I have no knowledge of drumming, but I keep hearing even Metallica fans say he sucks. Is that true?

I like him. I mean he just does what he needs to do. I've been listening to quite a lot of Metallica lately and haven't noticed any negative aspect about the drumming. Rather, it simply doesn't stand out. It's just there, and that's preferable to sloppy or shitty drummers trying to play protagonist. Ideal drumming supports and compliments the music, and accentuates the melodies.

>>127154052 (OP)
he's good by being bad, what I men by that. by playing "weird" and basic he makes hetfield's playing stand out even more.
if metallica had a "good" drummer they wouldn't sound the same, they'd sound like another cookie cutter metal band.

Saw metallica live in 2006 and he did kept getting out of rhythm, hammett flabbed notes too. But they made Hetfield stand out with their "faults"

>>127154052 (OP)
he hasn't correctly played the double bass drum parts at the end of "one" since like the early 90s. I dont think he practices anymore outside of warming up for studio sessions or live shows.

>>127154113
that's a pretty grim assessment, truthfully

He was good at thrash, but he's too meat and potatoes for groovetallica, so any time they try being midtempotallica his stiffness and simplicity makes them dull

>>127154113
Kirk has always sucked. The worst intonation imagineable.

>>127154052 (OP)
He was a simple but great drummer in the 80s to early 90s. Metallica's music in their prime was brilliant but also had a "bread & butter" accessibility to it, and Lars' drumming was a part of that. He was fine in the studio from Load thru Death Magnetic, though of course the horrible snare on St. Anger was his idea. On the last two albums, especially 72 Seasons, his studio drumming has gotten very boring.

His live drumming has gotten progressively shittier in the late 90s to the point that for almost 20 years now, it's like he's barely even trying. I think people are exaggerating saying he can't even keep time, but his cymbal use is really bland and his fills are terrible. He basically only ever hits the hi hat and snare.

>>127154258
>I think people are exaggerating saying he can't even keep time
He's always been a very sloppy drummer. Even in the 80s his tempo fluctuated live more than any other band of their size.

>>127154052 (OP)
Yes, he was what the band needed but he wasn't a good drummer. Plenty of people were dogshit or weren't great at their instrument but still made an impact. Lars was responsible for bringing the band together and happened to have a drum kit so that position was filled. Lars had some songs spliced and edited, in a time when you had to physically do it on an actual tape recording instead of on a computer, because he wasn't technical, he wasn't proficient at his instrument, but he was at the right place at the right time and made a living off of a subpar talent. He was no tre cool, mike portnoy, joey jordison, david sandstrom, people you can listen to and hear someone with skill, with chops, who have an understanding of their instrument and how to use it.

>>127154052 (OP)
He's not bad, his sense of arrangement was above reproach for the longest time, maybe up to St Anger (lots of good drumming on that album despite the fact nu metal is not his natural style).

Death Magnetic onward his skills have been sliding. 72 Season is all middle of the road 4-to-the-floor drum beats in midtempo range, and due to his lack of skill he is stuck there now. Due to his lack of technical finesse, he cannot do 16th note beats anymore. He lazily favour snare flams ever bar instead of tasteful drum fills. The china spamming covers up a lagging right hand. Sampled triggers of the snare and kick mask inconsistent accents and transients.

When he plays live I can almost hear joint mobility issues in his shoulders and elbows. Rehab and resistance training would help. He chokes the kick, sits too low and forward, and this may contribute to his constant tempo fluctuations and rushing. For all intents and purposes, he is just shy of senior citizen age now, and all this doesn't matter anymore if he doesn't take active measures to rectify his situation.

It's an autistic take, but I prefer discussing this with thought rather than some shitposting response by the usual peanut brains here.

>>127154113
>>127154258
>>127154377
Only albums (including EPs and live ones) matter, not shows. If he plays aptly for the releases, then he's an apt drummer. End of.

>>127154496
Since the advent of pro tools that means fuckall.
>ok guys after take 5 I managed to play in time with the chorus, ctrl + v that for the other choruses >>127154496

>>127154377
>lots of good drumming on that album despite the fact nu metal is not his natural style
i think this gets overlooked. le trash can snare aside, he doesn't do a bad job on st anger even if the songs themselves are too long and plodding. his playing is the least of the album's problems.
before more trash can snare posts are made, i just wish it was just a bit lower in the mix, it's not as distracting after a few listens but it's just riding that line on being too annoying for it's own good

>>127154496
Apologist mindset.

>>127154867
Shoot me Again and All Within my Hands have some interesting patterns, despite the cut and paste editing. Some Kind of Monster too. He can't really replicate the beats live (check out Skom live in 2004), it's not his style.

Main problem is, he has regressed technically and still has the Phil Rudd beat he developed in 1990 but instead of hard rock, it doesn't work for metal.

>>127154052 (OP)
he's a great drummer
you try to come up with all the drum parts in and justice for all
now has he kept his skills up to this day
definitely not
and at his current state when you consider the competition, he's technically not a great drummer
but definitely not in the bottom percentage
so no he's not a bad drummer

and then when you compare to all drummers as a whole, he's actually quite a great drummer

>>127154052 (OP)
Yeah, he's in Metallica.

>>127154052 (OP)
He used to have good creative ideas and a distinct style. When you listen to the classic 4 (5) Metallica records, the drumming is very good. But he can't really execute those ideas that well. The drumming on the albums is tight, but how much of it is due to the producers painstakingly cutting up and rearranging the tapes for the drumming to be in time? It was such a problem on ...And Justice For All (the most "technical" Metallica album), that the tapes turned into a Frankenstein mess that's practically unremasterable after so much time has passed.

