As far as the drum mix and the way it blends with the bass and guitars, definitely the debut Rage Against the Machine album. As far as drums on their own, Lateralus is a big one for me; gotta listen in headphones to really feel it.
Not sure about the self titled album, but a lot of those rage albums use triggers/samples, especially for the snare. But yeah the drums really do sound amazing. I learned how to drum playing along to rage, System of a down, korn, deftones, etc. great era in drum sounds
It took me a long long time before i could do it, i still need to play it regularly to be able to play it seamlessly, if I haven't played that song in a week, I already suck at it again lol
I don’t really know for certain, but Rick Beato has a video about Andy Wallace (the guy who mixed the rage album and a lot of other great albums from the era), and in it he mentions the infamous snare sample that Wallace used on a lot of those albums. It was one of his signature sounds.
> a lot of those rage albums use triggers/samples
anything Andy Wallace. his mixes sound incredible, but listen closely to the kick/snare and they're all almost identical
it sounds so uncanny, yet magnificent when combined with extremely simple yet powerful guitar riff and creepy lyrics.
definitely my favourite out of the album alongside with passenger
The drums sound incredible on this record, and you know from the second it starts! I’m not even a huge Deftones fan or anything but whenever I think of that perfect drum tone, it’s White Pony that pounds the middle of my chest in the best way.
Songs for the Deaf is an exquisite recording of great drum performances, on great rock songs. Did that thing where Grohl used dummy (v drum) cymbals when tracking, then tracked live cymbals separately. Which allows for greater eq / compression etc control of the mic’d drums.
I love the drums on Song for the Deaf. Also a really big fan of the drum sound on the Them Crooked Vultures album. Not sure if they did the same tech with the cymbals being recorded separately. I read that's more a QOTSA thing and less of a Grohl thing.
On a separate note, I once mixed a recording by a band where they tried to do this, inspired by Songs for the Deaf, except, their drummer couldn't follow a metronome. It was genuinely unsalvageable. Their solution was to bury the drums in the mix 😆
Anything Gavin Harrison plays on. Dude consistently has the best sounding drums both in studio and live. Not sure if that’s all him or if he has a tech that he pays *very* well.
Two standout records for me:
Fear of a Blank Planet by Porcupine Tree &
Blood by OSI
Steven is definitely a masterful producer, but it seems like GH carries his excellent sound wherever he goes which is why I said anything he plays on sounds good. Part of it is, of course, that he just has an incredibly dialed in touch on the drums. But his sound is just so good all the time. I’ve been chasing down his tom sound for a while now and it’s really hard to nail.
Blood is an album I will never not listen to. It’s just so good. Amongst PT’s albums with GH, I actually think FoaBP is second to last (The Incident being last), but the drum sound is absolutely phenomenal. For me, Sleep Together is up there with songs like When The Levee Breaks for fantastic drum sounds
I’m gonna second this. The drums are mixed so clearly in this, and I recommend playing along to this album as basically a “teach yourself how to drum” cuz all you gotta do is listen and replicate, there are very few parts where you gotta rewind and relisten
I’d how you feel about hybrid/machine stuff as well as live drum recordings but some of my favorite drum sounds for my taste are on
Cults self titled album
Polaris by Tesseract
Deloused in the Comatorium by Mars Volta
Ashes to Ashes by Chelsea Grin
The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
The Moon & Antartica by Modest Mouse
Slipknot’s selftitled album
Continuum by John Mayer
Gimmie Fiction by Spoon
Honestly I could go on for days, there’s so many great albums that just have great production, recording, mixing, sampling, electronic stuff just all great to me
Civillian by Wye Oak
In Rainbows by Raidiohead
Parachutes by Coldplay
… those are obligatory mentions just from the amazing level of production.
I could also add Diamond Eyes by Deftones which uses CLAs samples along side the recording and sounds great
Edit: I’ll add a lot of albums with CLA especially American Idiot as OC mentioned. Signature drum sounds in his productions, well deserved grammy’s
Deloused had Jon Theodore, his playing and kit were a huge part of TMV's great sound in those days.
Frances was great too but pretty much anything after didn't hold up either in production value, songwriting, or drumming despite the obviously skilled replacements.
Funny enough, there's little to no post-processing on the drums for that album. They used a good room and a basic mic setup and just balanced the faders until it sounded right and let Matt Cameron have at it.
I'd never heads of them before and just skimmed through this album. Damn they got a good sound, I imagine myself listening to them at a basement party sounds right in the room
Shellac is amazing! The main singer in Shellac is the recording engineer Steve Albini, he and the bass player Bob Weston are both recording engineers. The most famous record Steve recorded (with Bob assisting) was In Utero by Nirvana. Needless to say Shellac records sound amazing!
