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:

Maybe one of the greatest cases of an overlooked and underappreciated musician is that of Jason Newstead the former bass player for Metallica. The man was never allowed to live up to his full potential in the band and was basically forced to paint by number all of the parts that the rest of the band wrote for him. He could have seriously saved Metallica from being the mediocre band that they ended up becoming if only they had given him a little creative leeway.

I love metallica but I agree with you on that, they were arseholes to Jason.

Samesies with Rob Trujillo nowadays...

Paul McCartney?

I've always thought that Alex Lifeson, Rush's guitarist, was always a tad underrated compared to his two bandmates.

I don't know the inner workings of most of the bands I listen to. But one that comes to mind is The Smashing Pumpkins, but it's more from the other perspective, of having an overly egotistical front man rather than one specific member getting overlooked.

Steve Hanley

Mark E Smith said he was the most original aspect of The Fall and begged him to come back after he left after 20 years in the band.

In fact he still says that letting Steve Hanley leave was his only regret in the bands whole career.

Another bassist...

http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/shubon...2/f263f5bb.jpg

^ This chap, aka Davey Faragher. Had a huge pair of shoes to fill when he replaced Bruce Thomas as Elvis Costello's bassist, and a lot of fans I've spoken to here and there remain unconvinced by him. While his style's a lot more laid back and nowhere near as OTT and noticeable as his predecessor, what they forget is that he's a much better singer than Thomas ever was, which adds a pretty cool new twist to Costello's post-2000 sound. Plus he always does just enough to get the job done, which is alright I suppose.

I love the Pumpkins, but I can agree with this. James Iha's contribution is one of those situations where it is subtle yet totally necessary. He added this kind of etheral edge to the songs that made it distinctly "Pumpkins"...just listen to anything off Adore of the song Stand Inside Your Love...a simple e-bow line in the back but totally vital. Listen to anything new by them without James and it just sounds like it is missing something, imo.

I always respected Jim Morrison...they always wanted to introduce them as "Jim Morrison and the Doors" but he would always get upset and tell them to put just "The Doors".

Couldn't be further from the truth though. In most cases anyway without a proper bass line things sound terrible.

I'm not saying that isn't the case, I'm saying it IS but not enough people notice it.

I think not enough people notice it's the bass line that's making it all flow. But I hope at least that most people would be able to tell that something is missing, you know?

You'd be surprised how thick some people are, Most of the gigs I do there will be five or 6 people through the night asking how long I've been playing guitar and telling me I need to solo more and turn up a bit thinking me and my guitarist are doing the same job. It's just how it is.

Most people don't realise that everything sounds like a ****ing train wreck when everyone wants to show off their skills. Well, Jam bands do this too, but they bore the living piss out of me.

Adrián Terrazas-González from The Mars Volta
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-González.JPG

His sax playing added a whole new layer to the albums he played on and it's a damn shame that they asked him to leave when they toned down Octahedron.

But look how they treated Dave Mustain, "On one occasion Mustaine brought his dog to rehearsal. The dog jumped up onto the car of Metallica bassist Ron McGovney and scratched the paint. Hetfield allegedly proceeded to yell at Mustaine's dog and kicked it in anger." (source: wiki)

It's one thing to be overlooked, it's entire another story when one of your band mates are kicking your dog.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Metallica abuses the ears and animals!

I seriously didn't know about that? That's just wrong... :eek:
Metallica seem to have a history of mistreating newbies and taking things a little too far I guess.

In my opinion, the two over-looked members in Led Zeppelin were the ones with the most talent: John Paul Jones and John Bonham. Maybe if they had been as skinny Jimmy and Robert, they would have gotten more recognition.

Ben Shepherd from Soundgarden is one of the craziest bassists I've ever heard. Some of the basslines he comes up with are completely off the fucking wall. Same story with Justin Chancellor of Tool.

Ben Weinman from The Dillinger Escape Plan seems to be made to take a backseat to Greg Puciato because Ben isn't the frontman, although he is the only remaining founding member and probably the most prolific songwriter of the group. Not to mention being a sick fucking guitarist and one hell of a programmer. I don't know, depending on the press that gets out, this might be easily refuted.

I think its not an instrument that can stand on its own. When I was 13-14 I played bass. I did it so a bunch of my friends could have a bassist but when the gig ended so did my interest.

Unless you're designed to be super artsy, its tough to give the bass a good deal of melody. for young kids I think its too much to go on.

In Regards to drummers:
Matt Cameron (Soundgarden)
Bud Gaugh (Sublime)
Lucky Lehner (Circle Jerks)
Squirt (Choking Victim)
Adam Zuckert (F-Minus)
Brendan Canty (Fugazi)
Zach Hill (Hella)

Bassists:
Eric Wilson (Sublime)
Robert Deleo (Stone Temple Pilots)
Matt Freeman (Operation Ivy)
Karl Alvareez (Descendents)

The other two members of Primus?

I really don't think Matt Freeman or Zach Hill are overlooked at all.