Was Lars Ulrich really right about Metallica?

Question

I try so hard to like Lars because I get that it is becoming a trend to hate on him. I try to look for some positives to his drumming and honestly I just don't see it. That isn't relevant to the question though. Lars Ulrich himself said that if they were auditioning bass players today and Cliff Burton came...

Answer 1

Well you have to consider that Lars, circa 2012, is talkin' not Lars circa 1981.
Metallica is at a point FAR different than they were at in 1981.
At the time Ron McGovney fit the bill....til they saw Cliff. All of a sudden wonderboy Ron, James' good friend, has gotta go! But they cut him with ♪NO REMORSE! NO REGRET♪ etc.

In 1981 the guys didn't see themselves someday playing poppy stuff that worked for some single mom out in Nebraska, or grandma. They were out to destroy. Thus Cliff fit the bill.
Metallica, NOW, is a different creature altogether. Just the same, Cliff was a BIG R.E.M fan so who's to say, if he tried out now, he wouldn't make the cut??

Personally I don't like Lars, the public figure. I don't know him *personally*. For all I know he might REALLY be a dick, or just be a guy who has a knack for saying dick-ish stuff. Mustaine's bio makes Lars out to be a 101% prick. I hear from drummers that his playing is nothing to write home about. Maybe so, I wouldn't know since I'm not a drummer. At the end of the day, he's helping to run a multimillion corporation called "Metallica". Sad truth, kids, is that you don't run multimillion dollar corporations being all soft & fuzzy. Look at Gene Simmons of KISS. Major prick, but he never has to worry about if he'll make enough next payday like you & me.

Answer 2

Lars was great in the day but his skills have diminished and the Napster thing really made him a target. Without Lars there is no Metallica!

Answer 3

Lars and Hetfield do most of the writing for metallica
they wrote the song Hit the lights before anyone else came along

Without Cliff or Mustaine metallica would have been only slightly different