What do you know about Gene Simmons bass skills?

His crappy attitude completely negates anything positive you can say about his bass skills (which aren't anything special, IMO). He seems to be on a mission to make all musicians look like a bunch of fools.

 

Nothing at all.

I don't even know who Gene Simmons is....and that's the truth.

John

 

I do think that Gene Simmons is a good bassist, though not great.

However, I have to agree with mchildree. Gene's attitude does make him hard to like. He comes off in interviews as being very self-centered and seems more interested in making every last $$ he can than in making good music.

That being said, KISS is (was?) an amazing live band. I saw them twice without makeup and once with and they do put on a heck of a show.

 

Detroit Rock City has a good bass line.

Other than that, he spits fire well
Oh and then there is the blood thing.

 

His large tongue makes him popular with the ladies. Unfortunately his mouth is even bigger.
Complete jerk.

 

He was a showman/vocalist/songwriter who just played bass because that's what the situation demanded.

In other words, if you went to a KISS show to see good bass skills and ideas, you went for the wrong reasons.

 

I don't know much about his bass skills...I've never really noticed any.

 

Bob Babbitt has stated on several occasions that he ghosted on a lot of Kiss records in the 1980s and early 1990s. And, on many Kiss fan sites, it's reported that Ace Frehley played a lot of the bass on the early records. So it would appear that Simmons has no bass skills at all.

 

His lines were all appropriate for the songs. While not hard, complex, or intricate, they fit the band's music well (at least I think so). And by the way, I can't imagine KISS with a good bassist, that would completely change the music and I can't imagine it sounding well if they went w/someone who played harder, more complex lines. I think that with their music, the bass had to be tuned down a little, and I don't blame them for playing like that. It was probably what was the best fit for the music.

 

His lines? Do you mean the lines he learned to play?

 

Try imagining Geezer Butler.

Just because the melodies and guitar figures are simplistic doesn't mean the bassist can't smoke.

 

Don't hate the player... hate the game.

Word.

For real though

 

Gene Simmons himself said " the music is secondary, something to listen to while you are entertained by the show" A KISS show is more like seeing the circus, than going to hear good music. It's like look at the firebreather, and the animals , and the freakshow, and oh yeah do you hear the organ in the background. Only it's a 120 decibel Calliopie (I think that's how you spell it). Gene Simmons is more a shrewd businessman than a musician, and KISS a corporation more than a band.
I've listened to and copped Clarke, Entwhistle, Lee,
Pastorious,Wooten,Sheehan,Hamm,Graham,Johnson,Miller,and many other players through the years that had something I liked to form my own style of playing. If I wanted to learn something from Gene Simmons it would be how to run a business and make money. Definitely not how to play the bass.

That being said...I've seen KISS a few times through the years, and you get a ton of entertainment and fun for your money !!!

 

You got that right Mrx! It's to the point where it disgusts me.

I saw him on a TV show and he couldn't open his mouth without pushing the "Gene Simmons Visa credit card." Every time someone use theirs, "Mr. Money Grubber Simmons" gets a little richer.
I think it would take less than 5 minutes for him to exhaust his entire knowledge of music.

 

Word to yo muther!!