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Prog Rock albums with impressive bass

#41
Duckwater said:
I have yet to hear a Prog-Rock album that doesn't have great bass playing
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While the last thing an internet forum needs is more negative threads, I do think that Prog Rock Albums With Unimpressive Bass might make for a more interesting thread. Simply because it would force folks to unearth the less wellknown albums. Plus it might help dispell the myth that you need great bass chops to play Prog Rock?

(I will say that I've never heard a Genesis tune that had what I would consider "impressive" bass playing. Doesn't mean I didn't like the music, just means their focus was elsewhere.)

Bruford's solo albums with Jeff Berlin straddle that line between Prog Rock and Fusion. There's some damn impressive bass on those records!
 
#44
Buster Mudd said:
While the last thing an internet forum needs is more negative threads, I do think that Prog Rock Albums With Unimpressive Bass might make for a more interesting thread. Simply because it would force folks to unearth the less wellknown albums. Plus it might help dispell the myth that you need great bass chops to play Prog Rock?

(I will say that I've never heard a Genesis tune that had what I would consider "impressive" bass playing. Doesn't mean I didn't like the music, just means their focus was elsewhere.)

Bruford's solo albums with Jeff Berlin straddle that line between Prog Rock and Fusion. There's some damn impressive bass on those records!
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Hmm. My original intention was to post prog rock albums that go above and beyond even the prog rock bass standard.
 
#45
AcidFripp said:
My original intention was to post prog rock albums that go above and beyond even the prog rock bass standard.
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Then, in the spirit of that search, I would urge you to check out Patrick Moraz's 1975 album i.

I'll caution you: You'll need a microscope to find the bass. It's completely buried in a super-dense mix. Which is very sad, because when you can hear what the bass is doing (especially on side one) you realize it is eons beyond what prog-rock bassists were doing in 1975 in terms of physical chops/technique and musical sophistication. Just stunningly brilliant bass playing...way way way down in the mix, frustratingly close to inaudible.

Played by a very young Mr. Jeff Berlin.
 
#50
Transatlantic's three studio albums: "smpte", "Bridge Across Forever" and "The Whirlwind". This is a prog supergroup with Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater on drums, Roine Stolte of the Flower Kings on guitar, Neal Morse, formerly of Spocks Beard on keys and Pete Trewavas of Marillion on bass. Pete plays some killer lines with killer tone, much more interesting than what he does with Marillion.
 
#54
I can't really answer this question, because after reading some of the posts in this thread, I am not sure my definition of prog rock is the same as everyone elses. To me, most of the names people mentioned are either "Jam Bands" or some form of technically challenging heavy metal.
 
#56
Stealth said:
Write'em'up, Lucas. Refer to my signature for the reason. ;)

Seriously, though, prog music has as many substyles and subdefinitions as there are bands.
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I guess for me (as was discussed in a previous thread) in general, I believe prog rock to have the following characteristics:

1. Created by mostly English groups from say, 1970 to 1980
2. Use of mellotron and Hammond Organ
3. Thoroughly orchestrated or arranged long songs with time changes/tempo changes (for the most part)
4. Lyrics with sci-fi or fantasy themes
5. Obvious influences from western classical music
6. Noticeable absence of "Blues" elements.


Now, that's my generalization.


But, if we are going to widen the tent, then my choice for most interesting bass lines would have to be coming from either the band "Rudder" or he solo artists, Meshell.
 
#60
nothing of his is all that complex, but Justin Chancellor of tool, as he progressed with the band, he came more and more out of his shell, and on the last album (10,00 days) every song is full of random fills and licks where each one is better than the last....

karnivool - their bassist uses 6 strings better than any given guitarist.

Tesseract - not only does he looks like Hugh Grant, but he is like a little beast in a pocket lol

and there is a local band here in Queens, NY called "consider the source" that has a BEAST of a bass player

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YouTube - ‪Consider The Source - Abdiel - Live at The Weekend Off 2 on 8-6-2010 in Warsaw, NY‬‏

mmmmm good stuff
 

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