Lars Ulrich

It`s sad to see how little historical perspective people have. Lars paved the way for generations of drummers.

Indeed. I remember back in the mid 80's when I first discovered Metallica.....long before the Jordisons, Careys, Adlers or (insert any high profile "name") drummers who are currently at the top of their game, were even heard of. Lars and Lombardo were reverred. At least in my circles.

These guys were once considered pioneers. Of course the "new breeds" come along and raise the bar......they always have and they always will. But it'd be a shame to see the names of Carey, Adler and the like, diminished in 20 years time and have to suffer the same fate as poor old Lars. Historically, he was highly influential. A leader and forerunner of modern metal drumming. He was looked up to, aspired to and copied. Credit where it's due. He may not mean much anymore, but there was a time when he was everything to metal-heads.
 
I reckon Load and Reload are really underrated as far as albums go and Lars' drum work in general. I'd go on on a limb and say S&M is his finest drum work bar none in terms of the stuff they put out after the 5 first albums.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmjNM85hbnA

he's not a wizard technically but I love the stuff he throws in here, his style is unique if anything. I remember sombody bringing up the link between him and Moon in the fact that they like to improv / play from the heart - the drums on this album are awesome.

Justice is my favourite album of theirs though, the drums on that are incredible.

Relatively simple but effective - bit of a shame about his recent efforts live, it's hard to live up to the past though, and I can't see him wanting to do that so much any more now.
 
Indeed. I remember back in the mid 80's when I first discovered Metallica.....long before the Jordisons, Careys, Adlers or (insert any high profile "name") drummers who are currently at the top of their game, were even heard of. Lars and Lombardo were reverred. At least in my circles.

These guys were once considered pioneers. Of course the "new breeds" come along and raise the bar......they always have and they always will. But it'd be a shame to see the names of Carey, Adler and the like, diminished in 20 years time and have to suffer the same fate as poor old Lars. Historically, he was highly influential. A leader and forerunner of modern metal drumming. He was looked up to, aspired to and copied. Credit where it's due. He may not mean much anymore, but there was a time when he was everything to metal-heads.

+1 to this. Lars is still every bit as influential as he ever was because every metal band that has come around since owes Metallica a heavy head-bangin' nod in recognition.
 
When I started to play the drums, I admired Lars' drumming because it was simple, but it worked.

Then I found it insipid. Too simple. Not very creative.

After some time I discovered that Lars knows to control himself. He somehow knows when to play a solo, and when he shouldn't. He knows when to use double bass on a song, and when he shouldn't. He has a "touch" for drumming.

If this guy had studied a little bit more (rudiments, independence, other genres, etc.) he could have become a better drummer. But it seems he didn't care and never practiced that much.
 
Lars is a professional drummer with or without studying, he plays for the song and has influence every metal drummer in one or another way. It's something to admire!
 
I certainly think there have been instances live where Lars playing has been a little so-so, I am thinking about Enter Sandman played at the Live Earth concert, he seemed all over the place timekeeping-wise (I freely acknowledge this could have been to bad monitors etc), however last weekend I heard "Search and Destroy" from an EP they have just released called "Live at Grimeys"

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashv...y-metallica-to-release-live-at-grimeys-nov-26

To my shame, the drumming was so amazing, I thought maybe it was not Lars drumming, but as you can see from the link above, it was, if you hear "Search and Destroy" from this set, I hope you think like me, that he's got some of his mojo back!
 
I really dont know where he was talent wise and where he is today and to me it really doesnt matter... all I know is I'm 48 and play in a hard rock band that plays 2 metallica songs "for whom the bell tolls" and "sad but true" and the drumming is very signature and permits very little ablibing...to sound right you pretty well have to play whay he recorded and its far from simple drumming...very few songs on our set list required me to spend more time learning then these 2.
 
I used to love Lars when I was big into Metallica, and then I followed a path similar to that which some other metalheads have taken: I got burnt out on Metallica and shelved them indefinitely because I discovered a bunch of other bands that have that "it factor" that Metallica seems to have lost...

However, my respect for Lars has come back because of a few recent epiphanies.

I used to be one of those people who would make ad hominem attacks on drummers because of their personalities or because they got caught in the "endorsement whore" trap. Now, I'm more prone to look at drummers based solely on their drumming. Lars may be a complete hack as a person (even then, some posts on here counter that statement pretty well), but I can look past the whole Napster screw-up and see him for how he is behind the kit. And his style seems to be one that fits Metallica and Metallica only. It seems to be a simpler style, compared to other metal drummers, but it fits perfectly with what the rest of the band plays. That, and after taking a look at a transcription for Master of Puppets, my assumption that the entire song was in 4/4 (because Lars' songs from RTL and MOP sounded so simple from a musical standpoint) was completely blown out of the water. For those of you who haven't seen this particular one (a "beat sheet" from onlinedrummer.com), it's quite a stunning discovery to see that Lars made something so complex on paper sound so incredibly simple! That's an incredible ability to have, in my opinion.

