Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has ruminated on the albums and musician that have significantly impacted his life, praising the songwriting chops of Noel Gallagher.
The stalwart rocker recently sat down with Louder Sound as part of their The Soundtrack Of My Life interview series. The feature saw Ulrich delve into the music that has most profoundly inspired him.
When asked about who he considers his personal songwriting hero, Ulrich definitively declared Noel Gallagher.
“The hardest thing in the world – trust me, we know this first-hand – is to write a simple song,” he mused. “And the shorter and simpler, the harder it is.
“Those great Oasis songs – ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Live Forever’, ‘Supersonic’ – if you hear Noel do them by himself, just guitar and voice, it’s pretty incredible what those songs break down to when you’re that naked and that vulnerable.”
Noel Gallagher is a noted admirer of Lars Ulrich and Metallica. After the band covered Oasis’ 1995 ballad ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ at Manchester Arena back in October 2017, Gallagher sent Ulrich a text, praising the cover.
“It was quite a moment obviously getting all the fans singing along,” Ulrich told NME of the decision to cover the Oasis’ track in the band’s hometown. “It was emotional and felt like the right thing to do for Manchester.”
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This is far from the first time the worlds of Noel Gallagher and Lars Ulrich have collided. During a show in New Jersey in the mid-90s, Ulrich famously filled in as the bands lighting operator.
“I fell in love with the music, so I flew to see them play in New Jersey,” Ulrich recalls. “One thing led to another and I found myself tapping along to the sounds on the lighting board — I guess there were a man short and it was great fun and obviously lots of crazy shenanigans and stories.”
Elsewhere in the Louder Sound feature, Ulrich revealed his five favourite albums of all time; Made In Japan by Deep Purple, Lightning To The Nations by Diamond Head, No Sleep Till Hammersmith by Motörhead, the self-titled Rage Against The Machine debut and Oasis’ Definitely Maybe.
Check out Metallica covering ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ by Oasis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AO238T1vNw&ab_channel=FESTABOAPARA%C3%8DBA
