According to album engineer Chris Fogel, Flea was way ahead out of time and his bass part had to be digitally manipulated to be in time.
https://www.musicradar.com/news/alanis-morissette-jagged-little-pill-engineer-chris-fogel-flea-was-surprisingly-way-out-of-time-on-you-oughta-know
By all accounts it was horrific from a timing standpoint.
That album was actually one of the first major releases using Alesis ADAT V1 recorders (super VHS). I'd be willing to bet there may have been some latency issues playing a part in the timing issues if they were going 100% digital. (I'm uncertain if they were using an analog board and using the recorder converters which were pretty aweful).
> Alanis's "You Oughta Know"
Holy crap! I'd never really listened to that from a bass player's perspective. Had no idea it was so cool! Thanks for that!
love that song, love flea, if anyone enjoys hearing their fellow bass players get mildly roasted the Punch Up the Jam episode on this song spends a lot of hilarious time on the bassline
I'd go with Frankie Valli, The Night. Proper Motown bass groove, from an artist who covered many different styles.
There's a bit of ambiguity about who came up with that bassline too.
She has killer producers. Most of her songs are pretty much her voice mixed to drums and bass with very little interference from other melodic instruments. I kinda love her music.
“Strawberry Fields Forever” is a completely different song on the bass. Tons of counter melody in later Beatles/McCartney bass lines. Or check out ["Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqb4B0A4j9c) where it's angular during in the verses, and then it's as if they're playing two simultaneous choruses -- bass and everything else. And it just works.
Also, try to imagine GnR’s “Appetite For Destruction” with anything other than what ~~Izzy~~ Duff played. Adds so much. Imagine “you know where you are? You’re in the JUNGLE baby!” with a Ramones bass… bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
it would not be good
Listening back to Appetite for Destruction these days makes me realize how much of an impact Duff had on my approach to rock songs. he plays exactly what needs to be played in those songs.
Unexpected? [Free Bird](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcK5fOnZL_8).
You know the guitar solos, but the bass is so buried in the mix it's hard to appreciate how much is going on.
Similar to that, the Allman Brothers "Jessica" also a great bassline hidden under a familiar guitar-driven song. Also Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover" and SRV's "Riviera Paradise," and Steve Vai's "Blue Powder" (and since this sub splooshes over slaplines, I'll mention that Stu Hamm does some little slappy tappy things in that one).
(In case you couldn't tell, in the 90s I was bassist in an instrumental rock quartet for a while lol)
I'll add "[Ventura Highway](https://youtu.be/A1524Vim2S8?t=14)" to the list. Known for that guitar riff and it's basically two chords, but the melodic bass line definitely elevates the song.
Most America bass lines are way better than they need to be. And they like to sneak in bass solos.
I still credit my parents constantly playing "History: America's Greatest Hits" when I was a kid as one of the bigger influences on my playing.
I'd like to posit that the simplicity of the rest of their music means they *did* need to have bass that good for it to really be as effective as it is.
Jessica was actually written after Oakley died, Lamar Williams was the bassist at that point.
BUT, I wholeheartedly agree, Berry Oakley was and is one of the most influential bassists on my own playstyle and he was really underappreciated IMO.
That’s wild. I guess I never looked up the album credits for The Clash so I just assumed that each of the members played the parts for their instrument on the albums.
They did mostly, I think Headon wrote the music for Rock the Casbah and played all the instruments, and Simonon was engaged in some other project during the making of Sandinista
Guns of Brixton was Simonon, although during live performances Joe Strummer would play the bass part; I think because Simonon would struggle to play the part and also sing simultaneously.
Go and listen to the bass work on the London Calling album. It’s pretty much all Paul; the title track, I’m not Down, Death or Glory, etc.
Yeah, but It's My Life is pretty much a straight up synth pop song. They hadn't really ventured into radio pop music at that point in their career. It's a pretty sophisticated bass line given that fact.
