Metal bass

NicholasDWolfwood · Post by **NicholasDWolfwood** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:07 pm

Recommend some good metal bass players. Gogogo.

I already know about Steve DiGiorgio and Scott Clendenin, 'Arry, Martin Mendez and Johan DeFarfalla, Tony Choy and Sean Malone, Jason Newsted, Alex Webster, Cryptopsy's bassist (can't think of his name)...I can't really think of anybody else sadly

Tono_Fyr · Post by **Tono_Fyr** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:27 pm

Oliver Holzwarth

Hansi Kursch before he went all vocals.

Piet Sielck is the frontman for Iron Savior, and they've done some really bass-intensive stuff.

Tono_Fyr · Post by **Tono_Fyr** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:28 pm

Tono_Fyr wrote:Oliver Holzwarth

Hansi Kursch before he went all vocals.

Piet Sielck is the frontman for Iron Savior, and they've done some really bass-intensive stuff.

Dammit, he's the lead guitarist for IS >.< He's the bassist for Savage Circus.

Flint the Dwarf · Post by **Flint the Dwarf** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:49 pm

John Myung, Mike Lepond, Joey Demaio, and Les Claypool.

Zaphod_Beeblebrox · Post by **Zaphod_Beeblebrox** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:52 pm

John Myung (Dream Theater)

Cliff Burton (Metallica)

Tony Levin's work with Liquid Tension Experiment

Robert Trujilo when he was still playing with Ozzy

Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)

Brian Marshall (Alter Bridge/Creed)

That should keep you going for now...

NicholasDWolfwood · Post by **NicholasDWolfwood** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:13 pm

I already know about Burton, and I never found anything about him special. Newsted was a better bassist than Cliff.

Myung bores me. I used to be a big fan of Dream Theater, but I kinda got tired of the "epic" wankery.

Levin I've never heard his stuff and I've never really listened to Sabbath.

Zaphod_Beeblebrox · Post by **Zaphod_Beeblebrox** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:20 pm

NicholasDWolfwood wrote:Newsted was a better bassist than Cliff.

Bloody heretic.

Burton was by far the best thing that ever happened to that band, after that it all went downhill, And as for Jason Newstead being better...I have nothing to say. I question whether you have ever seen a video of Cliff pulling out a solo in a live environment, because if you had you'd see how much of a technically skilled bassist he was, as well as being musically gifted.

NicholasDWolfwood · Post by **NicholasDWolfwood** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:31 pm

I know exactly what I'm talking about. Jason Newsted was far more talented than Cliff Burton was.

Burton may have known theory and he could have been a technically good bassist, but when did he ever apply it? 99% of the stuff that Burton did with Metallica followed the guitars. Is that because Burton was technically gifted? I'm not saying that it had to be a wankfest like Dream Theater, because God knows thrash metal has bass that only follows the guitars (

) but really, what did Cliff do that was so brilliant? A bass solo in Orion, and some really fast playing in Call of Ktulu? The beginning notes of For Whom the Bell Tolls? Anesthesia, which is hardly a technical piece, that I was playing easily at 8 months into bass playing?

Newsted's work period goes far beyond what Cliff accomplished. Cliff was only in Metallica for 6 years. Let's just talk about Newsted's work with Metallica though. Most of the ...And Justice For All basslines are pretty creative, not to mention he wrote most of Blackened. My Friend of Misery, possibly the most recognizable Newsted bass piece for Metallica; simple, but effective. Where the Wild Things Are, one of the few high points on ReLoad.

Not to mention his work with Flotsam and Jetsam, writing 90% of their first album by himself.

Zaphod_Beeblebrox · Post by **Zaphod_Beeblebrox** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 11:03 pm

NicholasDWolfwood wrote:Burton may have known theory and he could have been a technically good bassist,

What more can you really ask of an instrumentalist exactly?

NicholasDWolfwood wrote:but when did he ever apply it? 99% of the stuff that Burton did with Metallica followed the guitars.

Yeah, in the recorded versions, live he was a whole different animal, the solos are some of the most difficult pieces of non-slapped bass you will ever hear, the fact that he played almost exclusively with his fingers using 3, sometime all four on his right hand, trust me, i can play some of his lines with a pick, but i'm no where near most of the whole of 'master of puppets' (album) with fingers.

NicholasDWolfwood wrote:Cliff was only in Metallica for 6 years.

That's the worst argument i ever heard. The man died, who knows what would have happened if he hadn't.

NicholasDWolfwood wrote:Let's just talk about Newsted's work with Metallica though. Most of the ...And Justice For All basslines are pretty creative, not to mention he wrote most of Blackened. My Friend of Misery, possibly the most recognizable Newsted bass piece for Metallica; simple, but effective.

Hmm, right, and how are the same riffs over and over and over again inventive? Cliff instigated time signature changes, sprawling instrumental sections, bass solos, truly meaningful lyrics, what did Newstead do? My Friend of Misery? The man couldn't even be bothered to follow the guitar properly, god only knows what Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning would have sounded like had newstead got his hands on them.

And as for blackened...damn that's one boring, long-ass song, and apocalyptic lyrics...whooo, thats never been done before, has it?

NicholasDWolfwood · Post by **NicholasDWolfwood** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 11:43 pm

Zaphod_Beeblebrox wrote: What more can you really ask of an instrumentalist exactly?

It was more of an "if, then" statement than a truth statement. Obviously Cliff knew theory, but whether he was a technically good bassist is up for debate, since, well, he didn't do much.

Yeah, in the recorded versions, live he was a whole different animal, the solos are some of the most difficult pieces of non-slapped bass you will ever hear, the fact that he played almost exclusively with his fingers using 3, sometime all four on his right hand, trust me, i can play some of his lines with a pick, but i'm no where near most of the whole of 'master of puppets' (album) with fingers.

Most of the stuff on Master of Puppets is very easy. Playing Battery and Master of Puppets back to back is simple. I haven't tried learn the rest of the album because my time has gone to Death and Nile. Ah yes, and most of Cliff's lines can be played with two fingers. The only ones I can think of that should be/have to be played with three are Battery and Fight Fire with Fire since they're more galloping based, especially at the tempo they're at.

Also, the solos that Cliff played are nothing special. Whoopy, he played with distortion and wah.

That's the worst argument i ever heard. The man died, who knows what would have happened if he hadn't.

My arguement is that he didn't have time to prove how good he was or could have been, there's no way to predict he wouldn't have left the band after Puppets, or there's no way to predict that he would have had a greater influence on their work than he already did.

Hmm, right, and how are the same riffs over and over and over again inventive? Cliff instigated time signature changes, sprawling instrumental sections, bass solos, truly meaningful lyrics, what did Newstead do? My Friend of Misery? The man couldn't even be bothered to follow the guitar properly, god only knows what Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning would have sounded like had newstead got his hands on them.

"Sprawling instrumental sections"? Nothing that Metallica did in the first three albums was hard. Hetfield wrote most of the lyrics for Metallica, he always has. Bass solos? I'd hardly call them "bass' solos, more like a mess of distortion.

As far as Newsted, he probably would have improved them a little. Newsted was restricted greatly in Metallica up until Load/ReLoad. Not to mention anything he ever did in Metallica is smothered by his work on Flotsam and Jetsam's debut, "Doomsday for the Deceiver." Listen to it before you judge Newsted, thanks.

And as for blackened...damn that's one boring, long-ass song, and apocalyptic lyrics...whooo, thats never been done before, has it?

If it's so boring, why does the crowd hugely pop for it every time they play it, hmm?