That bridge on Disposable Heroes is so good. Easily one of Lars’ best grooves.

The fact he doesn't like the ping of ride, yet here we are with St. Anger and its snare with more ping than a faulty internet connection

He doesn't use a ride because he can't play with any finesse. He's all about smash and crash,and that's absolutely ok. Hell,he's in one of the biggest bands ever.

As a drummer, I totally get what he’s saying about the feel of it. I’m just glad that he brought a ride out for Until it Sleeps when they play it live on the current tour

The ride is the leading part of the drum set in styles like jazz. It's also a very important part of drumming and the sound it makes is essential to achieving certain sounds. Play it lightly and it's good for gliding through parts of songs. Hit it hard and it has a deep crash sound with a lot of power. Always use a ride kids.

He does bring out the ride cymbal now and then. He used a ride for their 40th anniversary concert for bleeding me, and fixxxer. I've seen him use a ride even after that show, for bleeding me.

I never expected my personal question (I am the guy at 0:50) to Lars asking him during the meet and greet why he does not use a ride cymbal would be used anywhere on KZfaq. I wonder how you got that footage since the original video of that Meet and Greet is on the Metallica channel, yet unlisted for years. Still one of my favorite moments of my life to meet Metallica in person, especially Lars because he was one of the reasons I started drumming myself. If you got more questions regarding my meet and greet feel free to fire away. Sidenote: Last time he used the ride Cymbal if I am correct on studio version was The Unforgiven III on Death Magnetic if I am correct.

The best thing about drums compared to any other instrument is that you can be completely basic with a snare, kick and hi hats or crazy and have a wall of cymbals and toms around you with 6 pedals hitting anything you can imagine

Every drummer’s different. Over the decades, The most expected sound of a jazz drummer was the ride cymbal. The hi-hat wouldn’t be played as much, typically because of the style and the overall feel that gives it to certain parts. I don’t think we’d need to go for a scientific explanation about that. He definitely doesn’t like the feel of it and their music doesn’t get affected by it. 😊

He used a Ride Cymbal when they recorded the Breadfan cover in early 1988 during the mid section of the song. This was just before they began laying down the justice tracks.

"Until it sleeps" drum beat was so cool when I was a beginner drummer, no way of playing that song without a ride. And yea, ride is not just "ping ping ping", unless it's REALLY thick and heavy, like some Z-Custom ride.

My opinion is that the cymbal he uses now is much louder than a ride cymbal and it’s drowns out a lot of the double bass sound. He can hide behind it

I love the ride cymbal I can't understand how he wouldn't like it.

In an interview with Modern Drummer magazine on June 1987, Lars mentioned that after Metallica finished recording Ride the Lightning, he got a Tama X-Hat mount and used it more than the ride cymbal, as he felt that hi-hats sound a lot heavier.

Lars can play a song like back in black and look like he is in the worst pain

Don't know what was Lars thinking but that daemn KEA ride is haunting me for decades, made me eventually pick up drum sticks and buy a drum kit

Lars always had 2 hi hats when he had his larger kit with 4 toms up front. When he went to two Toms or like we see today, he added a ride cymbal somewhere between 93-95. The last album to have a ride on his kit permanently was ST.ANGER…although he did most recently have a ride when they played some of the All Within My Hands shows a few years back…

2:05 Agree to disagree on Garage Inc. I find it to be one of the most fun Metallica albums. Many of the songs were tracked live, so it has the vibe of a “live” album. They were just having fun, not taking themselves so seriously, and enjoying themselves. I think it’s a great listen and most of their cover versions were improvements on the originals and that’s quite rare.

I play in my Church Band and find myself almost constantly using my medium ride for almost everything. It carries the beat and songs along so smoothly...

As a non-drummer, there's momentum and energy a lightly clasped hi-hat provides that a ride can't replace. There's nowhere in Metallica's music where I say, "He should have used a ride here.", yet when others bands use ride, I don't even question it. It's odd really.

A think a ride cymbal is an absolute must.I always played the ride more than hats.

I love all the drumming on Justice and Black, but I remember even back then to think "why he hates the Ride Cymbals??" It's interesting that my other favorite drummer from that time loves the ride, Dave Lombardo.

Watched him play Unforgiven I with a ride in Hamburg this year. They put the ride to the kit before the song and took it away after it, though 😅

The ride cymbal has evolved over the years. There are plenty of ride cymbals that sound and feel awesome to play.

