Woth Grohl on drums too... this baby's got potential!

I don't know who John Paul Jones is (well, I do now cos I wikied him, but I'm still not familiar with his work) but I'm happy to hear that Grohl will be on the drums. Songs for the deaf is still by far my favorite QOTSA album, not in small part due to him being on the drums.

He played bass for this very obscure rock band from the 70s.

Led Zeppelin, I don't think you've heard of them.

Grohl laid it down hard on Songs for the Deaf. Can't wait to hear him work with Homme again. Btw, how do you get through life not knowing who JPJ is? Let alone not knowing his work? I'm assuming you're kidding, you just have to be. I just hope that if they do release an album, a tour follows suit...

Wow. I'll be looking forward to this!

Apparently you haven't learned to read properly yet, so let me repeat myself:

Thanks for the info though. :|

The curse of bass players methinks, no one really cares who they are (I don't think they're usually very important to the band's sound. And before you jump on this, yes, I realize some bands rely heavily on the bass but let's be honest that most bands could change their bass player and none would be the wiser). Besides, I'm not really that interested in knowing the personal names of the people who make the music I actually like, least of all bass players of bands I don't really care for.

i can't believe how fucking wrong you are.

you're obviously not a musician.

This is pretty exciting news, I must say. I'm no Grohl nuthugger (I really don't like Foo Fighters) but I agree his past work with QOTSA was awesome. And JPJ...awesome.

I won't piss myself with excitement just yet, but if you can get a member of the Zep on board with your project you must be doing something right.

By having John Paul Jones.

How about explaining the error of my ways?

Speak for yourself. I know I wouldn't want my favorite bands to change bass players... :rolleyes:

Because that would radically change their sound? What bands are we talking about?

Name a band. In most bands the bass player has a huge influence on the sound. Bass tones vary so much, as do playing styles. I can say for certain that if you were to change bass players of any band I listen to frequently, I would be able to tell almost instantly. Then again, I focus alot on bass playing.

My favorite band going right now is Dinosaur Jr. And we know what happens when they lose Lou Barlow -- the 90s...

Says guy who listens to the most unfathomably awful death and "avant" metal on the planet.

You couldn't possibly be more wrong or clueless about bass players.

Bass n Drums are the back bone to any Band

Says the guy who listens to neither genre to know what bands in said genres are unfathomably awful. It isn't like I listen to Mortician.
No they're not.

Well it's not my fault that I can't name any of the bands you like.

Because you NEVER talk about what you like.

So you came to the conclusion that I listen to death metal and avant-garde metal without me ever talking about them?

Oh man, you so proved me wrong there. :rolleyes:

I'd push this discussion further if I cared more, but alas I don't.

My apologies to all the bass players whom I've offended, you are all very very special and important.

Im not going to say that bass players aren't important and an exceptional bass player can really make a band. But come on, while that is true, I think its fair to say that a lot if not the majority of bands could continue on after replacing a bass player with the average Joe on the street none the wiser. I also think that bass players and drummers and much easier to replace than vocalists or lead guitarists.

I don't think so...

If you took the bass players out of all my favorite bands you'd screw up a good deal of the music... REM without Mike Mills would be just... not right, The Church without Steve Kilbey on Bass.... just plain wrong...

An lookhow much REM struggle after Bill Berry left if you don't think drummers make a difference... The Pumpkins without Jimmy Chamberlin sounded kinda misguied, lacking rhythmic flair.... Adore could have been amazing with him on the kit.

Sometimes when you take a musicianout thattruly defines part of the character of the soun, you really mess with the music.

and crap, my "d" keykeeps malfunctioning... piece of crap keyboard!

Well generally the bass player isn't a unique entity, they tend to create a team - as the rhytham section - with the drummer. When you don't have cohesion there, things tend to fall apart or worse, become repetitive.

They also happen to keep time, so and band worth their salt is relying on them to keep a groove even if we're not talking about funk. Thats just the nature of their role. Occasionally you might have other instruments do that, their certainly just as capable but thats how it has generally been.

