Great producers change the game. In 1984, Rick Allen, acclaimed drummer of Def Leppard lost his left arm in a car accident, for most, this would have been a career-ending injury. Depressed and ready to quit, Rick received a visit from producer John (Mutt) Lange.

Mutt talked Rick into leveraging what he had, expanding the use of his feet and right arm, and combining his acoustic drums with electronic drums to create more adaptation options.

Think about how crazy that must have sounded to Rick? That’s the value of a great producer. They help artists in the band expand their view of what’s possible in profound ways.

Rick said- “There were times at the beginning when I really felt like I couldn’t do this anymore. The thing that really helped is Mutt came to visit and he talked me into being able to do this [drumming], but in a different way.”

“In a different way”, there’s the thing. Because Mutt and the band had developed great trust in each other, Mutt was able to Identify and amplify Rick’s and the bands strengths to create something that hadn’t been done before.

So if you are a leader reading this…who is producing your band besides you? The hardest record to make is getting your LT to REAL clarity so alignment is even possible. Do that fast and you bring the future forward. It can be done in ways you might not have imagined….yet.

I think we can say with clarity that their experiment worked, the resulting album ‘Hysteria’ released in 1987 has sold over 20 Million copies, Rick Allen redefined what a drummer is and can be, and still rocks with Def Leppard

Rock on!

-Alan