Albums that Influenced My Drum Playing

​Back in the day, music lovers used to listen to albums in their entirety, from front-to-back, or side-to-side depending on which format you chose, for me it was vinyl, cassette, CD, MP3s, and now back to vinyl. You really can’t beat the warmth of vinyl. Listening to full LPs has always been one of my favorite pastimes. Though I’ve been known to cherry pick songs when creating set lists with my digital media, I would prefer listening to albums in full, it’s a wonderful journey. Over the years of playing drums I started to notice influences in my playing. Going back to a lot of this music I realized that I had acquired the styles and techniques that certain drummers used on albums. In many cases it’s not only the drummer that I’ve picked up but also the other musicians and the material. Which is why I compiled this list of ten albums rather than just giving a shout out to individual players, since I feel I was influenced by the whole package.

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​Rush – Hemispheres – Having Neil Peart on my list is a no brainer and I figured I might as well get it over with. Professor Peart is on just about every drummers list and for good reason, the man is a genius. He has more drumming tools in the toolbox than any other drummer that I can recall. I was originally introduced to Rush with the album Moving Pictures which must be their most commercially successful. However, their fifth album Hemispheres has some of the most amazing playing I’ve ever heard. His fills are bombastic, hi hat accents are precise and plentiful, and the grooves and time signatures are absolutely insane.

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​DJ Shadow – Entroducing  - The first time I heard this album I was in a friend’s car in Springfield, IL and the album had just been released a few years prior, I believe this was 1999. Entroducing was the first completely sampled album so no one knew who the drummers were since every track was pulled from obscure albums from DJ Shadow’s collection. The DJ spliced it all together and it was brilliant. The very first track is my favorite since at the time I was having difficulty with the technique of my kick drum. I just couldn’t get it to do the more complex and busy grooves. Once I learned that first tracks beat I found that if I sped it up I understood the mechanics of what was going on and how to get my body to play complex funk inspired grooves. That was huge for me.

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​MMW – Shack-man – This album introduced me to an interesting style of jazz known as acid jazz which was popular in the seventies but had just been revived in the nineties with the emergence of jam bands. It was groovy and somewhat sloppy but stayed in time, most of the time. The track Bubblehouse showed that a tempo could be sped up and then slowed down with finesse. This album not just taught me how to manipulate tempo but how to create space and tension by being patient and playing behind the beat as opposed to driving the beat.

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​Primus – Sailing the Seas of Cheese - Primus is one of my favorite bands, as you might have guessed from one of my earlier blog posts. They were so unique, creative and fun. Les Claypool is a monster on the bass guitar and you can’t have a monster on bass without a monster on the drums and Primus has had a handful of monstrous drummers over the years. However, to me no one can match Tim “Herb” Alexander in sound, creativity and power. Tim taught me how to use double bass and splash cymbals in unique and tasteful ways. Check out the tune “Is it Luck.”

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​Faith No More – Angel Dust -  What a great rock album. So many great and unique sounding tracks with so much vocal and musical dynamics. Behind it all was Mike Bordin who played a very modestly sized drumset for a rocker but he was creative with his funky beats and tom grooves. I learned so much from this man. Especially how to play for the song rather trying to be larger than life. I guess this why he could also grab gigs from the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. The Oz man doesn’t hire just anyone.

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​Iron Maiden – Powerslave – I love Iron Maiden, I really do. Being an Iron Maiden fan is a lot like being a Rush fan, it’s full time. You either love Maiden or you just don’t. Well one of the reasons for my love affair with the boys from the UK is the crazy SOB on the drums, Nikko McBrain. He’s one of the only heavy metal drummers who doesn’t play a double bass pedal since he doesn’t need one. His playing is more organic and relies more on natural feeling grooves with massive tom fills. He even has some quick tom fills that I’ve borrowed from time-to-time. Who am I kidding, I’ve ripped off McBrain on many occasions.

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​Galactic – Late for the Future – If you like to groove than this album is for you. Stanton Moore blends some interesting New Orleans style funk with a flurry of marching snare work, percussion and big band cymbal work. Check out the track “Baker’s Dozen!”

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​Peter Gabriel – Secret World Live – This double live album features some great drum work from a Frenchy named Manu Katche. Mr. Gabriel found a gem of a player when he brought this guy into his ensemble. Manu’s ability to fill in all the spaces between the grooves with beautiful, tasteful, and skillful accents and mini fills is simply awe inspiring. Check out “Red Rain.” 

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​Tori Amos – To Venus and Back – This is another double album with one being an actual studio release and the other being a live take on Tori’s classic songs. The man behind the kit was Matt Chamberlain who is in my opinion the most underrated drummer. His ability to morph the drums to Tori’s vocals and piano is brilliant. She’s not a straight forward player so to constantly react to her free-flowing style while keeping everything grounded is something I’ve always admired and tried to mimic when jamming with others.

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​Dave Mathews Band – Before these Crowded Streets – I’m a Dave Mathews Band fan. I know a lot of people are put off by Mathews and his band saying that they don’t rock. Well, you’re right, they don’t rock. They’re not a rock band. They’re a jam band mixed with a fusion of jazz, country, folk, funk, topped with a sprinkle of rock. Anyways, the drummer Carter Beauford is another amazing musician who just simply drives this album. His tom fills are blazing fast and smooth and his grooves are simply effortless. I could only imagine having the ability to put the kick anywhere at any time like he does with seemingly minimal effort. One thing I did pick up from Carter that didn’t hurt my brain was the ability to play that off beat snare hit which always sounds cool in a straight groove.

If you’re a drummer, or any kind of musician, let me know what albums have inspired your playing. Let me know what part of the album inspired you most.

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