Charlie Benante of Anthrax and Pantera Names 10 Songs Every Drummer Should Hear
The post Charlie Benante of Anthrax and Pantera Names 10 Songs Every Drummer Should Hear appeared first on Consequence.
Consequence’s Drum Week continues with an exclusive “Crate Digging” list of 10 songs that Anthrax/Pantera legend Charlie Benante thinks every drummer should hear. Check out our list of the 100 Best Drummers of All Time and enter our Drum Week Giveaway, then stay tuned for additional lists, artist-driven content, and more as we celebrate the visceral instruments that give us all the beat.
As a longtime member of thrash legends Anthrax, Charlie Benante has established himself as one of the greatest metal drummers on the planet. In recent years, he’s also playing in the revamped lineup of groove-metal masters Pantera, manning the kit with incredible skill and reverence, as he honors that band’s late drummer, Vinnie Paul.
As part of Consequence‘s “Drum Week,” Benante — who made our just-published list of the 100 Best Drummers of All Time — was gracious enough to offer an exclusive “Crate Digging” list of 10 Songs Every Drummer Should Hear. What he presented was a fascinating playlist, ranging from the extreme metal of Dimmu Borgir to the jam-band stylings of Dave Matthews Band.
With Anthrax being one of the “Big 4” thrash bands alongside Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth, we wanted to know Benante’s “Big 4” drummers as we sat down with him to go over his list of songs.
“Some of them are on this list of songs,” Benante told us. “Of course, you got Neil Peart, you got John Bonham. I have to give it up to Ringo Starr because if it wasn’t for Ringo, I don’t know if we’d all be doing this right now. He and the Beatles made kids go out and get instruments and play in their garage and form bands.”
He continued, “So Ringo has to be up there, and then the last one I’d have to say would be Alex Van Halen. Always loved Alex, and I’m surprised I didn’t put an Alex song in my top 10. If I went to 11, I would probably have an Alex song.”
Benante has UK/European tours coming up with both Anthrax and Pantera this fall and winter, first with Anthrax in November and December, and then with Pantera in January and February. (Pick up Anthrax tickets here, and Pantera tickets here.)
Get Charlie Benante Drums and Gear via Reverb
Anthrax will also be playing Louisville’s Louder Than Life festival later this month, while both bands will rock Sacramento’s Aftershock fest in October.
Get inside the musical mind of Charlie Benante by checking out his picks for 10 Songs Every Drummer Should Hear below.
“Natural Science” by RUSH (Neil Peart)
It’s really hard for me to pick one song from Neil Peart because his influence on me comes from different records. The thing I always loved about Neil besides his playing was the way each record would come out and he would top himself from the last record. I think he did this purposely because he was an innovator and he was growing as a drummer. So, when it came time that they did Permanent Waves, that to me was a watershed moment in the RUSH discography.
The length of the songs got way longer, more in depth, and I think they took you on a journey. Whereas “2112” is definitely a long song and it definitely takes you on a journey, but now you had songs like “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Free Will” and, of course, “Natural Science.” And I picked “Natural Science” because there’s so many sections of this song that I remember when I was younger, putting the needle [on the record player] back, and telling myself, “What is he doing there? I can’t figure that out. What’s the timing?”
And it became like homework. I would come home from school and I would play my drums and play it note for note, the way Neil did. And he completely helped me as a drummer, especially my sticking. It was just one of those things where I was just listening and learning from him. And that song in particular has some great drum parts in it. There’s this one fill that he does, and the section just comes to an abrupt stop. He left a bit of space after the fill. I was hearing things that I had never heard before, and it was educating me, too.
“100,000 Years” (Live) by KISS (Peter Criss)
So, KISS’ Alive! for me was a turning point, as well. When I heard this record in my friend’s house, I didn’t care what was going on around me. I just went and sat closer to the speakers and I just looked at the album cover and the inside, and I was completely just transformed into a huge KISS fan. And I put myself in that situation of watching and experiencing them.
Peter Criss on that record is so good and so raw. And you can definitely hear his jazz and swing upbringing in those songs. And there’s this song called a “100,000 Years,” which was on their first album. But when they do it live, it becomes a whole other monster. And they put a drum solo in the song — the sound of the drums on this record, I have to give Eddie Kramer props for the way it was recorded. He put a flanger on the mix of the drums, and it adds a whole other element to the drum solo. It was popular in the ’70s that they would flange things out. It just added a whole other dimension and sound to the song and to the performance.
