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Overrated bass players

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#521
After Reading 8 or 20 pages of this thread, I really am positive it is all fun. Overratted bassist exist within moments in time. I think that a bass player is overrated when they start beleiving everyone around them telling them they are great. I do think Les Claypool is overrated. He seems to be unable to play a supporting role and cannot play well with others - Oysterhead (enough said). He is really good, but at only one thing. There are more and I am sure at times I am probably in the same catagory...
 
#523
Panther said:
Topics like this are often just plain stupid.

I've learned to enjoy a vast majority of bands, and their bassists.

From Nikki Sixx to Gene Simmons to John Patitucci to Marcus Miller.

You have to appreciate what they do for the songs they like to write and perform.

To say guys like Nikki is overrated is assinine. I'm a huge fan of Nikki and Gene (that's my era, I can't help it:), enough that it got me interested in a T-bird, and enough to make me buy one. And I love it. He's a rock'n'roller, and I guess if you listen to Primal Scream or Dr. Feelgood, what else should have been done?

Yeah, he keeps it simple, but I don't think it calls for Wooten's thumpity thumps, or Marcus's delicate melodic slap lines. There's no question as to the disparity in talent, but both guys like Nikki and Marcus are performing music that they love-both requiring different approaches.

You don't always have to like what one does or plays, but hats off to them for being able to do what they love, and giving us a variety in the music we listen to.

Isn't that what it's all about?

That said, I'm going to listen to Jaco's 'Teen Town' followed by the Who's 'Substitute' followed by The Crue's "Live Wire" followed by.............
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+1! Guys like Nikki & Gene don't claim to be great. They've just found their niche, and are both talented in their field. Their combined net worth is a trillion dollars. I REALLY WISH I WAS OVERRATED!!
 
#524
Also, a lot of guys are slagging Jaco. I'll start off by saying I am not a fan of his, but I respect him immensely. Here is a guy robbed of his career by mental illness and substance abuse. In the grand scheme of things, he barely got off the ground. Just look at what we've been deprived of. If you flash back to the mid-'70's, there was no one like him. Of course now there are many capable contemporaries, but they are spawned from Jaco. How can you say he's overrated when he's been dead for twenty years? Who knows what we'd be hearing if he were alive today (or remained healthy for the last years of his life). If you were writing this thread in 1976, Jaco's name would not be mentioned because everyone would be jumping on his bandwagon.
 
#525
iriegnome said:
After Reading 8 or 20 pages of this thread, I really am positive it is all fun. Overratted bassist exist within moments in time. I think that a bass player is overrated when they start beleiving everyone around them telling them they are great. I do think Les Claypool is overrated. He seems to be unable to play a supporting role and cannot play well with others - Oysterhead (enough said). He is really good, but at only one thing. There are more and I am sure at times I am probably in the same catagory...
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I disagree on the "supporting role" thing. There are plenty of Primus songs where doesn't play his signature slap-chord lead bass style, and pretty much takes a back seat to lyrics or guitar or drums or what-have-you. I also don't think inability to play backup rather than lead makes you overrated or even bad. What about all those bassists that only play in support of, say, the vocalist or a lead guitar? Are they bad because they never take the spotlight? No. Les Claypool can do many things, but in the types of bands that he is in, he is best off doing only a small number of them. If he started playing like Roger Waters all the time, Primus would be horrible, simply because their music is not usually in need of a laid-back, straight-forward bass.
 
#526
Hi,
O.K. I'm not going to try and defend this,I can honestly say that I personally NEVER liked a single thing the Beatles ever did,I never bought any of their records,not even Sgt Peppers.I thought that at that time McCartney "Eclipsed" and to a certain extent,got in the way of, other Bassists who had far more to offer I.E. John Entwistle,Bill Wyman etc. O.K. maybe not in terms of songwriting ability,but they had a hell of a lot more technique.As you say,probably just a personal thing.
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I challenge you to listen carefully to McCartney's Bass Line in the song "Something" from the Abbey Road Albumn (although I must admit I'm not certain and you can never really be with the Beatles unless your a real student of their recording history, that McCartney was playing bass for that recording).
 
#527
safe dude.i kinda agree.i dont think there r overrated bass players,their just havin fun.they might not have the best technique or play a thousand notes a second,but in most cases the're playing what the song needs.shibby
 
#528
pickinatit said:
I challenge you to listen carefully to McCartney's Bass Line in the song "Something" from the Abbey Road Albumn (although I must admit I'm not certain and you can never really be with the Beatles unless your a real student of their recording history, that McCartney was playing bass for that recording).
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I agree, McCartney's bass line in Something was outstanding. You also have to remember that he sang lead on many of the songs and as such he needed to make the bass lines more simple. I don't think he was overrated...
 
#529
Feildy from KoRn is greatly overrated. Whats so special about this guy anyway? So he can slap, big deal.
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+1. unless jumping around like an idiot is skill, then he has abslutely none. He tunes his five string down to low A! it just sounds like clicking. And most of the time he holds his bass almost completely vertical. He looks completely stupid.
 
#534
Four words
Les, Fieldy, and Flea*

*I'll possibly post reasons later.
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Why would you? It's not possible to differenciate from the Trio is it? Seriously, all three bassists you've mentioned have an original style, which is unique to themselves only. Hearing 22 seconds of a song (by one of these bands) and immediatley you'll know what it is. So they don't play in jazz-fusion bands, with horn players a looper. If everyone did music would be pretty boring wouldn;t it?
 
#535
Hi,
O.K. I'm not going to try and defend this,I can honestly say that I personally NEVER liked a single thing the Beatles ever did,I never bought any of their records,not even Sgt Peppers.I thought that at that time McCartney "Eclipsed" and to a certain extent,got in the way of, other Bassists who had far more to offer I.E. John Entwistle,Bill Wyman etc. O.K. maybe not in terms of songwriting ability,but they had a hell of a lot more technique.As you say,probably just a personal thing.
Click to expand...

:cool:
Bro. If you never bought any of the Beatles records.
And really got into his style.
How can you judge Paul's playing?

I personally, never got into Geddy, or Gezzer.
But I now there contrabution, to bass playing.
 
#540
Everyone is overrated, everyone is the best bass player in the known universe, everyone loves beer, everyone smokes.

On the other hand::-

No one is overrated, nobody is the best bass player in the known universe, nobody loves beer, no one smokes.

All of these statements are true if you read enough threads here.

the real question is - if it takes a week to walk a fortnight, how many apples are there in a bag of oranges?

bum bananas gravy piece on jam hana holsa little jimmy hoffa jeseevy hova boom laka laka laka nice weather for the time of year guvnor up and down the old kent road apples and pears.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
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