• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Adam Clayton

#101
If you don't like the way Adam Clayton plays, that's your right. There's plenty of "better" players that I can't stand, but other people love. Keeping things tasteful and relatively simple is part of the formula that makes U2 work for millions and millions of fans. Whether you like his playing or not, it's hard to argue with a big pile of platinum records and Grammys - he's obviously doing something right.

The bottom line is, play what's right for the music. Adam Clayton does it every day.
 
#102
Alan Vorse said:
Aren't the post-Joshua Tree albums supposed to be about embracing dance music though?
Click to expand...
They 90's specifically saw the band experiment with dance and electronica, though the aim was to experiment with different music while remaining U2.

So yeah, it's gotta remain rock and roll.
 
#103
EricF said:
The bottom line is, play what's right for the music.
Click to expand...
Agreed. The way Paul McCartney, Bruce Thomas, Andy Rourke, Mike Mills and so many others play whats right for the music.

I recognize that the music of U2 is very important and personal to a lot of people. I have friends who would describe their music as having spiritual qualities. They are a special band and Adam Clayton happens to be their bass player. Could it be that people are singing his praises, simply because he is the bass player in the band that means so much to them?

I even have a handful of favorite songs by them myself, but even the devoted fans I know recognize that in a nearly 30 year career, Clayton's playing has not evolved much past what most young players learn in the first year or two of playing.

As it has been said here: Its all subjective. People can like what they want. I think he's kind of underwhelming. I'm going to go put on Document.

P.S. He also changed the Theme from Mission Impossible from 5/4 to 4/4. That's a no no.:scowl:
 
  • Like
Reactions: codycon96
#104
I used to buy in to some of what the nay-sayers had put out therea about Adam Clayton. However, I love his bass lines and the way he plays.

I watched Bono and the Edge on HBO the other night, and they raved about Adam. You could tell from the way they talked how much esteem they have for him and his ability. It was clear that they felt he kept the band "together" which let the Edge do his thing.

If you haven't seen it, it is a great interview done by Dave ____ of the Eurythmics. Lots of insight in to their music.
 
#105
Alan Vorse said:
I even have a handful of favorite songs by them myself, but even the devoted fans I know recognize that in a nearly 30 year career, Clayton's playing has not evolved much past what most young players learn in the first year or two of playing.
Click to expand...
Maybe if you're counting notes....

Note counters don't like players like Clayton and Sting. Music lovers love them.
 
#106
Philbiker said:
Maybe if you're counting notes....

Note counters don't like players like Clayton and Sting. Music lovers love them.
Click to expand...

Counting notes?

I LOVE Sting, especially the Police and his first few solo records before he became adult contemporary. A very HARMONICALLY and RHYTHMICALLY advanced player. "Walking on the Moon" is probably one of the greatest basslines ever written.
 
#107
Philbiker said:
Maybe if you're counting notes....

Note counters don't like players like Clayton and Sting. Music lovers love them.
Click to expand...

How am I a "note counter"? Throughout this thread, I have REPEATEDLY given examples of solid, supportive, melodic, groove players who play memorable basslines in rock bands similar to U2 who "play for the song."

To say I "count notes" and somehow don't "love music" is offensive.
 
#108
Philbiker said:
Maybe if you're counting notes....

Note counters don't like players like Clayton and Sting. Music lovers love them.
Click to expand...


i can really see where you are coming from, and I agree with you. this board is not representative of the music scene or the general public. Musicians get hailed and put down for no apparent reason (remember those threads about how much flea and jaco and whatnot sucks?)
Adam Clayton is the bass player of a very succesfull band, and people will loathe him just for that. I'm pretty convinced that all those millions of people who bought a U2 album think he's pretty good.
Also there are only 4 guys in U2, so Adma Clayton's bass lines roughly count for 25% of the sound. I think he has done rather well.
 
#109
Is nobody listening to Until the End of the World? I started learning the song recently (it's one of my favourite songs EVER), and it has a monster bassline. Nothing too hard (although working out some of the rhythems and notes took me a while), but the grove is there, and there's plenty of variety in it. And the live version? Even better! ;)
 
#110
SirCanealot said:
Is nobody listening to Until the End of the World? I started learning the song recently (it's one of my favourite songs EVER), and it has a monster bassline. Nothing too hard (although working out some of the rhythems and notes took me a while), but the grove is there, and there's plenty of variety in it. And the live version? Even better! ;)
Click to expand...
Learn "Lemon" next. That bassline kicks ass!
 