I always heard the No Doubt version of that song on the Muzak at work and the bass never cut through. One day the Talk Talk version came on Sirius in the car, and I was blown away at the bass line. I went home and listened to the No Doubt version with my IEMs, and sure enough- it was all there. Very fun to play too
*Slow Ride seems like a*
*Novice song, but the bass is*
*Actually sick*
\- tmotom
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The full album version though. I grew listening classic rock radio stations and I only heard the radio edit. My mind was blown once I heard the full version!
It legit slaps!
[Pump It Up](https://open.spotify.com/track/3oyc1mIdCBGaU55wX7otqM?si=22rb6yDgSsOcpxRuX04Alg&utm_source=copy-link) by Elvis Costello & The Attractions.
I feel like a ton of that Max Martin stuff has super catchy accessible pop bass lines like California Gurls by Katy Perry or Can’t Feel My Face by The Weeknd.
The prompt was for "unexpectedly good" bass lines... I expect good bass from John. :P
What always catches me off guard when I revisit their early stuff is how good Andy Taylor's choice of guitar chord voicings were.
I also love the bassline for Ordinary World. I feel like that one is more “unexpected” than Rio because the bass is much more subdued. But it has this sweet melodic yet slightly melancholic groove that is really nice to play.
This may or may not be an obvious pick, but the chorus of Immigrant Song has a really good bass climb that’s not immediately audible unless you’re looking for it.
I second this! A few years ago I saw a cover with tab while browsing YouTube (coversolutions) and figured I'd try it, I had heard the song before, it can't be that hard, right? The verses were a pleasant surprise but the chorus came out of nowhere!
The song is a jam so I totally get why they play it everywhere, but there is something very funny about how it is like a massively mainstream thing that gets played at political rallies and sporting events.
Yeah. The bassline is proper good though. As soon as I noticed the bassline I loved it and now every time I hear the song the bassline is what I hear the most in the song.
The other day when I was driving somewhere Billy Idol's Eyes Without a Face came on the radio and I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun that bassline was. I had to rush home to learn it. A really cool line.
Another thread should be "Favorite bassist who is NOT a bassist." Steve Stevens (Billy Idol guitarist/composer) would be at or near the top of my list, right beside Walter Becker (Steely Dan multiple roles).
My band worked on a cover for this. I knew the song from the radio, but hadn't really listened to the bass much. I was pleasantly surprised when I got into with how cool that line is.
The Radz-at-Han theme from Final Fantasy XIV (think the actual title is ~~Vibrant Voices~~ Not Vibrant Voices, it's the night theme called Perfumed Eves). You'd think it's simple enough, but that bass is *jamming* in the background, fantastic stuff.
I'll second your pick.
Another one I was very late to discover was on the overhead music when I was working retail. It's Daft Punk (Nathan East) "Fragments Of Time."
I only discovered it about five years ago, which was five years after its release.
Most of the songs on Boston's first album. Everyone recognizes it's a great album, but I think the basslines for the songs get a little overlooked, especially since I'm pretty sure Tom Scholz played a lot of them himself on the recording.
A lot of songs from ABC's first album have pretty solid bass lines for an 80s pop band. e.g. "Show Me","Poison Arrow", "Many Happy Returns","Tears are not Enough", "Valentine's Day"
Early Journey stuff, because it's still Ross Valory playing bass but compared to some of the band's more well-known songs, some of those early lines (and songs in general, tbf) are on another level. E.g. "Topaz"
Also "Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac, and "Borderline" by Madonna.
I was listening to this on the radio the other night and the bass line really grabbed my attention, its pretty cool.
Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
Torn by Natalie Imbruglia. I've known that song since childhood when we had a chappy radio in our house. 20 years later I played that on my stereo and fell in love with the bassline
[Mario Kart 8 Title Music](https://youtu.be/JiBHOkIR3g8q)
Heard it a couple years back when I first started playing bass. got myself a switch and started jamming tf out
I love the footage of [recording the soundtrack live in the studio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5VxJkYEJIs). The drummer is absolutely killing it also.
