Bad basslines

[Gilmourisgod]

I have been to the Louvre three times and each time I watched with amusement, the overwhelming majority of the majority of the people fly past the masterpieces by Titan, Raphael, Botticelli, Mantegna, Caravaggio and many more to get a glimpse of one by Da Vinci. On the way out most of these people did the same thing. It is pretty safe to say there is not a bad painting in the building, but some people liked some more than others.

Botton line is people like what they like and it is all a matter of taste (or lack thereof).

Heh. Similar recent experience at the Louvre. Hundreds of people waiting to see a tiny, yellowed painting of a smiling chick, held 10' feet away by velvet ropes, ignoring the far better (and in far better condition) of the the other DaVinci paintings in the same room. Most common overheard comment: "it's smaller than I though it would be".

 

[Heiwa]

Mr. Krinkle & Laquer Head. I like Primus but those two are awful.

 

[BaltBass5]

I'm well versed in all of 80s metal I actually saw Dave on the Eat 'em and Smile tour with Sheehan and Vai. Poison, Def Leppard, the majority of hair metal etc... the basslines made me not want to play bass.

PS: Skidrow were posers

Well everyone is entitled to their opinion but if Sheehan makes you not want to play bass and Rachel Bolan is a poser then you must be a virtuoso. LMAO.

 

[smeet]

As my wife always says, “it all sounds like bass” (said with extreme shrugging and hella eye-rolling).

 

[mambo4]

The bass line on any recording of Heard It Through The Grapevine that is not the 1967 Gladys Knight / Jamerson Version.
( Including later versions Jamerson played on his self.)
IMHO the Gladys Knight version is one of the greatest bass lines ever,
but almost everyone imagines the more popular Marvin Gaye or Creedence bass lines. Which are worse IMHO.

 

[Altitude]

- Take a listen to DLR's "Eat'em and Smile" album and tell me that Billy Sheehan was playing boring basslines.

The way I remember that is that Dave deliberately constructed a band with musicians he felt were superior to their Van Halen equivalents. Whether he succeeded is debatable, but Sheehan’s playing killed on that album. He played root 8th notes with that signature Sheehan tone and a feel that I hadn’t heard up to that point.

 

[Heiwa]

Well everyone is entitled to their opinion but if Sheehan makes you not want to play bass and Rachel Bolan is a poser then you must be a virtuoso. LMAO.

I like Skid Row but Rachel Bolan is just like every other 80s metal bassist, its just there to look good.

As for Sheehan he has an amazing technique but that band was a one hit wonder, being a virtuoso is not enough

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Agree with 80s hair metal completely uninspired basslines, but also agree that they weren't "bad" per se, but just mind-numbingly un-creative.

The guitarists bullied us in the 80s and insisted we "just play the root in straight 8ths that's all bass is good for"...

 

[Altitude]

As for Sheehan he has an amazing technique but that band was a one hit wonder, being a virtuoso is not enough

But Sheehan had a reputation as a badass both before and since that band collaboration. He was effectively a free agent signing.

I agree the DLR solo artist concept had a short shelf life but having nothing to do with Sheehan or his contribution. Frankly the writing wasn’t that good and I’m guessing Dave was too personally chaotic to keep a project going on his own.

 

[stigbeve]

I've never cared for the bass in "What I got" by Sublime.

I feel like I remember there was another version that was played at first with a different bassline, I could be way off though.

 

[2thAche]

Well everyone is entitled to their opinion but if Sheehan makes you not want to play bass and Rachel Bolan is a poser then you must be a virtuoso. LMAO.

Sheehan made me WANT to play bass. IMO there were legit bands like Ratt, Crue, Whitesnake, GnR, Van Halen, Extreme, Night Ranger, maybe Dokken etc, then there was Poison, Warrant etc who had embarrasingly bad lyrics and music, and were just on the spandex bandwagon. Thankfully GnR , Nirvana, Chili Peppers etc put an end to that horrible musical time period.

 

[JazznFunk]

I have a hard time liking Stefan Lassard’s work in the Dave Matthews Band.

In a vacuum there’s nothing wrong with his playing. He’s competent. In that band, though, there is so much incredible harmonic interplay and quasi improvisation. But he seems not to hear it or get involved. I realize this could be by design but you asked for my opinion.

