Just “once an asshole, always an asshole” thing I’m guessing. I did recently watch the documentary on the making of St Anger and can confirm he was certainly an asshole, but so what
That documentary is hilarious lol, the guys in Metallica are absolute man-children. It was also funny seeing the level of diligence that they put into their songwriting, only for the end product to be St. Anger
Well they are 22 years older now than they were then, and no longer have any substance issues, and no longer have to make music in an “all Nu Metal” market.
I’m sure, that now, they are more mature at age 60. In fact it shows because all their recent performances are so tight and well executed I’m assuming they spend most of their time practicing.
Maybe, who knows. theyve been on one of their biggest tours ever, i actually went to the seattle one in august last year and it was amazing and over the top. i think they are pretty well in the final phase of metallica, and im just hoping it lasts another 10 years.
It's not a 2025 example but much more recent than Napster was him whining about the idea of apologizing to Newstead on the basis that Jason was the one who quit. Nevermind that it was part of the other 2 realizing they drove Jason away with shitty treatment.
You forgot a shitty drummer. The only drummer who gets worse with time and practice.
But don’t forget many people had their concert that costs $100+ go south because the drummer is doing his own thing or doesn’t want to play the song the rest of the band started so he plays whatever song he wants. Or, when the beat switches in spots it’s not supposed to and makes the song disjointed. I’ve seen them 4 times and he’s shit live. I quit spending money on them after that; been almost 30 years now and he’s still shit.
Lol, I remember in my youth in the late 80s, early 90s, the running joke was he wasn’t even the best drummer in the band. That would be James Hetfield.
He actually never practiced prior to the 72 Seasons era. He's improved greatly. I'd recommend catching the current tour if you can, even if you get nosebleeds at a discount.
It's just that, even if he never touches a drum kit on his down time, between writing/recording albums and playing many, many global tours over several decades, you'd think he would...suck less. It actually kinda blows my mind.
Honestly if you go to a Metallica show in 2025 and you don't have a good time watching 60 year old dudes play some of the best thrash metal at high octane, you might be the problem at this point. Lars has definitely gotten better but he's not incredible. He gives it everything he's got though and it's a great time.
Their last great album came out 30+ years ago, it’s too late for him to improve and for anyone to care. Metallica will always be one of the greatest bands of all time, and Lars will always be one of the most mediocre drummers of all time. Nothing will change that.
1) He's very much the business leader of Metallica, and was very anti-Napster in the 90s. Everyone can have their own opinion on privacy vs artists rights, but when a band from the 80's that got big on bootlegging becoming a big commercial success into the 90's, then turned around and was anti-internet piracy in the 00
s bothered a lot of people.
2) He's a shit drummer. People will forgive you for stuff if you're talented, but Lars just isn't. Doesn't help that the Napster thing happened in 2000, and their next album was the very poorly received St. Anger.
I will never understand the choice to go with an open snare on St Anger, it just makes his drumming stand out too much. It’s like the complete opposite of the bass mixing on And Justice for All
Yeah the way he went about handling Napster was not the greatest - I'm sure even he'd admit that. And while he's certainly not winning any drumming awards these days, he actually practices and puts a lot of work into his drumming these days, which he didn't before. I think social media exaggerates his lack of skills.
One thing is certain, they definitely wouldn't be where they are today without him.
Absolutely. Lars is always good on album, and he used to be good live. Now, he’s good on album but he’s been shit live for 30 years. He started losing it in the early 90s. GNR/Metallica was the last tour he was any decent on.
he's a good writer, and he sounds good on their first 4 albums because it's recorded in a studio -- and especially on AJFA, they spliced together numerous takes to make it sound good. but he just cant do it live.
Neither of this things make him an asshole, like at all. I know absolutely nothing about him for the record. However, just basing it on these 2 facts ain't it.
Lars is a serviceable drummer. He's written some great music, but his physical/technical capabilities are lacking amongst peers in his genre of the time. I'm not saying he can't compete with the drummers now, I'm saying he was mediocre in the 80s and 90s. He's learned and grown as a drummer, but a great drummer he is, and was, not.
Don't read this as written by someone who hates Metallica, because that would be incorrect. I love (most of) their music. Every band has dips - they're not perfect. But they were my gateway band into metal, and they have some objectively timeless songs and pieces.
We are allowed to be critical of things we love and realize things for what they are. Would Metallica be better off without Lars? I doubt it because he's had a heavy hand in shaping their music since the beginning. Does Metallica need a better drummer? No. Lars does well enough, and without him, the band might have shuttered in their early days, particularly after they booted Dave Mustaine or after the death of Cliff Burton. Lars is part of the glue that kept them together, focused, and successful to where they are today.
