"He is one of my heroes."
Lars Ulrich said in an interview (Read here ) that he was never very interested in skill. "I'm not Joey Jordison, I'm not Mike Portnoy, and I have nothing but love, respect and admiration for all those guys."
“He’s one of my heroes,” the former Dream Theater drummer told Australia’s The Void in a recent interview (see video below). “I’ll defend him to the end. I say: you don’t need to be a great drummer to be the most important guy in the band. And that’s what I learned from him.”
Portnoy continued: “First of all, I love Lars’ drumming. But you don’t have to be a great drummer to be someone who’s important. Some of my heroes are guys like Lars, or Peter Criss [Kiss], or Ringo Starr [Beatles]. Those guys are my heroes… Those guys are very important to their bands. Lars, obviously, is the leader of Metallica, and he showed me those leadership qualities. But Ringo and Peter Criss, those guys were so important to the chemistry of the bands, they were important personalities in those bands.”
I don't judge drummers based on their technical skill, I judge them based on the overall package and what they bring to the music they're a part of. And what Lars brings to Metallica's music is absolutely invaluable. (...) For me, there's much more to being a good drummer than precision and technique.".
