Why does everyone consider Travis barker to be so talented?
 

I am a drummer so I understand the concept. Personally i don't get it. I don't like blink but that aside his drumming is nothing special to me. Listen to the locust, converge,ctts, the number 12, :drummer:Tera Melos, etc...hell any generic deathmetal or hardcore drummer and tell me Travis barker and Neil pEart are the best drummers. So what is it? What am I not hearing?

There are people who think he's that talented? That's news to me.

Speed isn't the only element that's involved in drumming, there's a certain technicality in Peart's playing that's excellent. Barker, on the other hand, is very average and whenever I hear someone say he's the best drummer I kind of just laugh and think about how ****ty their taste in music has to be.

Isn't there a blink-182 album that everyone considers to be proggy? I might have to listen to it just to see if he legitimately has some impressive moments, but I always figured it'd be a waste of time.

I think you used to get the same thing with Tommy Lee, its not that they like that drumming style, or would even know the difference between drumming styles, its just that so few drummers are well-known outside of the music-nerd world that Travis Barker is most likely the only drummer they can name.

I so second this. I've never heard that, not even in my Blink 182 phase at 14.

Wow you guys are seriously downplaying his ability. He might not be a drumming messiah but he's above average.

I agree. Hes not Gene Krupa but he certainly has a good understanding of rudiments. And I own everyone of Blinks albums because its pop punk goodness.

U MAD?

Eh. So are god knows how many other drummers. I think the point about him being the only drummer most people have ever heard of is the most valid here.

He went through a phase of being a guest drummer on a ton of tracks for people, some youtube vids that blew up, that kind of thing. For a while he seemed to be getting a ****ton of exposure for no apparent reason and I think his popularity went up because of that, then people searched for a way to justify it, and ended up saying "He's a better than average drummer, OMG SO GOOD AT DRUMMING".

He's alright. His reputation is way out of whack with his actual ability in the grand scheme of drummers though.

I dont think anyone who has a valid opinion really thinks he is an amazing drummer. The dude is good, perfect for what he does...poppunk. I cant think of a better drummer for...blink 182.

Is he one of my all time favorites, of coarse not. Do I like Blink 182 and think his drumming is spot on...definitely. I am sure he is better than he appears to be in his songs, but Neil Peart wouldnt exactly fit drumming for Blink now would he.

I agree that Travis is not the best drummer ever but he is actually not bad
Blink is like a simple pop punk band so if he were to show off all his technical skills as a drummer it would change Blink's sound as a band but even with that limitation he is pretty creative in some Blink songs


blink 182 going away to college lyrics - YouTube

I agree with everything you just said apart from the liking Blink 182. Never did like that band, and time hasn't changed my opinion.

Haha I grew up with Enema of the State, was my first CD actually. This is coming from the dude who also likes Eiffel 65 Blue btw so ....

I don't think Barker's a bad drummer, I just don't think he's all that impressive from what I've heard. That's not much, I love EOTS and Dude Ranch, but aside from that I really could care less about Blink 182.

While we're discussing drummers, I think Lars from Metallica is a better drummer than he's given credit for.

The drumming on AJFA is absolutely brilliant, and even though he doesn't really bring it like that on any other album, every time I listen to it I gain a little more respect for his ability.

Personally, as a drummer my entire life, and having known many drummers in various bands in my local area, I can tell you categorically that Travis Barker is not exceptional in terms of technique or general skill. I do notice that he's very good at keeping time, and is a veritable metronome (from live vids obviously), but his patterns are nothing to write home about. However, he is drums in a niche, which calls for hard, non-dynamic, nail-on-the-head rhythms specifically there to drive the point home. He excels at that. But that doesn't mean to say he would excel at anything else. Put him in a jazz band and I think he would fail miserably, for instance.

While no one is claiming that a "good" drummer needs to be ace on every level and genre, I think it's important to realize whether the goal is being met appropriate, as a drummer. TB meets it in his genre and style, but on the same token, it doesn't make him a "great drummer" unless your scope of what you consider great drumming is simply being able to play your own genre effectively and above the bar set by it, in which case I would agree.

So really, there's a kind of subjectivity when it comes to this. It can be argued that TB might be the top of the chain in robotic, hard-hitting simple rhythms, but it might also be argued that complexity is a hallmark of good drumming, or that Purdie is the hallmark of good pocket drumming, when both are worlds apart.

