Whoah, that's some brutal honesty. I can relate. I am a fan of EARLY Metallica, by which I mean the first three albums. And Lars drove that stuff like a locomotive. It doesn't seem so hard by today's standards, but they rocked the world back in the 80's. I still like it.
I guess I like Lars because I like the band Metallica was. My bass player is a total Metallica fan/worshipper to the very bone, and we (ahem) converse about this from time to time. They do deserve respect for their longevity, but... I dunno. They went in a direction that I couldn't relate to. A lot of their latter stuff, to be honest, I haven't even listened to. I saw them on their Master of Puppets tour, opening for Ozzy Osbourne. They raised hell like a metal band should. That's the band I know and love as Metallica. (Before James started taking himself seriously as a singer...)
As to Lars' technical ability: He's better than me, so I can't throw stones. Like someone said above, he's a drummer, so he's a brother. He's one of us. Why grind him down? Has he ever stood up and said he's the greatest in the world? Or was he just the right fit for a band that went global? A powerhouse of a rock drummer for a pioneering metal band? If I ever achieve a tenth of what he has as a professional, I'll be on top of the world.
I've been bored to death by some excellent technique, in my time. Music, especially metal, is far more than navel-gazing showmanship. If it don't yank you to the front by the balls, it ain't working, regardless of the skill involved. At an early Metallica concert, not even the DEAD could stand still. And I think Lars had something to do with that.
Enough snobbery. Kill 'em all!
Good response dude and I agree with so much of it. Like I said, I still believe Lars was a fine drummer, because you could see him improve.
Lars did grow as a player. And people in here CAN NOT deny that, no matter how much they don't like Lars. That's all we should be about as drummers...are you getting better?
I didn't listen to ...And Justice For All and think, 'we damn, Lars still isn't as good as Neal Peart', I listened and said, "Damn, that boy is coming up with some cool drumming, he's really getting better."
As far as you not listening to their later stuff, don't bother with it, it sucks. Now I say that admitting I think that from 1982-1991 Metallica was the greastest heavy metal band that ever graced this planet. They wrote technical metal songs (in fact it can be argued that ...And Justice For All is more a progressive metal CD than a pure metal CD), they were heavy, they could play fast, they were good musicians, the song structures were amazing, the lyrics were great, and they could get it done consistently on stage.
Metallica in short had no weakness...toss in the 'populist' approach of the band, the no video attitude, the 'metal for life' ethic and you had the formula for greatness. Walking away from that band killed me, I hated it, because they were my rallying cry all through high school. While the kid next to me at the stop light was playing Round and Round by Ratt I was pumping Whiplash by Metallica.
Hell, raging Lars bothers me to, because he is the reason I grab a couple 5B Regaltips and started banging away.
They are legends and all fans of the band that grew up with them will forever love their contribution to the world of music and to our lives, that's what makes their descent into mediocrity so disturbing.