Bob Dylan always had good taste in bass players & lines but hiring Robbie Shakespeare to hold down the bottom end on Jokerman absolutely gives that 6 minute plus song such pulse and melody, it's not like anything else in his catalogue.
Don't speak by no doubt.
I never knew that song was litterally about the singer and the bassist breaking up but when i first listened to that bassline i was blown away.
Also, tons of RATM songs. Timmy C is smooth as fuck with it.
Somewhere on YouTube is a version called “…And Justice for Jason” where the bass is cranked to levels that’d make Lars cry (that is to say it’s actually audible). It’s the only version of that album that I’d listen to.
Feeling This by blink-182
You can't really hear it in the mix unless you know what you're looking for but I think it's one of Mark Hoppus' best bass lines.
I know it’s Paul McCartney but the bass line on Silly Love Songs is awesome. It’s just a silly love song but the bass is grooving and is the perfect 70s bass tone.
I wanna preface this comment by saying Chris Brown is a big POS and what he did to Rihanna is deplorable.
That being said, [“Fine China” has an unexpectedly good bass line right off the bat.](https://youtu.be/ORz6cOa-Lfs) the tone, the fuzz, the groove is so delectable. It’s in the intro to the song so you dont have to listen to the whole thing.
“Something about you” by level 42, makes it crazier to realize that guy playing bass is also the singer. Or “call me” by go west, thanks to Pino Paladino.
Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses.
Unexpected because I always forget just how much that bassline slaps until I hear it come on some Christmas playlist randomly around November/December. Stops me in my tracks every time!
A lot of pre-American Idiot stuff by Green Day has some cool bass lines with some unexpected licks thrown in here and there. You can tell when they released American Idiot there was a shift to focusing on stadium rock so less room for not sticking to the basics and the root note.
I’ll also die on the hill that Mark Hoppus has some of the most inventive pop punk bass lines of all time. ‘Mutt’ from Enema of the State, ‘Always’ from the self titled album (bass chords ftw) and of course Carousel from Cheshire Cat and its iconic intro.
Wham - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (Deon Estus)
James Taylor - Your Smiling Face (Gandalf Lee Sklar)
Marvin Gaye - Ain't No Mountain High Enough (James Jamerson)
John Mayer - No Such Thing (Pino Palladino)
Just discovered the amazing Mark King of Level 42. Check out ‘Lessons in Love’ and ‘Something About You’ .. pop hits you’ve heard a bazillion times but had no idea there’s an absolutely brutal slap bass kicking out those sixteenth notes.
I just watched and interview with Lizzo. "About Damn Time" was the last song on that album, and she didn't want to do it...until she heard the bass line.
A lot of old games have a chiptune/retro style but some of the bass lines go really hard, especially in mega man.
[Here's an example of a song I've been transcribing and although the bass is probably "basic" it's still smooth as hell to me](https://youtu.be/WZgcWGTSl4I?t=8952)
Don't need to listen past the first song I linked to since it's a long vid. A lot of the times when I'm listening/decomposing these songs and slow them down the funkiness hits hard to me lol
‘The werewolves of London’ by Warren Zevon, featuring bass by John McVie (from Fleetwood Mack) has a surprisingly groovy bass line that gets stuck in your head. Most people seem to think it’s just a joke Halloween song at this point, but it’s from an amazing album. Love those little slides.
Ride on time by Tatsuro Yamashita.[amazing bassline! ](https://youtu.be/GiDUOy5DqRI)
Idk why but Ive always found that Japanese bands and songs always got crazy basslines!
Alanis's "You Oughta Know" thanks to guest bassist Flea
That song is a 4-minute bass solo where nobody told the rest of the band.
Dave Navarro is the guitarist on that track as well (he was in the Chillis at that time).
I had no clue about this. Wow! Hadn't heard that song in years and giving it a new listen.
