The bass serves different roles depending entirelly on the context of the music. In a lot of jazz, funk and progressive rock for example, an extremely prominent Rickenbacker bass or something along those lines gives the music a lot of kick/power and might as well be considered essential to what hooks people into those genres to begin with.
For a rock band that might be grounded in the guitar or drums however, sometimes its better that the bass gets toned down so that the other instruments get their share of the mix. This is particularly important in live performances, but applies to studio recordings as well.
So, again, I feel context is the most important thing to keep in mind, and a good bass player recognizes this.
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