Jaw droppingly good albums for bass players to hear

[steantval]

Any Steely Dan album.

[fretmeister]

8 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

 

I could just never get in to Megadeath. I think it's Dave Mustains vocals that ruin it for me.

Jason Newstead definitely deserved better. It's a shame no one has remixed And Justice For All and a shame he didn't get picked up by another major band. 

@SteveXFR

 

 

 

 

There you go.

 

Cracking job they did of it too.

[Dapper Bandit]

Medeski, Martin and Wood - Shack Man

Primus - Sailing The Seas of Cheese

Mr. Bungle - California

King Crimson - Discipline

Cynic - Focus

Parliament - Mothership Connection

 

The Pacific Breeze compilations released by Light in the Attic, wonderful City Pop comps!

 

[Guest]

For me, despite a massive collection of all styles of music, for a purely bass perspective it has to be Oil On Canvas by Japan. The music is listenable but Mick Karn’s bass sound, style and phrasing remains as fresh as the day it was recorded. It’s very hard to copy or write down (and I’ve transcribed plenty of very hard music!) and I’ve never really heard anyone imitate his style or sound. It’s a shame he didn’t get more credit, have more of a career - and it’s an even bigger shame he’s no longer with us.

Edited December 25, 2021 by FDC484950
Damn you autocorrect!

[Lozz196]

Agree, Mick Karn was a very individual talent.

[Hellzero]

2 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

For me, despite a massive collection of all styles of music, for a purely bass perspective it has to be Oil On Canvas by Japan. The music is listenable but Mick Karen’s bass sound, style and phrasing remains as fresh as the day it was recorded. It’s very hard to copy or write down (and I’ve transcribed plenty of very hard music!) and I’ve never really heard anyone imitate his style or sound. It’s a shame he didn’t get more credit, have more of a career - and it’s an even bigger shame he’s no longer with us.

Try @leitnerjoe. 😉

[Rich]

Power Windows - Rush

 

23 hours ago, paul_5 said:

Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors - 1st solo album from Fish.

 

John Giblin’s incredible playing on this album always manages to serve the song, but at the same time isn’t shy of being more than accompaniment.

 

YES! The album is worth having just for JG's sublime little fills on 'Family Business'.

[Grimalkin]

Thomas Dolby - Aliens Ate My Buick. Some great playing from the late Terry Jackson who was killed in a plane crash with other members of Reba McEntire’s band in 1991, aged 28. The walking line on 'Keys to Her Ferrari' and deciding to put 'Budapest By Blimp' on the thumb. Which is a nice touch, it wouldn't have had the same punctuation played with fingers.

 

It's a great piece of work, especially considering his age.

[super al]

20 minutes ago, Grimalkin said:

Thomas Dolby - Aliens Ate My Buick. Some great playing from the late Terry Jackson who was killed in a plane crash with other members of Reba McEntire’s band in 1991, aged 28. The walking line on 'Keys to Her Ferrari' and deciding to put 'Budapest By Blimp' on the thumb. Which is a nice touch, it wouldn't have had the same punctuation played with fingers.

 

It's a great piece of work, especially considering his age.

Great album...'Hot Sauce' has so much going on.

[Boodang]

14 hours ago, Velarian said:

Thanks for the recommendation. I’m just listening to this now. Really nice; haunting is a good description. 😊 

The track Delirium off the Pendulum album, is one of my fav songs of all time. As soon as I heard it, I went out, bought an EUB and learnt it (well, apart from the bowed squeaky bits!).

[Guest]

13 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Try @leitnerjoe. 😉

Er, well… he owns a fretless Wal. I think I’ll leave it at that.

[Old Man Riva]

David Live by David Bowie - Herbie Flowers not just supporting the songs but, in many cases, adding to them. He’s solid, groovy, funky, and makes a few wonderful excursions up the dusty end, whilst also adding chords and double-stops to boot. A wonderfully inspiring record on many levels and one that I’d point any aspiring bassist towards to get a handle on playing a number of different styles on one gig.

 

Aladdin Sane by David Bowie - Trevor Bolder’s bass lines on the album are wonderful. The album contains an array of different styles (pop/rock stomp of The Jean Genie, groovy R’n’B of Watch That Man, torch song style of Lady Grinning Soul, and the avant-garde leanings of the title track et al) and Trevor nails them all, as per. As above, a wonderfully inspiring LP, and one for any bassist to listen to and hear standout lines across a myriad of different styles. Great production too!

[Hellzero]

1 hour ago, FDC484950 said:

Er, well… he owns a fretless Wal. I think I’ll leave it at that.

Listen to this album then : https://leitnerjoe.bandcamp.com/album/blow-torch

[Barking Spiders]

Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes, Black & White - JJs tone and aggressive style and the sheer visceral sound of his bass still gets me buzzing. 

Sons & Fascination, Sister Feelings Call and New Gold Dream - IMO Simple Minds lost something when Derek Forbes left. All his lines, even the simpler ones, are crackers that drive the tunes.

Lexicon of Love by ABC -  great melodic basslines from start to finish that stand out but don't overpower the songs

Sulk by The Associates - really imaginative and unusual but melodic basslines by Michael Dempsey. Check out Better This Way, Club Country and Skipping. 

[Bilbo]

I remember being interested in the Rattus Nnorvegicus album in spite of it being Punk (I was hostile to most Punk rock at the time - still am, if I am honest). It's a great 'bass' album. 

[Velarian]

1 hour ago, Bilbo said:

I remember being interested in the Rattus Nnorvegicus album in spite of it being Punk (I was hostile to most Punk rock at the time - still am, if I am honest). It's a great 'bass' album. 