But lets forget technicality - if your favorite bands bass players aren't generally adding much, and following guitar leads then its time for a change. For me, a good bass player is adding what would be (as an example here) the harmonics in an acapela group.

My favorites never really play anything insanely complex, but they add color to a song, simple walking baselines, or shifts to something a little more lumbering can change the entire tone of the song.

Bass is also about knowing how to effectivly use space to create a song in equal parts with the notes you're playing. And I'd say it matters here more so than on most of the treble instruments. (the drums might have some of this in them too)

My advice, on how to learn what Bass can do, and how good bassists make or break things is to listen to them in different capacities. If you're listening to Indie music, I'm sure its not going to matter much but try a brass section and see what the Tuba's doing. Then take it out and listen to it again.

Try the acapella stuff, give string sections a listen when the bass or low end cellos take a smoke break. In my estimation Bass players are pulling more weight than anyone else.

(pardon the spelling, I'm at work)

I didn't say that I thought drummers don't make a difference. I also don't think that about bass players either.

I could also list a few bands whom I think would suffer without their bass players or their drummers. On the other hand I could make a much longer list of bands whose bass players and drummers are either barely used, don't contribute much to the sound of the band they are in or are just pretty rubbish. In any of those cases there would be a good chance that should the band replace either member of the band then the average person on the street wouldn't even notice or it wouldn't seriously harm or alter their output.

I think drummers and bass players CAN be an important part of any band, but also that more often than not (note i didnt say ALL of the time) they are the most expendable members of a band and are probably also the 2 members of a band to be most commonly replaced. It's much easier for a band to change bass player and continue than it is for them continue with a completely different singer.

Imagine RHCP without Flea, Tool without Justin Chancellor, Rage without Tim Commerford, Minutemen without Mike Watt. Look what happened to Jane's Addiction, or Incubus, or Metallica when they lost their bassists...

Again they are just examples of bass players whom you consider contributed to their band. I could name some too. Doesnt change the fact that regardless of how many names people throw around, in my opinion the bass really isnt all that important in a lot of bands.

And Nick Oliveri in QOTSA

Oh wait.

In my opinion when you listen to most music the bass is not very noticeable. Yet when you really think about it the bass player could actually really be contributing to the band behind the sound of the music. Lets take Krist Novolselic for example, in most Nirvana songs he plays some pretty simple bass lines, and most of the time you can't hear the bass very well, yet he is a genius in the studio.
I'll name a few bands that I don't think would be the same without there bass players.
Flipper
Dinosaur Jr.
Led Zeppelin
Leftover Crack
Choking Victim
Most prog bands
Minor Threat
Operation Ivy
Radiohead
Rancid
Scream
Sublime
311
Weezer
Nirvana (stated above)

I don't think they have been as good since he left.

Get some good headphones.

I don't know how it's possible not to hear the bass in Nirvana songs, most of them have an isolated bassline at some point. And Novoselic's bass is very loud and muddy sounding, you can't miss it.

I think he's a better bass player than the one they replaced him with, but I think Eva Vulgaris was better than Lullabies and probably Rated R too.

Really? I own Rated R, SftD, and Era and i find Era unlistenable.

I was just trying to make an example, its just hard to hear sometimes

Just leave bass players alone !!!!!! LOL

anywayz to me Finding a good bass player is hard to come by most kids these days levate to the Guitar

I play drums but damm they are a pain to move around !!!!!!!!

We definitely shouldn't be down on Bass Players... they've copped it too long as far as rock band mythology is concerned... Bass players, WE LOVE YOU!!! Without you guys our favorite rock songs would sound tinny and lacking in depth and breadth... you are, along with the drummer, the backbone around which song structure sticks and you can make some pretty interesting structures yourself

GO BASS GO!

Even bass players you think are disposable really aren't.

See thats why the Bassist is the coolest member of the group... the music depends on him / her yet they are too damn cool to do wanky things like solo, talk too much or try to appropriate the whole image of the band, as lead singers often do...

The bass player is like the cool one who makes everyone else look better yet they'd all kinda suck without their much needced bassist...

Wait, the bass or the bassist?