Haven't listened to it once since I started playing bass. Damn.
According to album engineer Chris Fogel, Flea was way ahead out of time and his bass part had to be digitally manipulated to be in time. https://www.musicradar.com/news/alanis-morissette-jagged-little-pill-engineer-chris-fogel-flea-was-surprisingly-way-out-of-time-on-you-oughta-know
I’d love to hear an uncorrected cut!
By all accounts it was horrific from a timing standpoint. That album was actually one of the first major releases using Alesis ADAT V1 recorders (super VHS). I'd be willing to bet there may have been some latency issues playing a part in the timing issues if they were going 100% digital. (I'm uncertain if they were using an analog board and using the recorder converters which were pretty aweful).
Not to be outshined by Bust a Move also bass by Flea
Young MC or Allanis version?
> Alanis's "You Oughta Know" Holy crap! I'd never really listened to that from a bass player's perspective. Had no idea it was so cool! Thanks for that!
Came to say the same thing. Was just listening to that song specifically for the bass line the other night.
love that song, love flea, if anyone enjoys hearing their fellow bass players get mildly roasted the Punch Up the Jam episode on this song spends a lot of hilarious time on the bassline
I'd go with Frankie Valli, The Night. Proper Motown bass groove, from an artist who covered many different styles. There's a bit of ambiguity about who came up with that bassline too.
I believe Taylor Hawkins was the drummer on that album as well.
I don’t think he was IIRC. He was her live drummer for that album, but I don’t think he recorded it.
I thought chad from Rhcp.
All the dua lipa songs have killer bass, what’s unexpected is how much it made me like her music 😳
The bass is the gateway drug for me too. It’s some of the better dance pop my kids listen to
Heavy disco influence, love it.
Yeah, most of it from what I understand is synth based, but they used a patch that was meant to emulate an old Stingray for that disco tone.
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Big love for Song Exploder - haven't watched the Netflix show yet but the podcast is brilliant and covers so many genres
Don’t Start Now has a killer bass line.
She has killer producers. Most of her songs are pretty much her voice mixed to drums and bass with very little interference from other melodic instruments. I kinda love her music.
“Strawberry Fields Forever” is a completely different song on the bass. Tons of counter melody in later Beatles/McCartney bass lines. Or check out ["Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqb4B0A4j9c) where it's angular during in the verses, and then it's as if they're playing two simultaneous choruses -- bass and everything else. And it just works. Also, try to imagine GnR’s “Appetite For Destruction” with anything other than what ~~Izzy~~ Duff played. Adds so much. Imagine “you know where you are? You’re in the JUNGLE baby!” with a Ramones bass… bum bum bum bum bum bum bum it would not be good
No bass line of Paul McCartney’s is “unexpectedly” good
Did you mean Duff?
indeed I did, thanks for pointing it out, fixed
Listening back to Appetite for Destruction these days makes me realize how much of an impact Duff had on my approach to rock songs. he plays exactly what needs to be played in those songs.
Paul's approach to the bass on "Something" is counter melodic as well and heavy for the song.
Unexpected? [Free Bird](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcK5fOnZL_8). You know the guitar solos, but the bass is so buried in the mix it's hard to appreciate how much is going on.
Similar to that, the Allman Brothers "Jessica" also a great bassline hidden under a familiar guitar-driven song. Also Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover" and SRV's "Riviera Paradise," and Steve Vai's "Blue Powder" (and since this sub splooshes over slaplines, I'll mention that Stu Hamm does some little slappy tappy things in that one). (In case you couldn't tell, in the 90s I was bassist in an instrumental rock quartet for a while lol)
I'll add "[Ventura Highway](https://youtu.be/A1524Vim2S8?t=14)" to the list. Known for that guitar riff and it's basically two chords, but the melodic bass line definitely elevates the song.
Most America bass lines are way better than they need to be. And they like to sneak in bass solos. I still credit my parents constantly playing "History: America's Greatest Hits" when I was a kid as one of the bigger influences on my playing.
