Lars Ulrich commented, in an interview with the website Classic Rock , on what he considers the best albums of all time, and the list is surprising: Made In Japan ( Deep Purple ), Lightning To The Nations ( Diamond Head ), No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith ( Motörhead ), Definitely Maybe ( Oasis ), and the self-titled album by Rage Against The Machine . Explaining his choice, the Metallica drummer expressed:
“These [albums] are timeless to me. I gravitate between them, depending on my mood. I would say that in the last year or so, Rage Against The Machine has spoken to me more than any other band.”
The musician also revealed that the first concert he ever attended was by Deep Purple and that Ritchie Blackmore is his guitar hero. Lars comments: “I was nine years old and I can still close my eyes and see him picking up the black and white Stratocaster and playing it with his foot or banging it against the PA speakers.” As for the song “Smoke On The Water” by Deep Purple, it's considered a true anthem for the Metallica drummer.
In an interview with Rolling Stone , Lars Ulrich discussed his 15 favorite metal albums, and Diamond Head 's Lightning To The Nations was, of course, on the list. Diamond Head was the band that influenced him to form his own, as he reveals:
“I ended up spending the summer of 1981 with the vocalist and guitarist, Sean [ Harris ] and Brian [ Tatler ], living in their living room, sleeping on the couch and hanging out with them. I went back to California and wanted to start a band.”
Furthermore, Lars shares that he first Motörhead 's Overkill Overkill , he said: “I had never heard anything that sounded like that. It blew my mind. And that kind of energy continued – it was so raw.”
Metallica's drummer has repeatedly demonstrated in interviews his passion for bands like Diamond Head, Motörhead, and Deep Purple. Some may be surprised when the musician mentions bands like Oasis and Rage Against the Machine, but Lars Ulrich grew up listening to jazz and some rock bands that his father liked, which partly shaped his musical taste.
Regarding this, the musician added: "Everyone has heard me talk endlessly about the Motörheads, the Diamond Heads, and the Iron Maidens of this world, but I have a great appreciation for many musical genres."
According to Metallica's drummer, Noel Gallagher of Oasis is the best songwriter. Ulrich doesn't hold back in praising the Oasis guitarist: "Those great Oasis songs – 'Wonderwall', 'Live Forever', 'Supersonic' – if you hear Noel doing them alone, just with his guitar and voice, it's incredible how those songs transform."
Lars is also a big fan of the band Rage Against The Machine. Regarding the band, he comments: “With Rage Against the Machine, each of their albums is, for me, simply essential. In their first two albums, there’s a youthful and incredibly antagonistic energy, but in terms of creating music and rationalizing everything that this band represents in my mind, that’s where everything reached its peak. Everything was maximized, and that’s where everything came together on a more potent level,” concludes the musician.
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