I think there are a lot of players who in the same musical situation would provide some subtle refinement to DMB’s music that I don’t get from Lassard. As an example, I imagine how cool it would be if Oteil Burbridge were the bass player. Or Will Greer.

I still enjoy the band.

'Before These Crowded Streets' was, for me, the record that showed Lessard was really working hard to find his own space in Dave's music. I read an interview - maybe it was in Bass Player Magazine from '97 or '98 - where Stefan said that the things Dave played on guitar made good bass lines in and of themselves, so he often would start with those and build from there. But on BTCS, I heard him really staking his own sonic claim. It still stands as one of their richest, most sonically pleasing and deep albums for me. There's a lot happening sonically in DMB to balance. I also think that the fallout from the 'Everyday' sessions where Glen Ballard basically dumbed down all of Lessard's creative space was something he never quite recovered from.... and the band's sound was vastly different after that period too.

 

[r_bnks]

Van Halen, Ratt, and 80s hair metal had bad/boring basslines. The modern metal/djent too. Sorry.

Yup sure... Especially Van Halen...or just listen the to the bass and realize how amazing and tasteful is Michael Anthony's playing.

BTW what you consider a good bass line then?

 

[r_bnks]

A LOT of 80's hair bands had basslines that served the song because the flavor of the day was shredding guitars and vocal aerobics. Having said that,

- Listen to anything by Queensryche (specifically the Operation Mindcrime and Empire albums) and tell me that the basslines are boring or uncreative.
- Take a listen to DLR's "Eat'em and Smile" album and tell me that Billy Sheehan was playing boring basslines.
- Listen to Skidrow's debut album or Slave To The Grind and tell me that Rachel Bolan's basslines were boring or uncreative.
- Take a listen to Duff's playing on Gn'R's Appetite For Destruction

Exactly.
It's just talkbass nonsense where people are parroting some other nutshells narrative. Just like active vs passive and dying batteries or you only need a P bass..
It's funny how some people are considering something uninspiring or simply bad without even really listening and paying attention to actual basslines.

 

[Heiwa]

Yup sure... Especially Van Halen...or just listen the to the bass and realize how amazing and tasteful is Michael Anthony's playing.

BTW what you consider a good bass line then?

Michael Anthony was too good for that band, EVH created a template for the rest of the bands in the first album but the rest is trash + some good singles. Michael Anthony is great in everything he did outside that crappy band

 

[jbasedig]

I can't for the life of me name any bad basslines. Sure there are boring ones, but can you name a line that ruins a song or somehow hinders it? And why?

These are just opinions, of course, but maybe we can learn a thing or two by examining what others deem bad!

I think the bassline on "Moondance"..... well, it sounds like a player who's never played a walking bass line over changes before, but even worse is the feel. The drummer is swinging. The bass line just doesn't swing. It starts sloppy and then briefly comes to a complete stop as the vocal comes in. In this part it seems that the bassist was playing a rhythmic figure that the whole band would do, however no other instrument does it. It sounds very unintentional. Throughout the song the feel is sloppy, the range very limited and there are times when it seems like therer are better more obvious note choices that would compliment the song better. I like a a lot of Van Morrison's music. I know he had a jazz background before becoming a legendary singer-songwriter. Every time " Moondance" is played , I still can't believe he said "Ok, that's the take", or whatever one says. Moondance is a classic , beloved by millions. I cannot stand that bassline

 

[Heiwa]

uninspiring or simply bad

That’s the best way to describe bass in the 80s Hair Metal/Hard Rock. Bravo

 

[r_bnks]

Michael Anthony was too good for that band, EVH created a template for the rest of the bands in the first album but the rest is trash + some good singles. Michael Anthony is great in everything he did outside that crappy band

Yup sure they crappy and trash. I can't imagine how amazing those followup records would turned out if they'd listened to you. Yet they're the ones sold millions of records and not you...

 

[r_bnks]

That’s the best way to describe bass in the 80s Hair Metal/Hard Rock. Bravo

I don't think it's worse or more uninspiring than blues or southern rock.

You must have some really bad experiences to have such a fixation/hatred towards 80s hard rock/metal. Talkbass is a funny place.

Thank god it's not you who decide what's good or bad music. Because it's still just an opinion.

 

[ghiggin1079]

Prince - When Doves Cry the bass was mixed out of the final so it must have been bad. No one has come forth with evidence yet so we can just assume