Matt's Sound

pc_loadletter

I've never really been into SG, I only know what they have released on the radio. But listening Black Hole Sun and Spoonman, Matt's drumming sounds a lot different than it does in Pearl Jam. Is it just because the style of music has changed, or has Matt progressed in his music? Or am I just making shit up because I'm bored?

*Toastie

You may be a little bored. His style is playing is different because its a different band....thats pretty obvious but true. Soundgarden loved to play around with crazy time stuff and they got pretty technical. PJ do a little bit of that but its mostly straight ahead kind of stuff. Do yourself a flavour and go pick up superunkown that album is so awesome.

Kilgore_Trout

i agree with everything said above... if anything... and i hesitate to say this... matts drumming has probably gotten worse since joining PJ... not to say hes not still incredible... but his stuff with SG is INSANE! i think hes just given less of a chance and spotlight with PJ as far as writing goes... youre really cheating yourself if you dont give SG a fair chance... im all for free taste and opinion and whatnot... but i cant see how you can like PJ and not SG... down on the upside is also great... theyre early stuff is a lil more heavy and experimental so maybe slowly get to that after superunknown and DOTU... badmotorfinger is probably my favorite album of all time... seriously

gotID

sgossard3 wrote:

i agree with everything said above... if anything... and i hesitate to say this... matts drumming has probably gotten worse since joining PJ... not to say hes not still incredible... but his stuff with SG is INSANE! i think hes just given less of a chance and spotlight with PJ as far as writing goes... youre really cheating yourself if you dont give SG a fair chance... im all for free taste and opinion and whatnot... but i cant see how you can like PJ and not SG... down on the upside is also great... theyre early stuff is a lil more heavy and experimental so maybe slowly get to that after superunknown and DOTU... badmotorfinger is probably my favorite album of all time... seriously

I don't know if his drumming is worse, but it has gotten more boring for sure. He seems to be more of a time keeper on most songs, not like what he did in Soundgarden. He was way more active/inventive in Soundgarden for sure. I've always wished they would re-unite...they were truly good together.

I always get killed for this but I think Matt is not the best fit for PJ due mainly to the fact he is more technical in his approach especially with his odd time signatures, etc. PJ has always had more of either a straight ahead 4/4 timing rock feel, or the loose groove almost funk feel on some songs. That is definitely not Matt's forte. He just seems to be going through the motions on all of the stuff that he didn't write.

TheRiotAct

gotID wrote:

I don't know if his drumming is worse, but it has gotten more boring for sure. He seems to be more of a time keeper on most songs, not like what he did in Soundgarden. He was way more active/inventive in Soundgarden for sure. I've always wished they would re-unite...they were truly good together.

I always get killed for this but I think Matt is not the best fit for PJ due mainly to the fact he is more technical in his approach especially with his odd time signatures, etc. PJ has always had more of either a straight ahead 4/4 timing rock feel, or the loose groove almost funk feel on some songs. That is definitely not Matt's forte. He just seems to be going through the motions on all of the stuff that he didn't write.

Totally agree with this. Pearl Jam is wasting Matt's drumming talent by sticking with 4/4 time signatures. Go listen to Head Down or Half on Superunknown. Unreal stuff, odd time signatures, showcasing what Matt can really do.

Its frustrating, because when PJ announced Matt as its drummer, I was hoping for a lot more experimentation from the band's rythym section. Instead, its been a lot of the same stuff rythymically from PJ.

eyedclaar

gotID wrote:

I don't know if his drumming is worse, but it has gotten more boring for sure. He seems to be more of a time keeper on most songs, not like what he did in Soundgarden. He was way more active/inventive in Soundgarden for sure. I've always wished they would re-unite...they were truly good together.

I always get killed for this but I think Matt is not the best fit for PJ due mainly to the fact he is more technical in his approach especially with his odd time signatures, etc. PJ has always had more of either a straight ahead 4/4 timing rock feel, or the loose groove almost funk feel on some songs. That is definitely not Matt's forte. He just seems to be going through the motions on all of the stuff that he didn't write.

