Neglected and Overlooked Band Members
 

Don't you just hate it when one member in a band always seems to have the spotlight? I mean it's perfectly fine to see a frontman leading a band (it's what they're meant to be doing) but when a certain person seems to take over everything it gets a bit much. By this I mean one person takes on all the writing duties, all the composing and basically has all the say. This seriously undermines the other members in the band. Who are some bands that you know of that have this problem? Bands that you seem to know one person for all the work, not because he/she has all the talent but because they won't allow other input. Who are some neglected musicians you can think of that deserve more input or recognition?

I can't say I'm fond of Daniel Johns in Silverchair myself. He always talks about the band but doesn't say anything about the other members in Silverchair. He always says "my band" etc.

Also Kirk Hammett of Metallica is always pushed to the side because of the amount of ego Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield both have between them. Lars moreso than James.

Basically I think that if it is truly a 'band effort' then all members need to be heard and not shoved aside. There is some great talent out there but because of some reason or another they're neglected.

The bassists tend to get the worst of it, I should know.

John Myung from Dream Theater? Underrated and never seems included with the other band members for reasons unknown.

You don't have much say or people tend to disregard the talent of a bass player? There are some amazing bassists out there and we don't hear about them hey.

I just think as an Instrument it was intended to stay out of the spot light, far more subtle when you're a good bassist than when you say you're a good guitarist.

For instance, and I'm not meaning to generalize here rather explain my point with two examples that draw to mind.

Typical guitar virtuoso solo



Typical bass virtuoso solo



Bass doesn't always seem as fast and impressive and I think overall flaunts less which I think to the inexperienced eye leads people to believe it's a lot less difficult to play which deters people from taking any interest in what the bassist is doing for the most part.

Except with Primus where the bassist and drummers get almost all the attention. :p:

Poor Larry!

There are exceptions but it tends to be a very limited market, bands like Primus, Red hot chili peppers, fishbone etc. But the bass has to be overly prominent and the bassist has to be quite skilled and energetic for that to happen.

I've had a heap of people always tell me that Bass means nothing and that it's the easiest thing to play. I disagree. Bass means quite a lot to most bands, Tool wouldn't be Tool without Justin Chancellor for example. The sound wouldn't be the same, it doesn't hurt that he is also a damn good bassist too.

I liked the video there you posted btw, thanks for that.

Any band members you'd like to see get the chance to put more of their input in?

No problem, I have plenty more. I'm what you'd call bass obsessed.

Very nice. If you have any hidden gems then post away, i'd like to know about these guys that we don't hear enough of. Might be able to educate some people on the importance of an overlooked instrument or band member too.

Yeah, just look at Roger Waters, Brian Wilson and Sting. :laughing: