Larry Mullen Jr. VS Phil Collins!

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PopMartian33107

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(NOTE: This is not a rebel post. This is...Sunday, Cruddy Sunday.)

Hello! After listening to a bunch of U2 and Genesis records, I thought I'd square off two of the best drummers in the business.

Larry Mullen, Jr., has been a founding member of U2 since the mid-70's. He's the one who never ages. He's a solid, consistent backbone of U2, but not a showman in the least.

Phil Collins joined Genesis in 1971, and has since then went on to have a successful career in the band as well as scoring huge hits on a solo basis. While Larry isn't a showman who doesn';t like to trod out huge solo drum sessions, Phil is the exact opposite: Just listen to his awesome drum solos on Los Endoes, In That Quiet Earth, Duke's Travels, and Fading Lights. Also, In The Air Tonight is basically every drummer's Bible Song.

So who comes out on top? That's a toughie. While Larry provides a solid, driving beat to every U2 song, Phil is clearly the better drummer. Yes, those nasty little drum solos of his may get annoying, but just imagine how much talent and effort it takes to compose and perform them! Does Larry even have a signature drum beat?

Not to put down Larry or anything. I love the guy. And this was, of course, all in my own opinion.

So here's the final score:

Phil is the best drummer, that guy from Rush comes in second, and Larry is a distant third.

Please don't be angry with me, U2 fanatics. That's All!
 
phil
larry has no taste in music
he should be replaced by some studio ace drummer

:wink:

on the other hand , phil has some problems with his ears

his records , except for Face Value , are terrible , weak , poppy

but with G- Unit , he did some fantastic work
and his vocals
 
Larry Mullen not having a signature drumming style? I beg to differ. Larry Mullen has one of the most unique drumming styles in music today. His sound is as integral to U2's sound as Bono's or Adam's sounds.
 
Oh yeah, I agree Phil Collins is the better drummer, over Larry Mullen Jr. The Duke's Travels are one of the best drum solos out there ... But, the drummer from Rush, Neil Peart, that you are referring to as 2nd place ?? NO WAY !! He's gotta be put at the TOP of this list. Neil is an amazing drummer! The BEST ... when compared to Phil and Larry. His exceptional drumming on these Rush songs, YYZ, Spirit Of Radio, Fly By Night, Tom Sawyer,
New World Man, and Subdivisions ... just to name a few ... definitely, tell the tale here !! :drool: :applaud:

My drummer list would look like this ...

1) Neil Peart (Rush)
2) Phil Collins
3) Larry Mullen Jr. (U2)

Larry comes in at 3rd place because clearly he is NOT the best drummer here when compared with these three choices ...
 
WinnieThePoo said:
phil
larry has no taste in music
he should be replaced by some studio ace drummer

:wink:

on the other hand , phil has some problems with his ears

his records , except for Face Value , are terrible , weak , poppy

but with G- Unit , he did some fantastic work
and his vocals

I beg to differ, WinnieThePoo. No Jacket Required was a fantastic pop outing, with plenty of good singles. And But Seriously... had a lot of heart to it, too, with global-conscience songs like Another Day In Paradise and Colours.

Face Value was his only good solo record? No way! Alright, I'll give it to you that his last two solo albums sucked big time...but he's still a good all-around musician! :)
 
MsMofoGone said:
Oh yeah, I agree Phil Collins is the better drummer, over Larry Mullen Jr. The Duke's Travels are one of the best drum solos out there ... But, the drummer from Rush, Neil Peart, that you are referring to as 2nd place ?? NO WAY !! He's gotta be put at the TOP of this list. Neil is an amazing drummer! The BEST ... when compared to Phil and Larry. His exceptional drumming on these Rush songs, YYZ, Spirit Of Radio, Fly By Night, Tom Sawyer,
New World Man, and Subdivisions ... just to name a few ... definitely, tell the tale here !! :drool: :applaud:

My drummer list would look like this ...

1) Neil Peart (Rush)
2) Phil Collins
3) Larry Mullen Jr. (U2)

Larry comes in at 3rd place because clearly he is NOT the best drummer here when compared with these three choices ...

I agree that Neil Peart is awesome, fantastic, and all that, but I'd still place Phil Collins over him. Phil has been around longer, is more influential, and his solos are so energized and off-the-wall that you never know what to expect!

Neil is more of a precise drummer, like a mathmatician. And that's a good thing. All the songs you mentioned are great, especially YYZ and New World Man. Neil rules! But I like Phil better. :)
 
MissVelvetDress_75 said:
every drummer I have met always list the drummer of RUSH as the top drummer.

That's odd, it's the exact opposite for me: Every drummer I've met (which isn't very many) list Phil Collins at the top. Maybe it just has to do with certain regions of the country?
 