Matt can do ANY style of drumming and kick the shit out of it. What you are hearing is Ed's influence on how HE wants the drums to sound. Ed prefers a straight ahead drum sound that doesn't sound flashy and complicated. Matt understands his role in the band, so he does what Ed wants but I'm sure he'd love to show off a bit more.

Cropduster84

Agree with mostof whats been said.

Not only do i prefer his playing in soundgarden if the actual SOUND of the druns has changed, they sounded full of life on Superunknown etc but flat and lifeless with PJ :(

Then again, i love jack.

mca47

eyedclaar wrote:

Matt can do ANY style of drumming and kick the shit out of it. What you are hearing is Ed's influence on how HE wants the drums to sound. Ed prefers a straight ahead drum sound that doesn't sound flashy and complicated. Matt understands his role in the band, so he does what Ed wants but I'm sure he'd love to show off a bit more.

Agreed.

The stuff the guy played with SG is simply incredible. I have a lot of SG boots from the day and I'm still blown away at the drumming in them.
If I didn't know anything of SG or PJ and someone played some of their live shows for me...I would say that there is no question they were different drummers, and this is coming from someone who plays drums.
I'm almost certain the way he plays is due to how the rest of the guys want it (probably mostly Ed). One of the biggest reasons why they fired Dave other then him being a prick, was because in part due to his style. Yeah, he was a straight forward "rock drummer" but he overdid it at times and it has been known that Ed, and Jeff were constantly frustrated at his style and Dave not wanting to change it.

When they got Matt I think they were all thrilled, but I'm also pretty they told him to kick it back a notch. Go back and listen to some of those early shows Matt played with PJ in '98 and 2000...you will hear a big difference from how he played those same songs then vs. how he plays some of them now.

I think Matt is one of the best (living) live drummers and no question the best PJ has ever had the opportunity to play with, it's just a shame they don't fully utilize what he can do.

Unkept

Not much to add really, but being a drummer all my life, I was a huge fan of Matt's Soundgarden work. You can find a lot of excellent players out there, all the usual suspects, and all the Jazz Masters, etc. But the first time I saw Soundgarden play, a concert on MTV opening for Guns & Roses back in like 1991 or something...I was floored. Hadn't seen anyone incorporate percusive tribal based drumming into the time keeping rhythm the way he did. Badmotorfinger is the absolute apex of his whole thing...but Hater's first disc was super cool too, and the Wellwater Conspiracy stuff is pretty money as well.

I was psyched when he joined PJ, cause I thought he'd be an influx of ideas and bring his whole bag of tricks in...

Alas he has not really done that, and I think it probably is Eddie's influence in every way.

I think Ed was not a particularly huge fan of the groove rock that defined TEN, because they never did it again...and for a band to abort it's signature sound,.the sound that made them what they are...well that takes something...Something like the Star of the band insisting they go in other directions...

But overall, I'm glad they did...

I think TEN did that thing as good as it could ever be done...and for a band to really have a long career they need to cover a lot of territory...so it was the right move...I'm pretty sure that if they'd made two more albums of groove rock, they'd disappear like Lincoln Park...maybe they did anyway to some extent, ...

But yeah...I bet the next Disc sounds more like TEN and Soundgarden!

No...not really...

But I think Matt is as solid as ever, probably has lost a bit of his Chops, but he's also probably bored a bit by them anyway...and at age 50, I'm not sure he'd wanna try pulling off 'Jesus Chriost Pose' every night...who knows...

He does I guess...One thing for sure,...he's got a good thing, and I think he ios the only drummer that would have worked for the band when he joined...he has their respect and friendship, and I believe that they probably had wished they could have him from the get go...He did play on their demos after all, and he was a monster...Still is...just a different kind of Monster now.

UpSideDown

pc_loadletter wrote:

I've never really been into SG, I only know what they have released on the radio. But listening Black Hole Sun and Spoonman, Matt's drumming sounds a lot different than it does in Pearl Jam. Is it just because the style of music has changed, or has Matt progressed in his music? Or am I just making shit up because I'm bored?

There is a lot of speculation in this thread................


for example.....


matt is bored,

ed controls matts drumming.

the band told matt to take it back a notch (he was playing too good)

matt walks through songs he didnt write.






