Overrated bass players

[Bassin']

Hey Paul A-

No you can't take it back and Bill Wyman still doesn't have any technique!!

Just kidding...

[Bassin']

I think the most impressive thing about Geddy Lee is the fact that he can play some incredibly technical bass lines and sing at the same time!! How does he do that?

[basspsycho]

Well,the bassists cant really help the fact that they are sometimes overrated,but I would have to say the most overrated is Sting. Maybe if he didnt sing he would play better,but i dont see where he is fantastic.

[arther daily]

Sting is not over rated. his bass lien are beautiful. not technically brilliant.
he writes basslines that perfectly lead and fit the song...

...but (fair enough) he is a twat.

[ONYX]

OK---I'll throw in my opinion.
Fieldy ( God, I HATE that name !!!!) is not an over-rated bass player. Fieldy is not a bass player. He's simply the guy at stage left who happens to be holding the bass.
Flea is the most over-rated bass player.
Coming in at close seconds is: Nikki Sixx & Gene Simmons. There, I've said it.

[Brad Johnson]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by basspsycho:
Well,the bassists cant really help the fact that they are sometimes overrated,but I would have to say the most overrated is Sting. Maybe if he didnt sing he would play better,but i dont see where he is fantastic.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Admittedly, Sting is no Fieldy but have you heard any of the work he did in a little obscure trio called The Police? Just wondering. He didn't play like he plays now, but either way the guy's a highly accomplished bassist. Sting knows how to right a bassline.

[Tom_Hamilton_fan]

i heard Bryan say that tom hamilton was over-rated. well i'm sorry but i have to dissagree with this statement. tom hamilton is shadowed by tyler and perry, so there's now great spotlight for him to over-rate in.
i like hamilton and i hope he lives forever, and i hope METALLICA DIES!!!!
kick me off napster you bastards.....

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sitting on a castle, on the floor with Ezmeralda, waiting for the geezer, captain crunch to come around. felling suicidal 'cos of certain situations, hanging from the stairs too long, i think i'm coming down....it's time to CRASH!!!

[Tom_Hamilton_fan]

oh i also hate korn too.....so screw the skippy poofter slapping Feildy!!!
(i hope i spelt his name right but quite frankly i don't give two F**KING S**TS!)


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sitting on a castle, on the floor with Ezmeralda, waiting for the geezer, captain crunch to come around. felling suicidal 'cos of certain situations, hanging from the stairs too long, i think i'm coming down....it's time to CRASH!!!

[arther daily]

Sting does write a damned good bassline. (Walking on the Moon or Can't Stand losing you, for example)

Flea is overrated, yes. Maybe that's cuase RHCP are popular with a lot of people who aren't musicians, but who "know that he plays good bass". If you get my picture?

Flea does write some incredibly beautiful lines. Example: Funky Monks (go check it out again) in fact practicallty everything on BSSM is spot on (in my humble opinion).

Korn: I've never heard 'em. I'll make an effort and get back to you lot on that one.

I like the description above: "person on stage who holds the bass", there is so many people out there like that.

It really 'gets my goat' when I see a band on TV and the bass player is playing a naff line with absoultley no groove whatsoever.

I find myself thinking 'Christ, I'd be embaressed if I even came out with cr*p like that in a jam'.

Still their on TV and I aint. (MTV-s*ck-ass wh*res, all of 'em. I just don't wanna be rich and famous!)

[arther daily]

OK, How about Billy Sheenan.

Look at his hair for Gods sake! And as for that nasty bass of his, with the scooped out fret board. Need I say more?


Always judge a book by it's cover.

[qbert00001]

ok ok ok...
this is getting out of control if you ask me. all of a sudden it seems like we're attacking people if they like a certain player. let's all remember one simple thing: music is subjective, and really shouldn't be the basis for attacking anyone. of course if they proceed to curse you out as a result of it, be my guest. but anyways back to bassists specifically: first i's ask how do we define a 'great' player? someone who is flawless in technique? someone who is innovative? someone who is all that and a bag of chips? my analogy here goes into the guitarist field. most people agree that stevie ray was pretty amazing; now look at kenny wayne sheppard, who may be the second coming of stevie in style and sound and technique, but a LOT of people don't like kenny. the argument: anyone can be taught to play like someone else. so what makes someone good and another person who plays just like them bad? a big part of what i see here has to do with preference (for instance a hardcore jazz fan is probably not going to like a striaght up rock bassist) but it also has to do with what the individual bassist is doing. sure a guy might not be technically perfect, or not be the most innovative player ever, but we all can't be jaco. if we were, life would be perfect and all wars would cease and peace would reign over all the earth...

so that's my two cents. i guess to sum it up i'll say that i may like some guys that someone else doesn't and they may think my least favorite bassist is god, but does it matter? no. i feel that posts like this never lead to anything constructive but rather serve to promote the 'holier than thou' ego for the purists who feel it's fashionable to frown upon those who like bassists other than jaco, miller, clarke, or whoever the 'greatest bassist' of the day might be.

[This message has been edited by qbert00001 (edited June 06, 2000).]

