peteb

What pedaltrain is that?

There is quite a big jump up in technique required for those on the Grade 8 list compared with Grade 7.

Out of interest, do you know what songs make the list for Grade 8?

Keys player from Little Angels?

Indeed! I was umming and ahing about getting one before my next run of gigs in February and then I noticed that Bass Direct seemed to be selling out of the things. I wondered when they would be back in stock and how much they would cost, so I pulled the trigger. I rang up and apparently, I got the last one they had in at the time (Marcus said that there had been a bit of a run on them)! However, I noticed that they immediately re-stocked and have them back on sale at the same price...

Just bringing my bigger board back again to use my new Caveman BP1 Compact (as well as my not so new Xotic BB pedal)!

Sub Mars Cowling then! 😃

Why, did Rutger claim to have played on loads of hits with famous performances by other well known bass players?

I was joking, three of the more famous bass players I could think of who have a reputation of not being very good (rightly or wrongly)! I was actually trying to support your point that if you can only have thirty players on the list, then you can't include everyone's individual favourite.

What I want to know is why Gene Simmons, Adam Clayton and Sid Vicious are not on the list?

It seems pretty solid.

Just to mention that I have fitted the Thumb Rocker to my Stingray and it works great, exactly what I was looking for. So, thanks to @Greg Edwards69 for the suggestion. I might even start taking the Ray out on gigs now!

No one is doubting that PA gear is better these days. But it was possible to get a decent sound in most venues in the 80s if you had the gear and knew what you were doing. I'm not at all sure that I would say the same about the 70s and before. @TimR makes a good point about audience expectations though. How many people saw magical performances in the 70s, etc without a care that what was coming out of the PA wasn't perfect, whereas now everyone would just complain about the sound!

Speak for yourself bud! The big difference now is that you can get the same results from a PA that you can easily fit into a small hatchback, whereas before you were packing a transit to the roof. Everyone from that era can remember lugging huge amp racks and Martin bass bins up fire escapes, etc. It all sounded great, but today's gear is so much better in terms of efficiency, size and weight.

Can you be a bit more specific?

Absolutely, but I don't that it is necessarily that people can whistle it or remember the words (although that might be part of the reason). A track can be great for many different reasons, which along with the subjective issue, makes it difficult to precisely define what is 'great' or not. That doesn't mean that there are great songs though. The other thing is what is the bar for 'great'? Are people throwing the term 'great' around for tracks that are merely 'very good'?

Which is probably part of the unquantifiable factor that makes it 'great'?

Iconic track, which is very well written with great lyrics that seem to tell a story (although people can argue about exactly what it means), interesting tune with some slightly unusual influences (i.e. latin and reggae, which is not what you would necessarily have expected). This is all well played by a musically good band, with a strong lead vocal (not to mention great harmonies). At the end of the track, you have an iconic two minute guitar solo (duet!) that people from the mid-west (you know, places like Wolverhampton) and indeed, anywhere else, can sing along to every note.

It's also part of the reason why crowds are not as good as they used to be - audiences have stopped going out to gigs as there are too many cr*p bands playing at these places

A track can be great for many reasons. It can be for the performance (including technical ability) , the songwriting or even the production. In terms for performance, it can be for a display of technical ability (such as Whitney - see above). However, another record that I personally think is great is 'Another Girl, Another Planet'. The great thing about it is largely down to the vocal delivery, although I wouldn't say that Peter Perrett is a technically great singer by any means!

Have you ever read 'Everybody Loves Our Town', a rather lengthy (but surprisingly readable) tome about the grunge movement in the early 90s. In the book there is a quote from a friend of Alice in Chains, saying that the Seattle sound is 'the sound of middle class kids whining in drop D'! I agree with some of your other points, to a point. The thing is, just because something hits the mainstream, it doesn't mean that it is automatically cr*p! All art is by nature subjective, but there are levels of ability that you expect a community of musicians to recognise. Remember, we are talking about Whitney here, not Britney! Not that I have anything against La Spears, but Whitney was many levels of talent as a vocalist above her and the vast majority of popular singers. That is a good point. I am not the biggest jazz fan, but I accept that there are lots of top musicians out there playing music that I have no interest in. Just because it isn't to my taste, it doesn't mean that it is without value.

Absolutely, of course it is. Generally regarded as one of the great (if not the greatest) soul divas of all time, as well one of the top R&B artists! This kind of artistic Marxism bemuses me, the idea that if an artist is outstanding then you must find reasons to say they’re cr*p! There was a thread about great vocalists on here a while ago and there was one guy who hated every great rock vocalist (be it Robert Plant, Chris Cornell, Lou Gramm, Glenn Hughes or Paul Rodgers and many others). He hated them all, in fact the one rock singer he seemed to like was Kurt Cobain! Now, I like whiny, nihilist grunge as much as the next guy, and Nirvana are an example of a band that made a great record without relying on virtuoso performances, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t appreciate great singers! For the record, my favourite version of I Will Always Love You is the acoustic one that Chris Cornell did in tribute to Whitney a few days after she died.

Yes, it's a really good track - but I thought that you didn't like 'screechy' and 'over sung'?

A pretty safe choice there. Whether you like the genre or not, or even if you don't like the song, one of the greatest vocal performances ever recorded...!