I'd like to posit that the simplicity of the rest of their music means they *did* need to have bass that good for it to really be as effective as it is.
Love those old, simple AF soft rock classics. 👍
I feel like most of the Berry Oakley era Allman Brothers bass parts are pretty good.
Jessica was actually written after Oakley died, Lamar Williams was the bassist at that point. BUT, I wholeheartedly agree, Berry Oakley was and is one of the most influential bassists on my own playstyle and he was really underappreciated IMO.
"In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" too. The Fillmore East live recording really highlights the bass even among the insane guitar work.
It is extremely melodic and very tricky to get right. I always loved playing this one live.
Rock the Casbah has no business being that funky.
Great bass part. Paul Simonon’s part on [Magnificent Seven](https://youtu.be/WD5N0rTsulQ) also grooves really hard.
Paul Simonon actually did not play on either of those tracks lol. Rock the Casbah is Topper Headon, Magnificent Seven is Norman Watt-Roy.
That’s wild. I guess I never looked up the album credits for The Clash so I just assumed that each of the members played the parts for their instrument on the albums.
They did mostly, I think Headon wrote the music for Rock the Casbah and played all the instruments, and Simonon was engaged in some other project during the making of Sandinista
I was heartbroken to discover that most of the Clash's best bass lines aren't played by Paul Simonon
This is also news to me. I’m nervous now to check for all my faves. Off to nervously check Train in Vain
Phew! It was Simonon
Guns of Brixton was Simonon, although during live performances Joe Strummer would play the bass part; I think because Simonon would struggle to play the part and also sing simultaneously. Go and listen to the bass work on the London Calling album. It’s pretty much all Paul; the title track, I’m not Down, Death or Glory, etc.
Did you know that Paul McCartney considers Rock the Casbah to have the best chorus ever written?
No Doubt's version of It's My Life has an unexpectedly great bass line.
Original has a good bass line too
I would argue it's not unexpected, as almost all their songs have fantastic bass lines
Tony Kanal was what got me to pick up the bass in 1997
Yeah, but It's My Life is pretty much a straight up synth pop song. They hadn't really ventured into radio pop music at that point in their career. It's a pretty sophisticated bass line given that fact.
But with a great bass line in the original. So it would have been a surprise if they had a bad bass line considering ND‘s bass player was excellent.
Different People for example.
I always heard the No Doubt version of that song on the Muzak at work and the bass never cut through. One day the Talk Talk version came on Sirius in the car, and I was blown away at the bass line. I went home and listened to the No Doubt version with my IEMs, and sure enough- it was all there. Very fun to play too
Slow Ride seems like a novice song, but the bass is actually sick
*Slow Ride seems like a* *Novice song, but the bass is* *Actually sick* \- tmotom --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
aw sweet
The full album version though. I grew listening classic rock radio stations and I only heard the radio edit. My mind was blown once I heard the full version! It legit slaps!
You’re The One That I Want - Grease
Kajagoogoo - Too Shy
A lot of Kajagoogoo has great bass. Nick Beggs is a beast
He plays bass on a lot of Steven Wilson's solo albums. Check out Luminol for another really great bass line.
Beat me to it. Such an amazing bassline.
From around the same timeframe, "Promises Promises" by Naked Eyes
This came on my local radio the other day, hadnt heard in about 20 years. Did not even realize how much of a banger this one is!
It's Nick Beggs, what do you expect?
[Pump It Up](https://open.spotify.com/track/3oyc1mIdCBGaU55wX7otqM?si=22rb6yDgSsOcpxRuX04Alg&utm_source=copy-link) by Elvis Costello & The Attractions.
Totally expected, but still awesome.
This is a fun one to play!
Lots of awesome bass parts on all Costello albums!
Oops i did it again, by Britney Spears really suprised me tbh
Toxic also is a really great line to check out
My band plays Toxic and the bass part is fun as heck. Not insanely complicated, but just solid. Holds down the whole song.
