NPR Music Blog Dissing Bass Solos

[Dave W]

Michael Anthony was never my cup of tea but to slag him off as not being a good bassist ? Naw that's silly.

Where did she do that? She just posed some things to think about.

I see a lot of reading things into her (brief) comments that just aren't there.

She doesn't like bass solos. I expect the vast majority of listeners would agree with her.

[gweimer]

Where did she do that? She just posed some things to think about.

I see a lot of reading things into her (brief) comments that just aren't there.

She doesn't like bass solos. I expect the vast majority of listeners would agree with her.

My band was always forcing me to do a bass solo.  I hated doing them.

One of the last cover bands I was in kept throwing me under the bus in "Brown-Eyed Girl", thinking it would be cool to do an impromptu bass solo.  I finally came up with the perfect plan.  After the lead singer introduced me doing my solo, I'd stop playing.   The minute he went to the mic to recover, I'd jump on it.  We'd do that back and forth for 8 measures.  It ended up being funny, and they finally stopped trying to make me do a solo.   

[n!k]

I think most hipster musicians today are aghast that anyone ever committed to their music without fear of ridicule from the clasped-arm set who attend every show and never change their facial expression from "mildly amused, but quite sleepy." Goof around on stage and act like a jackass-- doesn't Michael Anthony want the blogs to say he's cool !?!?

[Chaser001]

I hadn't read this until now, but my thought was, it's just someone's opinion, and whether a site is publicly funded or not, a blogger is entitled to personal opinion. NPR has never claimed to be devoid of personal preferences.

Then I looked. It's Carrie Brownstein. More than 10 posts in this thread and nobody mentioned it was Carrie's blog? Nobody else here knows her? IMO she's a great guitarist, and a much better guitarist than Michael Anthony is a bassist. YMMV, of course.

I don't think she was trying to be amusing. Whatever.

I had heard some of her songs.  Today I looked up some more which were live performances and I have to say I did like those better.  Another thing I did was to look up some more things she has written.  I now think in this particular blog she was not actually criticizing bassists in general, but Michael Anthony himself.  That makes this into a different situation.  As for Michael Anthony, it seems to me he is quite a controversial figure.  So that is what I honestly don't understand.  I don't know why some people dislike Michael Anthony so much.  I never liked Van Halen's songs, so I haven't listened to Michael Anthony's bass playing enough to have an opinion on it. 

[Freuds_Cat]

Michael Anthony was never my cup of tea but to slag him off as not being a good bassist ? Naw that's silly.

Scott, like Dave says "Its all just opinions". I think most of MA's bass lines suffer from laziness as a player. Including his infamous Jack Daniels bass solo. Someone else mentioned his chops. I agree he has the capacity to play (AND WRITE!) good lines but I hear a whole lot of "Dont GAF" in his playing. This is made worse when you can hear that he IS capable of playing something decent.  Something inside me finds that attitude repugnant.

[Highlander]

EB2's (or clones) are great for soloing... sit em on top of the amp and leave the rest to science...  

Cheers for the info, Gary... I remember seeing Tony Levin with Gabriel and in the middle of doodling around on a "Stick", the cable came out... the silence before the sniggers was deafening...

[nofi]

  it is embarrassing to watch if you are not of a certain age, like 16.

[Basvarken]

I don't get it. Does this Carrie character not realise that the Jack Daniels Michael Anthony solo was a joke, a parody?
That solo is all about taking the piss out of all bass solos. And he laid it on pretty thick.

[uwe]

Himmel, Herr Anthony tried to entertain a stadium. Not sure how many stadiums the ladywriter has played. If you play in a band with EvH, an icon, if not the icon of modern guitar playing, there is little point in seriously attempting to compete with him in a solo spot. Unless you are Joey di Maio, wear assless chaps, live with your parents and do sloppy tapping on a narrow neck Ric clone.

Anthony can both be inventive and tasteful, I invite anybody to listen to what he does on the recent Chickenfoot album. Much looser and more creative than anything he did with VH where between the antics of the two bruddahs he was relegated to playing very little.

[Dave W]

this Carrie character

the ladywriter

The writer is Carrie Brownstein, lead guitarist and sometime vocalist of the former Sleater-Kinney. You don't have to agree with anything she says, but she's certainly not a nobody. Sleater-Kinney was a successful indie band for many years until Corin Tucker decided raising her kid was more important.

[Freuds_Cat]

I am a nobody and I still think MA's JD solo is less than entertainment (TO ME!). Anyone who gets entertainment value out of that solo without cringing.... good luck to them. If its supposed to be not so subtle humor taking the piss out of Eddie as Rob suggests I missed it. But then, I find humor in Jerry Sadowitz' comedy,   a lot of people do not.

http://www.jerrysadowitz.com/pages/main.htm

[Basvarken]

If its supposed to be not so subtle humor taking the piss out of Eddie as Rob suggests I missed it.

That is not what I suggested. I think his bass solo was meant as a parody on bass solos.


The whole whiskey guzzling act, the whooo-eee yelling, running around, banging fists on the bass, etc
It all makes it perfectly clear that it was not meant as a serious display of musical craftmanship (whatever that may be)


@ Dave: I've never heard of Carrie Brownstein nor Sleater-Kinney, Corin Tucker. I don't think a lot of people outside the USA are familiar with those names.
Michael Anthony on the other hand...

[nofi]

i can't prove it but i think SK were wider known than people imagine. OTOH, anthony is a very well known clown.

BTW i have noticed on bass forums in general people try to elevate some players skills to a point they never/couldn't reach for whatever reason.

[Denis]

That is not what I suggested. I think his bass solo was meant as a parody on bass solos.
The whole whiskey guzzling act, the whooo-eee yelling, running around, banging fists on the bass, etc
It all makes it perfectly clear that it was not meant as a serious display of musical craftmanship (whatever that may be)
@ Dave: I've never heard of Carrie Brownstein nor Sleater-Kinney, Corin Tucker. I don't think a lot of people outside the USA are familiar with those names.
Michael Anthony on the other hand...

Isn't there a joke about bass players being a bunch of gorillas? If so, I think Michael Anthony was playing off that whole idea.
Sleater-Kinney was very well known in the indie music scene in the states, and toured frequently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleater-Kinney

[uwe]

I just listened to it all the way through. It's an act and there is nothing wrong with that. The melodic chordy echoey stuff he plays around 4.30 comes over nice and will educate some people in VH's audience that a bass can sound harmonic too. I've suffered through so many guitar solo spots far worse, I makes me wonder why poor Michael was sought out to be the target here.