Are you proud of what you did almost 20 years ago? For Lars Ulrich , if the subject is the snare drum sound on the title track of Metallica , St. Anger , the answer is definitely yes.
The frequently debated topic of the sound, frowned upon by some drummers and Metallica fans, doesn't cause Ulrich to spend sleepless nights worrying about his decision, and he expressed this during an interview with Eddie Trunk on his show, Trunk Nation , stating, "I stand by it 100%. Because at that moment, that was the truth."
In an interview with Tone-Talk , producer Bob Rock stated that the drummer would not go back on his decision. "I'm not blaming him, it was basically about, if you can understand a concept, that was the sound of the drums when they were making the album."
When asked how the sound emerged during the album's production, the drummer says, "I'm always looking ahead, always thinking about the next thing. Whether it's Metallica thinking about the future, or my personal life, or relationships, whatever I'm doing. I'm always looking ahead."
“James was playing a riff in the control room. And then I ran over there. And I was like, ‘I need to put a beat behind that,’” Lars recounts. “I ran to the studio and sat down and played some beats over the riff so as not to lose the energy of that moment, and I forgot to plug in the snare drum. And then when we were listening to it again, I was like, ‘Wow! That sound kind of looks like a riff, and it sounds strangely different and kind of cool.’ And then I kind of left the snare drum unplugged.”
Listen below to "St. Anger" by Metallica.
