Geddy Lee, best bass player.

[Muddslide]

"Best" is meaningless. I think the closest you can get to quantifying something like this is "The bass player whose playing I enjoy the most."

"Best" is far too subjective. Different people like different things.

I don't think anyone will deny that Geddy Lee is a very skilled player, but there are many who don't care for WHAT he plays--his music, his choice of notes, the band Rush, etc., so to those people, how could he be best?

How would you even begin to define what would make a bass player The Best? No matter the criteria you used, some would disagree with those criteria and feel different aspects of playing were more important.

For some people, Jaco Pastorius is The Best Bass Player. For others it might be Dee Dee Ramone.

Neither of these people are right or wrong...it comes down to personal tastes and expectations.

For the record, I am not a huge Rush fan, but I admire them and I think Geddy is excellent at what he does.

 

[Muddslide]

I did like "Third World Man" enough to buy the 45 probably because it sounded like the Police

"New World Man?"

 

[4001]

Hey, while we're at it...


what is the best bass for metal??

 

[PazzoBasso]

Because of the subjective nature of the question,

Geddy cannot be the best. But there also cannot be anybody better.

I don't think anyone takes these threads too seriously.

 

[Matt O]

Don't be silly. Everyone knows that Lemmy is the best bass player.

 

[Geddy_2112]

I know my name is of him but I'd say Les Claypool is better. I love Geddy but there are better players. He is one of the best though

 

[cycler]

Really ? Based on what ? I can take maybe 30 seconds - but I guess that applies to the band as a whole.

View attachment 646339 I'm totally new to Talkbass, so I have no idea how much folks talk about Ged. But seriously, statistically speaking, he is one of- if not THE best bassist. Discuss?

 

[mc900ftj]

Hey, while we're at it...

what is the best bass for metal??

Geddy Lee, best bass player for metal? Discuss.

 

[rico bass]

A great bass player indeed love his technique ,wish he would go back to the Rickebacher ,not a big fan of his voice, seen him on a tv interview he seems like a really good guy no ego, there is no best bass player only your favorite .

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

But seriously, statistically speaking, he is one of- if not THE best bassists...

*Statistically*, as in sheer numbers takes all, I'd have to say Lee Sklar wins.

It all comes down to what you like... I like John McVie's playing more than Geddy's, but even I don't think he's the best. All of them are great, and there's that many more great ones we never will hear or read about. Some of them may even be on this thread.

BTW OP, welcome to TalkBass! If someone hasn't already made you aware, there actually is a club for Geddy fans... Geddy Lee fan club | Page 6 | TalkBass.com

 

[gidbass]

He my favorite, but not the "best".

 

[gjbassist]

Rush has been my favorite band for many years. I'm going to see them for the 13th time this coming Thursday! Geddy is my all time favorite rock bassist, however to say he is the "best" is a bit of a stretch. There are and have been so many incredibly talented bassists in different genres of music that IMO it would be impossible to pick one who is "best".

 

[Ler]

Totally influenced by him and love his style throughout Rush's recordings. I don't think there is a "best" but if there were, it wouldn't be Geddy. Top 50 though

 

[GreyBeard]

Getty is one of the best bass player/singer of the style of music that he plays. That is about all I can say about him.

 

[Matt Dean]

I will agree that his techniques are impressive, but I rather dislike his basslines.

This... He can play. He can sing. He can sing and play at the same time, and he can sing, play and press synth pedals all at the same time.

But Rush's music does nothing for me and there are many many bass players that I think are better then Geddy Lee.

 

[Spectrum]

There is no such thing as "best". Only "my favorite".

Geddy is my personal favorite. There are bassists who beat him in specific genres and playing styles, of course. But I prefer listening to Geddy most of all.

 

[BigDanT]

It's fun to discuss these things (I guess) but unlike athletes that have won-loss records, ERAs, WHIPs, TDs, INTs, etc. Musicians don't have stats to quantify who is the "best" (except maybe album sales, but sales are a measure of popularity not necessarily talent).

It's also a bit ridiculous to try to rank something so subjective as "best" musician.

Geddy is a great inspiration of mine, a fantastic bass player and overall musician but I don't know you can label anyone as "the best."

I also don't think you can say "no" he isn't the best and say Squire or Jaco or anyone is "the best". Both positions are equally impossible to quantify.

 

[Spectrum]

Hey, while we're at it...


what is the best bass for metal??

It's gotta be in this pic somewhere....

 

[Muddslide]

Don't be silly. Everyone knows that Lemmy is the best bass player.

Hear, hear!

I'll give proper respect to Geddy, but I wouldn't trade Lemmy for a thousand Geddy Lees.

That has nothing much to do with who I think might be the superior player. There's just not many people half as cool as Lemme to me.

 

[john_g]

Well he does have the most Olympic gold medals for bass playing, so I would say yes he is the best. Oh, wait no, its superbowl rings for bass playing...i forgot. No, wait, i saw him running with his richenbacher on canadian ninja warrior and he made it up the big wall...so yes, he is the best.