Simon Phillips - Which Album To Get?

Cuban

Senior Member
Ok, guys, this is loooong over due, but I want to start my Simon Phillips collection.

Which album do you suggest I start with?

I'm listening to samples from 'Another Lifetime' and I am loving what I am hearing, so where would you rate that among his output?

Thanks in advance.
 
Hello stranger ;-),

801 live is very good
Smallcreep's Day (Mike Rutherford) also has some good drumming
Simon's work with Jeff Beck is very good


Can't really go wrong with Mr Phillips playing :)
 
This is very much a counter-intuitive suggestion, but my suggestion is the Pete Townsend album "Empty Glass." The record is alright, it definitely has its moments, but the drumming is perfect, amazingly so.

Listen to this ultimate "money beat." Magnificent multi-tom phrases, clean and controlled. And it's my guess that he's playing to a click.
 
I've always liked Jeff Beck's "There and Back" album.
 
Judas Priest "Sin After Sin"

Micheal Schenker Group "Micheal Schenker Group"
 
Jeff Beck -- There And Back is a great one. Space Boogie was an early favorite.
Stanley Clarke -- Rocks, Pebbles And Sand
Pete Townshend -- White City

Simon also played on a couple tracks off John Parr's self-titled album that I thought were pretty cool examples of him rocking out while still adding his special touch and musicality.
 
Great album...Great drumming...Great band:
Starbreaker, Sinner, Disident Agressor, Race with the Devil, Call of the Priest...

Judas Priest "Sin After Sin" "
 
Hello stranger ;-),

801 live is very good
Smallcreep's Day (Mike Rutherford) also has some good drumming
Simon's work with Jeff Beck is very good


Can't really go wrong with Mr Phillips playing :)

Hello bud, fancy seeing you here?!

Thanks for the suggestion, along with everyone else's, however I have 'Smallcreep's Day' and other albums he did as sessions, such as Mike Oldfield's 'Crises' etc, however, I was really only looking into his solo albums, apologies - I didn't actually state that.

I've known about Simon since I first saw him play when he was just 14(!), but somehow I've never picked up any of his solo albums.

So which of these should I start with?

Protocol (1988)
Force Majeure (1992)
Symbiosis (1995)
Another Lifetime (1997)
Out of the Blue (1999)
Vantage Point (2000)

Thanks again.
 
Ooo oooh oooh Cuban, a Simon Phillips thread, it's not as if I'm a fan of his playing or anything like that, really:) (ok, I am, I admit it). Strange, I'm not a "fan" of any other drummer, although I admire many.

Anyhow, enough waffle. I'm not sure if you can get any Los Labotomys's stuff on DVD, but this clip is just the dogs b%^$$cks! Simon live at his very best!

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGigDxMg7uY

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H29XbvJkeQ&feature=related

This just so does it for me on every level. I'll try to track down some official recorded stuff if it's about, & let y'all know. Man, this is just so freakin' good!


A different vibe, & you can buy this album. Wonderful, wonderful. A bonus from KIS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFreHrVVyqg

Candyman, recorded and mastered from March 1993 through November 1993, was a collaboration of musicians who were for the most part also in Lukather's band Los Lobotomys.[18] Toto familiars Simon Phillips and David Paich participated as well as David Garfield, John Peña, Chris Trujillo, Lenny Castro, Larry Klimas, Fee Waybill, Richard Page, and Paul Rodgers. Lukather recorded the album in mostly live takes with little overdubbing.
 
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If you're a heavy-metal or guitar fan and want some great playing of Simon Phillip's too, go get Derek Sherinian's "BLACK UTOPIA" and do not look back.

It's psychotic prog-metal (with a bit of fusion) at its best.

This is one of the most under-rated albums ever made. Amazing drums, guitars, bass and keys (of course!).

Just go get it. Now.

The previous Derek S. album "INERTIA" is really great too, but not as heavy. But Simon's drums are just as amazing on that one too.
 
I like "Symbiosis" and Luke`s "Candyman".
 
Superb Pol! Great to place those performances in context. This is Phillips at age 19!!!! That would be remarkable in this decade, with the profusion of technically orientated players, but in the 70's, truly outstanding. These performances don't feature the vibe that I really admire in Phillips, that vibe comes later, but there's no doubting the skills on display here.
 
His work with Toyah is a critical entry in his discography as even Simon Phillips said this experience was a transfiguration for him as a musician. Here is a track from 1982 which is furthermore the only year he recorded with them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxqrdyghQUY&list=PL0E9941B185762210&index=156


And of course his rhythmically slick 1988 solo album "Protocol". Starting @ 2:50s (below) made me think of David Letterman's drum solo week and the sonorous throw-down Phillips would have subjected those unsuspecting souls to;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H0tm-Hs9qo&list=PL432407050B1C12D8&index=91

Tess
 
Forgot about the Toyah stuff. Actually, by coincidence, I met her a couple of years ago. I asked her about her musical experience with Simon. She said she remembered the first time she met him for an exploratory session, & his power/presence just blew her away. "I didn't think drums could sound like that & move you so much" was the quote I remember vividly.

As for Protocol, that clip must be one of the drum textural pieces of all time. Even if you know nothing about drums, it's difficult to escape just how much Simon brings to the musical landscape.

To me, he encompasses all that I hold dear in the drumming craft. Even though he's well known & highly regarded by many, I still think he's underrated in the community hierarchy consciousness.
 
To me, he encompasses all that I hold dear in the drumming craft. Even though he's well known & highly regarded by many, I still think he's underrated in the community hierarchy consciousness.

Very well put and I agree 100%. And that is absolutely cool you met Toyah;) Her early music is most unique as she was known for granting creative freedom to her band-mates. And subsequently I would imagine this also why it was so transformational for Simon.

Tess
 
Very well put and I agree 100%. And that is absolutely cool you met Toyah;) Her early music is most unique as she was known for granting creative freedom to her band-mates. And subsequently I would imagine this also why it was so transformational for Simon.

Tess
I only spoke to her for a few minutes. She still looks good. She walked into a friend's pub with a film crew. I just happened to be there. She was filming a documentary on the reintroduction of water voles to the Golden Valley. Life's curved balls eh, or should I say, it's a mystery!
 
Ok, guys, this is loooong over due, but I want to start my Simon Phillips collection.

Which album do you suggest I start with?

I'm listening to samples from 'Another Lifetime' and I am loving what I am hearing, so where would you rate that among his output?

Thanks in advance.

Have you heard the last CD by Hiromi called "VOICE", it's a jazz trio project with Anthony Jackson on bass and Simon on drums, all three players are really amazing on it.
 
Have you heard the last CD by Hiromi called "VOICE", it's a jazz trio project with Anthony Jackson on bass and Simon on drums, all three players are really amazing on it.
WOW, WOW, WOW! The dream team rhythm section are at it again! What a find man! I had no idea this project was existing. From the Youtube clips I can pull up, I'm already excited. I'm so going to get this album TODAY!

I like this intro/interview clip of the trio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4q8Ts8Lsm0

Simon saying with a smile, "very difficult music", is such a tempter for me to want to listen even more.

Simon Phillips, THE consummate multi faceted drummer, period!

EDIT: Loving the fun in this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLYWtWRbwEA&feature=related
 
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