I actually asked him why he stopped using a ride during a meet&greet 2006...he said it sounded too light and simply not heavy enough for his taste. (I also wanted to know why he wasn't using the 4 high toms anymore as in the early days. he replied that by using 4 toms he'd have the cymbals arranged in a way that would hurt his shoulder while playing)

I can’t believe how much we investigate this band for pretty much everything they do. No other band gets dissected on the level that MetallicA does. Not saying that’s bad, just a weird observation how we obsess over this band.

Same with Phil Rudd… if you don’t need it or just for one song, just hit the bell of a giant Crash

I love the feeling of a ride especially when you treat it like a crash

Lars has enough trouble playing what he has now. Don’t confuse him with another cymbal

Dave Lombardo is my biggest influence in my playing and I love the fast ping ride in a lot of thrash.

He says it confusingly, but he means the FEEL of a ping, not the sound. A "ping feel" probably means that he can't "push through" the cymbal, like hats or crashes-- it's a hard surface that bounces the stick back. He wants every cymbal option to have a mushy feeling under his stick.

Terry Bozzio hasn't used a ride cymbal probably since the Missing Persons records. 40 plus years ago

My PTSD is kicking in, just the mention of St. Anger gives me anxiety. I’m scarred for life from listening to the snare on that album. They should have mixed the snare on that album the way they mixed JN’s bass on Justice, except a few db’s less than that. Maybe even 10 db’s less than that…

Well he was using a ride on S&M too :)

UNTIL IT SLEEPS. He used and played it on this new tour. 72 seasons.

lars used a ride heavily in the St. Anger album, except he used it like he uses the china now, and he put it in the same spot as his typical china, which also happens to be the typical place that a ride cymbal goes for most drummers the cymbal had a dark, washy, heavy sound, so it had the same sort of effect as his china today of sort of just creating a wash of white noise any time in st. anger you hear the cymbals go out except for a somewhat quiet wash of dark noise, that's him going to the ride cymbal

Lars uses a Ride still Live everytime they play Bleeding Me and it has always been this way, thats the only reason you have seen his recent kits with a Ride anywhere. The way he played the Ride on Disposable heroes was perfect and so amazing i cant believe Lars came up with that, wish we could hear more of that type drumming from him, but Lars hasnt played like that SINCE 😂😭

His ride cymbal playing on St anger is great and has character . On load and reload too . This guy is underated for sure . Everyone points how bad he is . But he plays with friggin hetfield and locks with him . Same as portnoy with petrucci , dimebag and vinnie .

I haven't used a crash cymbal in years. Use or not use, it's part of your sound.

what I don’t understand is why, when he’s having his drum tech bring it out for the occasional gig that they play Bleeding Me, that it’s not just a mainstay on his kit?? he BARELY uses that 18” floor tom - the one that he calls the “coffee table” 😂 like?? you’ve got the extra hardware, keep the ride in that little nook between the two floor toms

Speaking of "feel", the feel of his aluminum sticks is completely different than the wood sticks he used pre Load era. Nobody talks about how his playing changed when he made the switch

The first band I noticed where the drummer didn't have a ride was The Cure.

He recently used it just for a live performance of Until it sleeps

if you want to hear what is possible with a ride cymbal in metal, the album somewhere in time by iron maiden is it. there are crazy ride patterns everywhere. heck, the album begins with a crazy ride cymbal pattern.

Until It Sleeps is the only song I hear a ride cymbal

First song that came to mind after the question was Bleeding Me in SM. Such a nice sounding ride

Lars has actually incorporated the ride on this tour, but only has it added to his kit to play songs like until it sleeps and bleeding me. Then he has his drum tech remove it

i looove the straight ride over the shuffled guitar on four horsemen.. when megadeth played four horsemen live in wacken this year, dirk played it shuffled in perfect synchronicity with the guitar, which is probably technically better, but it didnt hit the same way

He usually brings it out to play Until It Sleeps, and you can hear him smashing on the ride cymbal almost like he hates it LOL

Also the Splash cymbal got lost along the way too. The biggest change to Lars sound was when he changed the drum skins to the white, coated heads. Personally, my most favourite Lars drum sound is on the S&M live album. Clear coat heads, splash and ride cymbal all featured. This was the peak of his sound for my ears.

Orange, yellow & red are awesome colours for drums to me. Do you know one drummer who play orange drum set ? I only know Tim Alexander of Primus 1992 with orange drums. Tony Williams & Alvin Pintos with yellow drums. And many drummers with red drums. Also my Sonor are red.

Pretty sure he used one while playing Fixxxer live at the 40th Anniversary show

I bet its like his ode to Kieth Moon or something - who didn't use hi hats. I think its dumb though... compression and release (ying / yang) is part of art which the ride beautifully contrasts with the thrashing abrasive sound of a crash, hats or china. To each their own though.

