The album Taylor Hawkins thought had the finest drumming
Taylor Hawkins had his work cut out for him the minute he decided to join the Foo Fighters. While he may have been able to work with one of the biggest rock bands in the world, the idea of collaborating with a drummer of Dave Grohl’s calibre breathing down one’s neck would be nerve-wracking for any would-be drummer. Although Hawkins was more than up to the challenge, he had years of practice playing along to one of the kings of rock percussion.
Before working with Foo Fighters, Hawkins had turned in time working alongside alternative rock extraordinaire Alanis Morissette. While his performances across albums like Jagged Little Pill weren’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, it’s easy to hear his need to break free from the softer drumming style.
When recording The Colour and the Shape, Grohl had become dissatisfied with drummer William Goldsmith’s performances, redoing the entire album behind his back. In the wake of Goldsmith leaving, Hawkins was among the first to speak up as a potential replacement.
Hawkins and Grohl clicked immediately, both having a love of powerhouse drummers like John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and Stewart Copeland of The Police. Amid their shared influences, though, Rush loomed large over Hawkins’ career.
When first getting into music, Hawkins thought that the Canadian power trio were the perfect package, telling Classic Albums, “If you liked for their complexity, but you liked Black Sabbath for their power, then Rush was the perfect band for you”. While the band made their heaviest material in the 1970s after their monumental 2112, Hawkins saw Exit…Stage Left as their most outstanding achievement.
Recorded during their 1981 tour, Rush’s second album is the lion’s share of their greatest hits brought to the stage, from pop-focused tracks like ‘Limelight’ to their concert staples like ‘The Spirit of Radio’ and ‘Closer to the Heart’. While Neil Peart had already been heralded as a drumming legend by the time the album was released, Hawkins thought he was at his peak on this project, saying, “To a casual Rush listener, if you ever want to know what I think is some of the finest drumming, it’s on that record. It’s just unbelievable”.
Hawkins would say that he would teach himself how to play Peart’s different drum solos with pillows on his bed, oddly mirroring Grohl’s habit of doing the same thing when cutting his teeth in Virginia as a kid. Much like Rush, every Foo Fighters song is structured similarly, putting the drums up front, almost operating as a lead instrument just as much as the guitar.
Hawkins eventually got the ultimate honour from Peart when inducting his hero into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, recalling during his speech, “This guy inspired a generation of air drummers for decades to come. His drumming was songwriting. It was just as interesting and melodic as anything else in the band. Bringing the drums…where they fucking should be…to the forefront of every song”.
