Fuel Drumming Respect
I’m a first four albums guy and drummer. AJFA is my favorite album of all time, but I’ve respected every decision the band has made, even if I didn’t love the outcome.
For all the drumming hate that Lars gets, it struck me today that Lars is the Ringo of heavy music. That is: he plays for the song, and gets it right most of the time.
Case in point: Fuel. I dig the song okay, and it sounds to me like he was entering that era that we see in Some Kind of Monster where he was trying to add more drumming variety to what he considered an otherwise boring or stock song. There are SO MANY DRUM CHANGES in the song over basically like three parts.
If you run the thought experiment of what the song would sound like with just one or two of the drum parts primarily throughout, let’s say the half time feel before the verse with the high guitar or the double bass chorus: the song isn’t anywhere near as interesting or good!
Here’s to a world with less Lars hate and more celebration of his creativity to serve and orchestrate the song.