Stone Sour Guitarist Shares Honest Opinion on Metallica’s Lars Ulrich & His Drumming Skills

“It’s not like he’s a spring chicken anymore – let’s be honest.”

During a conversation with Heavy, Stone Sour guitarist Josh Rand talked about Metallica and the band’s drummer Lars Ulrich.Josh said about Lars (via Blabbermouth):

“Here’s the thing. They’re my favorite band. He takes a lot of shit from everybody. For one, it’s not like he’s a spring chicken anymore – let’s be honest. I mean, he’s starting to get up there [in age].

“They play for two and a half hours. They were road dogs for how many years now and how many shows. And everybody goes, ‘Oh, this and that.’ He still had to record those songs.

“So even if you wanna make the argument of, ‘He struggles now to play this or he plays that,’ I’m, like, he still wrote it 30 years ago. And back then, there was no Pro Tools, so he had to play it.

“I think he’s a great drummer. I think he does several unique things in his style that nobody else does that always stuck out to me.”

On This Week in Rock History: Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’ Was Released

Game changing metal record came out 30 years ago this week.

On this week in rock history, Metallica‘s genre defining “Master of Puppets” was released.One of the most celebrated and enduring metal records of all time, it’s hard to imagine an era in which “Master of Puppets” didn’t exist. That, prior to March 3 1986, no one apart from Metallica and their entourage had heard the record.Recorded between September 1 and December 27 in Copenhagen, Metallica didn’t exactly break the mold on their third studio album. Using the same producer, same studio and more-or-less tracklisting structure – fast song, epic song, heavy song, soft song, fast song, slower song, instrumental, fast song – as 1984’s “Ride the Lighting,” (though on “RTL,” the instrumental and final fast song are switched around) “Puppets” was a supreme refinement of a winning formula.

And what a refinement! Even thirty years on, it’s lost none of its power and potency. A skull-crushing master class of metal proficiency, every track on the album is a classic. With unrelenting opener “Battery,” the anthemic title track, and pummeling closer “Damage, Inc.“, Metallica raised the bar for fast, intricate thrash metal. “The Thing That Should Not Be” and “Leper Messiah” were devastatingly heavy while “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” exhibited the band’s burgeoning melodic tendencies.

The band’s major label debut, “Master…” pushed Metallica into public consciousness like never before. Reaching number 29 on the Billboard chart, it was the band’s first record to be certified gold. By 2003, it had been certified six times platinum.

The album’s strength also bagged them an opening slot with Ozzy Osbourne on his 1986 American tour, taking the bay area thrashers into arenas for the first time. At the top of their game, the band were smashing it night after night, converting legions of new fans in the process.

While 1986 looked to be Metallica’s year, it was one that would ultimately end in tragedy. On September 27, bassist Cliff Burton was killed when the band’s bus skidded off the road while on tour in Sweden.

Six weeks later, the band regrouped, with Flotsam and Jetsam‘s Jason Newsted taking up bass playing duties. While the momentum of the unstoppable metal juggernaut that they were building carried them through, the band would latterly note that they did not take the time to properly grieve for Burton’s loss.

Landmark upon its release in 1986, “Master of Puppets” remains an undisputed classic 30 years later. The album that changed the face of metal, it continues to influence generations of heavy music fans, while its songs still form the backbone of Metallica’s live show. Indeed, it’s unsurprising that the title track was the most popular track on Metallica’s fan voted “By Request” tour a couple of years ago.

Here’s to you “Master of Puppets.” As incendiary today as to you were 30 years ago.

Can’t get enough of Metallica’s finest record? Check out our 30th Anniversary review of “Master of Puppets” here.