Legendary rock and metal producer Bob Rock says that of all drummers, The Who’s Keith Moon had the playing style most comparable to that of Metallica’s Lars Ulrich.
Rock was featured as guest during a recent episode of the podcast The Metallica Report, which is a weekly show hosted by two individuals that work within Metallica’s community, Steffan Chirazi and Renée Richardson. During the conversation, Rock recalled that he learned something peculiar — and important — about Ulrich’s drumming style during the S&M performances.
“What we noticed is that the conductor basically works off the drummer, and there’s a natural delay in that because the orchestra’s always behind. But actually, Lars plays to James [Hetfield],” the producer explained.
Rock elaborated that Ulrich uses Hetfield’s guitar playing as the rhythm to base his own playing off of, which is something that Moon did with The Who guitarist Pete Townshend.
“Lars plays to James, that’s why his fills are around the riffs,” Rock continued. “So when you put that into perspective, I think the closest drummer to Lars is Keith Moon, because they play musical drums. It’s not just keeping the beat, it’s everything.”
Rock further noted that there are a couple of other drummers who understand that concept, including Josh Freese, who’s currently touring with Foo Fighters. But, he reiterated that most drummers just play to keep the beat of the song.
The first album Rock worked on with Metallica was their 1991 self-titled record, which catapulted them to a worldwide superpower in both the rock and metal worlds.
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“The thing I immediately noticed is, before me, they recorded a certain way, which is the way Flemming [Rasmussen] recorded. And that’s all they knew, so that is the way they learned how to make records,” Rock reflected.
“When I came in, I just kinda went, ‘That’s not how I know how to make records’… It really comes down to the fact that I was there to help them be the best that they can be.”
Listen to the full podcast below.
Bob Rock Says The Who’s Keith Moon Is the Drummer Whose Style Was Most Comparable to Lars Ulrich
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