If Larry left U2 and started his own completely new band...

[Lancemc]

Would it rock?

 

[MrBrau1]

It wouldn't be prog rock.

That would rock.

 

[Lancemc]

It wouldn't be prog rock.

That would rock.

 

[U2girl]

Probably, he likes Led Zeppelin.

 

[Axver]

It would suck, as he's already the biggest dead weight in the band. Since the late eighties, he has been completely worthless, both in terms of drumming talent and musical creativity.

 

[mysterious_jen]

it would rock but with a very serious look on its face.

 

[U2Man]

larry is the only musician in u2 with great technical skills.

 

[Axver]

larry is the only musician in u2 with great technical skills.

Oh yeah, doing fuck-all for 20 years is great technicality.

Now, if we're talking about U2 circa 1981-4, you might have a point, though I'd argue that Edge is the only member of U2 whose creativity and style is really worth a damn.

 

[U2Man]

i was talking about technical skills not creativity and style.

 

[Axver]

i was talking about technical skills not creativity and style.

I know. Didn't you read my post?

Oh yeah, doing fuck-all for 20 years is great technicality.

And in any case, 'style' relates to technical skill.

 

[U2Man]

nope. lots of technical s don't have any style at all.

 

[Axver]

Can you address my point? You said Larry has technical skill. I said he has done fuck-all in the last two decades. He's a worthless drummer with little ability, less style, and no skill.

 

[U2Man]

i'd argue that edge only adopted some kind of style around the elevation tour. his clothing was absolutely hilarious before that.

 

[mysterious_jen]

Can you address my point? You said Larry has technical skill. I said he has done fuck-all in the last two decades. He's a worthless drummer with little ability, less style, and no skill.

ok so who is a drummer with more ability style and skill??

 

[AndrewCowley]

Can you address my point? You said Larry has technical skill. I said he has done fuck-all in the last two decades. He's a worthless drummer with little ability, less style, and no skill.

Edge is the core of U2's sound. There used to be more of a level playing field between Edge, Adam and Larry but it's all Edge now. Larry and Adam must have been happy for the band to evolve that way.

U2 are proof that one musical force in a band is all you need. With Edge creating the sounds he creates on stage is there room for a drummer and bassist to similarly overwhelm your ears?

Perhaps so but I don't think U2 suffer. A greater improvement would come if Bono stopped being a lazy lyricist but that's another debate.

 

[Axver]

ok so who is a drummer with more ability style and skill??

Oh wow, this is easy, especially considering that Larry is one of the least talented drummers out there by any objective measure.

So here's some that blow him out of the water.

Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg oif Mayhem, Arcturus, Age Of Silence, Antestor, and what seems like every second black metal band in history. Even just the text of his nickname has more drumming talent than Larry. Hellhammer owns the drums.

Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree, plus his predecessor, Chris Maitland. Harrison has technical skill oozing out of his ears and a great sense of how to use it to complement the music rather than dominate it. In contrast, Maitland had a gorgeous organic style.

Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater, Transatlantic, OSI, Liquid Tension Experiment, etc. Regardless of what you may think of prog, the man sure can drum.

Neal Peart of Rush. Do I even need to say anything? This guy owns.

Dan Swanö of about 20,000 different bands. Prolific as hell and can play almost anything on almost any instrument under the sun.

Sean Reinert of Gordian Knot, Aghora, and especially Cynic. He was a crucial part of Cynic's groundbreaking Focus album (though Sean Malone's unparalleled bass genius is what really made the rhythm section legendary in my opinion).

Do I need to go on? I've got more. Martin Lopez (ex-Opeth), Andrew Courtney (ex-Pure Reason Revolution), Paul Hester (ex-Crowded House) ... the list is seemingly endless.

 

[mysterious_jen]

paul hester man i miss that guy .

thanks for answering, that gives me something to go on.

and some bands to check out!

 

[gman]

I say, fair play to larry if he can be that crap and can still be in the biggest band on the planet.

 

[Axver]

paul hester man i miss that guy .

thanks for answering, that gives me something to go on.

and some bands to check out!