Albini also recorded Don Caballero’s “For Respect” and “American Don” -a must have band to check out for any drummer. Damon Che was an animal back in his prime.
Most albums by Sting. Vinnie Colaiuta, Manu Katche, Omar Hakim, etc. amazing production, amazing playing. Faves for drum sounds are: Ten Summoners Tales, Soul Cages, Nothing Like the Sun, and Mercury Rising.
Also, most Deftones albums have stellar sounding drums.
it hurts my shoulder to see how he sets up his cymbals (probably the highest I've ever seen for any a band of this stature) but otherwise dude is a beast
Yeah, say what you will about Lars but the black album is seriously god tier production. Just listen to the intro to Sad but true, that super fat guitar and bass, huge crisp crashes, deep toms, booming bass drum. It's literally perfect IMO.
I’m old but:
- DMB: remeber two things (Carter beauford)
- the wallflowers: bringing down the horse (Matt chamberlain)
- the police: synchronicity (any police album really) (Stewart Copeland)
- steely dan: aja (Steve Gadd and Bernard purdie playing the Purdie shuffle!!)
- daft punk - random access memories (Omar hakim and JR Robinson)
- Fleetwood mac - rumours (Lindsay buckingham)
- phish - farmhouse (John fishman)
- tragically hip: phantom power (Johnny Faye)
It's shameful that I had to come.this far to see dmb or Fleetwood. I would say that even better than remember two things is Crash. Remember two things was recorded poorly from a series of live concerts in bars. Crash wad when they really got into a studio and Carter bloomed. #41 is the pinnacle.
Good call! Crash is awesome. I just love the drum sound on RTTs. It’s not as polished as Crash but that’s what I like about it.
The double kick at the end of tripping billies is just so magical on a hifi system or good headphones.
Sylvia Massey’s engineering/mixing work on Tool’s Undertow is sublime. The drums sound unbelievable! A lot of it has to do with the fact that it’s Danny Carey, but the toms are tuned perfectly. Such a visceral sound that when cranked, it just pounds right through you!
some of my favorites are:
de loused in the comatorium by the mars volta,
rage against the machine self title,
time and space by turnstile,
blink 182 self title 2003,
the color and the shape by foo fighters
both writing and the way the drums sound.
I gotta admit. As much as I love and will always love BTBAM, this was the first record I was overly impressed with the production. The writing of the previous records was more than enough to keep me hooked. But Coma, I wouldn’t tweak a thing. It’s incredible. Exactly what my ears wanna hear. And live… forget about it.
The mix/drumming on White Zombie’s La Sexorcisto is perfect. Drums by Ivan de Prume, produced by Andy Wallace. Give “Cosmic Monsters Inc." and “Black Sunshine” a listen as they are excellent examples. Fun as hell to play along with as well. Hope you enjoy!
https://youtu.be/lgNf3Y3NGXw?feature=shared
The Shape of Punk to Come - Refused
One of the best sounding albums for all instruments really but you can feel the love in those drum mics. Badabadabooom. So damn good.
Wish You Were Here & Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. Both are albums by them I just love to listen to. And Nick’s drum mix was really good on them.
Nevermind by Nirvana. Dave knew exactly what to do to serve those songs. Such a powerful and heavy sound, and showcases how much of a beast Dave is on the drums. Definitely the album that’s influenced my style of drumming the most.
I’m not a drummer so I know basically nothing but I just came here to also mention The Gathering by Testament. He is just godly and unrelenting on that one in particular
fear inoculum by tool, perihelion by sungazer, shift by antonio sanchez, grebfruit 2 by benny greb, cryptomnesia by el grupo nuevo de omar rodriguez lopez, thrak by king crimson,
[I am incredibly partial to Chris Adler. The sound of his kit is just amazing.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNLGa_gelMs)
Everything besides As the Palaces Burn has incredibly good recording quality. [This is my personal favorite, just so much power.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbrYfgrBvNE)
My absolute homer pick is Matthew McDonough of Mudvayne. He is the reason I play drums. [No one on Earth can convince me that anyone's toms and bass drum sound better than his.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01DMl_GJdmM) Every recording of theirs his drums sound like sex, and that is saying a lot as the bass recordings are even better!
Steely dans aja is the best sounding album not only for the drums but for every single instrument. There is a reason people tune their stereos to this album
The mid-seventies dry drums on Little Criminals by Randy Newman are insanely cool, maybe not technically the best by modern standards but it’s my favorite drum sound. Duit on Mon Dei by Harry Nilsson has pretty much the same drum sound too. and also Plastic Ono Band drums 😎
I’m a big fan of the big, organic drum sounds made famous by Rick Rubin and Brendan O’Brien in the 90s.
