Most BadAss Bassist: Then and Now
 

Then: Cliff Burton

Now: Up in the air. You decide.

UP

-willie

Then: Blackie from Voivod

Now: The dude from Tribal Tech

Cliff

Steve Harris: Iron Maiden

Damn straight.

what about old les claypool?
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IPAD CASES

What about him? Heh Heh
I do like his custom bass though. It's like Prince's guitar (yellow cloud) without the gayness.

your like prince's guitar too, but WITH the gayness.
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Avandia Lawsuites

Really?


With your face on it it'd be gayer than a Richard Simmons Christmas Special.

then: Cliff Burton, of course

now: damn... Well, I can't think of anyone better than Les Claypool (I liked Primus damn it)

Or maybe Trevor Dunn from Mr. Bungle.

Steve DiGiorgio, then and now. And Tony Choy, for then. Also Sean Malone, for now.

Tony Choy from Atheist? He didn't record enough to be certain, but boy, he could play. And Sean Malone is very good, yeah. Check out the rhythm section of Sieges Even, the brothers Holdsworth (nothing to do with the guitarist). Bassist's amazing. Not Malone class, though.

He also recorded with Pestilence and Cynic (in their demo days). He was fucking incredible on Atheist's "Elements", though. I saw a video of a show from the tour for that record and he was blazing all over the place like he wasn't even thinking. Last I heard he was playing in a samba band on a cruise ship or something. A shame...

Yeah... I've seen a picture. Thought it was a joke.

steve harris and joey dimiao

Lots of people may loathe me for saying this, but I don't see why Cliff Burton is considered such a great bassist. However, if anyone can explain, more power to you...I honestly could be missing something.

I've just always been pissed off about it. From what I can tell(and admittedly I've not listened to him in ages) it was just a dumbed-down imitation of Geddy Lee, only inaudible with the guitars drowning him out. People say "but check out Pulling Teeth!" and all it is is some simple arpeggio shit, nothing that hasn't been done before. Metallica wasn't about bass, it was about drums and guitar. He simply didn't cut through in the band, far as I'm concerned. I also can't help but think people worship him simply because he's dead.

good bassists in metal are actually quite rare, so I'll just pick anyone at all that's good:
Then: Timi from Mercyful Fate(don't laugh)
Now: B. War from early Marduk was interesting....not too many these days, come to think of it.

Metal-wise: Steve Harris with honorable mention to Geddy Lee (probably more straight rock than metal, actually)

If you're going to talk about bad ass bass players, though, you almost have to go outside the metal box and include jazz guys like
Charles Mingus and Stanely Clarke. Those guys are incredible!

Trevor Roy Dunn--fabulous in both Mr. Bungle and Fantomas.

Jay Bentley--may not be metal, but he's still undoubtedly my biggest influence, whether it be metal, punk, or plain and simple melodicism.

Alex Webster--he did the damn near impossible. He made himself heard on "Tomb of the Mutilated", which garners my utmost respect when it comes to death metal. I know it's cliche, but just listen to the bass "solo" in "Hammer Smashed Face" and tell me that that's not cool as fuck. :rock

Todd and John from Propagandhi--two very different styles of playing, yet both added key ingredients to the sound of the band, which has made them(Propagandhi) my second favourite band of all time.

Also, I'm not exactly sure as to what his name is (Maruzio?) from Kataklysm was incredible on 'Temple of Knowledge'.

P.S. Cliff Burton was nothing special. He just happened to be the bassist for a lot of people's favourite band.
Les Claypool is great, despite the fact that he'll only play two, maybe three riffs per song. Don't get me wrong, he's talented, but he's still boring to me.

Mike Watt

Yes, Mingus and Clarke are great. The problem w/ ol' Stan is that half his stuff is this cheeseass elevator music shit...but the other stuff he did is very much worth checking out.

Mike Watt, hell yes! Not metal, but deserves mention anyway I'd say.

I know what you mean. It seems, in both cases, to depend on with whom they're collaborating. Some artists just push each other to experiment. Oh yeah, I forgot Pastorius. THERE was a talent that died way too young.

Yeah, Jaco was great, but again had some cheese-ass stuff which was compensated for by his contribution to bassplaying. It also doesnt help that he beat the piss out of his son, and his quotes sometimes strike me as a bit too pompous. Pretty brutal death they dealt him there.

Steve Harris, Lemmy from motorhead, geddy lee, matt freeman,
paul simonen, and john entwistle. although most of those bassists arent metal I still think their worth mentioning.

Then, Rob Wright.
Now, Rob Wright.
Any Nomeansno fans out there? They're not metal but Rob is awesome. He's like a pissed off Geddy Lee who'll kick your ass.