James Hetfield originally thought Lars Ulrich was a “terrible drummer”
Most of modern metal history has been paved by the example that Metallica set on their first records. Through the songwriting power of James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, the thrash metal legends sculpted the first masterpieces of thrash metal, easily going through different time signatures and breakneck tempos. When they first got the ball rolling, Hetfield was less than thrilled with the band that he was working with.
After losing his mother when he was 16, Hetfield remained fairly reserved as a teenager, working in a sticker factory and writing different riffs out of his car in his downtime. While he initially started in the band Leather Charm, it wasn’t until his buddy Hugh Tanner called him up, saying that he was meeting a drummer in town.
Coming from Denmark, Ulrich was immersed in the world of heavy metal when he met Hetfield. After initially being a fan of all sorts of music, the sounds of acts like Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, and Saxon set his world on fire. While Ulrich wanted nothing more than to be in a band, Hetfield wasn’t ready to commit based on what he heard.
As he recalls to Terry L Karges, Hetfield knew that Ulrich needed some work, saying, “I called him up, we got an audition, and he was terrible. But his spirit and his motivation were spectacular. We said, ‘You’re not what we’re looking for.’” It also didn’t help to see Ulrich’s drum setup, which comprised pieces of the kit being five different colours and his cymbal falling over every time he hit it.
While Hetfield would have been more than happy to find another gig, Ulrich had something that he needed at the time: a spot on a compilation record. When talking to different power players in the scene, Ulrich had been friendly with future metal mogul Brian Slagel, who had been putting together the bands he would include on his first album, Metal Massacre.
Since Ulrich had the connections, Hetfield knew that it was too good an opportunity to pass up, telling Behind the Music, “Lars literally had a spot on an album but no band. So I thought, ‘Hmmm’. I figured that it was either my desire or maybe greed to get everything going that I called him and said, ‘Yeah, we’ll hook up.’”
Performing all of the instruments but the drums, Hetfield laid down the basis of what would become ‘Hit the Lights’ onto a cassette and worked on it with Ulrich. After handing it into Slagel for the compilation, the band was rounded out by Ron McGovny on bass and Dave Mustaine on guitar, bringing with him the beginnings of other Metallica classics like ‘The Four Horsemen’.
Given Ulrich’s subpar musical ability, Hetfield dialled in his abilities as a rhythm guitarist, saying that his role in the group was to play the drums on the guitar. Those days slogging away on that cassette recorder ended up paying off in spades, with ‘Hit The Lights’ later becoming the first song on their debut release Kill Em All.
Regardless of what Hetfield thought of Ulrich’s playing at the start of their career, nothing could replace his determination to become a part of one of the biggest bands in the world.