I can see why he doesn’t use it nowadays. For their 2000s era modern groove metal sound, the ride is not really necessary, compared to say jazz or soft rock. When I played in a similar band I also didn’t bother setting up a ride at live shows. Most of the sounds of a ride you can also get from a big crash anyway, which both of us have in our setup.

He had a ride on his kit for the 40th anniversary shows and when Metallica plays Load/ReLoad songs live now, his tech will come on stage a put one on a clamped boom arm lol

Could you imagine those crash cymbal Parts he plays being played with the ride cymbal? No you can't because that's the way he heard it in his head and that's the better way. Some people just don't like the Ping and they would rather have the heavy washy crash which I agree with

I thought I was the only person that had ever obsessively taken Mental notes on this lol. He did use a ride on the cover of “When a Blind Man Cries” back around 2011-12.

Im glad i got recommended a video bout this . Was wondering for a while why i haven't heard a ride cymbal in a while from Lars, alot of it was on kill em all , for when it was used in Ride the lightning and master of puppets, it was still used awesomely lol. I just love the sound of a good snare , ride and double bass mixture in one when its done right. So damn good. Never saw that clip of someone asking him bout it. I can understand why as a choice if he doesn't use it on newer albums but man i wish he used it on parts of the older songs where he did record em with .

There's ride cymbal on The Memory Remains. In the end. Very noticable and suits that part incredibly.

Like in any art, a musician defines himself or herself not only with what he/she does, but also with what he/she doesn't do. You don't hear Johnny Ramone playing 7th chords for example. Developping your own idiom sometimes means setting up limitations.

one thing to point out that many don’t realize- he actually used a ride cymbal on the song “remember tomorrow” off the hardwired to self destruct deluxe edition

I’m of the opinion that a ride cymbal sonically does not add anything but static to most songs where the vocals are paramount. The Pastor at a church I play at likes a ride but it just obscures the vocal. IMO

Well Keith Moon rarely used his hi hat he used all the cymbals on the whole kit.

It's actually because of an old feud in the band over the naming of the album 'Ride The Lightning'. Lars wanted the album to be called 'Hi-Hats Off To The Lightning'

I watched a live 2023 video recently where he used a ride. Drum tech tan out and set up the ride quickly, then took it off right after: I think the song was Until it Sleeps.

he used one on the helping hands from 2022 to play some acoustic songs, when they changed it to electric, they also changed the ride and thats why the china fell (not well installed) when playing lux aeterna on that presentation

Why did Lars hate a good snare sound on St Anger? 🤷‍♂️😉

Actually last time Lars used a ride cymbal would be St. Anger. He crashed it, but it's a ride cymbal nonetheless (For example verses in Unnamed Feeling. That's a ride cymbal on the record itself). So it's 20 years :D PS: occasionally when performing Bleeding Me, or when they played Fixxxer live, they bring him a ride cymbal (but I actually think it's a crash cymbal that he uses as ride, but there's visibly an additional one being brought for that song)

Thank you for making this video. As a drummer myself, I love the ride cymbal and it's essential to my playing. Therefore, I'm one of those who get agitated when Lars doesn't utilize it in his arsenal. Back when I was a noob Metallica fan, I didn't like Kill 'Em All because it felt dated but fast forward now, it's one of my favourite albums mostly because of the number of times Lars used the ride cymbal. When I listen to a Metallica song, I always imagine a part where a ride cymbal kicks in only to find out there isn't any; I get so disappointed. Bad habit but I can't help it! People can say bad things about Load and Reload but those two albums have some great ride cymbal moments like Until It Sleeps, The Memory Remains, and The Unforgiven II. Ride cymbal will always be my favourite part of drumming, which is why Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) and Dave Lombardo (Slayer) are my two favourite drummers just because they spam the ride cymbal like crazy. Sometimes I wish both the band and the producer would urge Lars to do the same.

I understand what he says in the clip, about not liking the feel, because they have a short decay, they feel abrupt. They can make things feel jagged.