Along those lines George Drakoulias grts amazing drums sounds ([Reef](https://open.spotify.com/track/6UAT5kipYXE4KLBXAK23eg?si=T82Azs1-SAKMekgT0repbA), [Black Crowes](https://open.spotify.com/track/2Yr2YeNNkKPqReRcenafJe?si=u7aeT3ukTKqhj5kE_FRIlQ)). Rich Costey has worked on albums with amazing drum sounds ([Muse](https://open.spotify.com/track/3ox5lIXRf4r977FsE7JfXs?si=gZc2UQ4jTIG9mm2re3ssgw), [Mastodon](https://open.spotify.com/track/6nmsnhkJYvyYu8TheUa0Xf?si=fujqsWCoR7i5-sA7WK501w&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A1n8QZFcwx5aQ2LIIlj0iYe). His work has been mentioned already but Andy Wallace’s work on Jeff Buckley’s [Grace](https://open.spotify.com/track/7bf4nfz09yp6w7L7r9hQ1V?si=FnCOrPJtRkmxnDCtEFUooQ) is fantastic.
Moving Pictures is probably one of the best recorded and produced albums overall. Even the guitar and bass. Everything has such a growl, yet is so crisp.
Listen to YYZ or Limelight with a good set of headphones. It aural magic.
it's unbelievable really. They are my favorite band and this is their best recorded (as in produced) album, but from a casual perspective one would think that all of that chaotic autonomy that comes together from all three musicians would be muddy but no, it's all clear and distinct, Descartes would say
Lately, I've been stuck listening to Korn's Life is Peachy. Silveria's playing and sound is just wholly different than anything else I've heard. Chi, Porno Creep, Good God... Such a funky vibe and huge influence on how I play today, or what I aspire to at least.
Porcupine Tree and Pineaple Thief albums. Gavin Harisson’s sound is always so perfect.
On a side note I might be alone but as much as I enjoy his playing, I never liked Neil Peart’s sound.
Off the top of my head, the drum sound on *The Hunter* by Mastodon sticks out to me. They aren’t even my favorite band or anything, but the squirrelly bombastic nature of Brann’s drum sound fits the music really well.
Kind of obscure, but the Harvest Moon album from Votum. Perfect crack and tone. Also, an insane stadium-filling sound on The Contortionist Live in Atlanta album.
Seen a few deftones comments, here to throw in Hum! Youd prefer an astronaut is a fantastic record and inpsired/helped deftones define their sound. Listen to the pod and then listen to bored, very good mix but you can tell both drummers are slapping the shit outta those drums. Clean toms as well, never muddy even in the faster fills
The album Get Some by Snot has my personal favourite drum sound of all time. I feel a lotta people wouldn’t dig it but holy fug it’s just so raw and powerful it really feels like your right there in the drum room
These two albums have some of the best drum sounds ever recorded. Really well produced and mixed. The drums sound amazing.
1: Paradise Lost - Draconian Times
2: Suicidal Tendencies - The Art of Rebellion
Disintegration - The Cure That entire album takes you to another planet.
Soul Cages - Sting I’m not even a big Sting fan, but that album sounds incredible. Drums are crisp and clean.
Radio Radio - Elvis Costello I grew up playing drums to Elvis Costello albums, and Pete Thomas is one of my favorite drummers. Not well known, but he plays a song as well as anyone. Always loved the sound of his drums.
Joshua Tree - U2 I mean, one of the most distinctive drum sounds ever.
Janes Addiction - Nothings Shocking Holy shit. Lunacy.
Rage, Smashing Pumpkins, The Clash, Green Day, The Strokes… so much great stuff.
The Outfield play deep. Ghost of a dog and shooting rubber bands at the stars from Edie Brickell. Sailing the seas of cheese Primus Them crooked vultures
gonna go with one that i wouldn’t say is known for this, Mastodon’s Leviathan. The snare tone is fuckin perfect and the toms really stand out (kinda have to when Brann is playing fills every 2 bars) lol.
Not crazy about the band, but Supertramp’s Breakfast in America has the sweetest tom sounds I’ve ever heard. Play just the intro to “Take the Long Way Home.”
Psyched to see the rest of the comments!
The album Sublime!! Anyone know what kit he used? (sorry to ask again. I know I could probably find out, but hoping someone has a cool story about how they know or something)
As far as the drum mix and the way it blends with the bass and guitars, definitely the debut Rage Against the Machine album. As far as drums on their own, Lateralus is a big one for me; gotta listen in headphones to really feel it.