>>127155278
My guy, the Spotify standard of the album is a 2018 remaster.

He was proficient back in the 80s but I don't know, once they made that transition to the black album, it seems he also greatly simplified his style to the point that he sounds lazy now.

Maybe their mainstream success convinced him there's no point in being autistically proficient when people don't care/like that double bass drum sound from thrash coupled with complicated fills. So he adopted this basic syncopated style since the black album, he does this minimalistic snare hit with some bass drum syncopation and some cymbal sprinkles on top.

>>127155421
Guess they were successful in squeezing something out of it. Sad they didn't fix the fucking bass.

>>127155513
It's actually hearable, esp. during the slower guitar parts and loud on the headphones.

>>127154963
I'm a Metallica apologist through and through.

>>127155607
It's barely audible even on the isolated track. No way you're hearing it in the full mix.

>>127154113
this is the most retarded post I've ever read, and that's coming from an oldfag

>>127154052 (OP)
Eh, still marginally better than Nicko whose been stuck in the same beat since Brave new world.

You don't become the biggest metal band ever without everyone being good
Lars at least was a good drummer back when Metallica mattered

>>127154052 (OP)
No he's not and his drummingnis used as an excuse for people to obscure his shitty character and all the Gene Simmonsey things he did and above all, the selling out of Metallica.

>>127154236
You are so edgy dude

>>127157848
He's right, Kirk Hammett is one of the worst famous guitarists out there ever. Just type 'kirk hammett fail compilation" on Youtube, it's fascinating. You can be a good composer but an awful musician, just like you can be a good musician but a terrible composer. Composers back in the old days wouldn't play all their instruments, sure it's not a value judgement ; it's just an objective remark that Kirk Hammett is a dogshit musician, guitarist whatever.

>>127154052 (OP)
Technically he's pretty bad, so many better drummers out there that can play his old shit better than he ever could. But he was one of the first and his drumstyle fits 'tellica pretty well. He's like metal Meg White.

>>127154052 (OP)
Hammett might be the only actually musically talented person in the band. Grim.

I always thought people are too harsh on him. Then I saw his performance on the last Black Sabbath concert.

>>127158586
Naw the new native bassist with braids they hired is above even bob rock in musicianshit.

>>127154496
>not shows
Well shows do matter a lot considering the vast vast majority of Metallica's performances as a band are at live shows. Also, Metallica professionally release an insane amount of live recordings now, not as albums but as videos on their official channel. So even under your retard logic it still matters.

Make up your own mind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yHJBDeshPA

>>127154377
>his sense of arrangement was above reproach for the longest time
This is a crucial element to Metallica's success. Their songwriting skills (up to and including 1991) were top notch. They wrote long songs that were dense enough with ideas to justify their length and masterfully transition between sections. Just look at "Master of Puppets", the way it slooowly builds back up after the interlude. It's brilliant. Some say they overdid it on Justice but I disagree.

On Load/Reload the songs were long again but they weren't structured as well anymore. Instead they would just go into these aimless jams that were usually just kinda lame. Then St. Anger had probably the worst arrangements of their discography, copy/paste to the point of repeating verses wholesale. The title track and "Some Kind of Monster", ironically both of which were singles, are both just clusterfucks in that regard. Death Magnetic actually had pretty great arrangements but they've gotten more bland since then.

>>127154052 (OP)
Im not a drummer so I dont know what im talking about but he's got his own unique feel..everyone complains because his style is simple and loose but you have to admit you can immediately tell when Lars is behind the kit

He could of been a better tennis player, maybe not as good as his dad, but close.

>>127154052 (OP)
He's average when he puts some effort, but his ego makes him think that he's too famous to give a shit about playing correctly.

I saw him live maybe 10 yrs ago now and the timing issues were so bad I was shocked. Rushing everything like a 16 year old in a garage band. That night, he was not a good drummer.

>>127154052 (OP)
by any means fucking no
he was great
he had such a nice energetic beat and his sound is iconic tama shit
yes he lost some of his drumming especially after the 1990s although up till anger release it was still fine
in particular he lost his proper use of the double bass thus being pretty musical with it by giving accents and following james riff
he kinda got it back again a little here and there even to this day
but still he got old and lot of stuff and dynamics he lost it whether it's for physiological reasons or just self indulgence or just negligence whatever
with time you should acknowledge that only losers talk shit about lars
he makes them seethe to this very day 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI9B6tqtaBg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV_cX5Qrfnk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7Dueo5voxk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6GK8B5QJzg

>>127154113
>metallica had a "good" drummer they wouldn't sound the same, they'd sound like another cookie cutter metal band.
That's the best way to put it. Hetfield is an incredibly underrated rhythm guitarist (which is an already underrated role in music) and a more flashy drummer would just take away from that. It's the same reason Robert Trujillo doesn't play the flashy kind of baselines he did in his previous bands; because anything too complex would take away from the whole pounding rhythm thing that Metallica does so well.

>>127154052 (OP)
He's the typical boring german guy who views everything he does as a strict duty and a job. No joy or enthusiasm but pragmatism. And in his free time he looks out for persnickety things to sue bc it's in his german veins

>>127158586
hammets solos have sounded like technical exercises from the very beginning. only poison and motley crue lead guitarists are shittier

yeah he’s pretty rubbish. has always devoted more energy to being a promoter and tard wrangler than a musician.

>>127160727
>new
He's been around longer than any bass player they've had

>>127154052 (OP)
He was the man back in the 80’s and early 90’s, but got sloppy over time and now has now recently regained some of his chops. Seattle 89’ is him in peak form.