Why do people shit on Steven Adler?

-D-

Was listening to Appetite while driving for work the other day, and this thought popped in my head damn near every song..

to hear people talk in 2012, u would think this guy was some below average, lucky, weak link complete piece of shit drummer who could barely keep a beat or hold a pair of drumsticks...

I will never understand why people look at him as an afterthought.

listening to that record, his drums DRIVE the entire album for the most part. His drumming on Rocket Queen alone should catapult him to the top drummers of the 80's list.

Do people really only listen to Axl so much they have never sit and really paid attention to the drums?

i know everyone listens to music differently.

i hear and break down what every instrument is doing.. how it adds to a song.. why whatever is being played is being played etc..

so someone please give me one damn good reason why Adler is treated like some Cerebral Palsy fuck wipe who can barely wipe his ass when he was a fantastically great drummer and contributor to GNR's success.

Thank you

monkeychow

Firstly I'll say I agree with you...Adler is a great drummer and deserves more respect. I think it's primary because:

1. Axl is amongst the greatest rock singers ever, and absolutely dominates within his generation.

2. Slash is amongst the greatest rock guitarists ever, and has similar domance within his peers.

As their after GNR careers show, either one of those men is talented enough to have a viable band alone, the combined firepower was overwhelming.

So it's not that adler is bad, he's a great drummer, but while he's an A list drummer - he's probably not absolute top of the class like Axl and Slash are...so it becomes an after thought.

3. Because the UYI tour kicked so much ass with Matt...it demonstated that while adler is great - GNR can still be awesome without him - so he wasn
t 100% needed the way Axl and Slash were.

I guess it comes down to GNR is not a drums led sounds. YEah the drums are awesome and provide the swing like Izzy talked about. But it's not like a metal band where the drums are everyhting, the predominant sound you hear is Axl and Slash.

But don't get me wrong...adler is great...I also think duff is the secret weapon people forget...when he locks in with Adler/Matt it's killer.

Like the intro to Big Machine - song doesn't go anywhere but the drums and bass at the start are so bad ass.
So it's not that adler is bad, it's just like comparing

monkeychow

You know i think it comes down to this: to musicans drums are essential part of timing and feel - but to many average listeners it isn't.

Like for example: I'd except Slash, Duff and Axl as GNR with a fake Steve and a fake Izzy.

but I wouldn't accept Duff, Izzy and Steve as GNR with no Axl or Slash.

In rock music it tends to be the vocals and lead guitar that define the sound.

faldor

For one, drummers for the most part, don't get the respect they deserve. Unless they are all time legendary.

Two, Steven made himself into a sad character with his drug addiction. People know he got kicked out of Guns N' Roses for being an out of control drug addict, which to most people seems almost impossible. Then they see him on Celebrity Rehab as a bit of a mess. Doesn't exactly scream "Rock God" to most people.

I agree the guy was GREAT for the band, and had the ability to be a GREAT rock drummer in the long run. But he pissed it all away. Plain and simple. Nobody to blame but himself.

monkeychow

Yeah...the drug issue does effect his image too.

But I'll say that I met steve and he was the kindest dude to fans. He loves old GNR like we do and he clearly just loves to rock, he's like a big kid and I don't mean that in a mean way - just in like a "the purity of passion" you have for music as a child is still in him. He was just a fun cool guy. Went out of his way to be nice to me.

It's tragic how drugs did fuck up so much of his life.

But I'll buy Adler's new record, and show my appreciation for what he did giving us AFD that way.

-D-

years ago, I used to have that attitude that most drummers were a dime a dozen etc

until I joined a band and the drummer was amazing..

the guy would start drumming and doing beats and I could make up riff after riff after riff after riff...He elevated my guitar playing...

Haven't had that happen with any other drummer since.

If u are a guitar player or whatever...

Sit and write an original riff just u and the guitar

NOW go find either a drum machine or a real drummer...

guarantee u write a much better riff with the drums.

so one could possibly argue.. maybe Steven did something drum beat wise to inspire a great riff....

Mikkamakka

Good posts, guys.

I think Steven's drumming on AFD is really underrated. With another guy, it wouldn't be the same record and it wouldn't be among the best rock albums ever. Without him, it'd still be a great LP, but the rhythm is very important and he really clicks with the others. You hear a band playing, in a very rare, blessed moment, when they all had all their heart and soul and talent into the project.
I know that Steven's reputation was hurt by his addiction, stupid interviews, stupid rehab shows. The guy is half alive at this point and can barely speak, but this doesn't take away anything from his greatness on AFD. Even his cut and paste Civil War is among the Top5 drum moments of UYI. Drummers came and went in GN'R, but none of them topped Steven's work, although they all were high-profile professionals.
Thanks Steven!

bigbri

Firstly, I love the AFD drumming and have nothing against Adler whatsoever.

But this question, D, "give me one damn good reason why Adler is treated like some Cerebral Palsy fuck wipe who can barely wipe his ass" is just begging for a smart-ass answer like: Well, because that's how he acts because he fucked up his brain with all the drugs he took.

Lomax

bigbri wrote:

Firstly, I love the AFD drumming and have nothing against Adler whatsoever.
But this question, D, "give me one damn good reason why Adler is treated like some Cerebral Palsy fuck wipe who can barely wipe his ass" is just begging for a smart-ass answer like: Well, because that's how he acts because he fucked up his brain with all the drugs he took.

That's my reaction as well.
In my own mind. I don't equate Steven Adler 2011 with Steven Adler '87.

Two completely different people.

The bright eyed young kid with the funky drum chops or the haggard old drug leech who can't climb out from his past.

Sounds harsh but that's the way he's portrayed/portrayed himself.

That said. of late Adler 2012 seems to be less erratic and less of a whinge bag. Which can only be a good thing.

I don't ususally trust a single word that comes out of the mans mouth BUT, Axl put a lot of Adlers problems in terms of him being a viable buisness entity relatable to the GNR brand down to his mom Deanna, and I just found this shit online:

http://fanoegerm.wordpress.com/2012/02/ … -revealed/

If Adler wants back in GNR he needs to publicly punch his mother in the mouth. Judging buy this:

That would be harder on his fist than her mouth, but if the original line-up is going to reform, this needs to be in the contract.

Alternatively he could write a second memoir entitled " She's just a Cunt now: How I lost my Mother to Money-Grubbing Whoredom"

And Larry Spags can fuck all the way off too.

tejastech08

Definitely prefer the drum sound on AFD to everything else released since then by GN'R. Adler's sound fit perfectly with Duff, Izzy, and Slash.

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