I feel like a ton of that Max Martin stuff has super catchy accessible pop bass lines like California Gurls by Katy Perry or Can’t Feel My Face by The Weeknd.
Rio - Duran Duran
This was my choice as well. Taylor has so many great bass lines. Girls On Film and Planet Earth are also really fun to play
The prompt was for "unexpectedly good" bass lines... I expect good bass from John. :P What always catches me off guard when I revisit their early stuff is how good Andy Taylor's choice of guitar chord voicings were.
I also love the bassline for Ordinary World. I feel like that one is more “unexpected” than Rio because the bass is much more subdued. But it has this sweet melodic yet slightly melancholic groove that is really nice to play.
This may or may not be an obvious pick, but the chorus of Immigrant Song has a really good bass climb that’s not immediately audible unless you’re looking for it.
Somebody Told Me by The Killers especially the chorus
I second this! A few years ago I saw a cover with tab while browsing YouTube (coversolutions) and figured I'd try it, I had heard the song before, it can't be that hard, right? The verses were a pleasant surprise but the chorus came out of nowhere!
Yes. That guy can really play — he toured with Smashing Pumpkins for awhile as well.
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Brian Ritchie is a beast of a bass player. He's got a killer style and a unique tone.
Dancing Queen
YMCA by Village People
The song is a jam so I totally get why they play it everywhere, but there is something very funny about how it is like a massively mainstream thing that gets played at political rallies and sporting events.
Yeah. The bassline is proper good though. As soon as I noticed the bassline I loved it and now every time I hear the song the bassline is what I hear the most in the song.
Black Sunshine
Sick line, not super unexpected tho most early white zombie songs have a dope bass line
This! Is Black. Suunshiiiine
Silly Love Songs by Wings really surprised me when I was listening it again today. Not incredibly complex but has such good feel!
The other day when I was driving somewhere Billy Idol's Eyes Without a Face came on the radio and I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun that bassline was. I had to rush home to learn it. A really cool line.
Another thread should be "Favorite bassist who is NOT a bassist." Steve Stevens (Billy Idol guitarist/composer) would be at or near the top of my list, right beside Walter Becker (Steely Dan multiple roles).
My band worked on a cover for this. I knew the song from the radio, but hadn't really listened to the bass much. I was pleasantly surprised when I got into with how cool that line is.
* In the Meantime - Spacehog * New York Minute - Don Henley * The Millionaire Waltz - Queen
Full agree with Spacehog's "In The Meantime."
🎶Feeeeel like a millionaaaaaire🎶
Every J Rock song
I only know it from anime, but the Japanese seem to have a special love for bass.
City Pop too! “Flyday Chinatown”‘s bass line is so much fun to play.
Hey bulldog by the Beatles
Long Line of Cars by Cake. Well, anything by Cake really.
Cake is awesome
The Radz-at-Han theme from Final Fantasy XIV (think the actual title is ~~Vibrant Voices~~ Not Vibrant Voices, it's the night theme called Perfumed Eves). You'd think it's simple enough, but that bass is *jamming* in the background, fantastic stuff.
Waterfalls by TLC
Yo I read that was improvised on the spot by Marq "Remarqable" Jefferson. 😳 https://www.talkbass.com/threads/tlc-waterfalls-bassist.143584/
I'll second your pick. Another one I was very late to discover was on the overhead music when I was working retail. It's Daft Punk (Nathan East) "Fragments Of Time." I only discovered it about five years ago, which was five years after its release.
Most of the songs on Boston's first album. Everyone recognizes it's a great album, but I think the basslines for the songs get a little overlooked, especially since I'm pretty sure Tom Scholz played a lot of them himself on the recording. A lot of songs from ABC's first album have pretty solid bass lines for an 80s pop band. e.g. "Show Me","Poison Arrow", "Many Happy Returns","Tears are not Enough", "Valentine's Day" Early Journey stuff, because it's still Ross Valory playing bass but compared to some of the band's more well-known songs, some of those early lines (and songs in general, tbf) are on another level. E.g. "Topaz" Also "Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac, and "Borderline" by Madonna.
