Old Influences

I jump in my car... I drive over to Bev's house to feed Lily, Sam and Penny (ANYTHING to keep them from meowing excessively... ugh). Anyhow, as I hop back into my car (yes, there is much activity with my hopping and jumping), I speed towards the freeway and flick the radio on (lots of action words... yes, my mornings are this active).

I should note a disclaimer before I proceed: I listen to radio. I know the playlist is very "selective" (aka, SMALL). I really mess up my CDs because I don't take care of them (part of my deficit of attentiveness to putting them away), so if I'm kind of tired of what's currently in the deck, then I toggle through the stations with crossed fingers, hoping at some point that I'll be delighted by SOME gem of music that I've not yet run across. Related to this story (blog post), I found Welcome To The Jungle played on KROQ at 10pm last night. That was STRRRRAAANGE! They played Reggae this morning. That was not as strange, but still left me feeling a little perturbed. Not to worry. It'll be fine.

KLOS is playing Paradise City by Guns N' Roses, which used to be (and at times STILL is) THE song. I remember sitting in my room listening to the chaos in cacophony that was the Mike Clink production. I was 7 when first exposed to those sounds, and at 30, I'm STILL completely enamored with the entire Appetite for Destruction album. There was something about the energy and the vigor in the music that I just couldn't get enough of (and I think it threw me into this MTV-laden haze where like-dressed bands would deliver goods, but fail miserably when it came to matching the edge and poise of this TRULY motley group of rascals). As I drove and air guitar and air drummed all the parts quite expertly, a pervasive thought entered my soundclouded synaptic cluster (brain): Steven Adler was WAAAAAAY cooler of a drummer than Matt Sorum.

Now, this is a time-old argument among lots of fans of all types of music (particularly those fans with a need for hierarchical categorization of their entertainers of various types (musicians, sports figures, actors, celebrities, etc): "Who is the best?" I fed into that fallacious argumentative pit MANY times as a youth, and once I became a creator myself, then I stopped participating, but there are some instances where this comes up (mostly when I think there's absolutely an answer to that question) and I just have to continue on the downward spiral of opinion.

So, "IMHO" (In My Humble Opinion), I'm absolutely certain that MUSICALLY, Steven Adler was a much better fit for Guns N' Roses than Matt Sorum. Matt Sorum replaced Steven Adler when Adler's addiction to illicit narcotics overtook his ability to be a productive member of the band (also noted, he was one of Slash's closest friends). So, Sorum gets a thumb's-up for being sober. However, Adler played with swagger and swing, while Sorum played with sheer precision and... well... precision. I think that Sorum decently navigates through some songs on the follow-up release to Appetite; the Use Your Illusion CDs. My favorite of Matt's offerings was "Locomotive", and possibly "Double-Talkin' Jive" and "Garden Of Eden" (which are essentially the same beat). I feel that the essence that Steven lays down is palpable at faintest, and kinetic at best. He was fired inside of the Use Your Illusion sessions, but was able to track one last time, on the song called "Civil War" from the Use Your Illusion II CD. The "feel" of that song really stands out from any of the other songs on either of the two CDs, which incidentally is my favorite on either of those releases. WHY?

I think Steven Adler plays with more sense of dynamics. His cymbal crashes are akin to mortar fireworks that explode in the sky, where Matt Sorum has a consistent drive to the song, and the accents don't pull the song in any direction. Sorum is certainly a skilled player, but definitely pale in MY comparison to the addiction-addled Adler.

I wonder if his relation to Lou Adler had anything to do with GNR's rapid ascension to label attention... hmm... I digress.

Anyhow, the end of Paradise City is a 2.5 minute amphetamine rush with heart-racing, screechy vocals by Axl, smouldering guitar solos by Slash, and skin-bashing by Adler. What I find interesting is that with a good subwoofer system, you can hear the kick drum pound out groups of 3 8th notes at a tempo up around 260bpm (I THINK) resulting in a driving pulse to the song. I tried playing this long ago, and my foot would just cramp up from a lack of fitness. Did you realize that Steven Adler used to play with two bass drums? True story! The band suggested it'd be a better idea to downsize the kit to make it easier to lug around. Weird that Matt Sorum used to play with 2 bass drums (even though it was a waste... he never did anything with this left bass drum... just put up cool decals on the resonant head).

Anyways, towards the last half of the beat, you can hear Adler start to vary up the rhythms he was putting down (with the bass drum). I'm thinking he started getting tired, so instead of just powering through, he started to finesse the song a little bit by throwing some more tasteful (than brute) bass drum patterns. I just find it fascinating when I hear environmental/human aspects of the recordings in these old classic recordings. Like when Mitch Mitchell hits his sticks in drum solos inadvertently (listen: "Voodoo Chile" - Electric Ladyland).

Yes, this is the stuff I think about.

Anyhow, I was telling Ryan that I wanted to jam again. I talked about these "Epic" tom beats that I want to throw down. Thundering beats like patterns on my 14" and 16" floor toms that take up a lot of space. I've been thinking about them for some time. I call them "Epic", but in no way do I mean that they'd be "good", or anything to write home about. I've just been thinking that I want to hear some thundering drum patterns that didn't involve cymbals or pocket playing. I also think it'll be good work to write some of these patterns out so I can incorporate lots of hand/foot combinations, and left hand dominant patterns from accenting the snare, hi-hat and cymbals.

It's been 3-4 days since I've had drumsticks in my hands. I need to get my focus in gear.