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Overrated bass players

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#841
Well I have not scanned the all 850 something replies but: PETE WENTZ!!!! AUUUGGH!!!!!!

A girl once told me I almost played as good as him :crying:I politely said thank you, because I knew she meant it as a compliment, but silently I wanted to throw my Squire at her

-Mike
 
#842
flea-1.jpg


thats right i said it
 
#845
scronus said:
Doug wimbush - just never got it
michale anthony -need i say more
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Never thought of Michael Anthony that way... he's a solid, pretty creative player. "Push Comes to Shove", for instance, is a nice little wormy, funky line that bobs along, in and out of the melody (such as it is).

I think many of you guys are a little hard on some of these 'name-brand' players who have a gig- and have paid their dues for it. The fact that Michael Anthony is famous doesn't necessarily make him overrated... he's in a band that had David Lee-roth as a frontman, and Eddie Van Halen as the guitarist!

But I don't mean to nail you for having an opinion; just tossing in a little something for perspective.
 
#846
Count Bassie said:
Never thought of Michael Anthony that way... he's a solid, pretty creative player. "Push Comes to Shove", for instance, is a nice little wormy, funky line that bobs along, in and out of the melody (such as it is).

I think many of you guys are a little hard on some of these 'name-brand' players who have a gig- and have paid their dues for it. The fact that Michael Anthony is famous doesn't necessarily make him overrated... he's in a band that had David Lee-roth as a frontman, and Eddie Van Halen as the guitarist!
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One thing you can really pick up from Michael Anthony is that there's a time and a place to be busy. There's a time and a place to ride the root. I don't know how "good" Anthony is, what I do know is that he does what's right for the song and for the support of the band as a whole. And I also know that it takes discipline to JUST ride the root when you're used to doing more.
 
#847
The Golden Boy said:
One thing you can really pick up from Michael Anthony is that there's a time and a place to be busy. There's a time and a place to ride the root. I don't know how "good" Anthony is, what I do know is that he does what's right for the song and for the support of the band as a whole. And I also know that it takes discipline to JUST ride the root when you're used to doing more.
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For my money, that spells g-o-o-d. Music is the thing, I want to think- not being a bass player per se. A bass player is a musician, and a good musician plays the music in a way that expresses that music best. Anthony plays the music, and doesn't always draw your attention. Why should he? It's not about Anthony, and he knows it. Good for him!

I say he's a bit underrated. A common remark, too.
 
#848
Count Bassie said:
For my money, that spells g-o-o-d. Music is the thing, I want to think- not being a bass player per se. A bass player is a musician, and a good musician plays the music in a way that expresses that music best. Anthony plays the music, and doesn't always draw your attention. Why should he? It's not about Anthony, and he knows it. Good for him!

I say he's a bit underrated. A common remark, too.
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Kind of reminds me of this post from the Gene Simmons thread...

PsyDocHill said:
Cliff Williams stuck to pedaling the root notes for the most part, but he was solidly locked in with the drummer: Shot Down in Flames from Highway to Hell provides a great demo of the effectiveness of this simple approach; I give him credit for that in-the-pocket, albeit sophomoric, playing... He was a basic bassist, although for all I know he'd play Ron Carter back home when none of his mates were listening.
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#849
Koki said:
Well to me they are:
Flea(he is the reason because kids learn wrong technique)
Gene Simmons(all he can do is bloods pitting)
Steve Harris(gallop? thats it)
Jason Newsted(nothing special, his "solos" aren't really solos")
and believe it or not Billy Sheehan(he only does fast crowdpleaser solos with no soul and he doesn't know much about the theory - as I heard)
They are all bad examples to new bassists.
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Thats what makes Jason Newsted a good example I think, he lays down the low end but he isn't trying to be flashy or cool. Many people who like him like him for his playing. Who said a good bassist was defined by soloing anyway? I certainly hope it would not be.
 
#851
jsbass said:
Thats what makes Jason Newsted a good example I think, he lays down the low end but he isn't trying to be flashy or cool. Many people who like him like him for his playing. Who said a good bassist was defined by soloing anyway? I certainly hope it would not be.
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But does he have a voice on the instrument? If someone said "play a Newsted style bassline" what would you do? Double the rhythm guitar?
 
#854
Count Bassie said:
I dunno about Williams playing heavies-jazz. You'd hear a little more of "something" in his bass lines if he did, I think. But I'm off on it now- I'm getting too into this! :rolleyes:

It's rock and roll. what'd'y want! :bassist:

Now "Back in Black"- that's a rock n' roll record!
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It's the fun of thinking about what you hear in other people's playing, and how you think it does what you think it should be doing.
 
#855
The Golden Boy said:
It's the fun of thinking about what you hear in other people's playing, and how you think it does what you think it should be doing.
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Sure.

It's like I always say, a mind is a terrible thing! :D But I agree totally- that's how you really learn how to play. Now John Paul-Jones had my head into an oatmeal-like state when I was first learning. It was great! 8-Track tapes... "Kuh-Lunk!!" Boy, the possibilities saved me, gave me a hope for a vision to go toward. There's the good of it. I'm a bass player.
 
#858
Alan Vorse said:
Yeah, that's one song out of how many albums. Plus its a pretty square and pedestrian line.
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In all actuality, there's nothing that Cliff played that was all that earth shaking either. Regardless, Jason could probably play circles around most of us. He plays for the song, which I think is the right way to approach things. They're not a jazz band after all. I kind of dig his approach, you may not, opinions vary.
 
#859
jsbass said:
Thats what makes Jason Newsted a good example I think, he lays down the low end but he isn't trying to be flashy or cool. Many people who like him like him for his playing. Who said a good bassist was defined by soloing anyway? I certainly hope it would not be.
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kinda sounds like 2 extremes to me. what about being in the middle? adding a little something to the song, making it better without shouting hey look at me. that's not too much to ask for.
and if you're going to be just following the guitar, at least make up for it with a really good or unique sound. you can keep it simple and still have a lot to offer a song with your sound.
 
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