My top 5 favorite drum albums of all time (list subject to change upon any random whim, but probably won't):
5) In Utero - I really liked this work drum-wise better than Nevermind probably because of Steve Albini (though I bow to no one in my appreciation of Butch Vig). Punches a lot harder than the uber-compressed sound of the previous record. "Very Ape" is great and "Milk It" is the phenomenal song that made me think Kurt could be the new Syd.
4) Frogstomp - Ben Gillies did himself proud on this record, dropping in double bass kicks seemingly before every new measure. And like every good musician, has a career he can fall back on.
3) Pearl Jam, live in Atlanta - this bootleg, procured by King Marabud back in the day, cost him a painful $70... but it's worth it. Live recording of "Black", which became rare for the band. But mostly it's on this list because of the barely contained chaos that is "Evenflow" in the hands of Dave Abbruzzese. The guy is unleashed, insane, and incredible. This version was single-songedly responsible for me trying to form a band with two other guys specifically (but unknown to them) so that I could play it on drums... regardless of how badly I failed.
2) Become What You Are - Almost the opposite of the previous entry in that this album shows the exact perfect way to play powerful rock-pop drums, but restrained... sort of. Strong and flawless, but not much flourish. Just good solid playing.
1) Betty - Intensely powerful drumming, superb timing, and two of my favorite quick drum fills ever on "Street Crabs" and "Clean". I'm sure I annoyed the crap out of at least one bandmate playing that intro to "I Know" so often. This album makes me cry for how much I wish I could play like that. It's also one of the reasons I bought a piccolo snare. If I could beg anyone to give me lessons, this would be the guy. Not often I think "tasteful" when thinking of an album as heavy as this, but there ya go. A real gem. One of my 10 favorite albums of all time, maybe even in the top 5.
What... no Rush on the list, geek that I am? No, no Rush. Neil's great and all... but he was never a reason I wanted to play the drums. He's just too complex. It's like listening to an orchestra member: I can marvel at the talent, but I can't really feel him in my bones. And I can't think of a single song of his I'd really enjoy playing.
Well, at least I mention this sort of thing least. I mean about the g-- No, we won't go there.
Hey, kids! Don't try this at home...
Scenario: Musharraf is deposed in a mob takeover of Pakistan and most government employees declare allegiance to the victorious cadre. The new ruling group examines Pakistan's nuclear capability and decides to (variant A) container-ship a surprise to Tel Aviv or (variant B) ballistically deliver one into India. Either potential rival has standoff launch capability and could put one or two into Peshawar or somewhere. So about 200 megatons of crap start blowing our way, as in the Chernobyl sideshow of 1986, but somewhat stronger in radiant intensity.
Result: a week or two later, some people put books and lumber on top of dining room tables, sleep under the tables and protect themselves, while others whine for the authorities to do something. A portion of the latter take little or no individual initiative, thus exiting from the gene pool forthwith. UN officials blame the US and France blames the difficulty of choice in modern circumstances. Saddam throws shoes at intimidated Iraqi judges. I buy a new DVD release of Plan 9 From Outer Space. Life goes on.
Review: JAIL BAIT (Lyle Talbot, Dolores Fuller 1954)...
Don't bother, that is, unless you have a morbid curiousity about Ed Wood obscurities. This one's not noteworthy for script or performances, but informative for personalities and places.
Theodora Thurman - apparently no relation to Uma, this little-known actress did Vogue magazine and lots of ads in the early fifties. Not forceful with lines but looks good even by modern standards.
Steve Reeves - odd to see him in a Dragnet homage/ripoff, but he aquits himself with a respectable performance.
Dolores Fuller - bad actress but looks good. She later (as you may have heard) did better in film than Ed, having written songs for at least 4 of Elvis's movies.
Lyle Talbot - acting in hundreds of movies, he was a pretty decent character player in Film Noir cheapies for decades.
Scenes and locations - any fan of GLEN OR GLENDA would recognize various places, in that Wood was notorious for using his own one-bedroom house as a set. Wood's living room (in Dolores' fictional pad) was the same as in GLENDA and some furniture was moved around to allow the place to become the crooks' hideout.
Packaging: I got this thing as a DVD double feature with THE GREAT ST. LOUIS BANK ROBBERY with Steve McQueen brand new for $1.99. Buy with caution.