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Are Bass Albums Boring?

#41
I tend to agree with the OP for the most part... I really have to be in the mood to listen to bass player's albums and I generally use them more for inspiration on technique than anything, not to say they can't inspire in other levels, but that's my purpose for them. I tend to feel they would fly right over the average non-musician listener's head.

I just skimmed through the thread so far so pardon me if I repeat anything and I also do not claim to have heard ALL bass player's albums or even a lot of them... I speak only on what I've heard.

My favorite player is Richard Bona... And this is one of the biggest reasons why I love the guy... His albums are about songs and songwriting and you really have to listen and dig deep to hear how much of a master of the instrument he is. Guys like him are a musical experience to listen to and not just a bass experience.

But I also understand why someone who spends 99% of his/her playing life backing people would feel the need to just self-express and if that mean ripping on every song then more power to them!
 
#42
plangentmusic said:
The Stanley Clarke "brown" album is a great one -- another example of the bass being featured within great tunes. Some of his other albums -- not so much.

Other exceptions ...

Sailing the Sea of Cheese.

PARTS of Jaco's solo album. (I'm actually not crazy about all the music on it.)

Some of John Paul Jones' work.

And hey -- check it out -- a silly little pop tune from the 70's, with a bassist band leader. BEAUTIFUL , inventive, clever unpretentious bass playing. Mixed high and a crucial part of the song. THAT'S the stuff that does it for me.
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Man, that took me way down memory lane listening to that clip and yes, your right, superb bass line :bassist:
(funny though, how when I was 13 l watching that originally I was more interested in the girls dancing in the crowd....how things have changed...:p...)
 
#43
Viktor Krauss's two albums are excellent too I think.
They are, as all bassists albums I really like,"albums by bassists" rather than "bass solo albums".
Same goes for steve swallows albums which are amongst my favorite albums. period.


carles benavent makes nice albums too.

Skuli sverrisson's albums are very interesting also.

In contrast; I very much dislike the recent album by yiorgos fakanas "interspirit".
That one was one of the major disappointments I can remember as far as cd are concerned.
 
#45
Let's not confuse an album that has a bassist as the band leader with a solo bass album.

Guys like Dave Holland, Michael Formanek, Mingus and Jaco to me are really just great musicians/composers that happen to play the bass. Composition is the key and not pyrotechnic although all of the guys at this level certainly have the skill to do whatever they want on the intrument.

I really dig Victor Wooten both as a man and a musician but on some of the solo stuff, it becomes more like an exercise. Maybe it's because it's way beyond my abilities and once I get past the wow factor, I can be left wanting. I'll still buys his records and go to his shows but his music does not move me like Jimmy Haslip does because he's a great player that never steps on the song. Just like it was mentioned earlier, when Victor plays the support role like he does on the Flecktones, it's hard to beat his creativity.

So I guess to make a short story, long, I prefer bass playing to be a part of the composition.
 
#47
Meh to each their own. I'll take the other side of the road and say I enjoy it all. I try to listen to each song without a notion of ... Oh man its a bass solo album and its all gonna be wankery ... or vice versa. Each song can either stand on its own or not.

Its cool if thats how you feel however, I think a lot of times people like to tote the "I don't like bass in any role other then a backing instrument" like a badge. Not unlike a lot of other things. (string number, playing above the 5th fret) ;)
 
#48
I enjoy both: bass as a part of the composition or the bass "being" the composition with some other instruments around. But I have to admit that beyond the wow factor of a basssolo album, I tend to listen less often... Therefore I was surprised by Tal Wilkenfeld's Transformation: I bought the album without hearing stuff before and expected bass being in front of everything. But in the end I noticed that the bass was very well meant to be upfront, but it is wonderfully integrated into the songs so that I get less bored after listening to it a couple of years.
 
#51
aborgman said:
Outside of the classical realm, IAWTP.
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Classical is still generally an ensemble. You don't hear too many viola solos in the middle of a piece. Sure, some classical arrangements feature a certain instrument, but it's not really a "solo". That's the way I see it, anyway, but I'm not super versed on classical music... Just listen to it when I sleep. :D
 
#52
Some are wins, some are not. Some you can listen to for years, some not so much. I liked the SMV album the first couple times I listened to it, then I stopped really liking it (which coincided with when I saw them live and I discovered my limit for bass wankery. I was very disappointed).

Billy Sheehan's albums have a lot of bass, but are song oriented (his first album only has a single bass solo on it).

Stu Hamm's latest album has a bunch of great tunes that happen to have lots of bass.

Geddy Lee's solo album didn't have any solos.. then again, it just sounded like another Rush album for some reason or other :)

I think as others have said - it all boils down to the song itself. If it is a good tune that happens to have amazing playing hazzah! but if it is nothing more than a glorified exercise or practice routine.. it can easily fall flat (or if you let the wank get in the way of the song)

I also didn't love Jaco's first album as much as others. It is decent and I certainly appreciate how amazing the playing is, but musically it doesn't "do it" for me that much.
 
#53
I guess I'm the niche market. I love music period.

Adam Nitti seems to have a really good vibe between making great songs as well as showcasing chops. I agree some are done poorly ( too much focus on technique ) but some people love that stuff too. Why is it people respond with such hatred against things they don't like?
 
#56
BobaFret said:
I guess I'm the niche market. I love music period.

Adam Nitti seems to have a really good vibe between making great songs as well as showcasing chops. I agree some are done poorly ( too much focus on technique ) but some people love that stuff too. Why is it people respond with such hatred against things they don't like?
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Who's responding hatefully? Why accuse people of that?
 
#59
BigOldHarry said:
most great bassist do their best work supporting others. I think it is the nature of the instrument.

That said, I have quite like Gary Willis' solo albums - mostly because they don't sound like "Bass" albums.
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+1 My fav is "No Sweat". Interesting, quirky compositions and great bass playing.

Micheal Manring has some very interesting solo pieces for bass, although i'm not all that keen on his tone.

The vast majority of instrument virtuoso albums bore the crap out of me.
 

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