The album Carmine Appice called the “blueprint for the future” of music
Carmine Appice is often regarded as one of the unsung legends of rock music, and while those in the know are able to recognise his worth in the canon, his name doesn’t get brought up anywhere near the amount it ought to – except by those he directly influenced.
Appice is regularly cited as the first hard rock drummer, even predating the likes of John Bonham, who is often erroneously credited with having popularised the style. Throwing in triplets and complex polyrhythms into his drum patterns, there are many techniques that were later adopted by the likes of Bonham, and even the Led Zeppelin drummer was willing to admit that Appice was a significant influence on his style. Still, the lack of credit he receives for having been instrumental in starting this trend continues.
His main band, Vanilla Fudge, were also hugely influential to the likes of Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, and while technically a psychedelic rock group, their intensity was akin to the hard rock styles that the later bands would adopt. Bridging the gap between psychedelic rock and a harder incarnation, they were pioneers and creators of a genre, and while Appice would later go on to be recognised as a member of the Beck, Bogart and Appice trio with Jeff Beck and Tim Bogert, it was with Vanilla Fudge where his work was at its most revolutionary.
However, when there was no such thing as hard rock before them, how on earth were they inspired to turn up the dials on their records and transform the psychedelic sounds into something more imposing and raucous? They would have been influenced by plenty of the music of the early 1960s, but would only have taken elements away and mutated them into this fresh new interpretation.
Appice would admit in an interview for Goldmine Magazine that there was one record that he considered to be a major touchstone for the sound that Vanilla Fudge wanted to emulate, and while it’s undoubtedly a classic album, it’s unusual to think that it could have laid out so many of the foundations for their sound due to how far removed it is from their hard rock ethos.
Speaking about The Beatles’ Revolver, he told the magazine that “this album was the basis for Vanilla Fudge when our first album was being created,” but then would go on to praise it even further than simply being an influence for his own band. “Revolver was a blueprint for the future,” Appice admitted. “This had it all: The songs, the studio tricks, and the playing were amazing.”
So many acts in the immediate years after Revolver’s release in 1966 would concede that it was a game-changing album that revolutionised recording and songwriting techniques, and essentially prompted all other bands to up their game significantly. In modern times, the influence hasn’t waned, and Appice’s attestation that it was the blueprint for all future rock music remains pertinently true. There hadn’t been another record like it at the time, and while The Beatles and others may have attempted to dethrone it, there’s still nothing quite like Revolver.
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