Really annoying basslines

[matski]

 

I just heard this song on the radio and the bassline was so annoying I just had to vent my spleen, and what better place than here on BC? Anyone else got any examples of basslines that really get on your tits?

[paul_5]

Jesus! That’s not even close!

[Grimalkin]

A sense of time is essential... It sounds like he's been on the ale.

[Grahambythesea]

I reckon he thought he was being really Soulful doing a Marcus Miller type thing, but totally failing. The producer should have cut it out.

[TheRev]

WTF was that doing on the radio?  It sounds like a home recording project done by someone who 1) doesn't know what latency is and 2) has cloth ears.

[SumOne]

That is annoying. I think they're trying to do the J Dilla 'drunk' drums thing but with the bassline - which doesn't really work. 

[StickyDBRmf]

Rolling Stones "Miss You" Bill Wymans octave bass line sounds like "Aw, Bill, ya gotta get w/ the times, here!" Probably put in his resignation right after.

[SumOne]

I'm learning 'can't stand losing you' by The Police right now and the speed it rushes through and out of the reggae type bassline bits is annoying me.... No funk or building a groove or giving it any breathing space. 

[Guest]

Every single song by Keane

[Rich]

4 hours ago, matski said:

I just heard this song on the radio and the bassline was so annoying I just had to vent my spleen, and what better place than here on BC? Anyone else got any examples of basslines that really get on your tits?

 

People have been hung, drawn and quartered for far lesser offences than that. I hope that one day I can meet the person responsible for it and shake him warmly by the throat. 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Rich

[Reggaebass]

I’m no slapper, but I think even I can do better than that 😁

[Grimalkin]

 "Gaye was desperate to have Jamerson play on "What's Going On", and went to several bars to find the bassist. When he did, he brought Jamerson to the studio, but Jamerson was too intoxicated to stay upright, so James played the classic line while lying flat on his back."

 

That's really wanting someone to play on your record, even if they are full of Metaxa.

 

 

[super al]

1 hour ago, StickyDBRmf said:

Rolling Stones "Miss You" Bill Wymans octave bass line sounds like "Aw, Bill, ya gotta get w/ the times, here!" Probably put in his resignation right after.

 

In my strange little world I too hate the bassline but it's still my favourite Stones toon.

[StickyDBRmf]

30 minutes ago, super al said:

 

In my strange little world I too hate the bassline but it's still my favourite Stones toon.

It's the preposterous bass line that makes it so great. Bill probably couldn't play it w/out smirking or laughing. (I've had those)

[nilebodgers]

Wow, that is pretty bad. It sounds like someone messing about demoing a bass in a music shop by playing a lick they haven’t quite mastered yet.

[Merton]

2 hours ago, Rich said:

 

People have been hung, drawn and quartered for far lesser offences than that. I hope that one day I can meet the person responsible for it and shake him warmly by the throat. 

I’ll join you. Christ. It’s given me heartburn.

 

No, I don’t know how either, but it definitely coincides with listening to that 😵‍💫

[Steve Browning]

I'm going to be flamed for this but there are two serial culprits (IMHO) .... many of NWR's bass lines with Wilko, and John Entwistle.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Norman Watt-Roy in the Blockheads etc but I find many of those Wilko bass lines too far too busy. I find the same with JE. I'm going to be in a minority of one, but the question was asked.

[ossyrocks]

I dunno, look at from my perspective, I’ve been playing bass for two months, and if people can put out records like that, with bass lines like that, then I have a very bright future ahead of me! 

[Joe Nation]

That's not annoying. The Cheeky Girls are annoying. Nickleback are annoying. That is shameful and embarrassing, and downright painful to listen to.

[Leonard Smalls]

1 hour ago, Steve Browning said:

I find many of those Wilko bass lines too far too busy

 I love 'em! Mainly because Wilko basically does the same in every song so Norm has to fill it out...

But then I'm the sort of bass player who got offended by School of Rock; just watched it again the other day and at the end JackBlack tells FlyingV boy to "melt his face" with a solo (average solo follows). Then he says similar to the drummer, keyboard player, each and every backing vocalist in turn, all of whom do their bit. Except the bass player, who stands there like a spare part doing that tedious bass player thing of doin' nowt except 8th note root and fifth, if you're lucky.

I just don't understand why so many bass players feel this is all they can, or are allowed to, do! Since when was musicality and (dare I say it?) showing off only permitted on instruments that aren't bass? After all, getting up on stage is really all about showing off... And if a bass player dares to play more than the allotted amount of notes there's a chorus of tutting from the Staid Hordes Of Square BassPlayers!

[Guest]

Entwistle had to play like that to stop people from noticing Pete Townshend's limitations

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

Except the bass player, who stands there like a spare part doing that tedious bass player thing of doin' nowt except 8th note root and fifth, if you're lucky. I just don't understand why so many bass players feel this is all they can, or are allowed to, do! Since when was musicality and (dare I say it?) showing off only permitted on instruments that aren't bass

 

I find the sound of a bassist self-consciously showing off fairly boring, but get very excited by music that simply requires virtuosic bass playing eg.

 

 

I don't necessarily clock the bass playing at first, because it's all part of the texture (and I'm too busy being swept along by the music to be able to think straight anyway)

[Steve Browning]

31 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

 I love 'em! Mainly because Wilko basically does the same in every song so Norm has to fill it out...

But then I'm the sort of bass player who got offended by School of Rock; just watched it again the other day and at the end JackBlack tells FlyingV boy to "melt his face" with a solo (average solo follows). Then he says similar to the drummer, keyboard player, each and every backing vocalist in turn, all of whom do their bit. Except the bass player, who stands there like a spare part doing that tedious bass player thing of doin' nowt except 8th note root and fifth, if you're lucky.

I just don't understand why so many bass players feel this is all they can, or are allowed to, do! Since when was musicality and (dare I say it?) showing off only permitted on instruments that aren't bass? After all, getting up on stage is really all about showing off... And if a bass player dares to play more than the allotted amount of notes there's a chorus of tutting from the Staid Hordes Of Square BassPlayers!

 

I just don't understand why people feel they have to critique someone else's opinion? I didn't say it was all I could play and no-one tells me what I have to play. You disagree, that's fine. Let me just check I can cope with your derision.

 

(One nanosecond later) - yes. I can.

[MacDaddy]

17 hours ago, matski said:

 

I just heard this song on the radio and the bassline was so annoying I just had to vent my spleen, and what better place than here on BC? Anyone else got any examples of basslines that really get on your tits?

 

 

That was on the radio? 😲

[MacDaddy]

"Dream a litle dream" always annoyed me, not the whole line, but the way it starts with a diminished 5th.

It works, but still...