Drums tend to be close miked in modern recordings, so they often have less air than you'll hear when you hear a kit played live. The Sheffield Drum Record still stands up pretty well in realistically reproducing drum sound. While not overloaded with fills, Bob James'es Feels Like Making Live has superbly recorded drum sound. But as other posts have said, heads, tuning, shell depth and diameter and mic'ing, compression all influence how drums sound when recorded.
It’s true what they say/and a question
Last night I heard the Marcin Wasilewski Trio in Baltimore. Wow! Not only did it restore my faith in humanity—if three guys could produce such beauty, we as a species can do anything—it also proved the old adage that listening to live music is essential. I was enjoying the music and comparing what I heard to my system. I was very very pleased. I feel my system is fairly dialed in. Piano bass and most of the drums. If anything the tom toms sounded a little more real, a little more fluid than at home. So here is my question: what are some tracks that reveal that tom tom sound? Cymbals, snare and bass I got. I’m looking for something that will highlight the tom toms.