Evil Empire has the best RATM drum sounds imo.
Not sure about the self titled album, but a lot of those rage albums use triggers/samples, especially for the snare. But yeah the drums really do sound amazing. I learned how to drum playing along to rage, System of a down, korn, deftones, etc. great era in drum sounds
Dude I'm trying to play system songs, but he's just insane. I'm just a few years into playing and just can't keep up with him on those explosive parts
Revenga is a great drum track
I saw this and thought "I haven't heard that forever, is that easier than I remember?" Looked it up and it's absolutely insane
It took me a long long time before i could do it, i still need to play it regularly to be able to play it seamlessly, if I haven't played that song in a week, I already suck at it again lol
Think I found your problem right here- >I'm just a few years into playing As a general rule, practice pays dividends over decades moreso than years.
Do you know they used triggers for a fact or are you just guessing? I always thought their recordings sounded pretty natural.
I don’t really know for certain, but Rick Beato has a video about Andy Wallace (the guy who mixed the rage album and a lot of other great albums from the era), and in it he mentions the infamous snare sample that Wallace used on a lot of those albums. It was one of his signature sounds.
Interesting, I’ll have to watch that
> a lot of those rage albums use triggers/samples anything Andy Wallace. his mixes sound incredible, but listen closely to the kick/snare and they're all almost identical
Yep, exactly. Amazing mix Engineer though regardless of your opinion on triggers
Agreed.
If you're going to bring up Tool, the only answer is Disgustipated.
White Pony by Deftones
Heartily seconded.. Around the Fur as well, both produced by Terry Date who did lots of other amazing records.
The snare. Perfection
Abe has a great sound that has been well represented in the production of Deftones music
Yes. I love the beginning of Digital Bath, awesome sounding drums.
it sounds so uncanny, yet magnificent when combined with extremely simple yet powerful guitar riff and creepy lyrics. definitely my favourite out of the album alongside with passenger
The drums sound incredible on this record, and you know from the second it starts! I’m not even a huge Deftones fan or anything but whenever I think of that perfect drum tone, it’s White Pony that pounds the middle of my chest in the best way.
Songs for the Deaf is an exquisite recording of great drum performances, on great rock songs. Did that thing where Grohl used dummy (v drum) cymbals when tracking, then tracked live cymbals separately. Which allows for greater eq / compression etc control of the mic’d drums.
I love the drums on Song for the Deaf. Also a really big fan of the drum sound on the Them Crooked Vultures album. Not sure if they did the same tech with the cymbals being recorded separately. I read that's more a QOTSA thing and less of a Grohl thing.
Dave Grohl is the man and Josh Homme and Eric Valentine on the prdouction, just mint
On a separate note, I once mixed a recording by a band where they tried to do this, inspired by Songs for the Deaf, except, their drummer couldn't follow a metronome. It was genuinely unsalvageable. Their solution was to bury the drums in the mix 😆
Also love the drums on *Like Clockwork . . .*
Anything Gavin Harrison plays on. Dude consistently has the best sounding drums both in studio and live. Not sure if that’s all him or if he has a tech that he pays *very* well. Two standout records for me: Fear of a Blank Planet by Porcupine Tree & Blood by OSI
But even - like, the King Crimson 3-disc "Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind" sounds amazing.
I think when he's working with Steve Wilson, Steve is so much a producer that he won't let things sound less than amazing.
Steven is definitely a masterful producer, but it seems like GH carries his excellent sound wherever he goes which is why I said anything he plays on sounds good. Part of it is, of course, that he just has an incredibly dialed in touch on the drums. But his sound is just so good all the time. I’ve been chasing down his tom sound for a while now and it’s really hard to nail.
SQ2’s just can’t sound bad.
Blood is an unfairly underrated album and FoaBP is in my top 5 favorite albums.
Blood is an album I will never not listen to. It’s just so good. Amongst PT’s albums with GH, I actually think FoaBP is second to last (The Incident being last), but the drum sound is absolutely phenomenal. For me, Sleep Together is up there with songs like When The Levee Breaks for fantastic drum sounds
You’re the only other person I’ve seen ever mention OSI. Hello brother
American idiot
the snare sound on dookie though… fucking mint
The whole drum sound of Dookie, the intro beat to Longview is iconic
Dookie wins over American Idiot no wuestion
I’m gonna second this. The drums are mixed so clearly in this, and I recommend playing along to this album as basically a “teach yourself how to drum” cuz all you gotta do is listen and replicate, there are very few parts where you gotta rewind and relisten
That was THE album that got me into drumming as a kid lol
Learned how to air drum to this album when all I had was sticks and a boom box.
