NIK, Motorhead and other bits

[Carl Edlund Anderson]

On 02/08/2005 12:22, Jon Jarrett wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Jul 2005, Keith Henderson wrote:
>> But anyway, Motorhead has nothing to do with Space
>> Rock, so there's no crime in not liking it.  I didn't for quite some
>> time, just because back then (when I was 16), I didn't like sloppy
>> music, and Phil Taylor (for instance) was a sloppy drummer.
>
>         But so was Bill Ward :-) And like _Ace of Spades_ the whole thing
> about that _Master of Reality_-era Sabbath sound that makes it so exciting
> is that while they're all running at about the same speed they're not
> actually quite together. They get away with it sounding as if everyone's
> slightly ahead of everyone else and racing to the finish. I've seen one or
> two bands capture this live, and it's a fabulous thing. I don't understand
> how it works but it's why Phil Taylor was so excellent; he had that kind
> of sloppy racing energy on tap.
> What I'm saying is, sloppy need not *necessarily* be bad :-)

But I think that Phil got *more* sloppy over time, which the good Mr.
Ward hasn't really.  (Somehow, Bill Ward turned in most plausible
drumming on _Heaven & Hell_ whilst being too wasted to remember cutting
the tracks!).  So the sort of "breathless energy" vibe starts to go when
the drummer starts to lose it.

> I think if they [Nik & Co.] were brave enough to try one or
> two freeform jams like `Seeing It As You Really Are' or similar that would
> be worth seeing as they have about that level of ability left. Terry's not
> so lively any more, or rather he is but in fixed ways, but Sam would make
> up for that (he not being the same sort of powerhouse rumble drummer that
> Terry now is, so they complement each other well).

Ooooo .... If your drummer has only one setting, then freeform jams are
gonna be tough to pull off.  A good jam has to "breathe" -- the drummer
has got to be surfing the wave with everyone else (which is tough with
only one setting!).

Cheers,
Carl

--
Carl Edlund Anderson
mailto:cea at carlaz.com
http://www.carlaz.com/