Heh, most of those, I very much doubt would be of interest to you or the vast majority of this forum, unless you have an interest in very technical - and sometimes quite heavy - forms of music. I dare not use the words "prog" or"metal" here because they don't mean what the average Interferencer thinks they mean, as evidenced by the usual responses I get to "so-and-so is a progressive death metal band".

But do check out Porcupine Tree (especially the album Stupid Dream) and Pure Reason Revolution (only one album, The Dark Third). Great compositions, beautiful music.

 

[U2girl]

Isn't Larry the only one in the band that can really play his instrument ? As in, he had proper musical training ? As for style, I think his marching band roots give his drumming a distinctive militaristic sound. (think War) Skills are one thing, style is another.

He may not be flashy, but his sound works for the band. Kind of like Adam, who is the luckiest guy in the band if technical ability and talent are concerned.

Anyway...the creativity in this band is from the guitar player, and the lyricist. I think a WOW type of bass player or drummer would only take away from the whole "the whole being better than the sum of the parts" philosophy that U2 was always about.

 

[U2Man]

hey ax, how do you rate lars ullrich?

 

[U2Man]

Isn't Larry the only one in the band that can really play his instrument ? As in, he had proper musical training ?

yep.

 

[Axver]

hey ax, how do you rate lars ullrich?

Never listened to much Metallica; thrash metal isn't really my style. The drumming in the eighties stuff seems decent enough. I haven't heard the new material but all I've read has been derogatory, characterising Lars' sound as resembling "drumming on garbage cans".

 

[U2Man]

but he's danish . that's all that matters.

 

[cobl04]

Can you address my point? You said Larry has technical skill. I said he has done fuck-all in the last two decades. He's a worthless drummer with little ability, less style, and no skill.

I just don't really get how you can still be a fan if you so passionately hate a member of the band?

And I hate to bring out the cliches... 'better than the sum of its parts' and all that crap but its so true.

I reckon Larry's fantastic I'd buy an album

 

[junkydog]

if larry started his own band they would be great no doubt.. but they would just get lazy and not push themselves - they'd only do the bare minimum. and they would never do any PR work...

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

The band would rock that's for sure. No bullshit, straight up rock songs with maybe some showing off every now and then to lighten it up a bit. I think the faster songs would have that military aspect a little stronger and the slower ones would have a more Irish drumming feeling to them. It would be quite cool. And the end of many of the songs would all take off like a rocket (like in The Fly, Gone, The Electric Co.), Larry is the best at doing that in U2 I think.

In my opinion one of the best things about Larry is that he is a songwriter as well, he pushes the song to different places I think, Bad is the perfect example of it. But I think he probably needs someone in the band to start it, to have the idea and throw it to the band, after that he gives his color to it.

To say that he doesn't have a style is soooo wrong. And it's such an important factor to the U2 sound. It's one of the things that differentiates them I think.

they'd only do the bare minimum. and they would never do any PR work...

hahaha, that's for sure.

 

[Zoo_Fly]

I think that if Larry formed his own band, he might take his own game up a notch... as in, if it is his band, he's more likely to do something more than he does in U2. He would not be in the background, so to speak. The focus would be more on him, and he'd know that. Therefore, I'm sure he would work at his highest and most creative levels to make sure that it was something good.

That being said, what those levels are or could be is still up for debate. But I'm sure given the chance to really shine in U2, he could still pull something out a la 1983. Lets hope the next album has a more drum-oriented song, or at least one where Larry has the chance to come up with something good (Beach clip 402 maybe?).

The kicker is, some of U2's dullest stuff from, say HTDAAB, could have been a lot better if Larry had of perhaps had more to do. Imagine Crumbs with something other than a standard beat. And perhaps that's Larry's own fault, but maybe it also has to do with being surrounded by Edge and what AndrewCowley mentioned.

That being said, Larry isn't a horrible drummer. We know what he can do, and even when he's in the background with a standard drum beat, the songs still generally work.

Would Larry's own band rock? I think so. Look at some of the stuff from his first band

 

[Lancemc]

Would we hear Larry sing? Ever? Outside of saying he feels numb?

 

[U2Man]

you haven't heard? during zoo tv?