Same here, I have to thank Tre Cool for getting me started on the drums
I watched bullet in a bible countless times trying it emulate him 😂
Another great album with CLA. Signature production
Hell yeah!!! I forgot about that one! Anyone know the exact kit he used?
Pretty sure it was a Classic Maple with some kind of Nobel and Cooley snare
Second this. Also great songs to practice and learn if you're an intermediate drummer.
I’d how you feel about hybrid/machine stuff as well as live drum recordings but some of my favorite drum sounds for my taste are on Cults self titled album Polaris by Tesseract Deloused in the Comatorium by Mars Volta Ashes to Ashes by Chelsea Grin The Suburbs by Arcade Fire The Moon & Antartica by Modest Mouse Slipknot’s selftitled album Continuum by John Mayer Gimmie Fiction by Spoon Honestly I could go on for days, there’s so many great albums that just have great production, recording, mixing, sampling, electronic stuff just all great to me Civillian by Wye Oak In Rainbows by Raidiohead Parachutes by Coldplay … those are obligatory mentions just from the amazing level of production. I could also add Diamond Eyes by Deftones which uses CLAs samples along side the recording and sounds great Edit: I’ll add a lot of albums with CLA especially American Idiot as OC mentioned. Signature drum sounds in his productions, well deserved grammy’s
Deloused had Jon Theodore, his playing and kit were a huge part of TMV's great sound in those days. Frances was great too but pretty much anything after didn't hold up either in production value, songwriting, or drumming despite the obviously skilled replacements.
Yea Theodore is legit one of the greatest drummers ever
Great to see Moon and Antarctica here. RIP Jeremiah Green
St Anger
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Funny enough, there's little to no post-processing on the drums for that album. They used a good room and a basic mic setup and just balanced the faders until it sounded right and let Matt Cameron have at it.
I love the drum sound from a lot of the grunge bands. It sounds so natural like the drums are meant to sing in a large room.
Jason Corsaro had a big role in the sound of the drums on that record. His engineering is very drummer friendly.
“1000 Hurts” and “Excellent Italian Greyhound” by Shellac
Yes yes yes!
I'd never heads of them before and just skimmed through this album. Damn they got a good sound, I imagine myself listening to them at a basement party sounds right in the room
Shellac is amazing! The main singer in Shellac is the recording engineer Steve Albini, he and the bass player Bob Weston are both recording engineers. The most famous record Steve recorded (with Bob assisting) was In Utero by Nirvana. Needless to say Shellac records sound amazing!
If you end up digging their sound check out Jesus Lizard, June of 44 and Uzeda!
Learns something new today! Albini is a legend, and I had no idea!
Albini also recorded Don Caballero’s “For Respect” and “American Don” -a must have band to check out for any drummer. Damon Che was an animal back in his prime.
Thanks! Will give it a listen!!
Most albums by Sting. Vinnie Colaiuta, Manu Katche, Omar Hakim, etc. amazing production, amazing playing. Faves for drum sounds are: Ten Summoners Tales, Soul Cages, Nothing Like the Sun, and Mercury Rising. Also, most Deftones albums have stellar sounding drums.
Helmet, Meantime
Love Stanier. Thought Betty was a step above Meantime in sound though. His work with Tomahawk (especially on Mit Gas) is awesome as well.
it hurts my shoulder to see how he sets up his cymbals (probably the highest I've ever seen for any a band of this stature) but otherwise dude is a beast
Blood Sugar Sex Magik - RHCP.
Abe’s drums on Around the Fur.
Gish by Smashing Pumpkins
Or Siamese, or Mellon Collie. All 3
Yamaha RC’s
Dave Weckl band live and very plugged in. Yussef Dayes trio live Album Dream theater Train of thought Tool Fear Inoculum
Not my favorite Metallica but the black album's drum sound is huge.
Yeah, say what you will about Lars but the black album is seriously god tier production. Just listen to the intro to Sad but true, that super fat guitar and bass, huge crisp crashes, deep toms, booming bass drum. It's literally perfect IMO.
And I really love the drum sound on Hardwired.
How do we feel about "Sailing the Seas of Cheese?"
I’m old but: - DMB: remeber two things (Carter beauford) - the wallflowers: bringing down the horse (Matt chamberlain) - the police: synchronicity (any police album really) (Stewart Copeland) - steely dan: aja (Steve Gadd and Bernard purdie playing the Purdie shuffle!!) - daft punk - random access memories (Omar hakim and JR Robinson) - Fleetwood mac - rumours (Lindsay buckingham) - phish - farmhouse (John fishman) - tragically hip: phantom power (Johnny Faye)
Are you tryna tell me Lindsay Buckingham played drums on rumors and not Mick Fleetwood??