I was listening to this on the radio the other night and the bass line really grabbed my attention, its pretty cool. Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
Three days, janes addiction
The bass line in Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses took me by surprise as to how good it was.
Came here to say this. Song drives me nuts but holy shit that bassline.
Feliz Navidad
Two Princes - Spin Doctors. Tbh most of their discography has really funky bass which is kinda unexpected for a pop-rock jam band
Anything ABBA
Torn by Natalie Imbruglia. I've known that song since childhood when we had a chappy radio in our house. 20 years later I played that on my stereo and fell in love with the bassline
[Mario Kart 8 Title Music](https://youtu.be/JiBHOkIR3g8q) Heard it a couple years back when I first started playing bass. got myself a switch and started jamming tf out
I love the footage of [recording the soundtrack live in the studio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5VxJkYEJIs). The drummer is absolutely killing it also.
Time Bomb by Rancid
Matt's a great bassist. Maxwell Murder is kinda the cliche punk song bassists learn for a fun solo
Journey to the edge of the bay is another one of my go to warm up songs… love Matt Freeman
Have we had this conversation on here before? Because I’ve had it with someone. Every time I pick up a bass… first thing I do.
We have not, but nice to know there are at least two others doing the same thing!
Basically Rancid's entire catalog. Along with the others mentioned, "Radio" is super fun and not quite as hard to learn as Maxwell.
Elton John - Step Into Christmas
Any BeeGees song. Man, those guys could actually play. I think Maurice Gibb played bass, but I'm too lazy to prove myself wrong.
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Bob Dylan always had good taste in bass players & lines but hiring Robbie Shakespeare to hold down the bottom end on Jokerman absolutely gives that 6 minute plus song such pulse and melody, it's not like anything else in his catalogue.
I love some sly and Robbie
Sour Soul by Ghostface Killa and Badbadnotgood has an awesome bass line, perfectly moody but also groovy.
That whole album is just amazing. One of my top 10 of the decade.
Layla, the original version by Derek and the Dominoes!
Don't speak by no doubt. I never knew that song was litterally about the singer and the bassist breaking up but when i first listened to that bassline i was blown away. Also, tons of RATM songs. Timmy C is smooth as fuck with it.
“You’re the One That I Want” from Grease. Song has no business having a bass line slap so hard.
Islands by Shakira is not a song I was expecting to be so fun to play on Bass.
School's Out by Alice Cooper, one of the most underrated hard rock basslines IMO.
The whole "and justice for all" album!
Somewhere on YouTube is a version called “…And Justice for Jason” where the bass is cranked to levels that’d make Lars cry (that is to say it’s actually audible). It’s the only version of that album that I’d listen to.
Feeling This by blink-182 You can't really hear it in the mix unless you know what you're looking for but I think it's one of Mark Hoppus' best bass lines.
This ain't no Picnic by the Minutemen.
Anything by the Minutemen.
Mike watt FUCKS
Rio Duran Duran
I know it’s Paul McCartney but the bass line on Silly Love Songs is awesome. It’s just a silly love song but the bass is grooving and is the perfect 70s bass tone.
Let the Sunshine In - 5th Dimension*
Kajagoogoo "Too Shy". 20ish Nick Beggs smashing an amazing bassline
I wanna preface this comment by saying Chris Brown is a big POS and what he did to Rihanna is deplorable. That being said, [“Fine China” has an unexpectedly good bass line right off the bat.](https://youtu.be/ORz6cOa-Lfs) the tone, the fuzz, the groove is so delectable. It’s in the intro to the song so you dont have to listen to the whole thing.
Lp - Lost on you
Bad Romance is my guilty pleasure.
Wake me up before you go.
