The Michael Anthony bass solo

Prolly having a bad night,his work with chickenfoot is
outstanding imho! check this out


CHICKENFOOT "Soap On A Rope" (Official Video HD) - YouTube

 

I first saw Van Halen during the Monster of Rock Tour in the late 80's. In the middle of the show, Mike came out with a different bass, and went into his solo-shtick, which was pretty bad. The solo was all overdrive & delay-based noodling, which ended with Mike breaking what was probably a balsa-wood bass over his head. Silly.

To his credit, I did see Van Halen again in the early 90's, and Mike's soloing had improved immensely.

I like Mike, but soloing was not his thing.

 

Having seen them live (Philia,1995), it was great to watch and hear MA..again. That youTube was 1982, when they were really On Top of the World......The whole group was so loud, my ears were ringing for three days......Coming up with VanHalen, how can you knock him ? soloing against both eddie and his brother....come on !! Back then bass solo's weren't as common place as they are today and esp. with HeavyRock you had to be great to pull off a bass solo.

 

I thought it was cool

 

You know, it's funny....I don't get all the vitriol towards Anthony. Never have.

I don't give a hoot in hell about his "soloing" ability (or rather, the lack of). What I care about is that he is an anchor for whatever band he is in and he always has been.

When I first heard Van Halen back in '77 I was impressed by his vocals and his pocket playing. Van Halen is NOT Van Halen without his vocals. Period. End of story.

I absolutely LOVE Chickenfoot. Not because they are the re-incarnate of Van Halen (HELL NO), but because they are rockers. Much like Cliff Williams, Anthony provides what is needed and doesn't clutter anything up.

If I want to hear soloing (which I seldom ever do) I listen to the usual artists and enjoy what they do. However, we all know that Anthony is a bass player who sings.

Good enough for me!

 

I would want my bass solos to be better than that.

And I don't do it for a living.

 

His solos are meant to be more entertaining than astounding musical experiences. That being said, I'd be pretty bored sitting/standing through that during a concert.

 

I'm very bad at my introductory bass solo, but that video made me feel a bit better about myself.

(If I wanted to play solos or be out front, I wouldn't be playing bass. I get my rocks off watching chicks dance to my beat....even when that sad moment comes that I have to reach for my glasses to get a good look at the hot ones.)

 

His solo's were never for bassophiles.

They were meant to be for the masses. There are interviews out there where he talks about this...

 

Mike's solo can only be outdone by this:

Gene Simmons Bass Solo - YouTube

And just for the record, I am a big fan of both Michael Anthony and Gene Simmons! I take them for what they are: fun-loving rockers! I do have to say that I prefer Gene's bass/noise solo of the makeup era to this, although he seems to play more notes in this one. Enjoy!

 

All I need is about ten seconds of 'overplaying' for when I'm introduced. I've never been able to figure that out!

 

I saw VH in 1986. I thought MA did a good solo. I really don't think he deserves to be ripped apart the way he is.

 

bass solo....

time to head to the bar & get a refill.