What's your favourite bass lines 'Arry has done since 1990?

naranja

naranja

Ancient Mariner
1990 isn't an arbitrary date, its really around the time Steve started becoming more and more root note. That's not a criticism of his playing but from this point on- for the most part- the crazy fills were out and the bass power chords were in, and becoming more and more prevalent (yes there were some occasional ones in the eighties).

Steve's bass lines would pretty much just look like this from this point on

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And with less of the fifths and octaves fills and fills all around the "box" which marked his playing all over stuff on the Killers album, and material like Two minutes to midnight.

Even when he wasn't playing all that many crazy fills, he would often still drive a song like To Tame a Land and The Trooper with the bass high in the mix leading the charge.

By the reunion era and especially Dance of Death he's much lower in the mix and just another instrument (there were times in the 80s where he was THE instrument).

He still did some good stuff post 1990 but I think most of it is on The X Factor- Man on the Edge has some classic Steve fills, Fortunes of War has a couple. Of course the Blood on the World's Hands intro. I like the simple line he plays under the intro of Lord of the Flies using mainly fifths and octaves.

Virtual XI is mainly all root note. I think most of Brave New World and Dance of Death are too. Though he did do some nice fills in the breakdown of Wildest Dreams.

What I'm really looking for is anytime he differed heavily from the guitar line, especially in the reunion era but I can't think of many examples right now.
 
The only interesting bass line I can think of is on Brighter Than a Thousand Suns. I believe he does something that’s usually associated with Dream Theater: he plays the main riff during the intro, with some nice fills during the part before the chorus… or something. :)
 
A few of my favourites. (I'm approaching this from the standpoint of "what do I enjoy listening to" and also "what's fun to play along with"):
  1. Mother Russia - a mediocre song, but the various bass riffs are surprisingly fast and complex (except during the guitar solos).
  2. The Apparition - I know most people hate this song, and I understand why, but it features a lot of fun and unconventional (for Maiden) riffs.
  3. Fortunes of War - a good snapshot of Harris's style as of the 1990's. It features repeated rhythmic patterns (root > 5th > octave), prominent use of the acoustic bass, a lengthy section with power chords, and a fast but straightforward galloping section.
  4. The Unbeliever - this has become one of my favourite Maiden songs to play on bass. The main criticism is the bass is relatively low in the mix and often follows the guitars (or perhaps the guitars are following the bass).
  5. The Clansman - yes, a lot of the song is straightforward fast galloping in E minor and A minor, but the intro with the acoustic bass is fun to play (and it comes back later).
  6. Blood Brothers - it's not original (lots of power chords and familiar rhythmic patterns), but the bass is unusually prominent here
  7. The Longest Day - long sections of the song are straightforward, but the bass part is fairly complex during the instrumental section
  8. The Legacy - the same comment is true here. The riff before and after Gers' solo is tough (it's played once in D, then later in E) - the song is a test of stamina.
  9. When the Wild Wind Blows - a lot of the song is fairly simple, especially in the second half, but the bass is unusually prominent during the intro (there's also a subtle but powerful bass riff during the instrumental climax)
  10. Death of the Celts - I wrote about this song before, but it's the toughest and most interesting song here by a wide margin. The bass is leading the song nearly the entire way. It features a good mix of acoustic bass, power chords, fast technical riffs, and (a rarity for the second half of his career) some tricky fills.
 
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BloodOnTheBassistsHands said:
Death of the Celts - I wrote about this song before, but it's the toughest and most interesting song here by a wide margin. The bass is leading the song nearly the entire way. It features a good mix of acoustic bass, power chords, fast technical riffs, and (a rarity for the second half of his career) some tricky fills.
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Great post! Another fun fact about DotC: Maybe I'm forgetting another song, but as far as I'm aware this is the only song in their discography where Steve plays an acoustic bass in the studio version and stays with the acoustic once the distorted guitars kick in, instead of switching to his electric bass. Live he didn't do that. In the studio version he switches as well, but it takes until the instrumental section for him to switch.
 
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Despite not being that prominent in the mix like before:

Tailgunner
The Fugitive (intro)
Sign Of The Cross/Man On The Edge/Fortunes Of War/Look For The Truth (intro)/Blood On The World's Hands (intro)/Unbeliever
Blood Brothers
Dream Of Mirrors
The Longest Day
El Dorado
The Book Of Souls
Stratego
Death Of The Celts

All awesome.
 
Kalata said:
Despite not being that prominent in the mix like before:

Tailgunner
The Fugitive (intro)
Sign Of The Cross/Man On The Edge/Fortunes Of War/Look For The Truth (intro)/Blood On The World's Hands (intro)/Unbeliever
Blood Brothers
Dream Of Mirrors
The Longest Day
El Dorado
The Book Of Souls
Stratego
Death Of The Celts

All awesome.
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I can't believe I forgot Blood on the World's Hands. That definitely should have been on my list. Sure, the final five minutes of the song are uninteresting on bass, but the intro/solo is one of Harris's best moments. It's not overly difficult, but it's tough to play it cleanly.

Dream of Mirrors is another good choice. As far as I can recall it's the only song where he's galloping on the E string (which makes it tougher because it requires more force/stamina).
 
BloodOnTheBassistsHands said:
I can't believe I forgot Blood on the World's Hands. That definitely should have been on my list. Sure, the final five minutes of the song are uninteresting on bass, but the intro/solo is one of Harris's best moments. It's not overly difficult, but it's tough to play it cleanly.

Dream of Mirrors is another good choice. As far as I can recall it's the only song where he's galloping on the E string (which makes it tougher because it requires more force/stamina).
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I really associate Harry with the A string and probably because of him why I would almost never use notes like C and D on the E string and would always use the A string
 
naranja said:
I still don't hear Steve doing any real fills at all though from Virtual XI onwards, correct me if I'm wrong?
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It’s not just that! His songs nowadays are so repetitive that they drive me crazy. The bass fills are the least of his songwriting problems! They don’t rehearse the songs; he just puts some ideas together, then repeats the same patterns 4, 8, or, even worse, 16 times, and the song is done.
 
Gk1 said:
It’s not just that! His songs nowadays are so repetitive that they drive me crazy. The bass fills are the least of his songwriting problems! They don’t rehearse the songs; he just puts some ideas together, then repeats the same patterns 4, 8, or, even worse, 16 times, and the song is done.
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I do like his modern songs but going back he changed key A LOT in the eighties and songs like wild wind blows just stay in E the whole time pretty much
 
Man on the edge (especially right before the choruses)
Death of the celts
Sign of the cross
Mother russia
Run silent run deep
The assassin
The red and the black
For the greater good of God
The pilgrim
 
Speaking of which, someone found a way to isolate Harris's bass from The X Factor. The first half of the album is in this video:

There are a few obvious misses (ie the software failed to pick up what Harris was playing) but it sheds some interesting light on many of the songs. I might add comments when I have more time.
 
BloodOnTheBassistsHands said:
Speaking of which, someone found a way to isolate Harris's bass from The X Factor. The first half of the album is in this video:

There are a few obvious misses (ie the software failed to pick up what Harris was playing) but it sheds some interesting light on many of the songs. I might add comments when I have more time.
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The upload of the year,men! I will listen to it asap. I listened a few minutes of Sign of the cross and reminds me to soundtrack ofthe msdos game doom! but very cool to listen that bass.
 
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