Whilst it was lumped in with punk as a genre it really stood apart from others in that group IMO. The keyboards alone made it different and many songs had fairly traditional roots. Take the opening bass line from Princess of the Streets, which is basically a descending blues scale. 

Edited December 26, 2021 by Velarian

[Lozz196]

Listen to Wayward Son by Kansas and spot many influences on JJ Burnells bass playing. If JJ was unaware of the song at the time then he managed to develop some very similar styles by other means. I don’t say this in a slagging off fashion, I like The Stranglers a lot, I was just rather amazed when learning Wayward Son earlier this year at how similar it is to a lot of their basslines.

[cetera]

All the early Chicago albums (Peter Cetera)

Doobie Bros - The Captain & Me, What Were Once Vices... and Stampede (Tiran Porter)

Toy Matinee - s/t (Guy Pratt)

The early Kate Bush Albums (David Paton, Del Palmer etc)

[MoonBassAlpha]

Unorthodox Behaviour by Brand X, especially the first track Thermonuclear Burn. I must have heard it  shortly after it came out,  and I'd never heard anything like it before. I  still enjoy it. Percy Jones had his own style,  both notes and  sounds.

[funkgod]

loads already said, wayne johnson treo as a standout one here for me so far

a few that have been missed for me.

1, loads of level 42 lps but if my are was twisted i will go with the first two early tapes and L42 L42 ( or rather the first one and the later released earlier one, but not the very first early demo early one... ahh forget it))

 

2, Tower of power back to Oakland, by far one of the best lps ever recorded for me for 1000 reasons, i could write a book just on this 1 lp. i bought my girlfriend a copy in about 82 i loved it so much., just to add abit more on this Lp( and other TOP lps) is the jaw dropping tightness of roccos playing, so much so its very very hard to play because he plays so tight and not sticking to a main bass line but always interpreting daves bass drum pattons that some times you are not sure if it is a bass drum and also the seamless way he locks in with chester thompsons hammond bass note playing sometimes adding harmony to it creating this big fatness, if you want to hear a great example of this check out at about 5mins into squib cakes,  iv never heard anything quite like this on any other album, some close, heard a lettice track called Ready to live that got close, but i dont think that playing will be repeated for a very long time.

 

3, Pierre michelot, Round about a bass, again for lots of reasons

 

4, Back door, back door, got all colin hodgkinson releases to do with back door, i love every single track on that learned most of them worn my lp copy out in doing so, i have two copys now ( and the cds)

 

5 The peddlers, various tracks from verious lps Tab deserves mention here, esp with the stunning trevor morais on drums

 

6, loads by julian crampton if i was to pick one i would say Supercharged by down to the bone.

 

7 could pick loads from the acid jazz era

 

 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by funkgod

[geoham]

On 25/12/2021 at 10:48, Shaggy said:

Inspirational to my formative years, and still inspirational:

 

”Rumours”,  Fleetwood Mac - John McVie doing nothing flashy, but totally underpinning each great song

 

McVie is a fantastic player - I don’t feel he gets the recognition he deserves. An ever present in one of music’s most enduring bands, performing the roll of bassist perfectly, whether playing 60’s blues rock or 80’s synth pop. 
To Rumours specifically, I think his finest moment is the chorus on Go Your Own Way - an absolute cracker of a bassline. 

[dudewheresmybass]

Whitesnake - ready and willing. Neil Murray at his best. 
anthrax- pretty much anything from among the living forwards. Bello is so very much underrated. 
control denied - fragile art of existence. Some amazing fretless playing courtesy of steve digiorgio. 
iron maiden - number of the beast. Solid and totally influential to many. 
sabbath - black sabbath. Geezer is on fire. Supportive yet featured. Challenging and melodic. 

I’m sure I’ll think of more, but that’s part 1 😂😂
 

[ezbass]

17-11-70 - Elton John. Dee Murray just being brilliant.

 

So - Peter Gabriel. Tony Levin’s finest album with PG? Maybe. You also get Larry Klein too.

 

Robben Ford & The Blue Line - album of the same name. Roscoe Beck at his finest.

 

No Parlez & Secret of Association - Paul Young. Pino slip sliding and inspiring untold numbers of bass players.

 

Continuum - John Mayer. Pino showing his other side and you get Willie Weeks too!

 

Crosby Stiils & Nash - CS&N. Steven Stills showing off his bass chops, as well as everything else.

 

The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge - Yes. Chris Squire mixed up close and personal; the tone, the technique.

 

Rush ‘80 - ‘93. My favourite era. Geddy, nuff said.

 

Back to Oakland & Tower of Power - TOP. Rocco, again, nuff said.

 

Props to @funkgod for mentioning The Peddlers. The Fantastic Peddlers was one of my late dad’s favourite albums and I was raised on it, regular weekend listening in my youth.

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by ezbass

[Wylie]

Roberto Jospe, "Roberto Jospe Express" and Tom Kennedy, "Stories." The bassist on "Express" is Dane Alderson--unbelievably good player. 

[tinyd]

On DB, Ron Carter's playing in the Miles quintet is my favourite, particularly Footprints on Miles Smiles.  I also really like Jimmy Garrison with Coltrane, particularly Crescent and A Love Supreme.

 

For electric, Robbie Shakespeare (loads of recordings, but his playing really cuts through on the Black Uhuru and Grace Jones stuff), Paul Jackson (Headhunters, Thrust etc)  and Jaco's first album are all stuff I keep coming back to