Best Bass Lines

I suppose he's talking about the way the bass interacts with the guitar, especially on the 80s albums. The bass really takes a lead role at times, rather than just holding down the rhythmic fort.
 
Sure it would sound empty without a bass. Likewise it would be weird to take out the drumming, guitars or singing. That said. My favorite bassline would be The Clairvoyant, not just the intro it keeps rolling.
 
2Mins said:
It does, you're right. He's definitely a lead bassist at times.
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I'd like to more of this. He still plays fast and well, but rarely takes the lead now.
Parts of Acacia, Sea of Madness, many others — he just kind of surfaces, takes centre stage for a bit, then seamlessly back to the bottom.
Strange to say it, but Steve's playing does not get enough attention on this forum.
We just kind of take his excellence and uniqueness for granted.
It really is at the heart of what makes Maiden special.
 
the bass lines in the first 2 albums really sound like lead lines half the time. Somewhere in Time, it was phenomenal bass lines and he matched the drums half the time
 
"Sea of Madness" is by far my personal favourite bassline in Iron Maiden. I love how he plays the same thing an octave up after the solo. Beautiful melody. I also love the simple bass and drum-interaction on "Judgement on Heaven" after the solo while the two guitars are playing harmony. There's few occassions when you actually hear Nicko and Steve interact, but that is a damn powerful example of that. The driving bassline of "Lord of Light" is another favourite. Extremely powerful. And of course, "Lord of the Flies". The intro is super-cool and one of the reasons why it sounds so good is the bassline.

I'm not a fan of the bass in the early work. It has always been an integral part of the sound, but I prefer when bass is actually being bass and not guitar an octave lower. I also think that it was first with Nicko that Steve really got a colleague that was on the same page.

It's fun listening to Iron Maiden, because Steve's playing is so eager that it drives the whole band and make the tempo run amok. Musicians I've played with who never listened to Maiden get turned off when they hear this, but it is an integral part to making it feel like Maiden. There's so much tension going on in the interaction between the bandmembers, especially between Nicko and Steve. Steve's always playing faster, sligthly before the kickdrum. You can't overestimate the impact it has. Technically, it's so wrong... But I can't help but love it.
 
^ Sea of Madness is great, especially in the solo and peaceful section of the song. Very beautiful bass work and it wasn't even Steve who wrote it :eek:
 
SirRobbins said:
^ Sea of Madness is great, especially in the solo and peaceful section of the song. Very beautiful bass work and it wasn't even Steve who wrote it :eek:
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I would have thought Steve wrote his bass part, even if he's not given a writing credit. In the same way the guitarists write their solos and Nicko his fills. For the most part.
 
Yep, to me that's one of his most iconic bass riffs. Delightfully violent bassline once the song really kicks in, serious gallops.

Phantom is a classic. Tasty licks across the whole song.
 
Phantom is good all round. Definitely high in my top ten, possibly moved up a couple of places of late, too. I don't tire of it easily.
 
Any list having Cliff Burton while Billy Sheehan is absent isn't worth a damn... :p

SirRobbins said:
^ Sea of Madness is great, especially in the solo and peaceful section of the song. Very beautiful bass work and it wasn't even Steve who wrote it :eek:
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2Mins said:
I would have thought Steve wrote his bass part, even if he's not given a writing credit. In the same way the guitarists write their solos and Nicko his fills. For the most part.
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Basslines, drums, etc. isn't traditionally seen as part of the composition. The lyrics and melodies is what is copyrighted and, most of the time still today, credited. It comes from the days when a 'song' was something that should be able to be performed on just a piano and vocals. It isn't a perfect system for many modern music genres, and if there were disputes in court there could be cases for basslines being integral to a song, but that's the general view. Everything else is seen as part of the arrangement, and that isn't credited as it could be changed between performances. See it like this - performing "Wasted Years" on just acoustic guitar and vocals is still performing "Wasted Years", right? Then it wouldn't make sense to have the song credited to who wrote the bassline, because that can be removed. Removing/changing the lyrics and melody would however make it into something else.

With that said, I'm not sure how Maiden decides on writing credit. The bottom line is that credits is given to who you agree should get them. Some bands share all their writing credits equally, while in others only the principal songwriter gets credit.
 
Maturin said:
Any list having Cliff Burton while Billy Sheehan is absent isn't worth a damn... :p
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I tend to agree, as far as bassplaying is concerned. But Sheehan is just an horrible songwriter, and, to my knowledge, all the bands he's been in are really awfull (for most europeans ears at least). His reputation suffers of that.
 
Regarding Sheehan, Mr. Big is one of my favourite bands actually, even though their brand of melodic hard-rock certainly is very American-sounding. Their Kevin Shirley-produced effort ...What If (2010) and its follow-up contains some very fine songwriting. It's all taste really, but Sheehan & Co are certainly more streamlined writers and arrangers. The Maiden-thing is rather rough around the edges, more natural and less thought out, and I don't mean that as either praise or criticism, it's just two different things. Sheehan's other current band, The Winery Dogs, has been received quite well as far as I can tell, so it's not like he hasn't been in successful and well-liked bands - just not of Metallica/Maiden/Sabbath-popularity. That's what decides these votes in the end.

Listening to the basslines in the songs isn't a new thing to me, but this thread sparked a renewed interest in doing so. I've been listening to some early Maiden, and I stand by my opinion on the bassist-drummer-relationship in Maiden. Bruce may think Clive was 'the best drummer Maiden ever had' or something along those lines, but to me it's really the Nicko & Steve-thing that is truly great. The energy they have when they get going is totally unique. Galloping bassline and super-fast kick. Quantize in Pro Tools or have too much precision thrown in and it would kill it. I don't care if they play too fast, hearing them get going in songs like "The Evil That Men Do" is one of the things that make Maiden so appealing.

I was more distracted by Steve's tendency to increase the tempo during the British Lion-show. "These Are The Hands", which is my favourite song on the record, was played much faster than on the album. For a song relying on a heavy and steady beat, this was less desirable. This proves that it's more about what's fitting a particular song than anything that can easily be decided as right or wrong. Steve's definitely a musician who does his own thing and have a very large impact on everything he does, so it's just natural that it doesn't work as well in all situations.

With that said, I'm very much looking forward to more British Lion material and tours.
 
As for Sheehan, I had completely forgotten his contribution in the Winery Dogs. This band makes be soften my too harsh comments. Mr Big or Dave Lee Roth are definetely not my kinf of stuff though.
Maturin said:
With that said, I'm very much looking forward to more British Lion material and tours.
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:okok:
 
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