Travis Barker has pretty much done it all in the music industry. He has lent his drumming ability to acts such as the wondrously quirky ska band The Aquabats, achieved worldwide fame with the pop punk band Blink-182, then further showed his versatility playing with groups like the Transplants, +44, and collaborating with many others.
So it’s only right for Barker, now 35 years old, to do his “own” album.
That culminates into “Give the Drummer Some,” released March 15. It’s a compilation album featuring a ton of guest artists, with Barker providing much of the music, drumming included, and taking charge of the production. “Travis Barker and friends” should really be on the cover of the album.
“Give the Drummer Some” runs the gamut with guest artists, featuring big name artists like Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Kid Cudi, and Tom Morello to more up-and-coming or underground talents like Tech N9ne, Beanie Sigel, and Slaughterhouse.
Barker wrote most of the music on the album, with the guest artists writing the lyrics for their respective songs.
Highlights include “Let’s Go,” which features Lil Jon, Twista, Busta Rhymes, and Yelawolf, “Saturday Night,” which features Barker’s other band the Transplants, and “Just Chill,” featuring Beanie Sigel and Bun B.
The music and beats are hit and miss throughout the album with several tracks simply falling flat despite their star-studded collaborators. Songs with The Cool Kids, Slaughterhouse, and Cypress Hill sound by the numbers and are simply not very memorable.
The aforementioned “Saturday Night” stands out among others because it takes the essence of the Transplants, including vocalist Tim Armstrong’s singing, and turns it into a catchy song that could stand alone as a single. Twista raps as fast as ever on his song and as a result “Let’s Go” feels like it’d make a perfect Twista single.
That’s not to say there is a whole lot of filler on this album, but with the catchiness of certain songs, perhaps it would have been better if Barker halved the number of guest artists and streamlined his first album to be a sleeker, more consistent experience.