My only suggestion to Matt would be to play a brighter sounding kit. But wait, according to this post, Ed probably wont let him buy one.

pj10alive42

Yeah, like it used to be good and now it sucks.

mca47

Unkept wrote:

Not much to add really, but being a drummer all my life, I was a huge fan of Matt's Soundgarden work. You can find a lot of excellent players out there, all the usual suspects, and all the Jazz Masters, etc. But the first time I saw Soundgarden play, a concert on MTV opening for Guns & Roses back in like 1991 or something...I was floored. Hadn't seen anyone incorporate percusive tribal based drumming into the time keeping rhythm the way he did. Badmotorfinger is the absolute apex of his whole thing...but Hater's first disc was super cool too, and the Wellwater Conspiracy stuff is pretty money as well.

I was psyched when he joined PJ, cause I thought he'd be an influx of ideas and bring his whole bag of tricks in...

Alas he has not really done that, and I think it probably is Eddie's influence in every way.

I think Ed was not a particularly huge fan of the groove rock that defined TEN, because they never did it again...and for a band to abort it's signature sound,.the sound that made them what they are...well that takes something...Something like the Star of the band insisting they go in other directions...

But overall, I'm glad they did...

I think TEN did that thing as good as it could ever be done...and for a band to really have a long career they need to cover a lot of territory...so it was the right move...I'm pretty sure that if they'd made two more albums of groove rock, they'd disappear like Lincoln Park...maybe they did anyway to some extent, ...

But yeah...I bet the next Disc sounds more like TEN and Soundgarden!

No...not really...

But I think Matt is as solid as ever, probably has lost a bit of his Chops, but he's also probably bored a bit by them anyway...and at age 50, I'm not sure he'd wanna try pulling off 'Jesus Chriost Pose' every night...who knows...

He does I guess...One thing for sure,...he's got a good thing, and I think he ios the only drummer that would have worked for the band when he joined...he has their respect and friendship, and I believe that they probably had wished they could have him from the get go...He did play on their demos after all, and he was a monster...Still is...just a different kind of Monster now.

Well said.

mca47

Corey Erven wrote:

There is a lot of speculation in this thread................


for example.....


matt is bored,

ed controls matts drumming.

the band told matt to take it back a notch (he was playing too good)

matt walks through songs he didnt write.


My only suggestion to Matt would be to play a brighter sounding kit. But wait, according to this post, Ed probably wont let him buy one.

First of all it has been publicly known for a long time that Ed and Jeff didn't like Dave's style because it was difficult to work/play with for them. Matt, playing his style in '98 and part of '00 when he started with PJ played MUCH different then he does now. Hmmm...wonder why that is?

Matt playing a brighter kit...not so sure about that. He's got great sound, just doesn't have the expression he once did in SG.

i like matt.c

Matt. Is. The. Greatest.

UpSideDown

mca47 wrote:

First of all it has been publicly known for a long time that Ed and Jeff didn't like Dave's style because it was difficult to work/play with for them. Matt, playing his style in '98 and part of '00 when he started with PJ played MUCH different then he does now. Hmmm...wonder why that is?

Matt playing a brighter kit...not so sure about that. He's got great sound, just doesn't have the expression he once did in SG.

That still doesn't give anyone the right to speculate that Ed/Jeff told matt how to play. Matt is an artist in his own right and lets at least give him credit for that.

The reason i bring up the brighter kit.....listen to older soundgarden stuff and his snare has a lot more snap.





All in all.......matt is my favorite pearl jam drummer. He is the one pumping out three hour shows, he has wrote some cool ass songs, and basically has held this band together.

mca47

Corey Erven wrote:

That still doesn't give anyone the right to speculate that Ed/Jeff told matt how to play. Matt is an artist in his own right and lets at least give him credit for that.

The reason i bring up the brighter kit.....listen to older soundgarden stuff and his snare has a lot more snap.





All in all.......matt is my favorite pearl jam drummer. He is the one pumping out three hour shows, he has wrote some cool ass songs, and basically has held this band together.

Well, sadly everything pretty much comes down to Ed's say and given what has been expressed and publicly known in the past...one can assume.

He did have a tighter snare back then, but that too IMO is a part of what he probably decided to change as a result of being in PJ.