Lars Ulrich

I think its funny how people always mock Lars because hes not technically the best drummers out there. However, he played on some of the best, if not the best metal ever made. Thats what really counts. His drumming is not supposed to be complex- its supposed to follow James riffs and give the song that extra drive. He plays with the music and fits Metallica perfectly.

My point exactly...although it never came out right.

I 100% totally agree with you. That's exactly what makes Lars good.
 
I would rather have fun on stage like Lars, than to be a boring basement drummer who is better at technical playing. It's also hard to judge his skill because there isn't much content of him soloing, I've only seen 2 or 3 clips. If I were to base his skill purely on how well it goes with the music, I would think hes an amazing drummer, sure argue the point, but having inspired thousands of people to start playing drums, that obviously says something about him and Metallica. Theres no point in arguing back and fourth, he isn't one of the most technical drummers, but he sure is one of the greatest.

***and don't bring up that same old solo from 1992 on the white Tama, he was obviously drunk, nobody can go an entire solo only playing single strokes.

Since when is being a technical drummer boring? You can groove like a mofo and be technical at the same time. Look at Steve Gadd. I would argue that it's BORING to play Larses stuff and not very fun at all. A three year old could bash on some cans and have fun, but that doesn't make the three year old a superb drummer. Lars having fun while he plays his one dimensional drums doesn't make him a great drummer either. And i've seen multiple drum solos of lars, he plays practically the same solo everytime. Triplet snare kick pedal snare tom patterns with random 16th note single thrown in, then he'll go into the "one double bass pattern. Not impressive at all
 
Hey guys , i know you can't mimic this guys sound exactly. But how would you tune toms to sound like his? Is it batter head very low or what?
Thanks alot.
 
I am unique in that...

I LOVE Lars Ulrich and I LOVE Metallica

while at the same time

I HATE Lars Ulrich and I HATE Metallica

Since the 'black album' that band has been a total joke. They have not improved as writers or musicians and seemingly run out of ideas a long time ago.

For people who say Lars was not a good drummer, I do scoff at that. Go listen to his playing on "Ride the Lightening" (and the subsequent tour where I happened to catch a gig) and then go listen to his playing on "...And Justice For All" (and that subsequent tour where I happened to catch multiple gigs).

In short, kid improved by leaps and bounds. That's what a "good drummer' does, he gets better, he maximizes his talent. Lars propelled such complicated songs like Blackened, The Shortest Straw with technical proficiency.

He may not 'be better' than (fill in drum god of your choice), but to say he was not a good drummer is just absurd. Lars WAS a good drummer and WAS becomming a VERY GOOD or dare I say great drummer, not just because of what he could do behind the kit, but because of his ability to create unique drumming within the later Metallica albums (before the Load stuff).

That ALL SAID, Lars is now a bum to me. His playing has not gotten any better and in fact has gotten worse. They have used studio tricks and weird production techniques to deliver what I consider bad heavy metal. Metallica were either doing cover albums, alternative albums, or just bad albums since the Load days. It has affected them as musicians and esepically Lars who now sounds WORSE as a dummer than he did on Metallica's infamous "No Life Til Leather" Demo. It's a sad SAD commentary for someone like me (and others) who championed Metallica back in the day and celebrated in glee when they got the spot on Ozzy's tour in 1986 thinking "our way of life has made it to the arenas".

I weep for lost glory, Lars and metallica...trend setters, pioneers, metal gods, brilliant band they were are now a pathetic joke.
 
I think its funny how people always mock Lars because hes not technically the best drummers out there. However, he played on some of the best, if not the best metal ever made. Thats what really counts. His drumming is not supposed to be complex- its supposed to follow James riffs and give the song that extra drive. He plays with the music and fits Metallica perfectly.

You said it, this sums up everything. No one can argue with this as it's the perfect solution to any 'Lars' debate.
 
I am unique in that...

I LOVE Lars Ulrich and I LOVE Metallica

while at the same time

I HATE Lars Ulrich and I HATE Metallica

Since the 'black album' that band has been a total joke. ...

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!
 
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.
 
IMO,
Lars being in Metallica has helped change the type of music being played today! My mum once told me she would listen to Metallica while she was pregnant with me. And the day i heard Master Of Puppets i fell in love with his drumming! He has made Metallica sound really good and is a big inspiration to me and i'm really looking forward to the new album Metallica is releasing in September (Death Magnetic)! =)
 
I've been a Metallica fan ever since my friend turned me on to them, but I could never agree with him on the fact of Lars being a great drummer. I wouldn't ever consider Lars great, even on Justic because if you see videos of him live he still struggles to reproduce those songs. I don't understand why he makes songs that he can't play live when in my opinion, playing live is where it really counts.

There is no denying Lars' influence and ethusiasm on stage and for Metallica in general. His drumming just so happens to fit the music he plays and somehow he gets by. There is no reson to put him on a pedastal, especially now when he has totally slipped to an all time low.
 
I've been a Metallica fan ever since my friend turned me on to them, but I could never agree with him on the fact of Lars being a great drummer. I wouldn't ever consider Lars great, even on Justic because if you see videos of him live he still struggles to reproduce those songs. I don't understand why he makes songs that he can't play live when in my opinion, playing live is where it really counts.

There is no denying Lars' influence and ethusiasm on stage and for Metallica in general. His drumming just so happens to fit the music he plays and somehow he gets by. There is no reson to put him on a pedastal, especially now when he has totally slipped to an all time low.

These are my feelings exactly. You can't deny his impact on drumming and metal (and Justice is in my top 5 of all time), but he really struggles live. He is the epitome of overplaying.
 
Hey DRUMMERWORLD I am new here! I’ve read a lot of the comments about Lars here and checked out the other threads on the drummers I like and have read mixed reports for all, which is normal as everyone has there own taste, style and opinion.