Here's the transcription: http://onlinedrummer.com/beat_sheets.php?Id=128

Once you get past all that, it'd be nice if you heard the dry "ping" of a ride once in awhile from Lars...the fact that he Would. Not. Lay. Off. The. Freaking. Hi-hats. always got to me for some reason...
 
Great transcription.

When it comes to drum notation, sometimes I'm a little a thrown by the variations. Generally, I write hi-hat below the last line of the staff, below the kick, and I put the ride as the first x above the top line of the staff, with each ledger line above that for the crashes, with a circle around the x signifying the bell. Toms, snare and kick all seem pretty standard.

Is there a drum notation bible out there anywhere? If someone's got a link, I'd love to see it.

Thanks.

Oh, and about Lars. I owe him a debt of gratitude for inspiration to simplify my fills. While listening to his playing, I heard that he doesn't always keep both his feet going, not always requiring constant kick beneath it all. I use the hat to keep time through a fill, but unless the fill actually incorporates a kick hit, I tend to leave it alone while my hands get busy.

Being a "technical" drummer is all well and good, but I really like the guys who keep time with a modicum of style and put their own stamp on things without being excessive or flashy. I think the Lars of my childhood was those things.

To that effect, I find Mike Portnoy's Dream Theater drumming kind of irritating. I'm glad he's done with that; the Amazing Journey stuff is pretty fun.
 
Hey everyone
How would u rate lars- overated,mediocre,underrated

and if u get a chance to be him
will u?
 
I was a teenager in the 80's so he definitely was a huge influence on me. I never really tried to play like him, but I liked his drumming. After the Black Album I didn't pay too much attention to Metatllica, my musical tastes had changed a little, I grew up a little. I've never thought about his drumming being bad, but my uncle (the drummer) sure did. He was always bagging on Lars drumming. I think he was a little jealous of Lars. It wasn't until I started reading this forum and a few opinions online that I started to realize that many people besides my uncle have this beef with Lars drumming. But then again, theirs a lot of love out there for the guy too and he has been a huge part of the Metallica sounds all these years. Sure, they ran out of hit songs, but who doesn't eventually? Tony Bennett?
 
+1 on that. Lars did/does what obviously worked with the music. Metallica were the band that got me drumming and I learned to play by watching him (Enter Sandman was the first song I played). Don't get me wrong, I've watched and learned from a multitude of other drummer since, but he was pivotal in getting me playing the drums and enjoying it.

Best drummer? No

Does it matter? No!
 
Agreed, I love Lars, he's great at what he does and could shed with any of the other big boys. Being part of the whole Metallica journey, I give him the utmost respect being part of music history.
 
Lars is a drummer who plays for the song. He had a great contribution to metal drumming parts.
No, I am (I´m me) and I like "For Whom The Bell Tolls".
 
When listening to Metallica it never appeared to me that Lars' playing is weak in any respect. It just perfectly matched the songs. (I haven't been listening to them for quite a while now, and the last album I know entirely is their Black Album. No expert on their newer stuff.)

IMO it's pretty pointless to pick Lars out and compare him to any other drummer and point of 'weaknesses' [EDIT: and point out 'weaknesses'] because those 'better' drummers aren't playing with Metallica. Very simple. If they did then Metallica would have sounded differently and things might have evolved differently, too, with possibly less overall success for the band. Lars contributed to the overall Metallica sound. So why take away from what he helped achieving?

As to the thread question: I think he is "overhated", haha.
 
Last edited:
Holy cow - 7 posts and no one trolling on Lars? I don't believe it - something's going on here!
 
the drumming on albums like Puppets, Justice, and Ride are great

they influenced me greatly as a kid

Lars is a great drummer for Metallica but not so good as far as a drummers drummer

he started to become a bit exposed when the band started to get away from a style he was comfortable with quite obviously

but he was the business mind behind Metallica and it's very likely none of us would know who they were if they had another drummer
 
+1 :)

Great point, which many of us forget while playing in our basements only dreaming.
+1

I've learned a valuable lesson but it took me a while. In the 90's I was learning lots of Metallica and Iron Maiden songs on the el. guitar. As soon as I learned a new song (or solos) I thought: So what - nothing special or too complicated, I can play that. Years later I realised that it's not about whether I could play it but that actually someone came up with that cool material. Now THAT's the crucial point - to be creative and create 'good' music. And not judging musicians/bands by merely technical parameters. From that day on I've been judging music from a different perspective and ultimately, with more respect.
 
Back
Top