Under-rated/Over-rated bass players....

[bass12]

Dammit! Has anyone seen mein FLAMMENWERFER?!

View attachment 526910

EDIT: I won't comment on the "Overrated" category, but as far as "Underrated" goes, how about singer/producer/bassist Trevor Horn?

Interesting to hear that song played in such a setting. The part where Steve Lipson takes his hand of his guitar with a sort of "Wait, that's not right" look on his face was pretty funny.

 

[SamJ]

Seriously, John Taylor is one of the reasons I picked up the bass instead of the keyboards which was my original front runner for 12 year old me's instrument choice in 1982-3. We all know JT was a guitard on the dark side before he became a Jedi, most of the time that spells bad bass player, but JT is one of the notable exceptions. I think his love of Bernard Edwards and his dedication to becoming a great bassist has done him well. I can say I've never seen anyone else use ghost notes so effectively, and his use of approach notes in his runs is second only to some of the best jazz players I've seen.

True, true... but unlike most Guitards he really likes the finger style and generally used it... check this out..

 

[spectorfreak]

True, true... but unlike most Guitards he really likes the finger style and generally used it... check this out..

Ha, yes I'm more then familiar with that clip, I always found it amusing John mentioning that he couldn't play Planet Earth without the pick because it was too fast for him

 

[PJ Muzikmansky]

Dammit! Has anyone seen mein FLAMMENWERFER?!

View attachment 526910

EDIT: I won't comment on the "Overrated" category, but as far as "Underrated" goes, how about singer/producer/bassist Trevor Horn?

Speaking of Trevor Horn....

Here's Trev singing and playing on his famous radio pop hit from 1980

 

[Malak the Mad]

Speaking of Trevor Horn....

Here's Trev singing and playing on his famous radio pop hit from 1980

Ahh…tales of my sordid youth.

Quick, film-geeky aside: Did you know the guy who directed that video, along with a couple of notable Duran-Duran vids (See? Back to John Taylor!), later went on to direct the first "Highlander" film? But the early-to-mid-eighties was the era when future notable filmmakers cut their teeth directing music videos.

 

[PJ Muzikmansky]

Ahh…tales of my sordid youth.

Quick, film-geeky aside: Did you know the guy who directed that video, along with a couple of notable Duran-Duran vids (See? Back to John Taylor!), later went on to direct the first "Highlander" film? But the early-to-mid-eighties was the era when future notable filmmakers cut their teeth directing music videos.

Malak...I didn't know that.

 

[fishdreams]

IMO, Motorhead's No Sleep Till Hammersmith, is one of the all-time great bass-centric recordings: Lemmy's bass parts cover 85% of the sonic territory, with 10% alloted to the drums (and having rouble keeping up at that), and 5% to the guitar squealing on top. On top of that he fronts the band, handling lead vocals and writing the material. Can't think of many more bass players who can pull this off, so I'd rate Lemmy as underrated.

 

[EZA]

Overrated-Gary Lee Weinrib
Underrated-John Deacon

 

[BuffaloBob4343]

Great minds think alike....

Are there more of these bass line isolated plays for other songs? That's pretty cool!

My underrated choice is Jim Creegan of the Barenaked Ladies.

 

[katalyzt13]

Under-rated - Mike Dirnt back in the day
Over-rated - Mike Dirnt now

Also, Lemmy isn't just a bass player, he is a total package and one of the most metal people alive on this earth and therefore can't be judged solely on his bass playing.

 

[Malak the Mad]

Overrated-Gary Lee Weinrib

Uh oh…better not let the Toronto authorities hear that. You might end up with some irate cops/fans beating down the door. I mean, isn't that considered heresy in your neck of the woods? But don't fret <snerk!> too much. You might be able to hold your knowledge of Geddy Lee's secret identity up as either mitigating, or possibly extenuating circumstances.

 

[alltomorrowsparties]

underrated - andy rourke, krist novoselic, john deacon.

 

[BuffaloBob4343]

I am an atheist raised in a strict religious household. I love gospel music and often wonder if I would have had the same aversion to religion if this was my Sunday experience.

I have an aversion to religion, but not spiritualism. And the nice thing is, if you're strong of mind, you can actually practice spiritualism right in the midst of the religion. Spiritualism is sort of religion lite, all of the joy without the dogma.

 

[EZA]

Uh oh…better not let the Toronto authorities hear that. You might end up with some irate cops/fans beating down the door. I mean, isn't that considered heresy in your neck of the woods? But don't fret <snerk!> too much. You might be able to hold your knowledge of Geddy Lee's secret identity up as either mitigating, or possibly extenuating circumstances.

I see Gary AKA Geddy walking his dog in my neighborhood all the time lives just around the corner from me, He asked me once if I liked his music I told him "Had Rush been an instrumental band I would have enjoyed it more"

 

[EZA]

I have an aversion to religion, but not spiritualism. And the nice thing is, if you're strong of mind, you can actually practice spiritualism right in the midst of the religion. Spiritualism is sort of religion lite, all of the joy without the dogma.

My karma ran over your dogma.

 

[SamJ]

EZA... You must have a nice home living in his neighborhood. I'd imagine this is as upscale an area as you're going to find in Toronto.

 

[Malak the Mad]

I see Gary AKA Geddy walking his dog in my neighborhood all the time lives just around the corner from me, He asked me once if I liked his music I told him "Had Rush been an instrumental band I would have enjoyed it more"

Ouch, man. Just…ouch.

EDIT: Waitaminute! You said "…an instrumental band…", but that's a comment on vocals, not as a bassist! So, to split a hair or two AND to refine the OP's original question, do you think he's overrated as a bass player?

 

[MaddMann274]

This is a tough one...

Martin Mendez (Opeth) is an amazing bassist who I think is extremely underrated. His playing is musically very interesting imo.
As for overrated bassists, I'd have to go with Lemmy or Cliff Burton. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Cliff but I just think that people tend to overrate him way too often.

 

[groovaholic]

As for overrated bassists, I'd have to go with Lemmy or Cliff Burton. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Cliff but I just think that people tend to overrate him way too often.

I love Metallica and especially Cliff-era Metallica, but I agree with this.

I think Cliff gets over-inflated due to the "taken too young" halo effect.
Yes, Cliff was VERY good; innovative, charismatic, and musical, but he wasn't the musical messiah that people make him out to be.
I own "Cliff 'em All" and have seen clips of Trauma (his pre-Metallica band) and he had a couple trademark riffs that came out a LOT. "Orion" hints at some good things, as does "Leper Messiah", but it's not body of work like Jimi Hendrix, SRV, John Bonham, or Jaco...

 

[Kmonk]

Many threads on this:

Underrated:
Boz Burrell
Tom Hamilton
Gene Simmons
Craig MacGregor
Mel Schacher

Overrated:
Flea
Lemmy
Rob Trujillo
Cliff Burton
Mike Dirnt
Diff McKagan
Nikki Sixx
Krist Novoselic
Jason Newstead