Barking Spiders

Ye gods, that is one parade of fugly basses to which Id add Mayones Cali range of mini basses

The first two albums are 5 stars in my books but thereafter the albums are mostly patchy though I'd put Aural Sculpture just behind those ones. As for Black & White, I have it on CD but cant recall which side is which but from Tank to Toiler it's great. Just don't enjoy the more experimental tracks. Ditto much of The Raven though Duchess is a fantastic tune. For newbs I'd say try and get hold of The Hitmen 1977-1991 2 x CD compilation. It's out of print but there are used copies on 'zon and Discogs. For the casual 'fan' it's probably all you'd need, though across its 43 tracks there are some that'd could've been left out.

between you and me I didn't last the full length of the 'song' either

This tune isn't exactly post-punk but I like it and it takes me back to the 80s.

You enjoyed it then Dad? 😁

Couple tracks off my fave Sound album, All Fall Down. The Sound are one of those post-punk bands of the 80s, of which great things were expected/promised but unfortunately that wasn't to happen

that leaves just parts c and d of Down In the Sewer then. Cant hear anything remotely prog in songs like Ugly, Sometimes, Something Better Change, London Lady, No More Heroes, I Feel Like W** and Dagenham Dave. Take out the keys and they're pure punk especially with HC's sneering vocal style and J-J's aggressive bark

The Stranglers..... prog?!!??? 😲😱. Don't hear it myself. Sure the keyboards are reminiscent of the Doors. While the sound wasn't ever really punk, in the early years their attitude definitely was. Some of their best tunes are from their mellow more pop phase with gems like Always The Sun, Skin Deep, La Folie, Life Shows No Mercy as well as the ubiquitous Golden Brown. Incidentally I've always considered Hugh Cornwell's guitar playing very overlooked. Many of their songs contain tasteful, melodic and pointful solos.

Yup, absolutely though there are BCers who'll disagree. There should be spectacle as well and TBH i don't wanna see sex/sept/ox/non-ogenarians hobbling about on stage or sitting down for a breather mid-song. Few things more dull than watching people on stage just standing while playing an instrument.

You're making it too easy for me😁

Once they get their first liver spots / first double chin and definitely when any new material is an inferior rehash of stuff made at the start of their careers.

Conway Twitt

Likewise. I don't give a flying f*** about shred-like ability on guitar or bass. My OP was more about this dull obsession many people have with 'top 10, 20, bazillion xx ' polls/lists, like any of that matters. Outside of electronica my fave bands are mostly from the post punk/alt-rock genres e.g. Pixies, JAMC, Echo ATB, Siouxsie ATB where the guitarists had distinctive styles and imagination rather than perfect by-the-book technique while the bands are definitely examples of the whole> sum of the parts.

music fora aren't about selling anything though

Indeed music is not a competition so why do all these fkin music/guitar mags (online and print) as well as millions of forum threads continue to bore on with their dull and predictable lists/polls. Things get worse when irate fanboys get all worked up because their faves aren't as high up the list as they think they should be. Then again I suppose it's all click bait, esp when Mojo etc have these top 10s on YT.

The word does seem to be widely applied to certain players as a euphemism for 'limited technique'.

But when people vote in 'who's the greatest polls' they're most probably choosing players from their fave bands they think have the chops. The thing with these polls / lists is they almost solely focus on rock and metal whereas actually the best players, in terms of mastery of their instruments, are from other genres such as flamenco, jazz, country, classical, bluegrass etc.

playing covers of Eruption, Tom Sawyer bassline etc make a nonsense of all these 'who is the greatest ...blah blah' threads and polls across the webverse?

Not sure there really are that many truly widely known, iconic bass lines. From the perspective of non-bass aficionados among the public, IMO they've pretty much been already covered here. No disrespect intended re some noms but I bet most casual music listeners wouldn't recognise any bass lines beyond Another one bites the dust Good times Under pressure The chain Peaches (at a push) Billy Jean Blue Monday (at a push) Come as you are Walking on the moon (maybe among those raised in the 70s) Walk on the wild side (among the over 50s anyway) I.e. songs that still get a lot of airplay on mainstream daytime radio

Seems to me a lot of sellers have raised their prices beyond a tipping point where buyers are probably saying to themselves 'forget it'. The way prices have risen on all instruments I sure won't be buying any more, new or used.

He is??🤔

The very ace The Heart is Strange by xPropaganda, a worthy successor to Propaganda's eternally brilliant A Secret Wish released 36 years ago!

Most of the players i like have been in bands with some guesting on other people's albums. Does that count as a session player? In which case I'd say Derek Forbes, Michael Dempsey. For players that have done a lot of guesting/session/sidemen work, it's easy for me. Marcus Miller, Louis Johnson and Tony Levin

that's 2 minutes per track not per album!

After my re-try of LZ albums I've since had other listens to the supposed best and worst albums of classic rock bands I've generally had little time for; Queen, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd. OK I more or less flipped through each one giving each track around 2 mins which is ample time to make a call. Viz PF, IMO the best supposedly DTOSM and Wish You Were Here - still bore the s**t out of me. The 'worst -which mainly seem to be Ummagumma, Division Bell, Momentary Lapse of Reason - turn up no pleasant surprises either. Black Sabbath - Ozzy Osbourne has one of the worst voices in music. I just don't get how he's a multi platinum album artist in the US. As for RJ Dio, I can't stand that style of cod-operatic s**t (same with Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Myles Kennedy) I forced myself to listen to 'best' ones like Paranoid, Master of Reality and the 'worst' - Technical Ecstasy, Born Again and Forbidden. Because Born Again has Ian Gillan - a way better singer than the other BS vocalists - it is by default their best, even though it's no great shakes. Queen - so, Shear Heart Attack, Night at The Opera and The Game appear to be their highest rated. I've not heard SHA since I was a kid and actually it's pretty good, way better than the overrated NATO. Also way better to my ears is Hot Space as I like its dance/pop vibe and is on a par with the well rated The Game , which I admit is mostly pretty good. Next up, if I can summon up the strength I'll work my way through a selection of 'best' and 'worst' of two of my least fave big names of classic rock, The Who and the Stones. I'm not expecting any pleasant surprises, particularly with the Stones as Jagger's voice is as bad as Ozzy's and I'm too familiar with their best known tunes, few of which I even can tolerate