[SpectorBag]

Les Claypool
Paul Mcartney
Gene Simmons
Fieldy( he is reaaallllly bad)
Flea


Just to name a few

[arther daily]

i was only kidding about billy sheehan. hence the "always judge a book" comment.sorry.

surely being overated is down to the mass public opinion of a player, not the players themselves?

Slash, would be a perfect example of an overated guitarist.

Same goes for Flea in the arena of bass, true he is pretty nifty on the bass and writes some lovely music (my opinion), but he is "overated", as everyone and their dog think he's the best thing since sliced bread. I think this is purely to his exposure as a bassist.

Is being overated is a natural progression from being popular for playing an instrument well or innovatively?

Would we consider Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton overated?

Claptout (errr...I mean Clapton...) was called God at one point...was he not?

maybe...possibly...just a little overated?

I cant really say as I havent met my maker yet...time will tell.

I'm sure God either plays the blues or Alanis Morrisette covers?

[Licketysplit]

only one name comes to mind- Fieldy

[pedro]

&gt;and Pedro, How many times you seen Wyman live?? for me about 20 or so times since the sixties,not just with the stones but,Willy and the poorboys,and the rythm kings.
Let me tell you,old Bill is pretty damn good!

Paul A, sorry I didn't see your post. I'm sorry to say, I've never seen Wyman live. I think I may have mislead you into believing I don't appreciate Wyman's playing. Nothing could be further from the truth. I grew up listening to his playing and cut my teeth on early Stones back when I started in 1964. Never the less, I've never thought of Wyman as playing particularly difficult basslines. Good ones, yes. Difficult no. Wyman himself has stated that he doesn't like busy bass playing. He purposefully keeps his lines simple and tasteful.

[Munjibunga]

Is Tina Weymouth any good? I can't tell ... I've been watching the Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" DVD, and it really bugs me the way the fingers on her left hand flail around like that. She seems to have a groove, but her technique is suspect. She was having trouble with articulating note lengths on a couple of the tunes. Help me out here.

[bassdork]

For all of you who think Victor Wooten is overrated you need to look the word up. Vic and all of the other "greats" mentioned on the forum certainly live up to their reputations. As for overrated try these on; Fieldy, Peanut, that guy from rage and the king of all hacks that ugly naked little turd FLEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RAM]

Okay people....I've only seen one person name Michael Anthony of Van Halen as being overrated. I have to disagree...in my mind, he's not overrated. Just horribly bad at bass! Groove? I don't think he knows the meaning of the word. Feel? Only if you believe building a bass after your favorite bar room poison and beating the poor thing up to get fans to cheer counts!!! What is this?

I remember when For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge came out, he talked about the bassline on "Poundcake" which is steady 16th notes played through the entire song like he is the only bassist out there who can play it! Or write something like that! Hard to play? Perhaps it's hard to play fast 16th notes for 4 minutes, but is that a good bass line? Does it have a groove? Did he mix it up? Did he add any melody or harmony? Couldn't you have done the exact same thing (excuse me for this) on a keyboard?

The guy is just a horrible bass player. To ever consider him as good, let alone great, is something that noone should ever do...and he must stop doing it himself!!!

[Brad Johnson]

Originally posted by pedro
&gt;and Pedro, How many times you seen Wyman live?? for me about 20 or so times since the sixties,not just with the stones but,Willy and the poorboys,and the rythm kings.
Let me tell you,old Bill is pretty damn good!

Paul A, sorry I didn't see your post. I'm sorry to say, I've never seen Wyman live. I think I may have mislead you into believing I don't appreciate Wyman's playing. Nothing could be further from the truth. I grew up listening to his playing and cut my teeth on early Stones back when I started in 1964. Never the less, I've never thought of Wyman as playing particularly difficult basslines. Good ones, yes. Difficult no. Wyman himself has stated that he doesn't like busy bass playing. He purposefully keeps his lines simple and tasteful.

No misleading on your part, Pedro. Your post says you though Macca overshadowed others who had more to offer...like Bill. That's what we call a compliment

[Brad Johnson]

Originally posted by RAM
Okay people....I've only seen one person name Michael Anthony of Van Halen as being overrated. I have to disagree...in my mind, he's not overrated. Just horribly bad at bass! Groove? I don't think he knows the meaning of the word. Feel? Only if you believe building a bass after your favorite bar room poison and beating the poor thing up to get fans to cheer counts!!! What is this?

I remember when For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge came out, he talked about the bassline on "Poundcake" which is steady 16th notes played through the entire song like he is the only bassist out there who can play it! Or write something like that! Hard to play? Perhaps it's hard to play fast 16th notes for 4 minutes, but is that a good bass line? Does it have a groove? Did he mix it up? Did he add any melody or harmony? Couldn't you have done the exact same thing (excuse me for this) on a keyboard?

The guy is just a horrible bass player. To ever consider him as good, let alone great, is something that noone should ever do...and he must stop doing it himself!!!

C'mon RAM, Michael Anthony (aka The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Planet(tm) ) really pounds out those lines with conviction. Could anyone else do it?...could I do it for all those years?... I tell myself no but when the check cleared...