All things Metallica

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people give Lars too much crap.

Listen to the way he plays the older material nowadays and the is more than justifiable.


If I was gonna start a Metallica tribute band and Lars auditioned.....he wouldn't get the job

Eyesore wrote:

mc666 wrote:

people give Lars too much crap. the albums before, he was more than capable. AJFA though, he nailed it. yeah, he got a little lazy afterwards...but this album was his pinnacle.

Precisely.

He even stated, "Where do you go after AJFA?" What else could he do? He's never been a Peart or Portnoy...but I never thought he was a bad or slack drummer.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

He even stated, "Where do you go after AJFA?" What else could he do? He's never been a Peart or Portnoy...but I never thought he was a bad or slack drummer.

It's one thing to say where do you go after something and another to not being able to play most of it anymore due to complacency and sheer laziness. Lars was terrible when Metallica first hit the El Lay scene. He practiced, took lessons and got good. After they started making the BIG money, his playing went downhill and he's never seemed to make an honest effort to regain anything that resembles his older playing skills. That deserves some criticism. I am not knocking what he played before Rob Rock took the helm, I am knocking what he didn't do afterwards.

If all the drummers who came up in that scene could no longer play at that level today. Then, Lars would get a pass from me. The fans gave him the money to live a nice life and it just seems it is too much of a hassle for him to spend some extra time and re-learn what he used to play. My belief is that Lars knows the band will still fill those seats all over the world no matter how many corners he cuts in his performances. So why bother right ?

And it's not like the stuff is hard to play....it's really not. You just gotta spend some time practicing to get it dialed in.

Years ago, before the inter-webs and all, I heard rumors that his drumming was spliced together from multiple takes on the AJFA album. On some of the longer songs, he couldn't keep up the pace.

Anyone know if there is any truth to that rumor?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Years ago, before the inter-webs and all, I heard rumors that his drumming was spliced together from multiple takes on the AJFA album. On some of the longer songs, he couldn't keep up the pace.

Anyone know if there is any truth to that rumor?

I'm sure there is a good chance of it. You can see some of that being done on the making of The Black Album DVD. However, in Lars' defense that is not an uncommon practice, happens all the time.

S.D. wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Years ago, before the inter-webs and all, I heard rumors that his drumming was spliced together from multiple takes on the AJFA album. On some of the longer songs, he couldn't keep up the pace.

Anyone know if there is any truth to that rumor?

I'm sure there is a good chance of it. You can see some of that being done on the making of The Black Album DVD. However, in Lars' defense that is not an uncommon practice, happens all the time.

I'm sure it does. I'm not really saying it's good, bad or indifferent. Just wondering if anyone heard or knew of it.

I didn't see Metallica live until they toured for the black album (I was drunk in the parking lot for the Puppets tour with Ozzy) and already by then, they were doing a medley of Justice songs, except for 'One'. And that's probably around the time I starting hearing that rumor. People were saying that they were doing a medley of tunes because Lars couldn't play though whole songs and the studio tracks were tacked together. I dunno. Could have been nothing more than a rumor.

Nowadays Lars does look like he's about to pass out when he plays. He gets red as a beet and veins are popping out all over his forehead.

I've never heard anyone who saw him live say he was very good. He's always been sloppy.

Dark Horseman wrote:

I've never heard anyone who saw him live say he was very good. He's always been sloppy.

I guess it's all a matter of perspective. I mean, he's better than me behind the kit, so there's that. I just know that there's other drummers out there that play rings around him and barely break a sweat. Lars is a double-kick away from a heart attack.

I remember during that black album tour, there was a portion of the show where James would sit behind a second drum kit. He could hold his own.

The whole 2-drum set schtick with Lars running from one to the other during the show and then getting James up there for a "drum battle" was silly as hell. Here was the band who used to make fun of arena rock spectacles being just that.

Don't get me started on that ridiculous Load tour "accident" either...

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The whole 2-drum set schtick with Lars running from one to the other during the show and then getting James up there for a "drum battle" was silly as hell.

Eh, I was easily entertained.

Can we all agree that Lars is better than Peter Criss?

Dark Horseman wrote:

I've never heard anyone who saw him live say he was very good. He's always been sloppy.

I have seen Metallica twice. Both times, I was there for the songs, not individual member performances. Both times, the songs were delivered as I expected them. I was not disappointed and nothing stuck out as sloppy.

I'd love to see how much you guys practiced each day after getting Metallica Rich. Haha.

Eyesore wrote:

I'd love to see how much you guys practiced each day after getting Metallica Rich. Haha.

It may not even be a matter of practice. Maybe he's just changed his style of playing after all these years to something he's more comfortable playing. Not saying it's better or worse, just different. Well, yea, actually I am saying it's worse.

It's definitely worse. Haha. He's more on par with Rick Allen these days. Very simplified.

I guess I compare him to his thrash compatriot drummers. Nick Menza plays circles around him. Bostaph, Hoglan, shoot, Drover might be better.

It's pointless comparing him with his contemporaries, As all mentioned by Dark Horseman plus Charlie Benante, Gar Samuelson, Dave Lombardo and countless others are (were in Gar's case) miles better. He was better than Chris Witchunter from the In The Sign Of/Obsessed By Cruelty era, but even he got better, not worse!

