Michael Anthony
Dusty Hill
Peter Gifford
Jaco, I look at the hat and I get distracted
Dusty Hill
Peter Gifford
Jaco, I look at the hat and I get distracted
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Theeee real underrated bassist
- Thread starter SteffanB
- Start date
What is that about?
Please explain.
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Cliff Williams
although he has a Signature stingray and You Tube videos about what a genius he was
so maybe not
although he has a Signature stingray and You Tube videos about what a genius he was
so maybe not
I'm going to assume, and hope, that it's an inconvenient typo or perhaps autocorrect.
Underrated is tough. I always took underrated to mean "one who is skilled at their craft, but everyone thinks is lousy at it." So several bassists mentioned wouldn't necessarily be "underrated" since they are regarded as skilled at their craft, but they would qualify for being "under-recognized."
If I were to name an underrated bassist, I might have to say Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith. Several bassists I've talked to in real life think Tom Hamilton is a throwaway bassist, but if you look at his body of work with Aerosmith, he's a much better bassist than the folks I talked to gave him credit for. And he's not someone who sits on his laurels. I read an article in Bass Player magazine that he would use his time off to take lessons and improve as a player.
Jason Newsted could be considered an underrated bassist, especially in the early days of having to follow in the legacy of Cliff Burton. But while I think Cliff Burton was the better musician, I always found Jason to be the better bassist. To me, Jason was more of a "bassist's bassist" and the kind of guy more likely to get hired for a band than Cliff Burton, who was more of a "lead guitarist who played bass."
Speaking of Jason, I feel like Johnny Christ of Avenged Sevenfold is underrated as well. I reference Jason, because Johnny Christ's punchy, percussive basslines are good... when you can hear them! Nobody thinks much of him, which sucks since he has skill. A7X needs to mix Johnny's bass louder and stop "...And Justice for All"-ing him!
But taking the latter sentiment of bassists who are excellent at their craft but are under-recognized/under the radar... Patrick Dahlheimer of Live comes to mind. If you look at Live's entire body of work, you'll see that Dahlheimer not only has insane chops (his slap lines in Operation Spirit are no joke) but can hold a greasy groove without slipping at all.
EDIT: And I have to give a shout to the band Love/Hate. Extremely underrated and criminally overlooked band all around during the late 80s and early 90s. Their bassist Skid wrote, like, all their songs. Very creative talent. He had some pretty tasty grooves (e.g. in the song "Don't Be Afraid") and isn't given his due as a darn good songwriter.
If I were to name an underrated bassist, I might have to say Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith. Several bassists I've talked to in real life think Tom Hamilton is a throwaway bassist, but if you look at his body of work with Aerosmith, he's a much better bassist than the folks I talked to gave him credit for. And he's not someone who sits on his laurels. I read an article in Bass Player magazine that he would use his time off to take lessons and improve as a player.
Jason Newsted could be considered an underrated bassist, especially in the early days of having to follow in the legacy of Cliff Burton. But while I think Cliff Burton was the better musician, I always found Jason to be the better bassist. To me, Jason was more of a "bassist's bassist" and the kind of guy more likely to get hired for a band than Cliff Burton, who was more of a "lead guitarist who played bass."
Speaking of Jason, I feel like Johnny Christ of Avenged Sevenfold is underrated as well. I reference Jason, because Johnny Christ's punchy, percussive basslines are good... when you can hear them! Nobody thinks much of him, which sucks since he has skill. A7X needs to mix Johnny's bass louder and stop "...And Justice for All"-ing him!
But taking the latter sentiment of bassists who are excellent at their craft but are under-recognized/under the radar... Patrick Dahlheimer of Live comes to mind. If you look at Live's entire body of work, you'll see that Dahlheimer not only has insane chops (his slap lines in Operation Spirit are no joke) but can hold a greasy groove without slipping at all.
EDIT: And I have to give a shout to the band Love/Hate. Extremely underrated and criminally overlooked band all around during the late 80s and early 90s. Their bassist Skid wrote, like, all their songs. Very creative talent. He had some pretty tasty grooves (e.g. in the song "Don't Be Afraid") and isn't given his due as a darn good songwriter.
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On the lighter side of rock:
Mike Mills - REM
Kathy Valentine - Go Gos
George McCardell - Little River Band
Tony Butler - Big Country/ Studio
Lance Hoppen - Orleans
Punk:
Chris 2 - Anti-Flag
John Berry - Rufio
Mike Mills - REM
Kathy Valentine - Go Gos
George McCardell - Little River Band
Tony Butler - Big Country/ Studio
Lance Hoppen - Orleans
Punk:
Chris 2 - Anti-Flag
John Berry - Rufio
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Burwabit
Likes guitars that tune good and firm feelin women
These threads always degrade into lists of "my favorite bass players that you guys never want to talk about".
JeezyMcNuggles
Inactive
- Feb 23, 2018
- 14,723
- 20,970
- Disclosures
- I suck, but nobody really notices
I could likely list some that I feel are underrepresented among the larger bass player or music fan worlds, but I came here to say that the idea of 'underrated-ness' has gotten so cliche to me that I don't even bother. I think the idea of anything being underrated is overrated.
Fine, Jonas Reingold.
Fine, Jonas Reingold.
That we got almost off the first page without Cetera being mentioned basically crowns him as king of underrated bassists.
/thread
