Bass Guitar Heroes: Top Ten Bass Players In Metal.
January 27, 2009 by Scott
Every list like this is going to objectionable and subject to criticism from people, but I think it’s rather well put together. It’s not a list of mediocre bass players that have a big name in a big band, but rather a list of skilled bass players that have made a name for themselves through their style and tone. Most bass guitar players in metal bands are just simply there to fill the void. To give the music the heavy bottom end. A lot of them are skilled to a point, but most could be replaced at the drop of a hat. A lot of great players are overlooked, though. Here are ten essential bass guitar players that have wowed me either recently or over the years. A few you might know and a few you may not. I’ll start from the bottom and work my way up.
10. Martin Mendez- Mendez is not as well known as most bass players in metal, but he has a certain smooth style and skill that he uses on his Fender Jazz bass that keeps the sound of Opeth genuine. Playing in a band like Opeth, you really have to have a finesse about your playing in order to not sound out of place. If it was just as simple as hitting simple notes, Opeth would just be another band and Mendez would just be another bass player. Neither of which is the case here.
9. Mike Inez- Perhaps Mike Inez doesn’t deserve to be this far down on the list, but someone had to be. Inez has been around while and has played with Ozzy, Heart, Slash’s Snakepit and Alice In Chains. He brings a tone and style that is well known.
8. David Ellefson- Two words for you, “Peace Sells”. Ellefson was the bottom ended backbone for Megadeth for so many years. It was hard to imagine Megadeth without him and to this day it still seems a little strange, even with James Lamenzo in the position.
7. Ryan Martinie- Mudvayne’s Martinie has a pretty signature sound. Since busting in to the nu-metal scene on 2000’s L.D.50, he’s brought a tone that helps define the band’s sound. When you hear a Mudvayne song, even if you don’t know it, chances are you recognize it as a Mudvayne song because of Ryan’s complex bass playing and sound.
6. Justin Chancellor- When most people think of Tool, they think of that opening bass line of Sober. Not really a complicated riff by any means, but that’s basically what make’s up a lot of Tool’s sound. The heavy bottom end is a vital part of Tool’s sound and Justin fills that gap like the missing link.
5. Robert Trujillo- Not a big name because he is in Metallica and does that spider-walk, but because he’s Robert Trujillo. Metallica didn’t just choose him because they dug his braids. Robert is a veteran. He’s been around the metal world quite a bit, playing for Zakk Wylde, Ozzy, Anthrax, Suicidal Tendencies, The Infectious Grooves and Jerry Cantrell. He’s got skill and can adapt wherever his talent takes him.
4. Cliff Burton- Who knows what level Cliff Burton would be at today, had he not been tragically removed from life. Though production quality lacked back in the early 80’s you can hear what kind of player Burton was. His bass solo on (Pulling Teeth) Kill’em All was unique in so many ways at the time and the rest of his work on the latter Metallica albums solidified him as a great bass player and a huge influence on so many bass players today.
3. Billy Sheehan- When he played in the band Mr. Big, they were referring to him. Ok, I just made that up, but it’s Billy Sheehan for Christ’s sake! I really don’t think I need to elaborate.
2.Steve Digiorgio- Most are saying, “Who?”. Steve Digiorgio is probably not as well know as any other player on this list but is an absolute phenom on the fretless bass. He is a founding member of Sadus and has played in Death, Testament, Autopsy, Iced Earth and is currently playing for Sebastian Bach, where I doubt his skills are fully utilized. If you’ve ever watched the bonus DVD that comes with the Roadrunner United CD, he played the bass parts on Annihilation By The Hands Of God. Watch him in that session, it will blow your mind. Digiorgia doesn’t get the recognition he deserves..but how many bass players actually do?
1. Steve Harris- As if you didn’t see this coming. If you’re a metal fan and you don’t know who Steve Harris is then I question your metal-ness. Harris plays the bass like a lead guitar, and does it all with his fingers. Not only does he play it like a lead guitar with his fingers but he does it with surgical accuracy. More times than not, the guitar players are the forefront of the band behind the vocalist. Not in Maiden. Harris is Dickinson’s co-pilot on the stage. For a long time the bass guitar was not a very audible instrument in most metal bands. It was there, but it was never really loud enough to be distinct, but never in Iron Maiden. That distinct, audible bass is what set apart Iron Maiden from most bands. God forbid, if anything ever happened to Steve Harris, Iron Maiden would be over. This list would be wrong without Harris in the #1 spot.
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Nice list! The Billy Sheehan moment that stands out the most in my mind is David Lee Roth’s “Shy Boy” when Sheehan and Steve Vai do a tapping duet. It has been said that people went to DLR shows for two reasons: To see them pull that part off, or to see them blow it big time!
Steve Harris is the man, for sure. I personally would have to add John Paul Jones in that list somewhere too, if you count Led Zeppelin as metal.