To finish, I just want to put it out there that I don't believe the faster you play, the better you are. There are a myriad of factors involved, and every last one of them hinge on a style as it is suited to what's being played.
Really, it's like comparing who is the best guitarist in the world from the perspective of either solo electric in terms of Rock or finger picking greats in Folk. They're both guitars.
But to agree with those that say TB isn't that great of a drummer, we have to make the assumption that a particular style is inherently more skillful than the other.

If that's the case, I vote free jazz.

This. Most people that listen to Blink are people who probably don't have a huge circle of music tastes (I'm making a huge, sweeping generalisation here that may not be true to all people, because I do listen to Blink-182 on occasion and as a kid was a fan of them ;)) and they probably aren't really aware of many other skilled drummers so, for them, Barker is supposedly talented.

I have both of those (hard copy) CDs in my collection... :shycouch:

Ah Metallica. Truly the worlds greatest example of musicians put on ill-desrved pedestals of technical skill.

Great music, mostly, but holy god the fanboys take it too far.

I can agree that AJFA has some nice drum parts though,especially given Lars other output.

maybe cause he did that soulja boy drum cover lol i dunno. i like blink 182 tho

Technicality doesnt mean **** if it sounds bad though. I dont know anyone who thinks of Hetfield as a technical wizard. you can not deny the guy has mad chops though. You try playing those rythms while singing as well as he does, that takes some god damned talent. His singing has gotten so much better over the years as well. Not to mention the newer songs off Death Magnetic are far more involved and complicated than anything they are famous for years ago.

he did more than that though, he put out his own mixtape and solo album with rappers jumping on it and it was pretty damn good.

Give The Drummer Some and Let The Drummer Get Wicked.

Bro I think travis barker is the best drummer of all time. Prove me wrong.......

He is in Blink 182 that's proof enough!!

brb Blink 182 is the best band on planet earth
brb Led Zep and Hendrix took riffs from Take off Your Pants and Jacket
brb brb

True story. I heard Bonham ripped off rudiments from Barker when Zep partied with Blink.

Different strokes for different folks

A member of Blink 182, talented?

I thought those guys just made millions covering Descendents songs.

He's a decent drummer.

Wasn't that guy from that film about that guy from Texas?

Having a solid Drumming style is great, but when one says "of all time", a lot of Drummers, and this includes a lot of my favorites as well, seriously are well below the mark of those three words.

When one mentions "of all time" I tend to think of these, and a few more.







Moving to Rock/Power Pop, Bun E. Carlos towers over the thread topic.



Plus, there's the one and only Bill Bruford, seen here with King Crimson.

Travis Barker is very talented on the Drum's. However (and I am a BIG Blink fan) he, Like Christano Ronaldo, Thinks he is better than he actually is. He has bought into the fan boy Hype of "ohmigawd, ohmigawd, look how fast he is ohmigawd best drummer eva" and has not really done anything outside of Blink to merit such a following. on my list of top drummers Travis doesn't feature, Top spot however is for the Late Great Elvin Jones

That's not true. The reason for his following is most of the youtube covers that he posts and he also released two solo albums and was part of +44

I liked +44 but his two solo albums in my modest opinion were not that great. He is a talented man no doubt about it, but personally I think he is overhyped

I'm guessing you aren't a fan of hip hop.

You would be correct there. Hip Hop and Dubstep I just can't get into

But Hetfield is a considered a great technical rhythm guitar. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.

This. I don't think he's completely worthless or anything, but is WAY overhyped by internet fanboys who couldn't tell the difference between Gene Krupa and Josh Freese.

He's nothing more than an average drummer to me. Mostly I hear comments about him from people enveloped in mainstream music, video hits, and other popular music media shows. I haven't heard him being hailed recently though.

Travis Barker is the only musician I like in Blink, I think he's above average, nothing amazing though.
Neil Peart on the other hand is on a different level than Barker entirely.

I don't know if I said this already, but he's very average. I've seen this all over the place, Travis Barker's supposedly a really good drummer. No, he's not, he's a steady drummer who fulfills the basic needs of a rock band drummer. Maybe he has some stuff that I haven't heard that's more intricate, but from what I've heard, which is basically limited to Enema of the State, he's nothing special.

I'm guessing a lot of kids who watched a lot of MTV in the late 90s tend to overrated him.

He's talented. But I think it's hard to say that he's the 'best drummer ever' which is what a lot of people spew just because it's popular to. He's definitely not the best, by any means, and if anything his style is mediocre.

Besides, it's subjective to say so anyway because different drummers = different genres.