So, Peter’s drum solo on this one, I learned this note for note. It was totally inspiring to me. I’ll never forget telling my mom. “I need more toms. I need a whole shitload of Toms now.” And my birthday and Christmas was coming around, so I got more toms. KISS is the band that cost me more money in my life than any other band.
“Let Us Prey/Call for the Priest” by Judas Priest (Simon Phillips)
Simon Phillips told me the story that he was in a bar in England wearing a leather motorcycle jacket. I think he was 18 at the time, trying to get work as a session drummer, being in a band, whatever. And some of the guys in Judas Priest were there, saw him, talked to him, found out he was a drummer.
He became the drummer on the album Sin After Sin. Now, his drumming with Judas Priest, to me, is some of the best. It’s such a great marriage of innovative drumming, and a band that was on the verge of breaking big with that type of sound. So there’s elements of this record that Simon shines on so much, but “Let Us Prey/Call for the Priest” in particular got me moving because it had some fast double kicks. I had never played double kick before.
It was because of this record, and a Motörhead record, that I got another kick drum and learned how to play double kick drums. Simon in particular on this song actually helped to teach me how to play double kick, and I owe him a lot of credit for that.
“Misty Mountain Hop” by Led Zeppelin (John Bonham)
The thing about John Bonum is that he was really quick with the triplets. One of the things that always amazes me about Led Zeppelin is they put a drum solo on their second album. Who does that? Maybe it was popular at the time? Maybe Cream did it somewhere? I don’t remember.
I remember my neighbors next door to us when I was younger, they were four brothers and they would always bring their sound system outside to the backyard and just play records. I would just always jump over the fence and hang with them and listen to what they were listening to. Zeppelin II was being played. And I just remember it was like one of those KISS moments again, where I just went over to the speakers and just absorbed the whole thing.
So, let’s jump forward to Zeppelin IV, which is the four symbols record. This record to me is a perfect album. It’s just flawless and Bonham’s playing on this is legendary. I mean, “Stairway to Heaven,” the way he is introduced into the song. Oh my God … you wait for that part. And then when he comes in, it’s just so awesome. It’s so simple, but it’s so awesome.
So, that song did it for me, as well, but the one song that we’re talking about here is “Misty Mountain Hop.” His playing is so ferocious on this song, the way he comes in, and it’s just so him. He adds a whole ‘nother level to the band and to that song. And there’s some other great moments in the song, but just his intro is so great.That’s why he’s one of the greatest because he thought so well.
“Amazing Journey”/”Sparks” (Live) by The Who (Keith Moon)
It amazes me that Keith is not mentioned more nowadays. Going back to Neil Peart, one of his favorite drummers was Keith Moon. And I think people sleep on Keith a lot because I think his antics kind of outshined his drumming to some people. But if you listen to Live at Leeds and you listen to what Keith’s playing, it’s so modern.
His kick patterns and his toms, the way he tuned his toms and his triplets are so clean. And this particular song that I picked, the “Amazing Journey”/”Sparks medley, he does some great fills in this song. And some of them are just from out of nowhere. I don’t know if he planned it or it was just spontaneous.
I would definitely tell drummers to go back and just listen to Live at Leeds. Listen to the whole thing in its entirety. You will pick up things that Keith Moon was doing back then that people are still doing nowadays.
“Back in Black” by AC/DC (Phil Rudd)
Phil is one of the greats. He’s not a flashy drummer. The thing about Phil is that he has the most restraint out any drummer that I’ve ever known, maybe more than Charlie Watts.
You have a song like “Back in Black,” where most drummers would probably be taking fills all over the place. He’s not doing that. He’s just laying it down, playing it. And I often tell drummers who are coming up, “Put that record on with a pair of headphones, and just play along to it. Do not fill, just play along to it. It will help your time. It will just make you a better drummer, and you just catch that groove and just go with it.”
I used to play that song all the time with headphones on just to kind of feel it. And there’s the space — always leave some space, because that space is so important to the groove. I learned that, too, now that I’m playing with Pantera: the groove is so important to these songs. Make sure you leave space because that’s how it all ties in together. You don’t have to fill over every measure.
