Someone please explain all the love for Steve Harris

[Dean N]

Thanks guys. I'm now looking forward to tomorrow's commute... Piece Of Mind and Seventh Son will be blasting through the car stereo.

Iron what?

 

[eadg98005]

Because it took less than 1.625" to satisfy him...

 

[ThumbBum]

That's nothing. Back in the 80's Nikki Sixx used to clean up on those lists.

I like Steve btw.

Lol tha six blew dogs for quarters too.

 

[Chrisk-K]

If you can play Powerslave or Somewhere in Time album from start to finish without damaging your plucking hand, then you can question the greatness of Steve Harris. Otherwise, show him respect.

 

[pie_man_25]

1) it's a stupid online listicle.

2) I'm not sure if you've noticed, bit great bassists aren't necessarily the most technical, they've just developed a technique and a sensibility that people emulate. While I wouldn't call him top ten, I'd say he makes top fifty.

Jamerson, Kaye, McCartney, Dunn, Bruce, etc... Sure, some could have been much more technical than others but they were known for having a sensibility that was basically always on point.

 

[Herrick]

There's little I can say about Harris that hasn't already been said in this thread but I'll give it a shot.

Harris plays a lot of atypical bass parts in a Metal band which being the primary song writer gave him the freedom to do. It's not always the fast more complex parts that make him stand out. For example, the stuff he plays during the slow section of Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner is memorizing to me. It's not very complex but just sounds cool and that's not something I hear much of in Metal. The bass lines during the slow part and guitar solos of To Tame a Land is great as well.

Don't worry about the order musicians are listed in any of those types of lists. Pastorius was technically better than Graham, Kaye, & Lee. All those bassists are (or were in Pastorius' case) probably technically better than Steve Harris. I'd say they were probably more influential & revolutionary in their playing as well. Maybe Lee & Harris would be tied as far as influence goes.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I think "Children of the Damned" is what did it for me. Not a difficult line for an experienced player, but it was a fun challenge as a newbie and still stands out as a very vocal bass part in a rock song.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

As mentioned earlier, if you don't enjoy metal you won't get Steve Harris. Just like if you don't enjoy jazz you won't get Jaco, or if you don't like funk you won't get Bootsy.

The fact is that he inspired thousands, maybe even millions, of kids (me included) to pick up the bass and do more than just plunk along on the root and/or just copy everything the guitars do note for note like Gene Simmons or Michael Anthony. When I heard Moonchild for the first time it was a literally life-changing moment, and I say that with zero exaggeration. I decided that I wanted to play bass after hearing that song and 21 years later I'm still at it. Steve, along with Cliff Burton, redefined what the bass was meant to do in metal - they used their position as the bassists of the two biggest metal bands ever to do that. Geezer had the groove and creativity, then Steve and Cliff came along and added power and speed to that.

Being the primary songwriter for Iron Maiden means the bass is the root and anchor of the songs. His playing is the pulsing heart. And even on the songs he didn't write (Powerslave and Wasted Years come to mind), his basslines are clever, melodic and well thought-out. He was revolutionary. Surely that boosts his status immensely.

Is he technically one of the best bassists ever? No, I can think of 10 players not on that list who are better than him off the top of my head. Is he one of the greatest ever as described in the list? You betcha.

You need to go back and listen to some more Van Halen. Michael Anthony does anything but play the root and/or copy everything the guitars do note for note.

 

[Planespotter]

People (like me) love Steve Harris because he is the principle songwriter and driving force behind one of the all time greatest metal bands. Also he plays cool stuff and has super cool stage presence too.

 

[Calvin Marks]

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when a “50 greatest bassists” link came up (Invalid Link Removed). Basically glorified trolling but with marketing and data mining behind it. Now I know that these things are click bait and designed to annoy you into commenting and I know I shouldn’t have clicked but I did. So can someone please explain why Steve Harris always does so well - above innovators like Jaco and Larry Graham, above Kaye and Jamerson. I’ve listened to Maiden and tried but I just don’t get all the love for him. What am I missing?