If Dave Mustaine is to be believed (probably not!) Metallica had decided to fire Lars at the end of the European run of the MOP tour. But then the accident happened and everything changed.

Boris2008 wrote:

It's pointless comparing him with his contemporaries, As all mentioned by Dark Horseman plus Charlie Benante, Gar Samuelson, Dave Lombardo and countless others are (were in Gar's case) miles better. He was better than Chris Witchunter from the In The Sign Of/Obsessed By Cruelty era, but even he got better, not worse!

If Dave Mustaine is to be believed (probably not!) Metallica had decided to fire Lars at the end of the European run of the MOP tour. But then the accident happened and everything changed.

I was a fanboy for years, but I never heard that one. Mustaine did claim that the band supposedly were going to kick him out post Kill 'Em All For One Tour with Raven (Tour ended in January of 1984). Supposedly the band wanted to go after Lombardo. Just think, had Kerry King actually joined Megadeth, if available, I wonder if Metallica could have secured Lombardo? Lars was always a talker; he seemed to always know everybody, even back then. He was the band remember most responsible for landing them gigs, getting them on Metal Massacre, probably the one most responsible for changing labels and the band getting signed with Elektra Records, and he was the front runner when it came to doing interviews. He was a natural when it came to all the behind the scenes stuff. I don't know how much of a pull Lars had in getting fellow Danish countrymen Flemming Rasmussen to produce the next Metallica record, but that might have even been a reason to keep him around. Let's face it, we've all heard about how horrible the conditions were like for Metallica when living in New York, waiting for Kill 'Em All to be produced, so maybe staying in Denmark to produce the next record was a much better alternative. I'm guessing their living accommodations were much better?

As I said earlier, Lars for me is essentially someone who loves the music, a total fanboy who loves being in Metallica and certainly in the early days a ball of energy that drove that band forward. Whatever you think of his drumming, there is a lot more to the man than that and I'm not sure that Metallica or Thrash Metal would have been what it was without him.

He really does look like he's about to spontaneously combust Spinal Tap style when he plays now though!

It is known that James and Cliff contemplated firing Lars for his poor drumming just prior to Cliff's death (they were considering Dave Lombardo as his replacement.) It is also known that both Flemming Rasmussen and Bob Rock forced Lars to take drum lessons. Rasmussen had to actually teach Lars what an upbeat was and that drumming wasn't just all fills. These two bits of info have always made me wonder if Lars actually drummed on AJFA. Ultimately, it doesn't matter, and until fairly recently, they refrained from playing anything from that album live.

I've personally always loved Lars' way of using cymbals and accenting certain beats.
In my opinion Lars was the one who brought a certain type of energy and punk attitude to the band. Without him the band would've been a lot less energetic. Plus, I wonder what kind of songs there would've been without the obvious chemistry and magic between Lars and James. They certainly did wonders together.

I remember how I used to laugh at Lars' live drumming style of playing even the simplest rhythms with maximum enthusiasm and facial expressions, but later I begun to appreciate that a lot.

Witchfinder wrote:

It is known that James and Cliff contemplated firing Lars for his poor drumming just prior to Cliff's death (they were considering Dave Lombardo as his replacement.) It is also known that both Flemming Rasmussen and Bob Rock forced Lars to take drum lessons. Rasmussen had to actually teach Lars what an upbeat was and that drumming wasn't just all fills. These two bits of info have always made me wonder if Lars actually drummed on AJFA. Ultimately, it doesn't matter, and until fairly recently, they refrained from playing anything from that album live.

I recall reading Rasmussen saying that he edited the drumming by using then current technology to make every single beat spot on. This might've been in Joel McIver's book about Metallica.

Not sure that they would have been lacking in punk energy with ADDave behind the kit!



But I do think that Lars is too important to Metallica to let go, especially after they lost Cliff

Witchfinder wrote:

Ultimately, it doesn't matter, and until fairly recently, they refrained from playing anything from that album live.

They performed Blackened, ...And Justice For All, One and b-side Breadfan on the Live smurf poo: Binge & Purge Seattle concert from 1989 (during the Justice tour).

I haven't watched it for years so I can't really critique the live vs. studio tracks.

Rami Airola wrote:

In my opinion Lars was the one who brought a certain type of energy and punk attitude to the band. Without him the band would've been a lot less energetic

If you mean "punk" as in not really knowing how to play your instrument then you'd be correct. At least in their formative years.

and of course there was "punk" elements to Metallica and every other thrash band in the early years. Thrash was a combination of punk, NWOBM, and traditional heavy metal stylings.

S.D. wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

Ultimately, it doesn't matter, and until fairly recently, they refrained from playing anything from that album live.

They performed Blackened, ...And Justice For All, One and b-side Breadfan on the Live smurf poo: Binge & Purge Seattle concert from 1989 (during the Justice tour).

I haven't watched it for years so I can't really critique the live vs. studio tracks.

They sure did. I think they dropped the AJFA tracks following this tour and reeled them out only rarely after that.