The band Lars Ulrich wasn’t good enough to play with: “Somebody more qualified”
Despite the world all having its own individual opinions and tastes, it’s remarkable that when asked to compile a list of the greatest rock drummers of all time, the same names tend to always float towards the top.
Yes, there’s no denying that the likes of John Bonham and Keith Moon are great, and there’s a good reason that these two tend to occupy a place in the top five of any list at the very least. However, because all of the people who compile said lists have all got these different tastes, you’d expect them to be a bit more diverse in their selections.
Even further down these lists are the same names, and often in a relatively similar order, only further amplifying the lack of different opinions dominating the conversation about who the greatest drummers of all time are. Granted, while some people probably aren’t as into the band’s revolutionary heavy metal stylings, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich does frequently find himself getting a mention slightly lower down the list, and you have to question why this is the case.
He’s perhaps not as impressive as the aforementioned Bonham or Moon, but what he offered to the band’s early records was such a perfect fit, and the aggression with which he played his instrument only added to the overall intensity of the band’s work.
However, there’s always the question of whether he would have been able to fit into another band, or if his brilliance was simply a case of finding himself involved in the right project. If you were to ask Ulrich himself, he’d argue that there’s a good reason as to why he doesn’t find himself occupying the same spots reserved for the regularly selected greats, and his lack of versatility would play a big part in it.
After the sudden and tragic passing of Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins in 2022, a tribute concert was held to honour his illustrious career, with plenty of high-profile acts having performed. Ulrich was invited along to perform alongside Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, and while he was thrilled to have been involved, there was an invite he was almost relieved to have never received.
During an interview on the Howard Stern Show shortly after the event, Ulrich mused over the idea of taking the place of another departed drummer as part of the concert, with there being a vacant position left as a result of the death of Rush’s Neil Peart.
However, the fact that Rush opted to bring on board Grohl, Tool’s Danny Carey and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith made the Metallica man realise how out of his depth he would have been, “[but] it would take a lot of rehearsal, a lot of prep. ‘2112’ would probably be too much of a bite of the apple for me”.
Given his credentials, Ulrich probably would have been able to manage it, given how highly regarded he is, but perhaps as a fan of Rush, knowing that he’d have to fill the shoes of Peart would have been the bigger task, and his perceived inferiority when compared to someone of Peart’s stature would have been hard to ignore in the moment.
