Too hard to pick just one. So, a random one that seems appropriate here:
"Sol Niger Within" by Fredrik Thordendal, with Morgen Agren on drums. Music similar to Meshuggah (hey, it's their guitarist) but from the other side of the fence - Meshuggah around the era of DEI = extreme metal band plays Alan Holdsworth-esque fusion. Sol Niger Within = Alan Holdsworth plays extreme metal. I'd be surprised if most people can even transcribe this stuff, let alone play it. If you only get one track, get "Bouncing in a bottomless pit". The whole album is one song, but this is probably the ludicrous chops highlight.
Other options? Well, that's a bit of a chops fest and I'm not really a choppy guy at heart. So:
Tori Amos - From The Choirgirl Hotel (Matt Chamberlain), for taste, clever use of a studio, awsome tone and great chops.
Jeff Buckley - Grace (Matt Johnson). For similar reasons, but all live instead of using loops and drum machines.
DJ Shadow - In Tune and On Time. Decks! And he's still kicking our asses! Listen and learn.
Mr Bungle - California (William Winant & Danny Heifetz, IIRC). Really good creative use of a drummer and percussionist working together in a band, constantly turning on a dime and doing a great job of supporting some of the weirdest pop songs you'll ever hear.
Hank Mobley - Soul Station (Art Blakey), just to remind you what our job is and how much fun it can be just to do that and forget about showing off entirely!
Bar Kokhba - Bar Kokhba (Kenny Wollensen). Only has drums on one track IIRC, but that track has one of only maybe five good drum solos ever. Oh yeah, wait for the flames