PopMartian33107 said:


I beg to differ, WinnieThePoo. No Jacket Required was a fantastic pop outing, with plenty of good singles. And But Seriously... had a lot of heart to it, too, with global-conscience songs like Another Day In Paradise and Colours.

Face Value was his only good solo record? No way! Alright, I'll give it to you that his last two solo albums sucked big time...but he's still a good all-around musician! :)

he is !
he just goes way too pop , you know
over the top
 
have you ever seen a DREAM THEATER video?

Mike Portnoy is THE MAN

PS: I can't listen to any songs from them, is just too much of everything... even Portnoy, but he still plays amazingly)
 
PopMartian33107 said:


Right. :| You may wanna take a second listen to Long Long Way To Go, Inside Out and Take Me Home.

I have heard the song Take Me Home. Dunno about the others. I may have blocked them from my mind.

Call it USA Pop if you like, but not Pop. (Yes, I know hes English) Its too shmultzy for Pop. So are all those horrible Disney songs. Its difficult to describe. I think you would need to come over here, outside USA, and look back inwards to hear that bland USA sound. I do like heck of a lot of USA music, just not that Celine Dion /Journey/ REO Speedwagon / Phil Collins kinda shmultz.

I don't doubt hes an excellent drummer. He just shouldn't be solo thats all.
 
I actually saw Phil Collins live once.... :reject:

It was a loooong time ago and a friend had tickets and no one to go with.
 
PopMartian33107 said:


I agree that Neil Peart is awesome, fantastic, and all that, but I'd still place Phil Collins over him. Phil has been around longer, is more influential, and his solos are so energized and off-the-wall that you never know what to expect!

Neil is more of a precise drummer, like a mathmatician. And that's a good thing. All the songs you mentioned are great, especially YYZ and New World Man. Neil rules! But I like Phil better. :)

I think Phil Collins is an excellent drummer, but I'd have to take Neil Peart over him. Nobody compares to the solos that Peart has done. I think he's been quite influential.

And it's not like Phil Collins has been around that much longer. He joined Genesis in 1970 while Neil Peart joined Rush in 1975. Not a huge difference when both have been going at it for over 30 years now.
 
beli said:


I have heard the song Take Me Home. Dunno about the others. I may have blocked them from my mind.

Call it USA Pop if you like, but not Pop. (Yes, I know hes English) Its too shmultzy for Pop. So are all those horrible Disney songs. Its difficult to describe. I think you would need to come over here, outside USA, and look back inwards to hear that bland USA sound. I do like heck of a lot of USA music, just not that Celine Dion /Journey/ REO Speedwagon / Phil Collins kinda shmultz.

I don't doubt hes an excellent drummer. He just shouldn't be solo thats all.

Oh, I totally agree with you that the Disney songs are shmultzy. (Even though You'll Be In My Heart has a special place for me). And his last two albums were absolute crap.

But the rest of his body of work? OUTSTANDING. Hid contributions to Genesis, and solo albums...just fantastic. Everyone agrees when U2 wins a Grammy, but when Phil wins 7 of them, all hell breaks loose. :|

Pease just take a second listen to these non-shmultzy songs. Long Long Way To Go, Take Me Home, Inside Out, In The Air Tonight, Behind The Lines, Do You Know Do You Care, I Don't Care Anymore, Thru These Walls, Like China, Another Day In Paradise, Colours, I Wish It Would Rain Down, Both Sides of the Story,.... and that's just his solo efforts.

I could go on, really. :)
 
I know most of those songs. I'm old enough to have been around when most of them were hits. I still don't like them though. loll. The only one I can vaguely tolerate is that "Eyes are burning Mumma, feel my body shake" song.

As I said before though he could well be an excellent drummer but I would like his music more if Peter Gabriel was writing the songs. :wink:
 
Phil would be a better drummer had he never opened his mouth and become a singer.

Neil Peart is a better drummer and lyricist than Phil.
 
I like john bonham and stewart copeland's drumming better than all 3.

but I like larry's drumming best of the 3 mentioned; then peart; .....phil collins would be somewhere around 96 or 97th.
 
JOFO said:
I like john bonham and stewart copeland's drumming better than all 3.

but I like larry's drumming best of the 3 mentioned; then peart; .....phil collins would be somewhere around 96 or 97th.

I agree with every word written here.
 
JOFO said:
I like john bonham and stewart copeland's drumming better than all 3.

but I like larry's drumming best of the 3 mentioned; then peart; .....phil collins would be somewhere around 96 or 97th.

Right, and I bet this is exactly because he's a "Disney singer" now, negating all his incredible efforts in the world of drumming.

Go by "A Trick of the Tail" and "Duke" and tell me again he doesn't belong in the top five.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if I heard next that Nick Mason was a better drummer than Phil, simply because he's in a classic band. :|
 
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