Five Records That Changed My Life, Part 75: Ian Haugland
Before he made it big with Europe, drummer Ian Haugland auditioned and was offered a place in Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force (he turned it down) and played with Candlemass’ Leif Edling in the band Trilogy. In 1984, when he was about to turn 20, he joined Europe and today he is still the anchor of the band’s rhythm section. In the 1990s, he played drums with Glenn Hughes (including on the “Burning Japan Live” album). When he is not recording or touring with Europe, Ian hosts his own rock radio show for the Rockklassiker radio station in Sweden. Roppongi Rocks’ Stefan Nilsson checked in with Ian to find out what five albums made him rock the night.
Deep Purple “Deep Purple in Rock” (1970)
“I remember the first time I heard ‘Speed King’. It was like being hit by a freight train! In my opinion, this is the first true hard rock album. The whole band is on fire and the songs are all killers no fillers.”
UFO “Phenomenon” (1974)
“This album and drummer Andy Parker’s playing was my first guiding star to become a drummer. ‘Doctor Doctor’ from this album was the very first song that i tried to play along to when I started playing drums. There was no easy way without computers or YouTube at hand. All you could do was just listen to the song in your headphones, and concentrate real hard to try and figure out what the drummer was doing, and then try to do the same!”
Rainbow “Rising” (1976)
“This album featuring the legendary drummer Cozy Powell made me realise that I wanted to be a rock drummer too. Cozy’s thunderous drumming on ‘Tarot Woman’, ‘Stargazer’ and ‘A Light in the Black’, paved the way for my future rock’n’roll dream!”
Emerson, Lake & Palmer “Brain Salad Surgery” (1973)
“This is one of the first albums that I bought just by looking at the album cover painted by the great late Swiss artist H.R. Giger. Totally futuristic and one of a kind, just like the music that sounds as fresh today as it did back in 1973!”
Rush “2112” (1976)
“It was my brother’s girlfriend at the time that had this album in her record collection. I remember being totally hooked from the first seconds of ‘Overture’. I just couldn’t understand how amazingly great players they were and how many great songs they had on one album. Since that moment I’ve been a diehard Rush fan, and still am today!”
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