“Behind the Lines” by Genesis (Phil Collins)
Phil Collins often gets overlooked because of his success as a singer and his solo career. But Phil Collins back in the day — I challenge any drummer to play some of the stuff that he did because Phil is no joke. Phil is the real deal. And this one song I picked, “Behind the Lines,” is one of my favorite performances by Phil, especially his work with the ride and his timing in this song.
If a Genesis song comes on the radio, Phil’s signature sound is always in there. Those concert toms and just the way that they’re EQ’d and mixed, that’s very important to the sound of his drums. But this song in particular is one of my favorite Phil Collins drum tracks. He kills it on this song.
“Another Life” by Iron Maiden (Clive Burr)
This song pretty much is pre-thrash metal. Clive, in this song, “Another Life,” is playing a groove at such a high speed for back then, plus his his hi-hat work is impressive. He’s not just playing one hand. He’s playing two hands on the hi-hat, so fast. And his footwork in this song is so awesome. And just the way the song starts out with Clive, with toms, it just sets the song up because they’re going to come in fast and furious. One of my favorite songs, and one of my favorite drummers — a big influence.
I have a great story about Clive Burr. I went to see Iron Maiden when I was growing up in New York. They played the Palladium, and it was like the second time I had seen them. Clive came out, they all came pulling up in cabs, and Clive came out and just talked. And it was me and my friend John Tempesta. At the time, we were back there and I asked Clive for a pair of sticks because I just worshipped him at that time.
He went in to do soundcheck and he came back out with a pair of sticks, and I’ll never forget it. To this day, when some kid asks me for a pair of sticks, I always think about that time, and I always give him a pair of sticks. It’s just one of those things you do. Now, they get a little forward. Just the other night at the show in Chicago, there were signs in the crowd, “Charlie, can I have a stick?” And it’s like, “I can’t give all of you.” Some people will get the stick, but you see the one kid down there, “Please, can I have a stick?” And you just go and give him the stick, and it makes his day.
“Blessings Upon the Throne of Tyranny” by Dimmu Borgir (Nick Barker)
In the early 2000s, when this record came out, it was one of those moments where my head spun. Back in the ’80s, there was a band that Scott Ian and I did with two other guys, and it was called Storm Troopers of Death. And we had a song called “Milk.” And it was like the first time that a blast beat had really appeared on a record. And I remember at that time people were asking me, “What are you doing there? What are you doing there?” And I would try and demonstrate and show them. So that whole thing kind of took off.
Later on, the black metal bands started to pick up on the blast beat. I was doing like a one foot blast basically back then, but then they were doing it more independently with two feet. So, Nick Barker, in particular had just mastered it so well. And when I heard Dimmu Borger’s Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia album, and I heard that song “Blessings Upon the Throne of Tyranny,” it was one of those moments where I had to go up to the speakers and just ask myself, “What is going on here?”
To me, that’s a black metal record that I think the masses kind of can take in because it was produced very well. The playing was f**king killer and the songs were great. But, out of everything, Nick Barker shines on that record. His drumming, his tasty fills, just blew me away.
“Drive In, Drive Out” by Dave Matthews Band (Carter Beauford)
This is one of my favorite songs from Dave Matthews Band. Carter is another drummer that has a signature sound. He always has this nice bouncy snare drum, and it just works with the music that they are doing. This song in particular was one where I had to figure out what he was doing and how he was doing it. There are sections of this song that the timing of it was strange at first when I heard it. Then I figured out how he was doing it, what time signature he was doing it in.
Something just clicks and it’s like, “Ah, there it is.” But his playing on “Drive In, Drive Out” — I don’t care if you don’t like Dave Matthews or whatever, you cannot deny that the players that are playing on this song are some of the best, especially Carter, he goes off on this song.
I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen Dave Matthews play, and when they do this song it’s such a treat. And I’m like a kid eating popcorn, just watching, just enjoying it, ’cause I don’t know how different it’s going to be on that particular night. Carter may funk it up a little bit. Dude, it’s just the greatest.
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Charlie Benante of Anthrax and Pantera Names 10 Songs Every Drummer Should Hear
Spencer Kaufman
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