Music Radar 25 Greatest Basslines

[mep]

https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-25-greatest-basslines-of-all-time

The 25 greatest basslines of all time

The best bass guitar lines, as voted for by you!

Some worthy basslines here, with a YouTube Link for each one.

[TheGreek]

These are always going to be subjective - FWIW I don't agree with many being on the list and IMO there are loads of better lines missing.

[Doctor J]

Whatever about what’s not there, ranking Another One Bites the Dust higher than Good Times is... ehhh... perverse, let’s say.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

Click bait tosh. YYV indeed 🙄

[itu]

The best is not chosen by "a democratic process". The article was just biased bull...

[Woodinblack]

Yeh, sounds good apart from all that jaco stuff. Would be good if they could have spelled YYZ seeing as there were only 3 letters, and only 2 different ones!

 

[Mickeyboro]

  On 28/08/2020 at 20:59, Woodinblack said:

Yeh, sounds good apart from all that jaco stuff. Would be good if they could have spelled YYZ seeing as there were only 3 letters, and only 2 different ones!

 

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They apparently blame it on a rogue algorithm...

[stewblack]

I quite like these lists. If it introduces me to a great line or a great player, then happy days. 

Thanks for sharing. 

[Nicko]

This may be heresy around these parts, but I'm not a great believer in "great basslines".  There are basslines that fit the song and ones that don't.  Playing straight 16th root notes can sound brilliant, and playing a fancy slap riff can sound awful.

[Woodinblack]

  On 29/08/2020 at 11:42, Nicko said:

This may be heresy around these parts, but I'm not a great believer in "great basslines".  There are basslines that fit the song and ones that don't.  Playing straight 16th root notes can sound brilliant, and playing a fancy slap riff can sound awful.

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I would think that was the normal opinion, so hardly a heresy. I would say that most of those lines are great baselines that fit the song, apart from a couple.

[Lozz196]

Lots of stuff in there I don’t know, but given the pedigree of those players I doubt I could disagree much. 

[stewblack]

  On 29/08/2020 at 11:42, Nicko said:

This may be heresy around these parts, but I'm not a great believer in "great basslines".  There are basslines that fit the song and ones that don't.  Playing straight 16th root notes can sound brilliant, and playing a fancy slap riff can sound awful.

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I disagree. Except I actually agree.

Let me try that again. I agree that a great bassline doesn't need to be flashy. Imagine AC/DC if the bassist was running up and down the fretboard. It would rip the guts from the song. 

So there is such a thing as a great bassline. It just doesn't necessarily have to use all the notes all the time. 

 

[Nicko]

  On 29/08/2020 at 14:30, stewblack said:

I disagree. Except I actually agree.

Let me try that again. I agree that a great bassline doesn't need to be flashy. Imagine AC/DC if the bassist was running up and down the fretboard. It would rip the guts from the song. 

So there is such a thing as a great bassline. It just doesn't necessarily have to use all the notes all the time. 

 

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That's kinda what I meant. Under Pressure isn't a great harmonic idea and is not exactly demanding to play, its just appropriate and memorable.  Does that make it great?

[StickyDBRmf]

Yeah, but what about, yeah, but what about, yeah, but what about....

[stewblack]

  On 29/08/2020 at 15:32, Nicko said:

That's kinda what I meant. Under Pressure isn't a great harmonic idea and is not exactly demanding to play, its just appropriate and memorable.  Does that make it great?

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I guess if enough people think it's great then it qualifies. 

There was a time I might have debated intrinsic greatness versus subjectivity, but now I just go with the flow. 

[Barking Spiders]

 

  On 29/08/2020 at 15:32, Nicko said:

That's kinda what I meant. Under Pressure isn't a great harmonic idea and is not exactly demanding to play, its just appropriate and memorable.  Does that make it great?

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No it certainly doesn't. Let's face it in the vast majority of tunes put out there the basslines are appropriate, because the producers make sure they fit in.  I've rarely ever heard any song with an inappropriate line. What these polls mean by 'great' is 'memorable', a much better word to use.

[Lfalex v1.1]

As with all such things,  YMMZ.