Albums that make you rethink bass

[KeithKlaxwell]

To name a few...

Brian Eno - Music for Film
D'Angelo - Voodoo
Joni Mitchell - Hejira
Wayne Krantz - Greenwich Mean
Chaka Khan - Whatchu Gonna Do For Me
Marvin Gaye - What's Goin On

[KeithKlaxwell]

Originally Posted by Shakin-Slim

J.J. Cale's album 'Naturally'. There are a couple of bassists on that album, including Carl Radle, and they are experts of holding it all together, keeping it down home and sometimes surprising you with a tasty wee lick.

Clapton has said the rhythm section with Radle was the best one he ever worked with.

[SlowMike]

Moving Pictures

Before I started playing the bass, I never paid a lot of attention to bass (or any instrument)--I focused on singing/lyrics and the overall sound in a piece of music. When I started researching the bass I listened to a lot of stuff and gained a whole new appreciation for bassists and drummers--funny how it changed my music tastes almost immediately in some cases. Moving Pictures floored me the first time I focused on Geddy (and Peart to a lesser extent). I still listen to that album at least once a week and I pick up something new almost every listen.

[socialleper]

Victor Wooten - What Did He Say

I had been playing bass for a while already and when I heard this it made me rethink the whole instrument. It made me see it as more than just the thing that adds low end to the guitar. I've never been able to fully implement that, I don't know if I have the head for it, but it made me want to be more.
Plus it was a "bass album" that wasn't super serious. A lot of solo bass players take themselves far too seriously.

[TheSeabass16]

The two albums I can think of right off the top of my head are Close to the Edge by Yes and Technique by New Order.

Can't really say anything else about Squire's playing that hasn't been said for over 40 years, but I remember hearing Roundabout, and thinking what a great bassline it was, so I went and gave Close to the Edger a listen before I heard any other Yes material, and it blew my mind away. Everything, from his fretwork to his sound, it was a complete 180 degree turn from what I had listened to beforehand.

As far as Technique, I never heard another bass player have such a prominent role on a song like Peter Hook does on "Round and Round" and "Vanishing Point". The way he basically plays synth lines on a bass in my opinion was very creative, and his lines still sound fresh and amazing today. It gave me a few lessons on how to play "lead bass"

[mozilla314]

Stanley Clarke's and Jaco's first solo albums changed the
game for me.

[IronLung1986]

"Quartet" by Carles Benavent.

[R Baer]

Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans was a game changer for me. The bass was no longer just holding down the bottom, but became an instrument providing a lot of the melodies. Listened to that album for 6 months straight and wore the needle out on my player!

[TreetarDed]

My top three probably have to be:

Moving Pictures - Rush
This album completely changed the way I think of music and is still as influential now as it was when I first heard it. Pretty self explanatory, I'm sure everyone has heard this one countless times.

Individual Thought Patterns - Death
Anyone and everyone who thinks metal bass is underdeveloped, primitive and basic compared to other genres needs to listen to this album NOW. Steve Digiorgio takes fretless and metal bass to a whole new level on this album.

Powerslave - Iron Maiden
While Steve Harris may not be the most technical bass player in the world, he knows how to hold a groove and the melodic bass fills will be implanted in my memory for the rest of my life.

All three of these albums changed my perspective in terms of tone as well. I could barely pick out the bass track on an album before I started playing and I thought all bass tone was a big, undefined boom that was meant to always sit in the background unheard. Geddy's grit and attack, Digiorgio's "muah" of the fretless bass and the clanky triplets of Steve Harris all influence my gear purchasing decisions nowadays.

[low2groove]

I'm not counting Any jazz or solo artist, only rock.

1960's
The Beatles,
Abbey Road, & Sgt. Peppers
The Who,

1970's
Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Boston, Steely Dan, Rush, Kansas,

1980's
XTC, Rush, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Level 42,

1990's
Red hot chili peppers, Primus, 311, Phish,

2000's
Tears for fears, "everybody loves a happy ending"
YES, The Ladder

If you haven't heard the last two albums, you should. They're probably the bands best efforts to date.

I'm also sure I missed some great ones but after 45 years playing I'm just glad I remember the notes

[sevenorchids]

Originally Posted by Roscoe East

- Mick Karn on The Waking Hour by Dali's Car

So sorry he is no longer with us.

[St Drogo]

Death from above 1979 - You're a woman and i'm a machine

Never thought you could have a band with just a drummer and a bassist, and be this good. Same goes for Om, but I heard these guys first

[Birdsonge]

Orion by Metallica was the reason i started playing bass, Cliff just blew my mind. He was so visceral, simple yet sophisticated.


Sleep/Om- Al Cisneros perfectly fit the mold of what i wanted to be as a bassist. This monstrous jamming, meandering monster that lurks behind the guitar, weaving around the drums. So good.

Led Zeppelin- I didn't really get Zeppelin as a kid. But then i became a teenager, and everything that entailed, and they just, opened up to me. Everything about Zeppelin changed how i felt about music, including Jonesy's bass playing.

Everytime i hear a new artist, or a song i've never heard, i feel like my understanding of music, and the instruments involved, grows, so this is the very tip of the iceberg. I also love Jaco, Charles Mingus, and Wooten.

[zfunkman]

Originally Posted by Ric5

Early Cream, Rush, and Yes

+1!

[zfunkman]

Originally Posted by Presto2112

Hemispheres killer bass on every track. The La Villa strangiato bass solo gets me every time.

Ditto!

[HeavyJazz77]

Michael Manring - Thonk

[Shakin-Slim]

D'Angelo's 'Voodoo' has probably been the biggest influence on me. Along with similar Soulquarian releases, such as Badu's 'Mama's Gun' etc.

[hentor]

Bozzio, Torn, Karn - Polytown
Tony Levin - World Diary

Both made me rethink my overall tone, note choice and bass as a melodic instrument to drive a composition.

[GregC]

Originally Posted by mr.mow

Double nickels on the dime by the minutemen, mike watt is just there, out there, around it, above it, below it.

This! Blew my mind when it came out. Especially since I was immersed in punk rock at the time, and what Watt did was way outside the mainstream of that genre.

[White Beard]

I don't know if this what you're looking for, but...

There are a lot of records from when I was younger that blew my mind, as far as bass performance, and a lot of them have been mentioned previously. But, I've found out that if all I'm listening to are bass parts and bass players, then all I'm going to sound like are bass players that do their thing better than I can do their thing. I'm not saying it's not worth learning, it's just not going to make me rethink the instrument, because I'm already playing all the different ways that other people have.

I love figuring out vocal melodies on pop/rock records: "We are the Champions" and "She's Leaving Home" were two of my first. "She's Leaving Home," in particular has subtle phrasing changes in every verse that can throw you for a loop. In the same vien, the bridge on "Milestones" is highly syncopated, but when you hum it to yourself, it's always on beat. It'll throw you for a loop.

Led Zeppelin III uses a lot of open tuned guitars and slides that made me think about trying that. The Stones' Beggar's Banquet got me to drop D and use a capo to put a perfect fifth below on bottom that you can build chords on to use the bass as a low pitched comping instrument. That's how I do "Street Fightin' Man."

By no means am I advocating the dismissal of common bass practices. But, in order to make me focus on all of the things that bass intruments are not known for, I tend to look at other instruments for inspiration. To me, that rethinks the instrument in my mind more than listening to the things that are virtuosic, but which I have evidence of having been done before.

I hope that all made sense.