Rage Family Tree
This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.
We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.
Rage are a German Speed/Power/Thrash band. They were originally name Avenger and released several demos, an ep, and their first album Prayers of Steel before changing their name to Rage. Bassist/vocalist Peavy Wagner is the heart of the band and only original and consistent member. The line up of Rage has changed often. The earliest line up was Peavy along side guitarist Jochen Schroeder and drummer Jörg Michael. That period of the band saw there other guitarist come and go, Alf Meyerratken, Thomas Grüning, and Rudy Graf, I’m not sure if Alf or Rudy contributed to any writing while in the band. In 1987 was the first major line up change with the band then consisting of Peavy, guitarist Manni Schmidt and drummer Chris Efthimiadis. The next change in the early 90’s would see Manni replaced with guitarists Spiros Efthimiadis and Sven Fischer. In 1999 another big change in the line up, with now Peavy along side Victor Smolski on guitar and keyboards and Mike Terrana on drums. Mike would be replaced with André Hilgers on drums in 2007. Another overhaul happened in 2015 with new guitarist Marcos Rodriguez and drummer Vassilios "Lucky" Maniatopoulos. The band has once again undergone another change with Jean Bormann and Stefan Weber now on guitar. This line up will be on the 2021 album yet to be released and their influences will not be listed at this time. All other members that have contributed to writing will have their influences noted, but keep in mind Peavy is the only consistent member.
Buddy Rich
Irv Cottler
Sonny Payne
Tony Williams
Tommy Aldridge
Terry Bozzio
Simon Phillips
Dave Weckl
Dennis Chambers
Shawn Lane
Peavy said he started playing guitar around 8 or 9 with classical style, then Spanish style and said The Beatles was an influence before discovering Motorhead and switching to bass. He said he finds inspirations in newer bands such as Opeth but it probably doesn’t show in his music. Other prog bands he listens to include Spock´s beard, Transatlantic, Dream Theater, and Liquid Tension Experiment. He named favorite classical composers as Bach, Villa Lobos, Rachmaninov, Dvorak, and Debussy.
Jochen Schroeder was on guitar for the first few albums as well as being co-writer. I’m unsure of his influences.
Alf Meyerratken was the lead guitarist in Avenger and co-wrote on some of Prayer of Steel. He was not in the band after the name change and I’m sure of his influences.
Thomas Grüning was the lead guitarist on the first Rage album and co-wrote on a few songs. I’m unsure of his influences.
Guitarist Manni was the guitarist through the late 80’s to the mid 90’s. His early influences are Status Quo and Ac/dc. His main influences include the bands noted above. When he named Michael Schenker he didn’t specifically limit to Scorpions although he did say Uli from the Scorpions. It is possible that Schenker’s other bands (MSG, UFO) are also an influence. Possibly Uli’s as well.
Drummer Chris Efthimiadis co-wrote while in the band throughout the late 80’s and 90’s, I’m unsure of his influences. His brother Spiros Efthimiadis would join on guitar in the late 90’s and also write in the band. I couldn’t find his influences either. Along side Spiros was Sven Fischer who also wrote in the band. I haven’t found his influences either.
Victor started with cello and piano before picking up guitar as a kid. He said he grew up with jazz and later rock. He doesn’t name many influences, he when to college for jazz and rock guitar and tries to combine all these different things.
Drummer André Hilgers only has one co-writing credit in the band. Some of his influences include Mike Portnoy, Deen Castronovo, Tomas Haake, Tommy Lee, and Tommy Aldridge.
Before joining Rage, Marcos played in a professional cover band for 10 years. He said they played everything from B.B. King to Pantera.
To my knowledge drummer Vassilios has not contributed to writing.
Sources:
http://www.friday13thmetal.co.uk/Page%203%20-%20Interviews/Grave%20Digger/new_page_1.htm
https://www.wearethepit.com/2019/12/rages-peter-peavy-wagner-5-albums-that-change-my-life/
https://www.therockpit.net/2016/interview-peter-peavy-wager-rage/
https://www.bleeding4metal.de/index.php?show=interview&id=49
https://www.auxportesdumetal.com/interviews/rage2008-uk.html
https://kalejdoskopy.wordpress.com/2019/08/27/energy-of-metal-is-the-best-interview-with-victor-smolski-from-almanac/
http://themetalist.net/an-interview-with-victor-smolski-almanac/
https://buffalonews.com/news/the-buffalo-roots-of-beau-nasty/article_f07a06be-d0c8-5a64-a667-cd7b610f0dec.html
https://drummerszone.com/artists/mike-terrana/3357/profile/#biography
http://www.rocknreviews.net/Interview/Mike-Terrana/Interview.html
https://pearldrum.com/artist/andre-hilgers/13861
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3obg33kg5E