Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong on Metallica’s Lars Ulrich: ‘He Has a Really Unorthodox Way of Playing’

Drummer Tre Cool also likened Lars to a “heavy metal muppet” for his “infectious” energy.

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong praised Lars Ulrich for his “unorthodox” way of playing, especially highlighting the pocket Metallica’s drummer has with James Hetfield.Lars tends to get a lot of flak for some of his playing (with the snare drum on “St. Anger” being often presented as the main offender), which tends to completely disregard his role as a key driving force behind the world’s most successful metal band. And while Lars may not be able to please everybody, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong definitely seems to be a fan.

Speaking to Howard Stern in a recent interview to commemorate the release of the pop-punk icons’ latest outing “Saviors”, Armstrong characterized Lars’ approach to drumming as “creative” adding that Lars himself is a “great” drummer (via Louder):

“Lars has a really unorthodox way of playing. I think he’s a really creative drummer. I think as far as the metal drummers of his genre, even up until now, people that were influenced by Metallica, I think there is something very studious about the way other people play.”

“But I think that the way that him and James Hetfield play together is so just in lockstep. His drum fills are completely unique to the way Lars plays. I really dig the way Lars plays. He’s a great drummer.”

Green Day drummer Tre Cool chimed in, saying:

“And his energy is infectious. He’s like a heavy metal muppet.”

Many rock musicians have been speaking up in defense of Lars over the past year or so, especially after Gojira drummer Mario Duplantier said that he’s “tired” of people dumping on the Metallica drummer for various perceived reasons and called for bringing some “justice” for him.

Mike Portnoy, widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and proficient metal drummers in today’s scene, said last year that Lars is “so tremendously important to the drum world” and that he admired the Metallica drummer for leading the band and shaping the band’s songwriting, producing, and merchandising decisions, adding:

“And the way he led Metallica – and still does to this day – was something that had a huge impact on me. When I was coming up with Dream Theater, I wanted to be that type of drummer, that [is] hands-on with everything and had control over what you were doing.

“His drumming was groundbreaking. The drumming on ‘Kill ‘Em All’ and ‘Ride the Lightning’ and ‘Master of Puppets’, ‘…and Justice For All’ – the drumming on those albums had a huge huge impact on me, and still does to this day. And I can’t state how important he is to drumming and the metal world in general.”