For all the bassists out there.

[ace_on_bass]

Heh. I hope the title just caught your attention. Well, I've noticed that a lot of the songs don't have too interesting a bassline and, as a bass player myself, I felt that is something to be looked at.

I know it's not everyone's favourite genre (and not all necessarily 'rock') but I think it brings something different to the mix. And that is 'ska'. The 'new-wave' stuff anyways, that mixes in punk too. That way bass players have a little something more to do, the drum parts get a bit of variation and offbeat guitar is always fun. Fun is the keyword here, I guess.

So I've included not only some of my personal favourites, but also some ones tailored towards more interesting bass lines.

Cool bass lines:
- Angry, Young and Poor by Anti-Flag
- Nervous in the Alley by Less Than Jake
- Mixology of Tom Collins by Less Than Jake
- Pyramid Scheme by Mad Caddies
- She’s Famous Now by Reel Big Fish
- Suggestion Box by MxPx
- Superman by Goldfinger
- Scott's A Dork by Reel Big Fish


Cool lead and/or rhythm parts:
- I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor by Arctic Monkeys
- Lose Control by Ash
- Helicopter by Bloc Party
- Suicide Invoice by Hot Snakes
- A Ghost in the Arcade by Idlewild
- Fire by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- All Along the Watchtower by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- Ezy Rider by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- Just Tonight by Jimmy Eat World
- Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World
- Just Watch The Fireworks by Jimmy Eat World
- Child of Innocence by Kansas
- Heartbreaker by Led Zeppelin
- A Town Called Hypocrisy by Lostprophets
- Santeria by Sublime
- Pay The Man by The Offspring (something a bit different)
- Dead Star by Muse
- Exo-Politics by Muse
- Lightning Rod by The Offspring (for the drum track)
- Dig For Fire by Pixies
- Letter To Memphis by Pixies
- Dateless Losers by Reel Big Fish
- Lorna Doom by Rocket from the Crypt
- Epoxi-Lips by Rx Bandits
- Tainted Wheat by Rx Bandits
- Sell You Beautiful by Rx Bandits
- Mastering the List by Rx Bandits
- Decrescendo by Rx Bandits
- Date Rape by Sublime
- Come Back Home by Suburban Legends
- High Fives by Suburban Legends
- Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love by Van Halen
- Hot for Teacher by Van Halen


Generally cool or fun songs:
- Swollen Summer by The Bravery
- Sunshine of Your Love by Cream
- Funeral For A Friend (Love Lies Bleeding) by Elton John (although it takes a while to get going and the developers have no intention of cutting songs down it has some awesome guitar parts)
- Michael by Franz Ferdinand
- Scattered by Green Day
- Eternal Life by Jeff Buckley (sing that!)
- The Set Up (You Need This) by Reel Big Fish
- A Song for the Dead by Queens of the Stone Age
- Hot Heart by Rocket from the Crypt (has a wicked beck-and-call intro)
- Back in the State by Rocket from the Crypt
- Rockupation by Mad Caddies
- Behind the Music by The Vandals
- Cash Cow by We Are Scientists
- Elders by The Offspring
- Eminence Front by The Who
- 5:15 by The Who

I know it's a hefty list. My alternative is just the whole of Rx Bandits' last two albums, because they have such a progressive rock feel, mixed with metal riffs, amazing drum parts and some ska-inspired bass.

ps. Forgive me if some of these have been announced as already featuring in the game. I'm trying to keep full tracklist details as much a surprise as possible.

EDIT: split up the the list into 'reasons'. It's not to say the others don't have cool basslines, because the 'cool or fun songs' section contains songs with good parts for all. Also added new ones, in italics.

[kdawgiedawg]

totally dude. Us bassists need to get some decent riffage too! Early chili peppers will get our fingers goin!

[Desensitized]

Great stuff in there.

But you know if they were gonna choose a Less Than Jake song it would be 'All My Best Friends Are Metalheads', same with Reel Big Fish it would be 'Beer'.

But I would love a lot of those songs to make it in RB.

[ace_on_bass]

totally dude. Us bassists need to get some decent riffage too! Early chili peppers will get our fingers goin!

Damn. Totally forget them. I was going through my media player, making sure that even if some of the songs get a bit repetitive that they're not too long. I don't have any RHCP on this laptop.

I think you also have to be careful as some of the RHCP basslines, while awesome, can get a little repetitive.


Great stuff in there.

But you know if they were gonna choose a Less Than Jake song it would be 'All My Best Friends Are Metalheads', same with Reel Big Fish it would be 'Beer'.

Yeah. I'm sick of 'All My Best Friends Are Metalheads', I've avoided it for a long while now. And I didn't choose 'Beer' for the reason stated above in this post. It gets very repetitive with little variation. Cool song though.

[kdawgiedawg]

yea i see where your coming from man. They do repeat quite abit. Hmmm lets see. Les claypool is awesome. So is john myoung from dream theater. I just want decent songs to be honest. Most the songs so far are good

[GrayInvisible]

Hey, I'm a bassist who likes New Wave/Post Punk stuff too! (ALong with Classic Rock of course).

[the_polite_force]

no mention of les claypool or geddy lee in a bass thread = failure

[WingsOfSteel]

- Sunshine of Your Love by Cream

Really? I pretty much remember the bass playing two separate riffs total during the whole song, and the guitar isn't that exciting except for the solo. I think White Room would be better for all involved.


