I’m not a drummer, so it’s often lost on me on how difficult or interesting they are. Lyrics, guitar, melody, bass, are all things I care and am knowledgable on.
The band has never had a bad drummer. Coming Home’s more straightforward style is a result of the songwriting, not the other way around, imo.
War paint was Tyler's drum parts he taught to his replacement before he left. But he ended up returning for the tour. I think if he played on the album it be up there in complexity with the others.
I did a full discography run recently, and my ranking has remained pretty consistent: War Paint > Mother Nature > Reach For the Sun > Self Titled > Golden Record > Coming Home > IYCOKMA > ATLOTBS only tacked the last two on the end because they’re only EPs
Yeah I like this far more than Coming Home, which I didn’t hate I just found it meh and never really listened to it more than once. @Craig Manning not on par with early stuff but this one is a lot more wordy than recent outputs.
His replacement for studio then was Spencer from Hidden In Plain View, who I believe might have rather been a more seasoned drummer by that time. Never saw either of them live though, so it's hard to think of all of it now years after, and Tyler was definitely an inventive and original drummers, but I never felt War Paint should've had different drumming nor would I find them problematic (as per @TriangularDuck less interesting hmm)
The new song is better than anything on Coming Home but that’s a pretty low bar. It’s not enough to pull me back in, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Basically, the Drums on War Paint are a lot simpler than the albums around it. Reach for the Sun, and Golden Record, both have very complex beats and fills throughout. Very inventive... War Paint is great, but much more reserved. Listen to Where I want to be's drums (especially the breakdown part towards the end) and then pop on War Paint. It's just much simpler Beats and Fills. Doesn't mean it's worse or anything. I just think the complex/inventive drumming always boosted the sometimes simpler songs from TDS
some of the drum parts on rfts are needlessly overkill and the more reserved take on war paint serves the songs much better and is one of many reasons why war paint is the better album
Listened to RFTS and War Paint back to back on my run today. It’s close, but Reach is still my fav. That closing five-song stretch is hard to beat imo.
I can pretty much hear the beats are more complex on the albums around it, sure. I'd still say Spencer Peterson was an amazing drummer, I definitely enjoyed the style and the sound on War Paint with no issues. Maybe if I had to choose between albums I could say it's a different story, but I just don't find any of those albums lacking in that department