#112
I understand that he just "picked up" the bass and never really had a lesson until their 2nd or third album...pretty impressive...he is simplistic, but that is the beauty of what he does....he needs to hold the bottom line so Edge can do his thing....too much and you just have "noise"...I am definately learning that sometimes less is more....do you want alot of fancy work that "gets lost in the mix" or do you want a simple bass line that is VERY pronounced in each song...I will take the later for sure...

Lakland44 - GREAT choice for a first bass - most bass players do not start with a quality of a bass as you are getting....
 
#113
basspraiser said:
I understand that he just "picked up" the bass and never really had a lesson until their 2nd or third album...pretty impressive...he is simplistic, but that is the beauty of what he does....he needs to hold the bottom line so Edge can do his thing....too much and you just have "noise"...I am definately learning that sometimes less is more....do you want alot of fancy work that "gets lost in the mix" or do you want a simple bass line that is VERY pronounced in each song...I will take the later for sure...

Lakland44 - GREAT choice for a first bass - most bass players do not start with a quality of a bass as you are getting....
Click to expand...

hey bro thanks for the comp on the bass im getting...i have saved a few pay checks for this one!!! i want something that i can grow into and not out of (you know what i mean)

here is what i hate...i hate when people say that just becuase i like sting,adam clayton, and guy berryman (coldplay) and other bassists like that i am a wimp...that makes NO SENSE!!!!! i dont listen to music becuase of how fast that band band plays or how much they frickin yell i listen to music to LEARN or to just appreciate theyre music...
dont get me wrong though i aprreciate all rock, underoath, slayer, norma jean, children of bodem, and other hard stuff
i just perfer U2 coldplay, sting and blink 182 and the foo fighters (the bassist from FF also plays a lakland):bassist: :bassist: :bassist:
 
#114
Philbiker said:
Maybe if you're counting notes....

Note counters don't like players like Clayton and Sting. Music lovers love them.
Click to expand...

+1

Listen to "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" off the last album, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb", and tell me that bassline isn't a beautiful thing.

Starts out sounding like a double-bass, with lots of breathing room, a nice powerful overdrive in the middle, and dies down nicely at the end.
 
#116
I think all the members of U2 have a very non-technical, but esquisite ... er ... 'ness' about their music: The drummer (sorry - can't remember his name!) is 'okay', The Edge doesn't play anything too complicated, Adam's basslines are usually very simple and Bono doesn't do anything too technically challenging as far as vocals are concerned.

Whoever it was that started mentioning Adams tone and phrasing though is spot on - that seems to be the 'ethos' of U2's sound: not complicated, but fits together perfectly and sounds fantastic. There's nowt wrong with having more of a passion for quality of note than quantity of note (some of the very funky basslines I've heard Stu Hamm play were very skillful, but quality-of-note wise were awful :bassist:!).
 
#117
U2 is totally about taste, layering, dynamics, and creating emotional "moments" in the music that have little or nothing to do with "chops". And I love and respect them for it.

I read something really interesting about U2 awhile back. Apparently the reason the guitar delay became so much a part of their sound is that when they were first starting out, neither Adam Clayton nor Larry Mullin had a very good time feel (they were literally learning the instruments as they went along) ... Edge was the best guy they had on the time feel, so he would dial in the tempos with the delay and that would provide the subdivisions of the beat and then Adam and Larry would play along with that. And the delay became so much a part of their sound they just stuck with it.

Talk about adapting to maximize your limitations...
 
#118
for all those harshing on adam clayton:

do you honestly think that if Adam Clayton left U2 and an open audition was held that YOU would be chosen to take over his gig?

i doubt it. you would probably over-play or mess with the songs in some other way. U2 fans would riot

he does what he does and he does it well. have some respect!
 
#119
The very best bands in the world all have musicians who know what their roles are within the band, and know exactly what to do to make the very best music they can. In U2, The Edge adds all the colour and atmospherics, and anybody who says he's not a good guitarist, trying writing the parts that he does! It's easy to listen to what's been created, and then say he's crap. Try coming up with it all from scratch.

Larry keeps the beat going, and Adam underpins all that and keeps it chugging along. Doesn't feel the need to be overly fancy or ornate, cos that's Edge's job! Doesn't need to play rhythmically to keep the rhythm going, because that's why Larry's got a heavy right foot and left hand. Isn't technically brilliant, and doesn't play 3,000,000 slapped notes per second, but Adam listens to what's going on, adds exactly what the songs need, and fills the remaining gaps nicely. And that, to me is the sign of the perfect bassist.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back