Travis Barker
Give The Drummer Some

THE REVIEW

ZARRO

And the review ends here.

Or maybe not.

Travis has several passions, one of which is to always showcase his "tamarritudo" (flashy style), no matter the occasion, whether with the Blink 182, +44, or in instances like this. Another is truly playing his instrument well, and he has always demonstrated that. His explosive breaks and precision, his energy and power, have influenced many drummers I've seen live, and I assure you, they weren't playing pop-punk. Our hero's third passion is mixing musical genres he loves to listen to, and he did just that with his first solo. He presents us with a remarkable mixtape of genres, all brought to the maximum level of the aforementioned tamarritudo. To do it best, he decides to call upon a significant array of tamarri, virtuosos of the flashy style, to assist him. The journey is winding through his favorite genres. By the second track, we encounter notable names, Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco in If You Want To, who along with TB create a Latin-rap that you certainly won't find so splendid in Mr. N.E.R.D.'s albums. The drumming is always on point, never overwhelming, it’s not a solo virtuoso genre album, but you realize he knows his stuff, you know he's good. It sounds like programming, yet it's all his own creation. This is well evident in Devil's Got A Hold Of Me with Slaughterhouse, as gangsta as few, featuring great breaks, and the opening riff is remarkable; throughout the piece, you find more refined segments, martial marches galore.

There’s room for two masters of their respective genres in Carry It, and I’m obviously talking about Tom Morello and RZA, a truly powerful piece featuring a stellar solo from the good RATM, one of the most beautiful moments in the collection. We have, however, two Gangsta gems with Let's Go, which gives us a Busta Rhymes in great shape, and I repeat, you won’t find him so rude on his own records, backed by Twista, and in Knockin', Snoop Doggy Dogg sits on the gangster throne,

who with his eternal laid-back maryjane attitude, dances on a groovy track alongside Ludacris. The last applause goes to Cypress Hill and Mix Master Mike on Beats Goes On (if only they had made a track like this on their new album...), and Steve Aoki, who decides to push the synth accelerators and cuts through with his Misfits, together with Travis making a true infernal disco tank.