DrumEatDrum
Platinum Member
To see how Lars fits in, you have to look at the historical perspective.
As I've written before, How people view Lars tends to fall into one of two categories
1) Those were teenagers (or older) in the 80s who discovered Lars in the 80s, and remember Lars playing things that no one else was doing at the time (at least not in a way most people could see/hear). his raw speed on the first 4 Metallica albums was a relatively new concept at the time. While drummers had been using double bass for years, most used it for quads, shuffles, or just double bass roles. Lars came along and played all sorts of broken triplet patterns, syncopations, and quick rolls that no one else was playing on albums at the time. Playing thrash in 7/4 and 5/4 and all the crazy time signature changes on "And Justice For All" was ground breaking.
The first time "One" was played on MTV was a monumental occasion, as many of us had never heard someone play double bass like that ever before.
2) Those who were teenagers in the 90's or later, who only saw Lars simplify his playing, while thousands upon thousands of drummers learned every Lars Ulrich trick and then improved upon it many times over, while Lars himself stopped trying to improve himself, apparently went backwards in ability.
What many people don't realize is yes, today they can turn on MTV or youtube or whatever and find 1,000,001 players who can do insane things with double bass than Lars couldn't do in his wildest dreams. But 20 years ago those other players didn't exist, and there was no youtube to watch them on.
While Lars was "the guy" (with a handful of others) who was doing it, and actually selling records, and putting himself in places where people could see and hear him. Most of these modern players wouldn't be playing what they play if Lars had not set the ground work first and been around to be copied and improved upon.
I clearly remember that night in 1988. I had graduated high school. I was working part time at a drum shop. I came home from work, had dinner, did whatever, and turned on MTV. The world premier of "One" came on. I was floored. I had never seen anyone use double bass like that before. The sheer epic-ness, the sheer power. I ran out and bought the album.
And holy cow, what an album at the time. They're playing thrash in 7/4. They're throwing in bars of 5/4 into the mix. Lars is going over the bar line, then playing a fill to land back on the 1. It was complex, powerful, epic, raw and refined at the same time.
Muck like in jazz, a lot of the early pioneers like Zutty Singleton and Cozy Cole are often forgotten in favor of the 2nd and 3rd generation jazz of players who took everything the early guys did and improved it, and used better recording technology to make more people aware that they could play they way they do. (and no, I'm not comparing Lars to jazz legends). Lars laid a lot of ground work for others to build upon, and as others built upon his ground work, fewer and fewer people remember that it was his ground work, because it doesn't compare to what has come since then.
And sadly, over the years, Lars hasn't kept up his skills, further diminishing his reputation in drummer history.
I remember looking at Lars as a major inspiration for what could be done on the drum kit.
Do I look at him the same way now? Of course not. But that doesn't discount what he did in the past.
And Arky is 100% that it's pretty pointless to pick Lars out and compare him to any other drummer and point of 'weaknesses' because those 'better' drummers are not only NOT playing with Metallica, but Lars founded the band with James, co-leads the band, and co-writes almost all of the music. You can't say Metallica would be better/worse with different drummers, because if there was a different drummer, Metallica wouldn't exist to begin with.
As I've written before, How people view Lars tends to fall into one of two categories
1) Those were teenagers (or older) in the 80s who discovered Lars in the 80s, and remember Lars playing things that no one else was doing at the time (at least not in a way most people could see/hear). his raw speed on the first 4 Metallica albums was a relatively new concept at the time. While drummers had been using double bass for years, most used it for quads, shuffles, or just double bass roles. Lars came along and played all sorts of broken triplet patterns, syncopations, and quick rolls that no one else was playing on albums at the time. Playing thrash in 7/4 and 5/4 and all the crazy time signature changes on "And Justice For All" was ground breaking.
The first time "One" was played on MTV was a monumental occasion, as many of us had never heard someone play double bass like that ever before.
2) Those who were teenagers in the 90's or later, who only saw Lars simplify his playing, while thousands upon thousands of drummers learned every Lars Ulrich trick and then improved upon it many times over, while Lars himself stopped trying to improve himself, apparently went backwards in ability.
What many people don't realize is yes, today they can turn on MTV or youtube or whatever and find 1,000,001 players who can do insane things with double bass than Lars couldn't do in his wildest dreams. But 20 years ago those other players didn't exist, and there was no youtube to watch them on.
While Lars was "the guy" (with a handful of others) who was doing it, and actually selling records, and putting himself in places where people could see and hear him. Most of these modern players wouldn't be playing what they play if Lars had not set the ground work first and been around to be copied and improved upon.
I clearly remember that night in 1988. I had graduated high school. I was working part time at a drum shop. I came home from work, had dinner, did whatever, and turned on MTV. The world premier of "One" came on. I was floored. I had never seen anyone use double bass like that before. The sheer epic-ness, the sheer power. I ran out and bought the album.
And holy cow, what an album at the time. They're playing thrash in 7/4. They're throwing in bars of 5/4 into the mix. Lars is going over the bar line, then playing a fill to land back on the 1. It was complex, powerful, epic, raw and refined at the same time.
Muck like in jazz, a lot of the early pioneers like Zutty Singleton and Cozy Cole are often forgotten in favor of the 2nd and 3rd generation jazz of players who took everything the early guys did and improved it, and used better recording technology to make more people aware that they could play they way they do. (and no, I'm not comparing Lars to jazz legends). Lars laid a lot of ground work for others to build upon, and as others built upon his ground work, fewer and fewer people remember that it was his ground work, because it doesn't compare to what has come since then.
And sadly, over the years, Lars hasn't kept up his skills, further diminishing his reputation in drummer history.
I remember looking at Lars as a major inspiration for what could be done on the drum kit.
Do I look at him the same way now? Of course not. But that doesn't discount what he did in the past.
And Arky is 100% that it's pretty pointless to pick Lars out and compare him to any other drummer and point of 'weaknesses' because those 'better' drummers are not only NOT playing with Metallica, but Lars founded the band with James, co-leads the band, and co-writes almost all of the music. You can't say Metallica would be better/worse with different drummers, because if there was a different drummer, Metallica wouldn't exist to begin with.