I think the answer is in his cymbal choices. From slightly ajar washy hi hat crunches which he uses to push the music and tempo, to splash, china and crash charring that requires only a single stroke attack to perfectly execute the desired sound. From my viewpoint, Lars choses cymbals that have natural control and decay by nature and design and do not have a vomplex nature that requires further control and technical metigation of which a ride cymbal requires. I have my own knowledge of my own cymbals and whilst i often use the ride for richer and more conplex tonalities i also can easily recognise that nearly every other cymbal in my set up requires no more than a single veolocity stroke attack to exact that cymbals full range and quality yet the ride cymbal played with the same velocity stroke often spasms out of control with a resulting umrocised harmony of overtones and a decay that lasts longer than any other cymbal. Lars has every right to play what he hears and enjoys, but this drum channel also has every reason to highlight the opportunity Lars has neglected also. The ride is widely considered the most complex of cymbals and its sound range exploited by drummers using various techniques and attacks to create its potential sound profile. Ive never heard a song with lars on it that I felt was missing a ride. Its an interesting question. Will i notice now though? I think hes done well without it. Notice, keith moon seldom used hi hats live! Watch his videos and his set up. Ride, and crashes. But no hi hats. Why? He didnt play staccato

He’s been quoted as saying he feels a ride doesn’t give the same type of groove as with hi hats. Strange since his father was really into jazz.

Liberty Devito says a ride cymbal is basically like a spare tire on your car. Sometimes, it's never used.

He had his ride back on for Hamburg in the M72 Tour for Until it Sleeps

Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory and Meteora albums for the drum part almost every songs are not use a ride cymbal except a song called "A Place For My Head" and the other song called "A.06" or "A-Six (Original Long Version)" the intro of Meteora album that they made it but never put it in the album later on it release on 20th anniversary of the album.

Is he worried he's going to turn into Tony Williams? He needn't worry.

I guess he never played a Zildjian Sweet Ride. It's like a 21" crash

He uses it Unforgiven III on Death Magnetic (2008). I have to give it another listen but I swore there another ride cymbal used on that album (Edit) it's only Unforgiven III on that album. It's possibly it's used on Lulu but i'm not brave enough to listen to that again)

Whenever this comes up I think it’s funny how the first two songs ever, Hit The Lights and Four Horseman have a ton of ride in them lol

I think of a ride as more of a sound for a song. For example I've been using all sizes of crashes as a ride or for the "ride" sound for a long time. For me at least it´s just a way of playing a cymbal to get that so that it serves the song.

It’s not the ride that bothers him, it’s the notes in between. 😜

I hate how all he does is use hi-hats now. Like every new Metallica song has him keeping time in the intro, then using them the whole song. Dude needs to bring back the ride.

as you said using heavy sticks on a ride might be tough on his wrists, lars uses aluminium alloy sticks if im correct

Lars said he doesnt like the feel of them. I think he actually meant physically the feeling of hitting it with the stick as compared to crashing a cymbal. Not defending lars here at all, its still a horrible reason lol

Same as Dave Holland of Judas or Phil Rudd of AC/DC. Style.

It's like a guitarist saying "I dont like the D string - never used it." of course you can do what you like but its only holding you back

Maybe the ride cymbal sound actually hurts to his ears because of his hearing damage? Just a thought

He had the ride on until it sleeps in 2023

He recently used a ride on the M72 tour playing a song from Load

Lars is also a producer. any professional producer understands frequency. when you kick into a solo on the guitar, it gets masked by frequencies coming off of a ride if you play on the Ride PERIOD the same goes for choruses and places where Big vocals are happening PERIOD the frequencies from my Ride can wash out frequencies coming from the vocalist. If you actually pay attention to a lot of the songs that you like, there isn't a ride there. Either. or it's very, very sparse. another or part of the drum set that gets smashed way too much by intermediate drummers are crashes.

He uses it on 'Ride' The Lightning during the chorus, ironically

Lars' explanation makes sense except for the fact that his snare drum went "ping ping ping ping ping" for the entirety of St. Anger.

Its hard enough for him to keep time, he doesn't need another distraction

Correction: He does use it on Death Magnetic. Specifically, in The Unforgiven III. You can hear him playing it in 16th notes during the first part of the bridge and the instrumental intro after the orchestral section.

Always wanted to hear him play a song using the bell potion of the ride. Like Pantera and other heavy metal band's. I dont see any cowbell either.

"its strange that a drummer removed an entire sonic option" Keith Moon abbandoned the Hi-hats, now THATS extreme (hes a bomb anyway)

This man is probably the most successful drummer in history...and not exclusively because of his chops as a drummer. I mean, at this stage of his career, he can do whatever he wants. The only reason he's being mocked all the time is because he's damn famous and plays in Metallica. He won the game already.

As an artist he can choose whatever he wants to do. If he doesn’t want to use it let it be. I can’t think of more successful drummer other than Lars.

I can't quite figure out what sticks he's using. Maybe someone knows. But I know that a lot of times when drummers either use sticks with large tips (B) or even turn them around backward, a ride doesn't sound that great. Maybe he simply doesn't enjoy what is a more subtle cymbal like like a ride when he can wail away on a hat.

My thought(s) is that a Ride cymbal would expose some of his more dubious playing. I say this as a Lars Fan btw.