lars ulrich

BLACK SABBATH’s BILL WARD Pays Tribute To METALLICA’s LARS ULRICH: He ‘Is an Exceptional Drummer’

On this weekend's edition of his radio show "Rock 50", legendary BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward paid tribute to METALLICA's Lars Ulrich. He said: "Lars is an exceptional drummer. He's spiritually sound. I really like that. "A lot of the paths that Lars has passed through I've travelled myself. And I ended up with being able to take whatever my abilities are, and I was able to utilize that in whatever music we did with SABBATH or we're doing with my own bands now, or if I jam out with anybody, I just play whatever shows up. So it's, like, 'This is what I've got.' But I can remember going through a period over 20, probably 28, 25 or 26 years ago, where I stopped competing, so I had to find out what I could do and make good use of it. And it sounds like Lars has reached that settling ground as well. And I think he does such a good job of it. "His drum creations have brought the sound of METALLICA to the very edge of metal spearhead, and he's worthy of much praise. He's inspirational and a must-listen for the students. So go ahead, students. If you are learning drums or need to learn the new techniques and stuff like that, listen to Lars, man. He's got some really good stuff that you can learn from." After airing several METALLICA songs — including "Enter Sandman", "Master Of Puppets", "Until It Sleeps" and "All Nightmare Long" — Ward said: "There are so many things, drum-wise, in all of those songs that are departure points, where other drummers can look at it and go, 'Well, this didn't exist before.' Then Lars created it and we can all listen to it and go, 'Wow!' We can nick some stuff as well, you know. [Laughs] But I love the guy. I think he's just absolutely incredible." He continued: "I sighed a deep sigh of relief when I heard [METALLICA's] 'black' album. Everything musically had seemed to be distorted feng shui until I heard Lars and METALLICA landing firmly with a statement that announced, 'This way.' And that's how it felt." Ward added: "You know where the music scene was during the early '80s. Things were kind of, like, 'Oh, we've got this band, and we've got that going on.' And I was in bad shape. I was coming off SABBATH and we'd been through all the SABBATH years and touring and grinding. And so it was 1980 and I was just waking up into a new life, I guess, and I was listening around, looking around for music, and [a short time later] I heard a couple of METALLICA's early albums and then I heard the 'black' album, and I thought, 'Oh my god.' And it seemed to be like that was… it had the same effect that the 'white' album, THE BEATLES' 'white' album had on me. METALLICA's 'black' album, when I heard that and I heard Lars' playing, and I just was, like, you know, 'Wow! Something really neat's been accomplished here.' It pointed, 'This way, guys. This is the way we're going.' And it seemed like there was a multitude of music that followed that, and we've got this incredible heavy metal thing that we have today."

METALLICA’s LARS ULRICH On MOGWAI’s GLASTONBURY Comments: ‘Huh? What? Who Are You?

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich says that the band's isn't bothered by the negative feedback to its upcoming appearance at this year's Glastonbury, explaining that he and his bandmates are "respectful" of the fact that METALLICA is the first metal act to ever headline the event in the festival's 44-year history. A petition was launched online last month calling for the removal of METALLICA as Glastonbury headliners after it was announced that frontman James Hetfield will be hosting a new series about bear hunting on the History channel. In addition, drummer Martin Bulloch of Scottish post-rock icons MOGWAI described METALLICA as "shite," while multi-instrumentalist Barry Burns added: "I can't wait to hear that guy [referring to Ulrich] play the drums again — unbelievably bad." Ulrich tells U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine that METALLICA is able to deflect negative comments from naysayers, explaining (see video below): "Glastonbury is like the Holy Grail in England, and we're respectful to that. But if somebody sits there and talks about petitions or what some other guy says, there's a point that it just becomes ridiculous. "We're fairly thick-skinned. Obviously if Mick Jagger [of THE ROLLING STONES] has something to say, or Alex Turner [of ARCTIC MONKEYS], or the nice guys in KASABIAN, it's cool. But if some guy in some other band… it's like, 'Huh? What? Who are you?'" METALLICA will close the show at Glastonbury on Saturday, June 28. Other headliners include ARCADE FIRE and KASABIAN. During a recent interview with the BBC Radio 1's "Rock Show", Ulrich spoke further about the criticism METALLICA has received for its appearance at Glastonbury, saying: "The fact that everyone's got an opinion I'll take as a good thing because it means that people still care and are still interested and we still have one foot in relevance of some sort. It's comforting that 33 years into a career you can still manage to stir up a little bit. "Glastonbury is the biggest, greatest festival on this planet and we're headlining Saturday night. "Bring it on. We're going to show up and have fun, but all the hoopla is interesting." According to The Pulse Of Radio, Glastonbury is a very laid-back type of festival, with more of a hippie/indie vibe than most, which is why there has been so much controversy over METALLICA playing the show in the first place. Mick Jagger of THE ROLLING STONES — who headlined the festival last year — recently shared his opinion of METALLICA headlining Glastonbury, saying: "I've seen them live and they're going to be great." Jagger added that his band had a "great time" headlining the event.

LARS ULRICH Is ‘Unbelievably Bad’ On Drums And METALLICA ‘Is Shite,’ Say Scottish Post-Rock Icons MOGWAI

Scottish post-rock icons MOGWAI have slammed METALLICA as "shite," claiming that they don't understand the controversy surrounding METALLICA being the first metal artist to headline Glastonbury in the U.K. festival's 44-year history. The members of MOGWAI, who are set to perform at the same time as METALLICA at this year's festival, gave their opinion of the heavy metal giants during a recent interview with Gigwise. "I can't wait to hear that guy [presumably referring to Lars Ulrich. — Ed.] play the drums again — unbelievably bad," said multi-instrumentalist Barry Burns. "He's terrible." Singer Stuart Braitwaite added: "I just can't wait until we go all quiet and you can hear 'Enter Sandman' in the background, because we're on at the same time. I don't really see the fuss. They're a pretty big rock band and it's a pretty big rock festival." When put to the band that the METALLICA's booking had proven controversial with apprehensive Glastonbury punters, MOGWAI drummer Martin Bulloch opined, “Because they’re shite.” Mick Jagger of THE ROLLING STONES — who headlined the festival last year — recently shared his opinion of METALLICA headlining Glastonbury, saying: "I've seen them live and they're going to be great." Jagger added that his band had a "great time" headlining the event.