- Fire by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- All Along the Watchtower by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- Just Tonight by Jimmy Eat World
- Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World
- Just Watch The Fireworks by Jimmy Eat World
- Child of Innocence by Kansas
- Heartbreaker by Led Zeppelin
- Dead Star by Muse
- Ain?t Talkin? ?Bout Love by Van Halen
- Hot for Teacher by Van Halen
- 5:15 by The Who

On the other hand, these songs are all really good. I'll have to listen to the Jimmy Eat World songs again, because I've never really paid attention to the basslines in them.

By the way, more Zep songs with good bass are Over the Hills and Far Away and The Song Remains the Same.

Also, like the_polite_force said, this thread needs some Rush. I'd suggest 2112 (in my dreams), The Spirit of Radio, and Freewill.

[GrayInvisible]

Roundabout by Yes would be a great track for bass.

[Rev0lver]

Roundabout by Yes would be a great track for bass.

not really. its extremely repetitive. people mistake this song and Hysteria for a fun bassline. but it's just as fun as playing stairway up to the solo.

[Bradega]

Another good bassline from Zeppelin is The Lemon song. May not be the hardest, but it's got a nice groove, and the bassline is doing some small improvisations throughout the song so I reckon it'd be fun to play.

Also, these come to mind

Bonin' in the boneyard by Fishbone
Funny Vibe by Living Colour
Johnny, kick a hole in the sky by RHCP

And, well, most funk rock tend to have cool basslines, so I hope to see more of that in Rock Band!

[Desensitized]

Bonin' in the boneyard by Fishbone

Werd. Everyone should listen to Fishbone.

[Bradega]

Damn right! One of the most underrated funk/ska/soul/fusion/hard rock bands ever

[AVC808]

Damn right! One of the most underrated funk/ska/soul/fusion/hard rock bands ever

i dont think theyre underrated at all. they just never went mainstream. kept to their whack (in a good way) style, so most people never heard of them. i love hearing a diverse range of sounds in music.

party at ground zero never gets old how many times i hear it. i never really understood the message behind the song though.

[ace_on_bass]

Really? I pretty much remember the bass playing two separate riffs total during the whole song, and the guitar isn't that exciting except for the solo.

On the other hand, these songs are all really good. I'll have to listen to the Jimmy Eat World songs again, because I've never really paid attention to the basslines in them.


Sorry if the title gave you the wrong impression; it was aimed more at getting attention. As I briefly say at the start, they're not all chosen for great basslines, a lot of them are just general favourites of mine that have interesting riffs and parts. I have however tried to include a lot of songs with some cool bass sections, and some ska stuff because people tend to overlook that (probably the whole 'not technically rock' thing. Heh).

Jimmy Eat World would be Lead and Rhythm, basslines aren't generally very special. I could go through every one on there and say why I've chosen it, but I'm lazy.

But I am glad you like the songs. Thanks for looking.

Please keep it coming with the bass suggestions as well.

[Bradega]

i dont think theyre underrated at all. they just never went mainstream. kept to their whack (in a good way) style, so most people never heard of them. i love hearing a diverse range of sounds in music.

party at ground zero never gets old how many times i hear it. i never really understood the message behind the song though.

You might be right. They got the talent to become really popular, but I prefer them doing their whacky style instead of trying to appeal to a bigger audience. I'll just hope that they somehow make it into Rock Band, they deserve it.

[ChucklesTheDestroyer]

Primus has the best bass lines ever. They would be great... no, PERFECT.

[kdawgiedawg]

yea man! Les claypool is a total legend! We NEED some primus on here! I'm well chuffed they put john the fisherman on guitar hero 2!

[ace_on_bass]

But 'John the Fisherman' got very boring. Sorry, it had to be said.

EDIT: cleaned up my opening post.

[the_polite_force]

wow one song. try listening to the rest of primus k thx

[ace_on_bass]

Don't make hasty assumptions. And there's no need to get offensive.

I wasn't saying that Primus were rubbish because I got bored of one song. I was just saying that I didn't like that one song because it got boring. I'm sure they have plenty of good songs available with a bit more variety.

[the_polite_force]

look in the primus thread if its still alive ;)

frizzle fry is one of my favorite albums evor so yeah check that album out.

[ace_on_bass]

look in the primus thread if its still alive ;)

I sincerely hope that wasn't meant to be condescending. Because if it was: I have already seen a few Primus suggestions and related threads, as well as countless Les Claypool mentions.

If it wasn't, then: thank you for the suggestion, I will definitely be checking out more Primus in future (I have heard bits here and there already)

[the_polite_force]

i thought smileys generally meant friendliness :(

[ace_on_bass]

That's how I use them, but the winking is always more suspect...

Anyhow, sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Thanks for your comments/feedback/suggestions.

[kdawgiedawg]

LOL I have the whole primus back catalogue. i love them! they rule so much. :)

[KingofQUEEN48]

out of all of that u dont have one queen song? they always have great bass

[Guitar_Hero_God999]

Where is The Decline by NOFX?
Check out my thread: Skatecore, Hardcore Punk, and 70's English punk
All along the watchtower is only Three Chords!!!

[ace_on_bass]

All along the watchtower is only Three Chords!!!

Sure, it's based around a few chords but that's not just all you play. Besides, I didn't just pick it for the bassline. The guitar has lots of little licks thrown in, same goes for the bass.

Although I only have the alternate recording on my laptop currently, don't remember much difference in the original.

[Guitar_Hero_God999]

White Knuckle Ride by Rancid has the hardest bass line, but it's extremely hard to find. The song is ONLY bass.

[the_red_bassist]

I think that my favorite bass lines are:
Hysteria by MUSE
and Interstate love song by Stone temple pilots

[espher]

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Y/N?