General Top Ten Bassists

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MMAPlaywright

First 100
First 100
Jan 18, 2015
6,030
10,714
Haven't watched video, but it needs to have John Entwistle, the dude from Primus and Jack Bruce, among that top then, in my idiotic and questionable opinion.
 

so long

Posting Machine
Dec 16, 2015
1,282
2,035
With bass it can be tricky to say who is a really good player just from the records. depends a lot on the style of music and what the band is going for. Primus is centered around Les Claypool (who is absolutely amazing at bass don't get me wrong), or RedHotChiliPeppers with a strong rhythm-oriented music and just a guitar and drums leaves a lot of room for basslines. but you gotta give it to Mr. Flea, he makes the absolute best of it (Like the bassline of Around the World is creative, sounds great and is technical to play). it's also about musicality and "staying in the lane", can't just jerk off the craziest bass-attacks over Runaway Train for example. Flea is also good at that (check the verses of Otherside, first verse is just the basic notes, later he pits variances onto it), really musically sound (I'm saying that subjectively as listener and fan).
Sometimes, too much stuff from the bass is not wanted. Like the guy from Nirvana could be really Michael Jordanesque in his playing but it would never show because it doesn't make sense to lay it down to Nirvana's intentionally simplistic music. Or the guy from Guns N Roses. He's just playing to the music, which is good, it's music, not a penis size contest (there Les Claypool would).
What I always held in high esteem about Cliff Burton was that he made the case for bassparts in the songs and didn't always play 1:1 on what the guitars were playing. Shame he didn't get to record more bass solos. Or another example: Rex from Pantera sometimes plays the guitar riffs on bass which is hard to do but it doesn't sound cool and I cannot really name songs where the bass is evil and demands authority and plays something unique.
Or look at Fieldy from KoRn, who brought a completely new sound. Or Lemmy also put the bass out there, even with distortion. but his stuff is not as 'hard to play'.
Then you got guys like Billy Sheenan who is all about playing as many notes as possible and that's his thing. But you can't compare it against a guy who plays live, with, say, a bigband or reggea amd really comforts the whole groove, plays some notes louder, some quieter and just gives a good feel.

I didn't watch the video. Or I think I did watch something like it a few years ago.
What I can say with confidence though is that almost any solid professional musician can whip out all that stuff that you hear on records and then some.

That's why I would say it's hard to say who is the best guy like in sports maybe. not every style of music requires the bassist to shine. but some guys like Cliff make it happen anyway. And Geezer Butler from Sabbath. Fuck...

For guitar it's even harder (minimum one page essay LOL) but David Gilmour shows a completely different skillset than the guy from Manowar. but I bet both guys could play the other guy's stuff easily as they are pros. Paul Gilbert can play anything on guitar but Tommy Iommi wrote the wayyyy cooler riffs.

So there's that LOL. No opinion given and couldn't watch the video. But I like the topic!

Personally though I think Flea and Cliff Burton were the guys I was going for most when learning bass. And music that has walkingbass. And Geezer Butler from Sabbath is the man.

p.s. I also saw a live video of Metallica where CB plays super untight and it's a mess. If he was always like that live then that's not even top 20 because it diminishes the music. But he could have been sober and hungover so I'll give him a pass :D
 

so long

Posting Machine
Dec 16, 2015
1,282
2,035
I meant to say that any good pro band or studio musician can probably easily play 99% of the stuff that's on records. The actual benchmark of technical playing is much higher.
Take a hard song and there's a video of a fourteen year old kid playong that shit easily. and imagine that guy if he keeps practicing for another 15years.
 

Filthy

Iowa Wrestling Champion
Jun 28, 2016
27,507
29,834
for anyone who doesn't want to watch the video...

10) John Myung - Dream Theater
9) John Deacon - Queen
8) Flea - RHCP
7) Les Claypool - Primus
6) Cliff Burton - Metallica
5) Steve Harris - Iron Maiden
4) John Paul Jones - Led Zeppelin
3) Paul McCartney - The Beatles
2) John Entwistle - The Who
1) Geddy Lee - Rush


I think you can throw out Geddy Lee and Paul McCartney, they're 'multi-instrumentalists' who play bass in their band...not the same as a bassist, IMAO.

I'd replace those two with Geezer Butler - Black Sabbath and Chris Squire - Yes

here's Chris Squire laying down licks for reference

 

Toelocku

*I Know What I Know if you Know What I Mean*
Dec 15, 2018
5,694
4,969
for anyone who doesn't want to watch the video...

10) John Myung - Dream Theater
9) John Deacon - Queen
8) Flea - RHCP
7) Les Claypool - Primus
6) Cliff Burton - Metallica
5) Steve Harris - Iron Maiden
4) John Paul Jones - Led Zeppelin
3) Paul McCartney - The Beatles
2) John Entwistle - The Who
1) Geddy Lee - Rush


I think you can throw out Geddy Lee and Paul McCartney, they're 'multi-instrumentalists' who play bass in their band...not the same as a bassist, IMAO.

I'd replace those two with Geezer Butler - Black Sabbath and Chris Squire - Yes

here's Chris Squire laying down licks for reference

I'd put john mcvie on that list
 

Hauler

Been fallin so long it's like gravitys gone
Feb 3, 2016
45,412
57,814
for anyone who doesn't want to watch the video...

10) John Myung - Dream Theater
9) John Deacon - Queen
8) Flea - RHCP
7) Les Claypool - Primus
6) Cliff Burton - Metallica
5) Steve Harris - Iron Maiden
4) John Paul Jones - Led Zeppelin
3) Paul McCartney - The Beatles
2) John Entwistle - The Who
1) Geddy Lee - Rush


I think you can throw out Geddy Lee and Paul McCartney, they're 'multi-instrumentalists' who play bass in their band...not the same as a bassist, IMAO.

I'd replace those two with Geezer Butler - Black Sabbath and Chris Squire - Yes

here's Chris Squire laying down licks for reference

It's a crime that Chris Squire is almost always left off of these "best ever" lists. Dude was phenomenal.
 

BenAskrensStrikingcoach

Formerly formulating formally
Jan 30, 2015
4,753
5,118
Manzarek deserves a shout too, played keyboard bass but he also played the keyboard at the same time and even sang the fuckin songs when Morrison was too off his tits to do it.

Fucker was like a 1 man band.
 

Yossarian

TMMAC Addict
Oct 25, 2015
13,489
19,127
These lists are kind of ridiculous. But fuck, let's not forget Carole Kaye.

You can be technically very good, and fast and all that show off stuff, it's all about how you compose in my opinion, and how well you work with the drums. John Paul Jones is a good example of working well with Bonham. Paul McCartney was definitely a good bass player, cause he was a great composer, listen to Abbey Road or Sgt. Pepper.

Showing off your technical prowess every time you can doesn't make you a good player.