Metallica Advent Calendar, Day 7: Lars Ulrich's Drumming

We know when you think of holiday cheer, Metallica is the first thing that comes to mind, so we’re doing a Metallica-themed Advent calendar to help put a little metal up your ass as we make our way to Christmas.

Lars Ulrich has always been a controversial figure in the metal community for a lot of reasons. But it took me a long time to learn that Metallica fandom has a real beef with him over his actual drumming talent.

Though Ulrich would be the first to admit he isn’t the most talented drummer in the world and doesn’t really care, that hasn’t stopped Metallica fans, detractors, and even past producers from ripping him to shreds at times.

So is there anything to it? It’s true that, compared to other metal drummers of his time, he’s not necessarily doing anything mind-blowing most of the time; he’s not a technical maestro. But it would be even a disservice to just say he’s more than serviceable, and he certainly doesn’t have to be reinventing the way people play drums. Plus, Ulrich’s true talent has always been in the songwriting arena anyway.

Still, it’s fun to hear the stories of what people truly think of Ulrich. It’s no secret he was still figuring things out even as the band was beginning to reach superstardom, which is honestly pretty incredible. According to Flemming Rasmussen, the producer on Ride the Lightning, he thought Ulrich was “absolutely useless,” essentially having to give him a crash course in the fundamentals of drumming.

And on …And Justice for All, there are apparently “five million edits” of Ulrich’s drumming alone, which has allegedly kept there from being a remastered version that actually features some bass.

For what it’s worth, I’ve never had a problem with Ulrich. In some of Metallica’s live stuff, you can definitely hear some strange tempos and fills that sometimes just don’t sound right, but hey, it’s live music. And to his credit, Ulrich is never trying to be something he’s not. He knows he’s not the most technically sound drummer, but that seems pretty metal too that he’s just out there rocking out most of the time, like we all wish we could be doing.