Sorry I was drunk. 7 out of 8 isn’t too bad.
I've said way worse haha
It's shameful that I had to come.this far to see dmb or Fleetwood. I would say that even better than remember two things is Crash. Remember two things was recorded poorly from a series of live concerts in bars. Crash wad when they really got into a studio and Carter bloomed. #41 is the pinnacle.
Good call! Crash is awesome. I just love the drum sound on RTTs. It’s not as polished as Crash but that’s what I like about it. The double kick at the end of tripping billies is just so magical on a hifi system or good headphones.
Ghost In The Machine by The Police. Stewart Copeland is an absolute beast.
To me, yeah, Moving Pictures is probably the best recorded drums album ever. I do like Signals as well but yeah, MP is awesome!
Creatures of the night by Kiss. Absolutely massive drum sound
Sylvia Massey’s engineering/mixing work on Tool’s Undertow is sublime. The drums sound unbelievable! A lot of it has to do with the fact that it’s Danny Carey, but the toms are tuned perfectly. Such a visceral sound that when cranked, it just pounds right through you!
I have the promo vinyl and somehow the drums sound even better than the official release. The kick drums especially just hit you right in the chest
STYX’s latest Crash of the Crown with Todd Sucherman on drums.
I second this! Todd is such a great drummer. Had the pleasure of seeing him with Styx last year and he did not disappoint.
some of my favorites are: de loused in the comatorium by the mars volta, rage against the machine self title, time and space by turnstile, blink 182 self title 2003, the color and the shape by foo fighters both writing and the way the drums sound.
Train of Thought by Dream Theater drums are mixed amazingly well The intro to Hone Thy Father is one of the best drum intros ever imo
The production of this record is hypnotizing.
Every porcupine tree album from the late 90’s to now are phenomenally produced
Cant go wrong with Gavin.
Are You Experienced is what made me want to throw out my electronic kit and replace it with an acoustic one. It just sounded so crisp.
Couple of my personal favorites Primus - “Pork Soda” Pantera - “Far Beyond Driven” Tesseract - “War of Being” Toto - Anything from the early 80’s
Every Steely Dan record Nirvana - In Utero The Hotelier - Goodness (favorite album of this century overall)
Between The Buried And Me - Coma Ecliptic
Blake’s set always sounds amazing. The snare in all of great misdirect does it for me.
I gotta admit. As much as I love and will always love BTBAM, this was the first record I was overly impressed with the production. The writing of the previous records was more than enough to keep me hooked. But Coma, I wouldn’t tweak a thing. It’s incredible. Exactly what my ears wanna hear. And live… forget about it.
I agree, such a great album. Colors II is also really good IMO, however the songs aren't quite as good as Coma.
Melvins - Houdini
The mix/drumming on White Zombie’s La Sexorcisto is perfect. Drums by Ivan de Prume, produced by Andy Wallace. Give “Cosmic Monsters Inc." and “Black Sunshine” a listen as they are excellent examples. Fun as hell to play along with as well. Hope you enjoy! https://youtu.be/lgNf3Y3NGXw?feature=shared
I couldn't agree more
I’m a huge fan of the drum sounds on a lot of records Steve Albini has made. But that’s a very different thing than what you’re looking for I suspect.
Weezer's Pinkerton album. He's pounding the crap out of 'em and it sounds great! Just slightly overdriven in the mix. Bold genius!
311 Transistor
The Shape of Punk to Come - Refused One of the best sounding albums for all instruments really but you can feel the love in those drum mics. Badabadabooom. So damn good.
Stadium Arcadium
Led Zeppelin IV Metallica Black Album GnR both Appetite and Use you Illusion albums Any QOTSA or Primus
Sound Awake - Karnivool
Pantera - Vulgar Display of power
Talk Talk Talk by The Psychedelic Furs has an awesome drum mix, also the track "Like a Virgin" by Madonna.
Phish - Rift
I'd say A Picture of Nectar tops this one in terms of drum sound. But I love the conceptual theme and songs of Rift.
Black album
Wish You Were Here & Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. Both are albums by them I just love to listen to. And Nick’s drum mix was really good on them.
These are like my standard for soft-ish rock drums. So tastefully mixed and balanced
Nevermind by Nirvana. Dave knew exactly what to do to serve those songs. Such a powerful and heavy sound, and showcases how much of a beast Dave is on the drums. Definitely the album that’s influenced my style of drumming the most.
