• 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.

I know most don't like Gene Simmons.

#61
Thundar said:
Noseferatu...I am a huge Gene Simmons fan, always have been, always will be. I agree, I thought the licks were killer too. I learned to play bass by wearing out my KISS records. I would rather listen to Gene play the radio than listen to Jaco, Victor, Flea, etc. I can appreciate their immense talent...but I couldn't care less about their music or technique or tone blah blah blah. But the point is, you are wasting your time and energy by trying to prove anything to people that don't "get it". Spilitcoils opinion is just that, an opinion... I could care less about his opinion...he doesn't "get it".
I get it.
You get it.
Thousands of other bass players that grew up in the 70's and 80's get it.
You just had to be there.

BTW: don't start raggin' on Mike Anthony, cause that thread has been worn out too...and for the record, Mike could play those fills (with his fingers) in his sleep. ;)
Click to expand...

:D
 
#63
I've never even remotely liked one song by KISS. However, I notice that people are still unusually fascinated by them. I'm still attempting to see why people like them so much. I try to keep an open mind about it. Maybe they are actually better than I realize. Frankly, I am totally mystified. I am truly baffled and I don't say this in a harsh way at all. Why? Why all this devotion to KISS? I really don't get it. However, I do think it's good to like and be passionate about music, even if it isn't music that I personally like. But maybe one day I'll get some insight into the appeal of KISS.
 
#70
If this matters to anyone, Paul Stanley has stated quite a few times that in the studio, Gene has wanted to create much more complicated bass parts but Paul would not allow Gene because it would make it difficult and distracting for Paul to sing over those lines.
 
#73
Thundar said:
Noseferatu...I am a huge Gene Simmons fan, always have been, always will be. I agree, I thought the licks were killer too. I learned to play bass by wearing out my KISS records. I would rather listen to Gene play the radio than listen to Jaco, Victor, Flea, etc. I can appreciate their immense talent...but I couldn't care less about their music or technique or tone blah blah blah. But the point is, you are wasting your time and energy by trying to prove anything to people that don't "get it". Spilitcoils opinion is just that, an opinion... I could care less about his opinion...he doesn't "get it".
I get it.
You get it.
Thousands of other bass players that grew up in the 70's and 80's get it.
You just had to be there.

BTW: don't start raggin' on Mike Anthony, cause that thread has been worn out too...and for the record, Mike could play those fills (with his fingers) in his sleep. ;)
Click to expand...

I agree with this (except the Micheal Anthony part...his playing always bored me to tears...rumour was that EVH insisted on bass lines that basically didnt matter...MA did his job, I guess. Saw VH when Talas opened for them, and I couldn't understand why MA was even on stage, after just seeing Billy Sheehan. Hell, Micheal Mills from REM can slay MA).

Sorry for the derail...people who don't get it (Gene/KISS) will never get it. You are wasting your time.

BTW, I like JPJ too, but I enjoy Gene's playing more (1st 3 albums, especially).

Make all the threads you want, but what I don't get is all the people(usually the same ones) who feel compelled to post in all of them them that just don't like him.
 
#75
Sorry but, again, Gene Simmons doesn't even have a fraction of the musical talent or skills of the likes of Jaco, Geddy, John Paul Jones, John Entwistle (want me to go on?)

And the music of Kiss was/is never as important or influential or profound or creative as the music played by the above bassists' bands.

Simmons himself will tell you that Kiss started as a marketing gimmick. He and/or his studio subs competently played pedestrian lines for a band able to combine a few catchy songs/licks with a costuming gimmick and an "outrageous" live show - wild makeup! blood! fire!.

More power to them for their ability to turn all of that into a cottage industry of "product." Not everybody would or could be successful in that arena.

But, as a bassist - sorry, Gene Simmons is not and will never be considered one of the greatest.

Noseferatu said:
What I find really amazing though, is that if I were to start a thread each week about one of the TB "elite" bassists such as Geddy, Jaco, etc, I wouldn't be called a troll. Odd, isn't it??

Not trying to convert anyone, but I think these videos are great.

Click to expand...
 
#80
Tampabass said:
.....

And the music of Kiss was/is never as important or influential or profound or creative as the music played by the above bassists' bands.....

But, as a bassist - sorry, Gene Simmons is not and will never be considered one of the greatest.
Click to expand...

Apparently you aren't aware of the 100's if not 1000's of people who began playing guitar and bass because they liked Kiss. I didn't even hear of Jaco until he had already died. Entwistle was great, as was JPJ, but at the time the were associated with the drug counter-culture that I, personally didn't want to be associated with. Gene once said, Grateful Dead fans are stoned bums, Kiss fans have jobs and ambitions.

And a huge amount of Kiss music was left-over, reworked tunes from Wicked Lester which was not theatrical at all, but focused on music. They are good tunes that have stood the test of time, whether you personally like them or not.

To me Gene is punk. If you adhear to the belief that punk is DIY, stick to your beliefs and screw whether or not people approve of you or not, Gene is as punk as they get.

BTW, Gene played the bass on all albums up to Love Gun. That's a lot of Gold and Platinum records for his bass playing. Probably more than all the people you mentioned, combined.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back