Back in September, Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy took part in Consequence's Drum Week Crate Digging feature, where he listed 10 album that influenced him. Following is an excerpt from the rundiown.
The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour (Ringo Starr)
Portnoy: "I have to start with Ringo Starr and the Beatles. And it’s a weird pick, Magical Mystery Tour, because technically it’s not even a real Beatles album. The Beatles are my number one favorite band of all time. They have been since the day I was born. So, I can’t possibly give Ringo enough credit for the influence he’s had on me. He’s the guy who did it all first. Really, you never knew who the drummer in any bands were until the Beatles and Ringo. And suddenly now you had a drummer that was an equal fourth personality in the band and an equal presence with the other guys.
And even though Magical Mystery Tour isn’t like a real album, it’s just a real good sweet spot for me in terms of like their inventiveness and their daringness. 'Strawberry Fields Forever' was such a sonic and inventive production, the way the drums were used, everything from marching snare drums to sped up tapes, slowed down tapes. 'I Am The Walrus' has some amazing drumming on there. Every one of those fills, you can air drum them — the simplicity of songs like 'Penny Lane', where the backbeat is literally just a snare drum.
This is just one of those albums that’s got a little bit of everything and it’s a great spot of creativity for them, coming off of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was the first album that came out after I was born in ’67. So yeah, I’m gonna have to go with Ringo, The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour, to kick it off."
Rush – Exit... Stage Left (Neil Peart)
Portnoy: "The biggest impact of all for me was Neil Peart. When I discovered Rush’s music, it just changed my world upside down. It taught me everything I know about odd time signatures and how to create progressive music and be a very musical drummer. And Neil was such a musical drummer, the way that he would create his drum patterns and develop from verse to chorus, then the next verse, the next chorus. He just played so musically.
His giant drum kit was a huge influence on me. I had never seen a giant kit that big. And I would just stare at the Modern Drummer issues, just staring at the drum kit. The way other kids were looking at Playboy centerfolds, I was looking at Modern Drummer centerfolds.
Neil, I can’t state highly enough the impact he had on me as a teenager. And the album I chose is Exit Stage Left. Once again, like Keith Moon and like John Bonham, I picked a live album for Neil, as well, only because the track listing on Exit Stage Left really encompasses all of my favorite Rush albums of that period.
You had A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, and Moving Pictures. And those are the albums that are captured here on this live album, Exit Stage Left. So for me, when I got into Rush, this was the album that I learned inside and out because it had all of those great songs, everything from 'Xanadu' to 'Jacob’s Ladder', and two instrumentals on there: 'YYZ' and 'La Villa Strangiato'. So to me, this, for that period, was the ultimate setlist and the ultimate one stop shopping for Neil and Rush."
Check out Portnoy's complete list here.
