A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Irons.

General Pearl Jam discussion.
Post Reply
User avatar
LetMeSleep
Posting (live)
Posts: 17987
Joined: Wed February 06, 2013 2:47 am
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Location: Scooby Doo

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by LetMeSleep »

Mike wrote:Can someone with more drum knowledge than me talk about Jack's playing a bit or explain it to me? I like him a lot on the songs of his era but on older songs his playing can sound awkward to me. Where Dave sounded huge Jack sounds rather small and... dry? Does he have a unique drum set up? I think it's his snare that sounds very tight/dry to me. His drum sound does not have a lot of space/openness. Songs like Animal or Go have a weird quality to them when Jack is playing them.
Dave A had a lot of attack and wrist in his playing. He also had very tight snares. Jack is a lot looser in style and doesn't crack the snare as much. Additionally, he has a looser snare so it doesn't peak/attack as much. You can hear the same difference with RHCP listening to Jack versus Chad Smith.

Jack also doesn't push the beat like Dave A and Matt do. He sits on or behind the beat. One of the best drummer of this sort is Steve Ferrone. His work with Tom Petty and strangely Duran Duran on Notorious is a good example of this. When you hear Jack play Animal, Hail Hail, Last Exit etc, the drums don't push the song like when Matt or Dave A plays them.
User avatar
tragabigzanda
Production Police
Posts: 51634
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Fri January 02, 2026 1:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
ridleybradout
Future Drummer
Posts: 2551
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 10:33 pm
Location: Rand McNally

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by ridleybradout »

tragabigzanda wrote:Awesome post LMS
:nice:
User avatar
LetMeSleep
Posting (live)
Posts: 17987
Joined: Wed February 06, 2013 2:47 am
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Location: Scooby Doo

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by LetMeSleep »

To add, there are drummers who have that attach and play on/behind the beat. When Chad smith joined PJ at Jazz fest it was quite pronounced.

Behind the beat
Chad Smith


Dave Grohl


Jack Irons


Oddly Dave A is rather on the beat here, not driving it as he often did.



Pushing the beat
Matt Cameron
User avatar
evenslow
Stone's Bitch
Posts: 9164
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 6:47 pm
Location: unnamed mental hospital

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by evenslow »

God level posts, LMS.
Strat wrote:Alas, we are RM
User avatar
tragabigzanda
Production Police
Posts: 51634
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Fri January 02, 2026 1:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
wease
Major Dude
Posts: 40166
Joined: Sat January 05, 2013 1:57 pm
Location: Where everybody knows your name

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by wease »

LetMeSleep wrote:
Mike wrote:Can someone with more drum knowledge than me talk about Jack's playing a bit or explain it to me? I like him a lot on the songs of his era but on older songs his playing can sound awkward to me. Where Dave sounded huge Jack sounds rather small and... dry? Does he have a unique drum set up? I think it's his snare that sounds very tight/dry to me. His drum sound does not have a lot of space/openness. Songs like Animal or Go have a weird quality to them when Jack is playing them.
Dave A had a lot of attack and wrist in his playing. He also had very tight snares. Jack is a lot looser in style and doesn't crack the snare as much. Additionally, he has a looser snare so it doesn't peak/attack as much. You can hear the same difference with RHCP listening to Jack versus Chad Smith.

Jack also doesn't push the beat like Dave A and Matt do. He sits on or behind the beat. One of the best drummer of this sort is Steve Ferrone. His work with Tom Petty and strangely Duran Duran on Notorious is a good example of this. When you hear Jack play Animal, Hail Hail, Last Exit etc, the drums don't push the song like when Matt or Dave A plays them.
Steve Ferrone is one of the best drummers ever. Period. He just oozes groove.
Let me tell you, Homer Simpson is cock of nothing!
- C. Montgomery Burns
User avatar
LetMeSleep
Posting (live)
Posts: 17987
Joined: Wed February 06, 2013 2:47 am
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Location: Scooby Doo

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by LetMeSleep »

Fuck yeah wease.
User avatar
Birds in Hell
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 16263
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 9:38 pm

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by Birds in Hell »

Excellent posts, LMS.