Lars will always be my favorite drummer because of how he "plays to the music".

The way that Metallica songs are arranged has something to do with how Lars plays drums and how he comes up with an original drum track.

The thing about Lars is he's not technical compared to e.g. Travis Smith of Trivium and Joey Jordison of Slipknot (both good drummers), but he is technical in a song if he thinks he should be, but most importantly if he wants to be. What I’ve learnt about him from seeing Metallica live 4 times and listening to live cd's and watching dvd’s, videos whatever, is he never plays a song the same way twice. He changes fills or maybe doesn't play the fill and continues with a beat and its all to do with keeping things fresh, interesting, unpredictable, for stimulation and actually as Lars would say to keep things "Rock and Roll" which is as cheesy as a mature cheddar would get that’s bin kept in the fridge for 28years, but true. You probably know that a big part of his style is to accent with symbol crashes. As for double bass I’ve read people complaining about his usage of them and I’ve always bin very impressed when he does it. He definitely uses it in different ways to everyone else.

You don’t get to be in the biggest Metal band ever if your not good enough to be. Most would know that Lars has a larger roll to play than just playing drums for Metallica, but when he gets down to sitting behind the kit he always delivers. It hasn’t just been the guitar riffs, guitar solos, bass lines and lyrics that have made Metallica what they are; Lars's original drumming style has been a huge ingredient to the mix that has had the outcome of more than 100 million albums sold.

Metallica are the biggest selling heavy metal band ever because they have been the most accessible out of all of them. With great riffs, song arrangements, lyrics, different styles and drum parts they have always been original. There are better technical drummers than Lars Ulrich that are playing in bands that are not as successful as Metallica, but I find that they tend to play drums too hard and fast and albums become what I call "Drummers Albums". An example of this I would give is, Slipknot Volume 3 where Joey Jordisons presence within the album completely over shadows everyone else’s input. (Im actually saying that his drumming is best thing on this album).

I believe a drummer’s roll should be to serve the song to make the song sound as good as it can and not just making the drums sound great.

Lars as a drummer delivers in the way that makes Metallica as a band sound the best they can which is what should be done. Even if a drummer sacrifices some of his fancy moves and tricks to make a great song, it’s what should be done if all the other ingredients added by the other musicians instruments are good enough.

Another opinion by another drummer about another drummer…
 
Here's my $.02. To me, Lars isn't the greatest drummer that ever lived or anything, but he is one of my favorites. I know he's not one of the best technique-wise. He's not the suckiest either. Hell, listen to the beginning of Harvester of Sorrow. Sounds pretty cool to me. I started listening to Metallica right when Master of Puppets came out and was hooked. Lars and Metallica changed metal forever. They were, with other bands soon following, pioneers in bringing their genre of music into the mainstream. I realize that I'm not saying anything that has not already been said. My bottom line is Lars is the single reason I wanted to play drums. I have grown up and listen to tons of other drummers who are lots better technique-wise, but can still queue up some Metallica on the iPod and actually feel the music still. I have seen Metallica live somewhere between 8-12 times and I have to strongly disagree with those that have said he is not a good live drummer. He sounds great to me and looks like he is having a blast onstage. Anyway, all of the above is my opinion, so it is valid for me, and it may not be for you.
 
I have loved Lars since I saw him play with Wasp and Armored Saint in 1985. He beat the living crap out of his kit and every hit meant something. I remember reading an old modern drummer article where they interviewed his roadie, and he said that at the end of the tour, there were no cymbals left uncracked and that all of the hardware on his kit was starting to rust because he sweat so much from being a madman behind his big kit. That's even after wiping everything off after each show. To me, THAT is great drumming. Sure, I learned to play more from Peart and Rich, but to watch Lars break stick after stick is really what it's all about. Gene Simmons said it best, " It's all about the show"! PERIOD! As for Lars not playing the same parts he played early on, he wised up to the fact that the crowd can't hear anything but a big BZZZZZZZZ if he is playing machine gun parts, so he plays more groove oriented and less fill oriented now. Bands like Slipknot, and Morbid Angel, both of which I love, have the same problem now, but continue to play the lightning fast fills and such. Also, there isn't but a handful of bands today where the producer doesn't splice the drums tracks together and pro tools the life out of it! Lars is awesome in my book and I would love to meet him and ask him some questions.
 
Lars got me started on the drums. and as you can see got me into tama.
 
I really like Metallica and really like Lars; he ain't Buddy but can you imagine Metallica without him or him without Metallica?? Perfect match, great sound, great band and, I'm sorry to those of you who aren't keen on him, but great drummer!!
 
I respect Metallica for what they've done for metal but I just saw the newest video for the first single off of "Death Magnetic" and it was, to me, tired and un-comfortable. that song had more time filler in it than any tune i've heard in a long time (probably since St Anger). it just feels like they are purposefully trying to re-create how special "One" was on that track...completely obvious. its uncomfortable to me because, again; to ME, it seems like they just arent aging gracefully...it seems like they are always trying to do something other than just be themselves. its OK that they cant rip like on Kill em' All....or whichever album you choose...To steal a line from Lars himself "It just feels too stock.".

heres to hoping its just a metallica lead off singles curse thing...
 
lars was a huge influence on me to play the drums. i must admit that the last album that a really liked by metallice was the black album. and i do think that as a drummer lars really has not grown a lot since the black album. but i still count him as one of my main early influences.
and just to say, i just saw the vid for the day that never comes and i liked the song. i look forward to hearing the whole album.
 
I'm not so much a big fan of lars anymore, although he's one of my major influences.
When I figured out that i could play Metallica songs, I lost him in the storm I was creating within.
 
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