His licks are intense but I've never liked his tone. YMMV

 

[DanBass]

And admit it, you've put your foot up on edge of the front monitor and pointed your bass out to the crowd...

 

[BigBasserino]

I get that he is fast but to me fast doesn't equal good.

In terms of technique it sounds pretty good. But ya I've heard some bands that are "too fast" and after a while I'm like "ENOUGH!"

Anyway, back to topic at hand. I've never followed these lists very closely, so here's my guess. It's about the bands, which basically means it's about the sales, but they go "and look at this awesome bassist!" To give what they're saying context.

I recently watched a documentary on prime saying that Maiden's big accomplishment was keeping metal even in an era where they couldn't get away from punk. When the style of punk came around everything became about the gritty rock n roll aesthetic and tho they were signed they were encouraged heavily to "play punk" so they had to find a way to check that box while being themselves. Which a listen to Trooper or Run to the hills and I can definitely see how those restrictions made those songs possible.

 

[Topkat13]

Once this has been put to bed let's tackle another really relevant topic like the price of eggs in China.

 

[gidbass]

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when a “50 greatest bassists” link came up (Invalid Link Removed). Basically glorified trolling but with marketing and data mining behind it. Now I know that these things are click bait and designed to annoy you into commenting and I know I shouldn’t have clicked but I did. So can someone please explain why Steve Harris always does so well - above innovators like Jaco and Larry Graham, above Kaye and Jamerson. I’ve listened to Maiden and tried but I just don’t get all the love for him. What am I missing?

Nothing to explain. It's all personal preference in the end. I'm a metal head and grew up on Iron Maiden and Steve Harris is one of my major influences and I love his playing. It's not for everyone but it is for me...

I appreciate artists like Jaco, Larry Graham etc, but I don't like their music.

Good Luck!

 

[bass.slinger]

If we tell you we would have to....well, you know.

 

[2F/2F]

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but the "West Ham" bass is the same bass that was his iconic blue bass from the '80's (I'm assuming 7th Son period, based on the color scheme of the album art)...which is also the black bass from their early, great years. That black/maple bass looked so great, especially with Dave Murray's black/maple super-Strat also on stage. IIRC, the bass is an early '70's P. It has been refinished at least three times in its life: once to black, once to metallic blue, and once to white with pinstriped edges (all with a reflective guard). I would love it if Fender would release the black version as a signature model, since they've released the other two color schemes.

 

[Gluvhand]

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but the "West Ham" bass is the same bass that was his iconic blue bass from the '80's (I'm assuming 7th Son period, based on the color scheme of the album art)...which is also the black bass from their early, great years. That black/maple bass looked so great, especially with Dave Murray's black/maple super-Strat also on stage. IIRC, the bass is an early '70's P. It has been refinished at least three times in its life: once to black, once to metallic blue, and once to white with pinstriped edges (all with a reflective guard). I would love it if Fender would release the black version as a signature model, since they've released the other two color schemes.

It was blue as early as the tour for Number of the Beast.

 

[2F/2F]

It was blue as early as the tour for Number of the Beast.

Thanks.

I know I have seen many a video of their early Dickinson years, but I had forgotten that the bass was already blue then.

I prefer the bass black...and the music the band made when the bass was black. They were a darker, scarier, more "serious" and "adult" band with Di'Anno. I like the first few Dickinson albums, but they are definitely more light and fluffy to me. I prefer songs about serial killers and perverts sung by a dirty greaser-looking guy in a leather jacket over songs about knights and dragons sung by a guy with bangs in a red codpiece.

 

[Rudyboy98]

To be fair, I am a Steve Harris fan.

But to answer as to why the love for Steve Harris, that’s quite the loaded question.

Yes, he plays well. Accurate, pulsing, creative, and melodic bass lines are just some of his traits.

He is IM. The production, recording, editing, executive directing, planning, marketing, and leadership of the band - is managed by a Steve Harris. Did I mention he plays bass too?

Yes..popular he is. But you can’t really argue with a guy who’s become a multi-millionaire- and started playing bass to do so.

 

[shwashwa]

he looks good in spandex