The man was a genius and changed rock drumming forever, can’t really say Tommy Lee innovated drumming or changed anything.
Kidding!?
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!!!🤘🤘
Great video man. Love the crue. I didn't know you played drums though
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.
He's not adding a pick up kick. He leads with his left foot. Listen to Red Hot. For live wire it just happened to fit in perfect.
Great video, lots to take away and think about and chuck in my playing.
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!
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
Thanks Mike, I stumbled upon your video, very informative and educational! Well done, Spot on!
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 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!
From what I gather , Tommy plays how you would hear it in your head. Just like humming a song , without the music you often add notes and Lars is the same way. They both add extra notes in order to stay in time and to start exactly when the time measure begins.
I'm a really big fan of Tommy's opening drum part on Danger, and nobody ever talks about how great it is.
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.
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.
Can we get nick menza techniques now ???
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
wich song does he play at 2:52? great video!
"Come On And Dance". It's on the Too Fast For Love album. That is rhythm Tommy plays in the middle of the song. I'm a drummer and used to play along with that album a lot back in the day.
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
That snare tuning/EQ/reverb is AMAZING =O
Am I too intrusive if I wanna know how you mixed these drums?
I'm drummer too and I would love to get a similar sound.
Thank you. I’ll try to make a video about it.
@@TheArtofGuitar YES PLEASE :) thanks so much in advance!
Sorry for all the questions. Tommy’s drum intro to bastard.., is that an over dub? How do the toms sound that way?
Sounds like two kicks then two toms then two kicks and then two snares. Not easy but also very possible without overdubbing.
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.
Very good heartful Demonstration 👍thank you for your work🤟
Bob Rock mentioned Tommy Lee is one of the best drummers he has recorded. Tom Werman mentioned Tommy is the second best drummer he recorded...Ben E. Carlos is his #1.
Respect to Tommy.
Tommy tracked the song "Hooligan's Holiday" in one take; Bob said it was the best drum track he'd heard at that point. Everyone was stoked about it.
Drummer my ass! Dave Weckl is a Drummer. Nick Smith is a Drummer. These people have REAL talent and technique. Tommy Lee is a joke.
AS IF!!! He's nothing to do with actual METAL!!
How do you get your drum tone?
It's awesome, & I'd love to get that for my own home studio!
(It's why I only use samples.)
(Is it triggers with samples?)
Awesome! Love your drummer focused series. Any chance of doing one for Jimmy Chamberlin?
I think Roger Taylor is doing the same and opens the Hit on Snare-beats asa trademark. Kudos to your drum-skills!
Excellent video! Learned a lot I never realized, thanks !
Motley Crue are all great musicians what are you talking about in their earlier albums Too Fast and Shout At The Devil, are masterpieces. Vince’s vocals are incredible especially on live wire Micks guitar licks rock on the border of Metal, Nikki wrote most of the songs and really knows his compositions and Tommy has always been a great drummer. Don’t know what you’re saying or listening to but they are known for their musical chops as well as their partying and sex appeal they’re a product of their time.
He obviously doesn't know what he's talking about
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 in the 80s my girlfriend was a huge Crue fan so naturally she wanted me to play some of their songs, as a mainly learn-by-ear player (like Tommy) there was a lot of little details in his technique I never would have noticed, and yes, figuring out how he used the high-hat was frustrating sometimes. He's unorthodox, but then so am I, I'm right handed but my kit was always backwards because I play Southpaw, it would be like driving a car in Europe, like mirror image and opposite.
Tommy was the reason I had to add a cowbell too. Came in handy when my ex became a Guns & Roses fan.
I really like the in depth drum videos as well.
Excellent analysis of drum bits
Primal Scream has the same Dr. Feelgood beat. Very much fun to play either song. Good video, I subscribed. Any videos of your band live?
2021: Extensive lockdowns may have detrimental effects on mental health
2022:
Art-Of-Guitar: Lets play drums
😐
Happy new year with lots of health and new videos
Back then, we all knew Tommy was a beast. I don’t get how he became so underrated.
The things that you pointed out are definitely happening. Although, with all the other things that are going on during the songs, probably only trained musicians would hear the subtle sounds that you brought to our attention. Thanks for the info
Great video, thank you!! 🔥🥁🔥👏🏻👏🏻🤘🏻😊🤘🏻