Review: Travis Barker – Give the drummer some

Monday, 16 May 2011 14:30 Written by Joe Diedericks

Travis Barker has been a very busy man in the last few years. Drummer for Blink 182, producer of various project bands and session drummer on several songs for artists like Avril Lavigne and Mary J Blige, yet he still manages to collaborate with some of the hottest names in hip-hop and rap, to pin down an album that pushes the levels of modern drumming.

The end result is Give the drummer some, an album that merges hip-hop, rap and flavours of heavy guitars into a twelve-track masterpiece that will see many young and aspiring drummers try and blend it into their own individual styles.

The first official single is Can a drummer get some, Jump Down which features The Cool Kids was released in October 2010 on YouTube.com to give fans a taste of things to come. The Cool Kids are however not as cool as Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Swizz Beatz and Game who ad their respective vocal talents to Can a drummer get some that carries a much harder beat and rhythm.

Barker moves between elements of R'nB on songs like If U Want To (featuring Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco), experiments with Latin styles on Saturday Night (featuring The Transplants and Slash) and surprises with a collaboration with Corey Taylor of Slipknot on On my own, which is available on the sixteen track deluxe version of the album.

Fans of Tom Morello will revel in the familiar guitar sound found on Carry it that faintly reminds me of RATM during their peak.

Aside from playing a mean set of drum fills and creative beat breaks, Travis Barker as a producer is as exiting as they get. We mostly associate him with the sound of Blink 182 which is more punk-rock orientated. Give the drummer is nothing like that even though it contain some heavy beats, it is overall more laid back. Barker manages to find a sweet spot on the snare while moving between various tom and cymbals on every track. Adding some phazer and flange effects to the mix has been done before. In this case it actually doesn’t sound cheap and over produced.

Yay or nay

All rappers sound the same to me but Travis Barker makes them sound brilliant. I would advise parents that this album does contain some “not too radio friendly” lyrics. For people who don’t mind, it contains some lyrics that are too fast for the human ear to actually hear.

But hey, it sounds fantastic.

Make sure your sound systems is geared for THUMBING bass and your mid-level speakers can handle some super sounding snare drums. I liked this album and think it is one of the most creatively produced albums to be released in 2011 so far.

It isn’t going to break any record sales sadly, yet I think that it will find a home for months to come on my playlist. Yes, I have some gangsta rap tracks on my playlist. I keep them for those days I feel like robbing a bottle store. Now I can pump some Travis Barker out loud when I sit outside in the parking lot contemplating whether to hit it in the morning or afternoon.

If you like Hip-Hop, R'nB and urban rap mixed with some distorted guitars and crafty loops, buy this album. For the Blink 182 fans, wait for the new album ear-marked for release June 2011.

Buy the album now for R80 from the Nokia Music Store.

Comments (0) Add Comment