Tl:dr - I love Metallica, Lars not a great drummer
He doesn’t rehearse or practice and he charges thousands of dollars
Both of those are untrue. He's been practicing ever since 72 Seasons, and I think you would be hard pressed to find a stadium tour with lower pricing than theirs. I paid $300 for two shows in June. $150 per show? In today's market, that ain't bad.
I’m from a third world country where the minimum wage is x20 lower than the US.
When I saw Metallica, I was charged the equivalent to $700 USD per ticket (for a general admission standing area), and the motherfucker botched a dozen songs.
A hundred other bands record their live albums here, like Slipknot, Therion, Haggard, even Metallica in the past.
But nowadays the man can’t be arsed to do his job properly, while gaining dozens of millions of dollars for it. They should’ve kicked him out and stuck with Joey Jordison. His ghost can play drums better than sober Lars. I can play better than tennis boy Lars.
idk man have you seen that little butt wiggle move he does when he stands up behind the drum kit? I'd put that at least as high as whatever we're mad at Elisabeth Moss for
Damn she's a scientologist? Had to scroll too far to find this. That sucks. Wasn't she in handmaid's tale? It just seems... odd. Is brand a scientologist?
Something is happening because instead of doing what most musicians do which is get better and start playing more intricate versions of their songs he just gets more and more simple. If you watch older live shows then watch newer live shows of the same song you'll notice that Lars' parts are dumbed down. Far less double bass, far less speed, far less punch. It's not an age thing either, this has been going on for decades at this point.
And there's that classic video where they're all rehearsing and he literally forgets his own parts to songs constantly. I'm honestly curious if it's some kind of neurological thing because he was actually pretty good back in the day
No he's just not good, has never been good. That was a video of him for like rock band or something and he kept asking the people to rewind the clip over and over because he couldn't keep up with his very simple beat
I dunno, I heard him cover Green Day’s song American Idiot somewhat recently and there’s a few parts in that song where all he had to do was play quarter notes on the bass drum in time and he couldn’t even do that right.
He was a good drummer live back in the day. But for the last 30 years at least he’s needed to edit dozens of takes in the studio to sound good on Metallica’s records.
I’m not saying I’m a better drummer than Lars Ulrich. I sure as shit would be if it was my sole profession for 45 years though lol
She was raised in scientology. I have more empathy for people like her, as opposed to those who join as adults. It would be scary and take a lot of courage to leave.
She was born into a Scientologist family. Maybe there’s more, but from that alone I’m inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt since she didn’t have a choice in that.
She's been avidly supportive though. She's done bizarre interviews about it. At some point as an adult you become aware of the world and responsible for your actions.
I was talking about you, not what she said. She hasn't exactly been quiet about it recently. You just as easily as I did have googled it and seen multiple interviews with different people and publications. Not to mention the several publications who have written about her and her religious views. Quit being lazy.
Organized religion is different from an actual cult. And promoting an exploitative cult to the public is different from being a practicing religious person or, as you passively put it, just being in one.
You can be involved in a church without giving them tons of money, shoot, you don't even have to be registered in a system somewhere - unlike Scientology.
Scientology is a different beast. It's an actual organization that forces people to pay exorbitant amounts of money and exploits children for their labor. It's not like it's one of two bad apples, this is how they all function.
She's in her forties and could do anything she wants with the money she has. But she chooses to avidly promote an abusive cult.
Religions are just cults that have been aroud long enough to become culturally appropriate. Their charismatic leader is long dead and martyred.
And if you dont think the catholic church actively hid and enable pedophile priests, I have a bridge to sell you. Thats not a few bad apples, thats systemic and organised from the top.
Ok I'm not going to continue arguing this with you. Here's all I will say:
If sexually abusing children was part of the rules of Catholicism, to the point that every single Catholic person knew about, and agreed to participate in, and condoned it... Would you still think a person who did interviews praising Catholicism was a good and decent person?
I think we agree on a lot of things, i just draw the line between accepted and non accepted behavior in a different place., I just find supporting any organization that systematically supports pedophiles abhorrent. By now every catholic knows about the priests, knows about the schools in Canada, and still supports them with donations on Sunday.
I dont see a difference between imprisoning native Canadian children and Shelly miscavige.
I dont see a difference between sea org and the inquisition.
All religions are delusion, and drawing a line between cult and religion is to draw a line between war and famine.
I don't remember much about the movie, other than Diddy was hilarious in it. I can't imagine watching it today, though, except out of morbid curiosity.
Lumping Lars in with rapists and a scientologist is some bullshit. You can have opinions on his drumming or if you think he's an asshole, but there needs to be a line between that and what the other people have done.
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u/ProfessorMarth 22h ago
Don't forget about Elisabeth Moss and Lars Ulrich