Great article! Thank you for speaking up for the most overlooked guy in the band!!
not having geezer butler on this list is a FUCKING CRIME. the man invented sludge/doom/stoner/whatever with his massive grooves on songs like “hand of doom” or “war pigs.”
also roger patterson from atheist was pretty awesome, may he rest in peace.
No Fieldy mention? Say what you will about Korn, but that guy can play some bass.
Geezer Butler was the fucking man! C’mon Scott! Great list though….
Fieldy was a mediocre bass player at best. The guy convinced a generation of kids that down tuning a 5 string bass to the point that the strings make an annoying rattling sound was a good idea. The sound was cool for one album, got irritating on the second, and by the third just made me want to start a fundraiser just to buy the guy some thick-gauge strings just so I wouldn’t have to hear it anymore. His bass riffs weren’t even complicated in any way, none of KoRn’s stuff was, that was the point. As the OP points out in the description of the list, Fieldy could have VERY easily been replaced, and the result probably would have been much better. At least then I wouldn’t have to look at someone playing an electric bass like it was an immense penis that he cradled over his shoulder. I like my phallic instruments pointed to the back of the room like a gawddamn cannon!
::end rant::
I’d put Ryan and Justin a bit further up the list, but that may be may age showing. Otherwise a great list.
Good list. But you’re forgetting one very important man. Not the best bass player but because of who he is, he deserves a place on this list; after all it is a metal bass player list and not a who’s the best bass player list. Lemmy. Just coz, well, he’s Lemmy. Just happens to play the bass really….
Honorable mentions to “Duff” McKagan and Markus Grosskopf.
Seriously Scott? No John Myung? No Alex Webster? No Jack Gibson? No matter. Awesome list dude.
Top 10…not top 15 or 20. I can’t fit everyone. Wish I could. Lemmy crossed my mind, trust me, but then I’d have to squeeze Tom Araya in there too. Alex Webster and Geezer could have been in if it were 15. Websters bass is more audible on the older albums. I noticed that recently. Fieldy? I have to agree with itsalljustaride on this one.
Like I said at the beginning, any list like this is going to be subject to criticism. If I made it more than 10, then I would have to keep adding and adding and it would end up too long and more people would bitch about placement of the players. I don;t think many can really argue about the top three though.
I just realized, your example of “Sober” for Justin Chancellor is not fitting, since Chancellor didn’t come on board with Tool until after Undertow was recorded. That was Paul D’Amour on Sober, not Chancellor, but at any rate, Chancellor is the bomb. The hammer-on-laden bass riff from Schism will quite possibly go down as one of those “must learn” riffs for anyone who picks up a bass.
Doh! You’ve uncovered my limited knowledge of Tool.
Hey , where is Mr. Terry “Geezer” Butler ?
I really like your list! I admit i dont know who Digiorgio is, and its a pity one of my favourite bassists, Chris Wolstenholme, is missing (ok, hes probably not as technically good as these guys but he still rocks lol), but its excellent to see effelson, chancellor and definitley trujillo mentioned because people really underestimate him. Nice job!
totaly awesome list, just one thing…
WHERE IS PAUL GREY!!!!!
ok he is not the best but he does deserve a place in your list.
There are far too many other talents that would deserve a spot in this list before Paul Grey. Perhaps if I made a top 20 he might have fallen in to the 40’s.
FIELDY DUMBASS!!! HE’S THE GREAT BASS PLAYER AND HAVE BEEN NOMINEE AS BEST WORLD BASSPLAYER!!
Oh, Please! Fieldy is probably the only bass player you know because he’s in your favorite band and you obviously know nothing about any one of these players on this list. Who was he nominated by, some douched out magazine like Hit Parader?
By the way, this isn’t 1994 AOL. Unless you’re legally blind, turn the caps off.
What, no Tom Araya?! Gasp!
Tom Araya is a vocalist that plays a little bass to compensate. He’s not one of those Singer/ Bass players like Geddy Lee or Ron Broder (Wiki it) that can sing and play awesome bass riffs . Don’t get me wrong, I love Slayer but let’s be real about this. Tommy is a good enough Bass player to hold down the bottom end and that’s about it.
wtf!! how is cliff not number 1?!? this is bull!
i hate this too cliff should be #1 escpecially for ”for whom the bell tolls”
Listen to some other metal besides Metallica for Christ sake. if you base you opinion off of Cliff’s playing in For Whom the bell Tolls then you haven’t a clue.
Listen to some Death and A LOT of iron Maiden and you’ll realize why he’s not number one. Perhaps if he was still alive today and we could have heard more of his work, he could have been number 1. Unfortunately that is not the case and we can only judge his playing off of 3 records and live videos.
Ryan definitely needs to get up to number 2, maybe..
And where the hell is John Entwistle?
Oh, right..”Metal” bassists..I’m sorry, my bad lol.