Ten Ton Bass

[lawlessgrandma]

In Balingen one of the downers was that the bass guitar sound of half of the bands "went with the wind", although it is not the most difficult obstacle to overcome for the mixers. I played bass in my early band days, with a plec.... and distortion. So give some credit for the bass players. Here is my Top Ten:
1. Jack Bruce (I grew up with the musical taste of my father who is a huge Cream fan. Bruce makes the bass a singer. 'I'm so Glad' .... undisputed.)
2. Nikki Sixx (Last week I handed over 'The Dirt' to Magnetor. Since that day the house is all Moetley. And Sixx is god anyway.)
3. John Entwistle (I saw The Who last year in Ulm. The two original members left put such a great show on the stage... many new bands should cut off a piece of that. In my eyes Entwistle`s playing is just unique and it surely influenced many Metal bands. Ask Mr Lawless. The basslines in songs like 'I can See for Miles', 'I'm a Boy' or 'Young Man Blues' are just classic to the bone.)
4. Steve Harris (The inventor of the galopping bass. The Maiden sound is built on Steve's instrument.)
5. Stephan Weidner (Head and bassplayer of Die Boehsen Onkelz who became THE cult act in Germany. Without video or radio airplay they had three NO. 1 albums. Before they broke up two years ago they played an OpenAir in Eastern Germany in front of 110 000 fans.)
6. John Gallagher (I'm in Raven's Room of Death. although I got all their records. The sound they create as a three piece just cannot be copied. I think they are working on a new album and will play a gig at the Hardrock Hell Festival somewhere near Glastonbury this winter! Has anybody been there in the last years??)
7. Duff McKagan (Next week I'll buy the new Velvet Revolver record. I loved the first output. Saw them several times. The man got pretty skinny. Back in 94 or 95 I was lucky to meet him when he was touring with his solo band. What a moment that was for a GNR lunatic at that time.)
8. Dee Dee Ramone (RIP. I saw him playing with his solo band back in 99. What an animal, totally ruined. Everybody likes his songs, so do I.)
9. Lemmy (He just has to be in this list. I still love watching him singing into the sky and killing everybody by distorted death.)
10. Gene Simmons (Some years ago I went to carnival as Gene Simmons. It took several hours to paint my face in the right way, and believe me it looked pretty authentically - for some hours. Of course ten beers later I looked like a stranded glamrocker, but the fun was worth it. We'll see if they ever will tour again, maybe with Singer and Kulick.)

[MetalBlade]

Hard Rock Hell is a new festival which takes place at a Butlins holiday camp.
Instead of camping, you get a chalet/apartment. That's gotta be jolly good.

Here's my Top Ten Bass Players.

1. Cronos (Venom)
Created the heaviest bass sound I ever heard, on At War With Satan.
Immense stage presence too, Cronos is the man.

2. Justin Chancellor (Tool)
An English guy, who is almost wholly responsible for the TOOL sound.
The John Paul Jones of our generation, and one of the most technically sound musicians in the world today.

3. Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)
Like Tony Iommi, without Geezer there can be no Sabbath. He invented doom metal.

4. Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)
What Grandma said ^^...

5. Ron Broder (Coroner)
Vastly underrated, Coroner were almost a thrash version of what Tool are now.
Broder was a small, skeletal looking man, who resembled Devin Townsend a bit, but technically one of the most inventive of bass players.

6. Joey DeMaio (Manowar)
Proper no-bullshit balls-out METAL through and through.
Manowar may be OTT, but Joey is still the fastest bassist in the world.
Sting Of The Bumblebee?

7. Lemmy (Motorhead)
He actually plays solos in every song, probably without even realising it.
One of the musicians I respect most of all, due to his "fuck them all" attitude.

8. Dan Lilker (Brutal Truth/Nuclear Assault/S.O.D./you name it)
The bass version of Nicholas Barker i.e. a metal slag. He will whore his wares to the highest bidder at the drop of a hat.
But in doing so created on or two milestones of metal. And he is freakishly tall and thin.

9. Ian Hill (Judas Priest)
He is like a statue, and a machine at the same time.
Anyone who invades Ian's stage space better watch out, because he is not easily angered.

10. Frank Bello (Anthrax)
The tinny Anthrax bass sound defined who they were. Check out the intro to Caught In A Mosh.

[MentalGoth]

Right Here Goes!!!!!

1. Nikki Sixx - Cos hes in Motley Crue.
2. Cliff Burton - Cos of His Bass Riffs.
3. Jason Newstead - For Taking His Place.
4. Stuart Morrow - For Being In New Model Army and his bass sound.
5. Tom Arayer - Hes just awesome.
6. Lemmy - Hes Craazy.
7. Steve Harris - For his Legacy.
8. Blackie Lawless - For Being Glam.
9. Simon Gallop - For being Goth.
10. Rick Savage - For Being From Sheffield.

That was really hard.

[lawlessgrandma]

This turns into an educational forum. I didn't know that Sav's from Sheffield. You never learn out. It seems that there cannot be a basslist without Mr Harris and Lemmy... and there is nothing wrong about that.

[dittohead]

1. Steve Harris - When he plays you know its him. Nuff said
2. Geezer Butler - For the legacy & the fact he still brings it live on a level many a newbie bass player has yet to attain
3. Lemmy - Just cos the man should be dead, but ain't.
4. Cliff Burton - Wow, you have to wonder where 'Tallica would've gone if he were around today....
5. Alex Webster - not a CC fan, but still, awesome talent.
6. Steve DiGiorgio - Excellent player, contributed to so many excellent albums.
7. Billy Gould - Listening to any FNM song, the bass line always fits the style of song perfectly.
8. Rob Trujillo - Talented player, shame he looks like a gurning, constipated monkey when he plays live.
9. Tom Araya - Have to get a Slayer reference in here.
10. Evan Seinfeld - For ending up starring in Oz & getting to fire his yoghurt cannon all over Tera Patrick - proof portly bassists can get lucky!