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.
Louie Bellson was a jazz drummer and pioneer of double bass drumming. Mike named him as an influence.
Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich is one of the biggest names in big band drumming and a all time great. Mike says he listens to a lot of big band swing and said Buddy is the greatest drummer.
Irv Cottler
Irving Cottler was a big band jazz drummer (also another drummer with Sinatra). Mike named him as an influence.
Sonny Payne
Sonny Payne was a jazz drummer, most notably playing with Count Basie as well as Frank Sinatra who Mike is a big fan of. Mike named him as an influence.
The Beatles are among the biggest rock bands ever. Peavy said they was and influence on him as a kid and that he is still a fan.
Tony Williams
Tony Williams has played with jazz guys like Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock and considered a pioneer of jazz fusion. Mike named him as an influence.
Cream are an important blues based psychedelic band. Mike named Ginger Baker as an influence.
Deep Purple are influential hard rock and early heavy metal. Peavy said they were one of his favorites when he was young.
Johnny Winter is an influential blues guitarist out of the late 60’s. Manni named him as an influence.
Led Zeppelin are one of the biggest and earliest hard rock bands. Peavy said they was one of his favorites.
Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Peavy said they were a favorite when he was young. Mike named Bonham as one of his biggest influences.
Rory Gallagher was a blues rock player from Ireland. Manni named him as an influence.
Cozy Powell has played for important bands including Rainbow and Black Sabbath. Mike named him as an influence.
Scorpions are hard rock and heavy metal legends who pioneered both in Germany. Manni named both Uli and Michael Schenker as influences.
Mother’s Finest was a funk rock band. Mike named drummer B.B. Queen as one of his main influences.
Tommy Aldridge
Tommy Aldridge has played with some very proment bands starting with Black Oak Arkansas then Pat Travers, Gary Moore, Ozzy, and others. Mike and André named him as an influence.
Judas Priest helped define heavy metal perhaps more than any band. Peavy said they were inspired by their simple but heavy riffs.
Rush are progressive hard rock legends. Peavy said they got him into progressive rock and named Geddy as a bass influence.
AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. Manni named them as an influence.
Terry Bozzio
Terry Bozzio is a drum virtuoso notably playing with Frank Zappa. Mike named him as an influence.
Motorhead are hard rock and heavy metal legends. Peavy said Lemmy inspired him to play bass in the first place.
The Police were a post-punk, new wave band. Peavy said he was inspired by their stripped down yet energetic arrangements.
Simon Phillips
Simon Phillips has played with quite a few bands from jazz fusion to progressive bands to even Judas Priest. Mike named him as an influence.
Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands. Marcos named them as an influence.
Venom are the fathers of extreme metal, inspiring the generations of extreme metal to follow them. Peavy was a fan despite their “lousy” playing.
Dave Weckl
Dave Weckl is a influential jazz/fusion drummer. Mike named him as an influence.
Metallica are the fathers of thrash metal. Peavy and Marcos named them as an influence.
Dennis Chambers
Dennis Chambers is a jazz / fusion / funk drummer. Mike named him as an influence.
Queensryche are important for the development of progressive metal. Peavy named Geoff Tate as a vocal influence early on.
Shawn Lane
Shawn Lane is a fusion and instrumental rock guitarist who’s collaborated with many. Victor said he is inspired by guys like him.
Of course everyone knows the story of thrash father Dave Mustaine forming Megadeth after being kicked out of Metallica. Peavy named them as an influence.
If a band lasts long enough eventually they may just end up with members who grew up listening to the band. In this case, Marcos was a huge fan of Rage before joining.
Testament are Bay Area thrash legends. Peavy is a fan and said Chuck’s more brutal vocal style has influenced him more recently.
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