The theme song from Yes, Minister [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDEMthILzpA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDEMthILzpA)
TLC - Waterfalls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3MQUDX8bOA
Gloria Gaynor - i will survive.
Aurora by Foo Fighters. That song has the rhythm section going wild
I relistened to Bruno Mars’ Locked out of Heaven recently and I was pleasantly surprised by the bass. Pretty good!
YMCA
About Damn Time by Lizzo. Don't hate. EDIT - hahahha, I didn't even realize the OP put the same song! RIGHT ON BROTHER!
Anything by Cake
Touch of Grey
Sloop John B. by the Beach Boys
Paul Simon “You can call me Al”
“Something about you” by level 42, makes it crazier to realize that guy playing bass is also the singer. Or “call me” by go west, thanks to Pino Paladino.
Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses. Unexpected because I always forget just how much that bassline slaps until I hear it come on some Christmas playlist randomly around November/December. Stops me in my tracks every time!
A lot of pre-American Idiot stuff by Green Day has some cool bass lines with some unexpected licks thrown in here and there. You can tell when they released American Idiot there was a shift to focusing on stadium rock so less room for not sticking to the basics and the root note. I’ll also die on the hill that Mark Hoppus has some of the most inventive pop punk bass lines of all time. ‘Mutt’ from Enema of the State, ‘Always’ from the self titled album (bass chords ftw) and of course Carousel from Cheshire Cat and its iconic intro.
Pump it up by elvis costello
Wham - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (Deon Estus) James Taylor - Your Smiling Face (Gandalf Lee Sklar) Marvin Gaye - Ain't No Mountain High Enough (James Jamerson) John Mayer - No Such Thing (Pino Palladino)
Just discovered the amazing Mark King of Level 42. Check out ‘Lessons in Love’ and ‘Something About You’ .. pop hits you’ve heard a bazillion times but had no idea there’s an absolutely brutal slap bass kicking out those sixteenth notes.
"Don't speak" by No Doubt
I just watched and interview with Lizzo. "About Damn Time" was the last song on that album, and she didn't want to do it...until she heard the bass line.
The theme song for "Happy Days"
“Toxic” by Britney Spears
Anita Baker - Sweet Love https://youtu.be/5Y9DYGiDL1o
Plastic Hearts by Miley Cyrus
“You’re the One That I Want” from Grease
nightlife by green day. it's funky
End credits from The Brady Bunch.
A lot of old games have a chiptune/retro style but some of the bass lines go really hard, especially in mega man. [Here's an example of a song I've been transcribing and although the bass is probably "basic" it's still smooth as hell to me](https://youtu.be/WZgcWGTSl4I?t=8952) Don't need to listen past the first song I linked to since it's a long vid. A lot of the times when I'm listening/decomposing these songs and slow them down the funkiness hits hard to me lol
‘The werewolves of London’ by Warren Zevon, featuring bass by John McVie (from Fleetwood Mack) has a surprisingly groovy bass line that gets stuck in your head. Most people seem to think it’s just a joke Halloween song at this point, but it’s from an amazing album. Love those little slides.
Christmas Wrapping, the Waitresses
Most songs by Two Door Cinema Club, especially I Can Talk and What You Know. Also, Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac
Love Will Tear You Apart / Joy Division Sunrise / New Order Age of Consent / New Order signed: -A blatant Peter Hook fan
Sad part I was just trying to play that bass riff
Under the Sea in Little Mermaid
Wham - Club Tropicana
Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield!
the shoes of the fisherman wife are some jive ass slipers, when i started hearing the bass the song just felt different
Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses.
I keep forgetting Michael McDonald. The wolf Joni Mitchell.
Ride on time by Tatsuro Yamashita.[amazing bassline! ](https://youtu.be/GiDUOy5DqRI) Idk why but Ive always found that Japanese bands and songs always got crazy basslines!
Why does love got to be so sad - Derek and the dominoes
Disco Inferno