Top 10 Most Overrated Bassists
Agreed. He's good but he's overrated. Most of his bass solos are just riffs. A lot think he's a very good bassist is because you could hear his bass riffs. But believe me or not but if you play your bass guitar without any other instruments playing, you'll make the same bass riffs.
He is a good bassist but too overrated.
He's overrated, but why is he first?
Mike is not Overrated
This man can't be overrated. He had angst and rebellion, which sucked people in. If we're talking about bass playing, let's be real, the dude sucked. But his icon is so unignorable.
How can he be overrated when most people agree that he was a terrible bassist? The people that do revere him look at him as a punk icon, not as an awesome bassist.
He great attitude and stage presence but he wasn't a very good bassist
Does he even count as a bassist?
He's probably the most deserving member of this list. He's not an inept bassist (otherwise he would've hired someone else to do it), but he puts way more emphasis on his showmanship and running the band than his actual bass playing.
Is he even a bassists because I'm pretty sure he's playing rythym guitar
My boy Cliff shouldn't be on here
He should be number 1. Why is John Entwistle number 1?
Unfortunately he is too overrated. But I think he is a great bassist, a great singer, a great musician and a great person. I love Mark, he's my favourite of the band. Are few to appreciate him. He would deserve much more.
Mark is a beast! His bass lines are original and he's a creative bassist. Unfortunately he is not so famous and appreciate. Probably the most underrated bassist, more than another.
You mean, Mark is Underrated
Mark's not overrated...
He is a less than average bass player, but had great vision & creativity.
One of the sloppiest bassists of all time. Deserves to be higher.
Not the greatest bassist but a great songwriter
Yup Sixx definitely sucks
Just your average bassist. Way too overrated and overhyped. People act like he's the Jesus of bass. The bass solo in My Generation is overrated. The Who sucks, period.
Entwistle was great, but he wasn't THAT great. People act like he's the Jaco Pastorius of rock n roll bass.
Why is he on here?
Flea's not a bad bassist, but he's an extremely overrated one
He is a pretty good bassist but definitely not the best
Pretty Overrated
Come on man, "Something", "Paperback Writer", "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite", and "Taxman" are some of the best bass tracks ever.
The guy was good at writing hooks. On the piano. His technique on bass hurts the eyes and the ears, never mind the deplorable tone of a Hohner bass.
With a few cool basslines and nothing else, he's better when it comes to songwriting.
The whole of Pink Floyd are very overrated. Especially Waters and Gilmour. I don't even like their songs and for them it's all about the "feeling". REALLY?! Shred is much better than this feeling. Roger Waters is easily the most overrated Bassist, while Gilmour is by far the most overrated guitarist, along with Hendrix.
Wait Entwistle is the most overrated bassist? The guy who invented the bass solo, invented the modern bass tone, the guy who invented the modern bass string? Entwistle was the most technically proficient bass player to ever live. The other guys on this list, eh not so much (like Trujillo). Yeah he gets a lot of praise, but find anyone who did what he did or can even play what he could play. Seriously putting Entwistle #1 is like putting Hadrien Feraud #1, makes no damn sense. Cliff Burton probably deserves to be #1
His crab walk looks stupid
What is Rob doing here?
Cliff Burton is a horrible overrated bassist who uses way to much distortion and hits so many out of key notes. People say he practices for six hours a day but I don’t hear any of it. He does not play lead bass yet his lovesick fans say he does. His fans are so sick in the head they say that Kirk Hammett should have been the one who died. Nobody deserves to die. Really all he did was copy John Enwhistle’s style of playing bass as a lead. I honestly quite hate this guy and also hate his stupid fans. F.Y.I in the Whom The Bell Tolls concert he looks like Wild Mike from back at the barnyard.
What's wrong with JPJ? I like the fact that he doesn't use too much treble, it means that he stays out of the way and holds down the low end. Plus, he knows how to write clever bass parts that still fit the song. That's what happens when you're a session musician.
He is not a bad bassists he is one of the best like other ones on the list like Victor Wooten or flea
Competent but no flair or distinctive tone.
Boring...He knows his way around the fretboard but no "umph". Just evaporates...
His historical importance is beyond question. But in terms of sheer musical content, I.e. just analyzing the notes played, is in he in the same category as a Ron Carter or Paul Chambers.
Over the top and unlistenable.
Most nirvana songs are based on his bassline, like smells like teen spirit and dumb. he's not overrated, he's actually great
He's underrated. Which idiot adds him?
Isn't he more like kinda underrated?
I disagree totally with the commenter below and his Claypool rant. He has technical talent and ACTUALLY KNOW HOW TO USE IT. None of his songs sound the same, as Primus engages in experimental music. Listen to, I don't know, Jerry was a racecar driver, American Life, Hamburger train, and Southbound Pachyderm, or any other Primus song and you'll see his basslines are all different. He's better than the vast, vast majority of band bassists. Also, need I mention he plays double bass on some other tracks (Mr. Krinkle for example). So what's up with "guutarist who picked up a bass". That's more like Lemmy. Claypool use bass techniques, like the slap and the double thumb, and fingerplays, so I don't know where you got that impression. Plus, he also, as I said, plays double bass, so it's not stupid generic playing at all. I don't get you.
He's just a half-assed guitarist who picked up bass. He just does the same slap, pop, and tap over and over ad nauseum. All his songs sound the same, he has no sense of melody or harmony. He's Yngwie Malmsteen for bassists, not much in the way of songwriting but is semi-technical and serves as that role of wank-idol for the people who never picked up a guitar because they didn't have the coordination. Linus Klausenitzer is tenfold what this hack will ever be.
This guy is not overrated, he is actually good. He slaps away and taps that bass like there is no tomorrow, and he has a unique sense of humor, which drives Primus off the list. He is underrated!
Amazing player... but very overrated
Just cause he can play DOES NOT mean he's the best bassist of all time!
He can't be overrated. His talent is not even from this universe.
"Just cause he can play DOES NOT mean he's the best bassist of all time! "
Just because he is the best bassist DOES MEAN he is the best