More crack from the snare? If you use a somewhat slow attack, low threshold and a quick release, when the drummer hits the snare, the hit will go through, but the 'BLAAAT' will get turned down. If you think of the compressor as a little guy with his hand on the volume knob, the attack with how motivated the guy is to change the volume, the threshold as what makes him get to moving, and the release as how long it takes for him to put the knob back to 0, it isn't that hard to do a couple things. Now, if you're pulling up solid sounding tracks, the compressor can control the transients, the body, and the dynamics. And for your own learning, the problem is the tuning and the drummer. burying the beater kills the lows, etc.), snare doesn't crack right, cymbals are harsh - you can get around to repairing these problems, and a compressor may be involved, but this changes the why. If your kick doesn't thump, work on that tuning (or the playing style. If you just pull the faders up, the drums should sound right.
Just to cut to the chase, this isn't true. There is a bit of a newbie track with recording, in that you put the mics up, hear back the recording and think 'Alright, well now I must need some processing because this doesn't sound that great' What is going on in the track? What is a problem, or are there problems? What kind of tune is it and what do the drums need? Don't just do stuff because you've read about it, think about what and why you're doing it.