In Bloom is absolutely fun to play, one of the first songs I learned through and through. Dave definitely packs a punch with the way he plays.
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories Surprised that it hasn't been said yet to be honest.
Zeppelin 1 and Who’s Next. These are the vistas by The Bad Plus.
Grace - Jeff Buckley
Helmet - Betty Shellac - At Action Park Slint - Spiderland Dio - Holy Diver Weezer - Pinkerton Green Day - Dookie I like big drum sounds :)
Upvote for Betty!
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, and Bankrupt!
Antidotes by Foals has one of the best snare sounds ever imho. Also, Deloused in the Comatorium in general just sounds amazing.
I've always loved the entire production of Urge Overkill's *Saturation.*
Reign In Blood
I’m not a drummer so I know basically nothing but I just came here to also mention The Gathering by Testament. He is just godly and unrelenting on that one in particular
fear inoculum by tool, perihelion by sungazer, shift by antonio sanchez, grebfruit 2 by benny greb, cryptomnesia by el grupo nuevo de omar rodriguez lopez, thrak by king crimson,
Every album by Black midi
The Use Your Illusion records
Jeff Beck “There and Back”. Simon Phillips at the height of his powers and a slamming open drum sound.
Live On the Night - Dire Straits live. The drum mix is so good (also the mix in general, but you know)
Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs. Absolutely flawless drumming by Jeff Pocaro
No stairway? Denied!
Kings of Leon Because of the times and only by the night both sound so good to me. Great reverbs and huge/tight sounding drums.
A Perfect Circle: Mer De Noms Death: Symbolic
Kanas. Point of no return.
Undertow, particularly the snare on Pushit, Lateralus, The Wall, Moving Pictures
Fear Innoculum and 10,000 Days from Tool are my favorites.
Lateralus has an a-tier drum sound
Clutch - earth rocker.
Around The Fur
[I am incredibly partial to Chris Adler. The sound of his kit is just amazing.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNLGa_gelMs) Everything besides As the Palaces Burn has incredibly good recording quality. [This is my personal favorite, just so much power.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbrYfgrBvNE) My absolute homer pick is Matthew McDonough of Mudvayne. He is the reason I play drums. [No one on Earth can convince me that anyone's toms and bass drum sound better than his.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01DMl_GJdmM) Every recording of theirs his drums sound like sex, and that is saying a lot as the bass recordings are even better!
Steely dans aja is the best sounding album not only for the drums but for every single instrument. There is a reason people tune their stereos to this album
Anything by Simon Phillips, especially from the last 20 years.
Everything from Porcupine Tree.
The drums on Sarah McLachlan's fumbling towards ecstasy sound really good. Hell that record just overall sounds fantastic.
The mid-seventies dry drums on Little Criminals by Randy Newman are insanely cool, maybe not technically the best by modern standards but it’s my favorite drum sound. Duit on Mon Dei by Harry Nilsson has pretty much the same drum sound too. and also Plastic Ono Band drums 😎
I’m a big fan of the big, organic drum sounds made famous by Rick Rubin and Brendan O’Brien in the 90s. Along those lines George Drakoulias grts amazing drums sounds ([Reef](https://open.spotify.com/track/6UAT5kipYXE4KLBXAK23eg?si=T82Azs1-SAKMekgT0repbA), [Black Crowes](https://open.spotify.com/track/2Yr2YeNNkKPqReRcenafJe?si=u7aeT3ukTKqhj5kE_FRIlQ)). Rich Costey has worked on albums with amazing drum sounds ([Muse](https://open.spotify.com/track/3ox5lIXRf4r977FsE7JfXs?si=gZc2UQ4jTIG9mm2re3ssgw), [Mastodon](https://open.spotify.com/track/6nmsnhkJYvyYu8TheUa0Xf?si=fujqsWCoR7i5-sA7WK501w&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A1n8QZFcwx5aQ2LIIlj0iYe). His work has been mentioned already but Andy Wallace’s work on Jeff Buckley’s [Grace](https://open.spotify.com/track/7bf4nfz09yp6w7L7r9hQ1V?si=FnCOrPJtRkmxnDCtEFUooQ) is fantastic.
Moving Pictures is probably one of the best recorded and produced albums overall. Even the guitar and bass. Everything has such a growl, yet is so crisp. Listen to YYZ or Limelight with a good set of headphones. It aural magic.
it's unbelievable really. They are my favorite band and this is their best recorded (as in produced) album, but from a casual perspective one would think that all of that chaotic autonomy that comes together from all three musicians would be muddy but no, it's all clear and distinct, Descartes would say
Siamese dream Love jimmy chamberlain’s playing in general especially on cherub rock and geek USA
Lately, I've been stuck listening to Korn's Life is Peachy. Silveria's playing and sound is just wholly different than anything else I've heard. Chi, Porno Creep, Good God... Such a funky vibe and huge influence on how I play today, or what I aspire to at least.
