In the extremely, extremely unlikely event that Metallica ever dropped drummer and songwriter Lars Ulrich and then decided to carry on anyway, you'd assume Ulrich would pick someone metal. Maybe ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, maybe ex-Megadeth drummer Nick Menza, maybe Gene Hoglan – the list of qualified dudes goes on forever and ever… and they're all wrong.
In an interview with Baltimore's 98 Rock, Ulrich says that his pick would be ex-AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd.
“If I could pick it, if I could hear somebody drum behind [James] Hetfield’s riffs, I’d take Phil Rudd [AC/DC]. Just having his kind of vibe, like what he would do… And he’s been probably my main, biggest source of inspiration when we did the turnaway from the super-progressive stuff, the crazy stuff after ‘Justice,’ when we got into the ‘Black’ album and the ‘Load’ stuff, when it got a little more about the bounce and the riffs and the feel and the groove and all that. Phil Rudd, he’s the top of that pyramid. Hearing Phil Rudd play behind James, that’d be pretty cool.”
Phil Rudd is solid as hell, don't get me wrong, but really? It's not like Metallica's new stuff isn't long and relatively fast, so would Rudd really fit in there? Also Rudd is nine years older than Lars.
Who knows, maybe the dude would usher in a new golden age of Metallica, though the amount those guys are selling in terms of albums and tickets in 2017, I'm not 100% sure there even needs to be a second golden age.
