Valvulado: Carmine Appice on Drums

Carmine Appice (born December 15, 1946) is an American drummer and percussionist most commonly associated with the rock genre of music. He has received classical music training, and was influenced early-on by the work of jazz drummers Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. Appice is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice, Rod Stewart, King Kobra, and Blue Murder, which also featured John Sykes of Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy fame, and Tony Franklin of The Firm. He was inducted into the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013, and the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2014.

Carmine Appice re-released his GUITAR ZEUS project, a compilation album featuring a who's who list of the best and world-renowned guitarists on the planet backed by his core band featuring Tony Franklin (THE FIRM, BLUE MURDER) on bass, Kelly Keeling (TSO, MSG) on vocals, keys and rhythm guitar, and Appice on drums.

Originally released as two separate albums in 1995 and 1997, this new re-mastered album (by Stephen DeAcutis; VANILLA FUDGE, Corey Glover, OVERKILL, Cyndi Lauper) combines both releases as one complete version on January 18 for the first time ever across all digital platforms, as well as feature five brand new songs with Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Pat Travers, John Norum, and top Japanese guitarists RaiZi and Char. Select songs will also be available on a special limited-edition vinyl and CD.

Carmine Appice's GUITAR ZEUS showcases the complete and prolific talents of many world-renowned rock guitarists, including Brian May, Slash, Neil Schon, Yngwie Malmsteen, Bruce Kulick, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Paul Gilbert, Mick Mars, Richie Sambora, Zakk Wylde, Bob Daisley, Dweezil Zappa, Vivian Campbell, Leslie West, Warren DeMartini, Steve Morse, Ty Tabor (KING'S X), Ted Nugent, Doug Pinnick, John Norum and others.

"The GUITAR ZEUS project, for me, was an amazing experience that has never been done before by a drummer, especially with so much talent on one album!" Carmine said. "You get your money's worth! Writing all the songs with my band (Tony and Kelly) and then picking out songs for each guitarist was a fun and time-consuming process, especially coordinating everybody's schedules and recording sessions.

"From the opening note, one can tell this is going to be something special. I consider these drum tracks to be some of the best performances in my career, topped off with working with so many great guitarists and singers. The combination of players and song selection is something special with some of the tunes is out of the ordinary and ahead of their time!"

Said Brian May: "As soon as I heard the track, I thought it had a very haunting quality, evoking the '60s, but with a very modern slant. I also found the backing track very powerful and appealing, driven by Carmine's very recognizable style; so I was keen to play on the track straight away."

Guitar Zeus