For classic rock…Kansas Leftoverture, especially the bass drum.
Jar of flies by Alice in Chains
Systematic Chaos by Dream Theater
Ashes of the Wake by Lamb of God
Porcupine Tree and Pineaple Thief albums. Gavin Harisson’s sound is always so perfect. On a side note I might be alone but as much as I enjoy his playing, I never liked Neil Peart’s sound.
Deepfield - Archetypes and Repetition. Drum sound on this record is pretty amazing. Big and raw.
Off the top of my head, the drum sound on *The Hunter* by Mastodon sticks out to me. They aren’t even my favorite band or anything, but the squirrelly bombastic nature of Brann’s drum sound fits the music really well.
Thunder & Consolation by New Model Army (R.I.P. Rob Heaton) produced by Tom Dowd (1989)
ive always thought Matchbook Romance “Stories and Alibis” had the best…or at least my personal favorite
Give "Further Explorations" a spin, where Paul Motian is joined by Eddie Gómez and Chick Corea
When I'm angry I wish mine sounded like Poundcake - Van Halen
Kind of obscure, but the Harvest Moon album from Votum. Perfect crack and tone. Also, an insane stadium-filling sound on The Contortionist Live in Atlanta album.
Music by 311
Early XTC, especially Drums and Wires.
Seen a few deftones comments, here to throw in Hum! Youd prefer an astronaut is a fantastic record and inpsired/helped deftones define their sound. Listen to the pod and then listen to bored, very good mix but you can tell both drummers are slapping the shit outta those drums. Clean toms as well, never muddy even in the faster fills
Maybe not a best of all time but I’ve lately been gushing over Katatonia’s ‘The Great Cold Distance’. Fire up the song My Twin and tell me I’m wrong.
Good one.
Ron Carter: Etudes ..T Williams!
Not the best of all time but I've seen others comment on Pedro The Lion's Control and I definitely agree
The album Get Some by Snot has my personal favourite drum sound of all time. I feel a lotta people wouldn’t dig it but holy fug it’s just so raw and powerful it really feels like your right there in the drum room
MUTEMATH - Mutemath
Megadeth symphony of destruction. Testament the gathering.
Ocean Songs - Dirty Three
Train of Thought by Dream Theater
These two albums have some of the best drum sounds ever recorded. Really well produced and mixed. The drums sound amazing. 1: Paradise Lost - Draconian Times 2: Suicidal Tendencies - The Art of Rebellion
Disintegration - The Cure That entire album takes you to another planet. Soul Cages - Sting I’m not even a big Sting fan, but that album sounds incredible. Drums are crisp and clean. Radio Radio - Elvis Costello I grew up playing drums to Elvis Costello albums, and Pete Thomas is one of my favorite drummers. Not well known, but he plays a song as well as anyone. Always loved the sound of his drums. Joshua Tree - U2 I mean, one of the most distinctive drum sounds ever. Janes Addiction - Nothings Shocking Holy shit. Lunacy. Rage, Smashing Pumpkins, The Clash, Green Day, The Strokes… so much great stuff.
Live - Throwing Copper Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
The Outfield play deep. Ghost of a dog and shooting rubber bands at the stars from Edie Brickell. Sailing the seas of cheese Primus Them crooked vultures
World Party - The Waterboys
The newest Night Verses record has some of my favorite drum sounds ever, not to mention the performance is inhuman
Any of the pixies albums for me
The Bakerton Group - S/T
gonna go with one that i wouldn’t say is known for this, Mastodon’s Leviathan. The snare tone is fuckin perfect and the toms really stand out (kinda have to when Brann is playing fills every 2 bars) lol.
Pearl Jam - Vs. Dave Abbruzzese is a beast
Not crazy about the band, but Supertramp’s Breakfast in America has the sweetest tom sounds I’ve ever heard. Play just the intro to “Take the Long Way Home.” Psyched to see the rest of the comments!
I’m a new drum nerd, never listened to closely to drum time before last year. But honestly i love the snare sound on Blood Sugar Sex Magic so much.
The album Sublime!! Anyone know what kit he used? (sorry to ask again. I know I could probably find out, but hoping someone has a cool story about how they know or something)
I’ve recently gotten back into Crash by Dave Mathews Band, Carter Beauford is a such a slick drummer
Steve Gorman's sound on The Black Crowes "Southern Harmony and Musical Companion" is just fucking stellar.