10 Most Underrated Drummers Of All Time
9. Jimmy Chamberlain - The Smashing Pumpkins
The emergence of alt-rock wasn't necessarily the greatest of things for the drummer's spot. Regardless of heavyhitters like Dave Grohl and Matt Cameron providing great drum hooks, the days of Mike Portnoy levels of brilliance tended to go the way of hair metal shortly after the emergence of albums like Nirvana's Nevermind. That is, with one massive exception operating outside of Seattle.
For as much as the Smashing Pumpkins are seen as legendary today, people tend to just flock to Billy Corgan as the heart of the group. It's not that hard to see why either, given his hand in nearly every single song and playing over other members' parts on more than a few others. On the other hand, Jimmy Chamberlain's drumming is absolutely irreplaceable in this field, bringing a huge amount of dimension to every single Pumpkins track. Compared to the other amazing punk rock drumming going on around the same time, Chamberlain made the kind of rhythm tracks that work well in stadiums, and yet came out on the other side with some of the greatest drum performances of the time like on Cherub Rock.
Even the drum machine precision on 1979 is not programmed, instead being a looped performance of Chamberlain's dead-on time for most of the track. While Corgan may have been the spirit of the Pumpkins, you go to Jimmy Chamberlain when you want to hear the group's muscle.