LogFAQs > #975481058

He's constantly thrased by the metal community, the music community and casual fans alike for his inconsistent live performances, his amateurish mistakes and timekeeping, etc. Common arguments like "you put lars in any other band and he'd fucking bomb so hard", "literally any session musician is better than him", "metallica would be better with a better drummer", etc.

I don't agree, or think it even matters. For one thing, what does it matter how Lars would do in another band? He's only ever played for Metallica. That's his one job, all he's ever wanted to do. So comparing how he'd do in other bands is redundant. If it's pointless to talk about putting a metal drummer in a jazz band, it's pointless to talk about putting Lars in a not-Metallica band.

For another, how completely unique does he sound? I swear you can give me a list of 10 other great metal session drummers and I could not distinguish their sound at all. Even some of the most technically proficient and genius metal drummers can be hard to pinpoint. But I can tell its a Lars Ulrich sample within 4 bars. There is no one on earth who sounds like that. That's an amazing quality in a musician. Like no one criticises Bob Dylan for lacking singing chops, but you can spot Bob Dylan singing any day.

One of my favourite things about his drumming is that it seems like he inadvertently introduces weird time signatures because he just like...doesn't know how to keep a straight 4/4 beat. And somehow that becomes part of the song like the other band members couldn't be bothered arguing with him, and so you have that unique metallica sound. I know that sounds sarcastic, but I genuinely love it. Lars drums in a weird way that you wouldn't teach, and I like that.

Shout out to Ringo Star, Ginger Baker and Meg White for similar reasons.