TANK Drummer dies-the world just became gloomier!!!
You might consider this post a tad bit too late because Graeme “Crash” Crallan,ex-Tank drummer passed away more than two weeks ago due to head injuries
due to falling in the streets of London . But given the timeless factor of Tank’s music, their contribution towards the growth of Heavy Metal and the great bands they’ve influenced-including my personal favorite Blackened Thrashers Bulldozer- I’ve decided to write this post anyways.
Though Crallan was only involved with Tank for a period of roughly two years,I think his contribution towards their 1984 hit album “Honour and Blood” (Label:Music for Nations) helped create a more “thrashy” element-which was already in Tank’s music,but not as significantly unique in “Honour and Blood”. It also helped Crallan himself gain the recognition he deserved in the metal stratosphere,especially given the fact that his band with Iron Maiden’s Janick Gers “White Spirit” was not as influential as Tank-this may vary largely depending on personal taste.
Speaking of Tank’s music-they captured early thrash sounds that may resemble that of peers like Venom,blended with speed metal elements widely popular in the era thanks to bands like Motorhead and Judas Priest and successfully combining it with classic, generic New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
There are a two key factors I consider important that paved the path to the immensely influential career of Tank.
1.They were genuinely generic.
Most people consider bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest etc… to be generic.They are! And that’s for a reason.
These bands are considered generic because they defined the genre themselves and hence influenced other acts to try and do something within the same stratosphere. This did result in many rip off acts but I can’t really picture an innovative act like Opeth just appearing out of no where given no prior-and maybe primitive-inspirations.
You may not want to see a presumably “generic” rip off act in a Band Show,but in the long run you can’t blame Iron Maiden or Tank for being generic either.The key factor here is to understand the difference and similarity between “classic” and “generic”.
2.Tank successfully captured peer Punk elements and presented in their technical virtuosity.
According to Wikipedia-though the New Wave of British Heavy Metal rose to success as a “reaction towards the decline of acts like Deep Purple,Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin” in the face of the rebellious punk movement in Britain-it nevertheless blended many Punk aspects from the era. Tank too have a clear punk element in their music-that will definitely appeal to many metalheads whose awareness of metal came through punk-but also retaining their technical skills in fast paced solos and successful song writing. This may be considered inevitable given that Tank itself was formed Algy Ward,a former member of none other than the very influential “The Damned”.
Despite numerous line-up changes Tank are still doing what they do best since 1980, and they kick plenty of ass with every record of the way.
Graeme Crallan-Rest in Peace.
Image Credits-darkside.ru
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