The examples above get to the core of the discomfort I feel with Matt's drumming in Pearl Jam. They're simply a "behind the beat" kind of band in my head and Matt's playing simply doesn't feel or sound right to me in most cases.

It's interesting to contrast Matt Chamberlain's looser style of playing in Soundgarden when he temporarily filled in for Matt Cameron a few years ago due to conflicting Pearl Jam touring commitments*:




(* They definitely got this worked out all backwards, it would've made a lot more sense for Chamberlain to have stepped into Pearl Jam, but oh well.)
User avatar
oneway23
Future Drummer
Posts: 2158
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 4:57 am

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by oneway23 »

Last page of posts was stellar..Great insight, thanks!
We still make records to be listened to — not that everyone will listen to a record track one to twelve in a row or side A or Side B — but we still make 'em in case somebody does want to listen to it like that, that's how we make em…
User avatar
wease
Major Dude
Posts: 40166
Joined: Sat January 05, 2013 1:57 pm
Location: Where everybody knows your name

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by wease »

LetMeSleep wrote:Fuck yeah wease.
:thumbsup:
Ferrone's work with Clapton back in the late 80s-early 90s is simply fantastic.
Let me tell you, Homer Simpson is cock of nothing!
- C. Montgomery Burns
User avatar
tragabigzanda
Production Police
Posts: 51634
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Fri January 02, 2026 1:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
LetMeSleep
Posting (live)
Posts: 17987
Joined: Wed February 06, 2013 2:47 am
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Location: Scooby Doo

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by LetMeSleep »

tragabigzanda wrote:Agree this has been a great recent run of posts. Just want to add that for Cameron, in addition to his ahead-of-the-beat timing, he also has an intentional choice (discussed in interviews) of always hitting his drums square in the center of the head, and with noticeable force. Very different from Jack who tended to finesse the outer edges of the rims.
Yeah I remember that. It was something that I tried hard to do early on. Now I adore hearing different rings of snare during a song.
User avatar
evenslow
Stone's Bitch
Posts: 9164
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 6:47 pm
Location: unnamed mental hospital

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by evenslow »

That MC RITFW is almost comically fast.
Strat wrote:Alas, we are RM
User avatar
oneway23
Future Drummer
Posts: 2158
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 4:57 am

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by oneway23 »

tragabigzanda wrote:Agree this has been a great recent run of posts. Just want to add that for Cameron, in addition to his ahead-of-the-beat timing, he also has an intentional choice (discussed in interviews) of always hitting his drums square in the center of the head, and with noticeable force. Very different from Jack who tended to finesse the outer edges of the rims.
Always have to take care to finesse the outer edges
We still make records to be listened to — not that everyone will listen to a record track one to twelve in a row or side A or Side B — but we still make 'em in case somebody does want to listen to it like that, that's how we make em…
User avatar
tragabigzanda
Production Police
Posts: 51634
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Fri January 02, 2026 1:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Bammer
mXn
Posts: 22777
Joined: Thu January 24, 2013 4:32 am
Location: Surrounded by Wokes. Please send help.

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by Bammer »

I played shine on you crazy diamond really loud in the house the other day and my kids loved it. Dance party.
(she/him/theirs)
User avatar
Birds in Hell
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 16263
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 9:38 pm

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by Birds in Hell »

Jack again on drums for some of the new Josh Klinghoffer album.

User avatar
VinylGuy
jeeeesus relax already
Posts: 42760
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 5:10 pm

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by VinylGuy »

i only heard the first seconds of the songs, but it seems Jack is more into some kind of electronic drum beat kinda sound for some time...I remember feeling the same with his work with Lanegan.
BONE FUCKIN´ TOMAHAWK.
User avatar
Jorge
NYUCK NYUCK NYUCK
Posts: 36485
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 3:35 pm
Location: Buenos Aires

Re: A safe place for discussion and appreciation of Jack Iro

Post by Jorge »

Birds in Hell wrote:Jack again on drums for some of the new Josh Klinghoffer album.

Hey I like this
Anders wrote:I do not have a «neoliberal assessment of geopolitics», so please stop writing that I do.
Post Reply