bubinga5 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 (edited) I know this has been here before but this has really annoyed me..why oh why do people hold Flea in such high regard? it baffles me??...especially against Wooten!! Victor is on a different planet to him............i could play the repetitive stuff that Flea is playing here..(not that i would even think about wanting to)..please tell me that he is better than this.. Excuse my rant..i just dont get the Flea thing, Meshell or Pino are simpler and way better..IMHO i realise this youtube vid may be an unrealistic VS's but there are some that do hold Flea up there with the greats...for me hes an average bass player with a Monkey hand slap style, in a popular band..nothing to special about him..Claypool is far superior... dont get me wrong i love some of Flea's funk fingerstyle but hes not that good..his repetitive slap is rubbish IMO.. i await my fate [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKXD622nbos&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKXD622nbos...feature=related[/url] Edited October 4, 2009 by bubinga5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted October 4, 2009 Author Share Posted October 4, 2009 (edited) I know this has been here before but this has really annoyed me..why oh why do people hold Flea in such high regard? it baffles me??...especially against Wooten!! Victor is on a different planet to him............i could play the repetitive stuff that Flea is playing here..(not that i would even think about wanting to)..please tell me that he is better than this.. Excuse my rant..i just dont get the Flea thing, Meshell or Pino are simpler and way better..IMHO i realise this youtube vid may be an unrealistic VS's but there are some that do hold Flea up there with the greats...for me hes an average bass player in a popular band..nothing to special about him..Claypool is far superior... dont get me wrong i love some of Flea's funk fingerstyle but hes not that good..his repetitive slap is rubbish IMO... i await my fate [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKXD622nbos&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKXD622nbos...feature=related[/url] this guy is the man, his timing and funk is supreme at 50 seconds.. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAkvBqp8R8E"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAkvBqp8R8E[/url] Edited October 4, 2009 by bubinga5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YouMa Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 [quote name='bubinga5' post='616187' date='Oct 4 2009, 02:36 AM']I know this has been here before but this has really annoyed me..why oh why do people hold Flea in such high regard? it baffles me??...especially against Wooten!! Victor is on a different planet to him............i could play the repetitive stuff that Flea is playing here..(not that i would even think about wanting to)..please tell me that he is better than this.. Excuse my rant..i just dont get the Flea thing, Meshell or Pino are simpler and way better..IMHO i realise this youtube vid may be an unrealistic VS's but there are some that do hold Flea up there with the greats...for me hes an average bass player in a popular band..nothing to special about him..Claypool is far superior... dont get me wrong i love some of Flea's funk fingerstyle but hes not that good..his repetitive slap is rubbish IMO... i await my fate [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKXD622nbos&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKXD622nbos...feature=related[/url] this guy is the man, his timing and funk is supreme at 50 seconds.. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAkvBqp8R8E"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAkvBqp8R8E[/url][/quote] I do get your drift mate,but hes a good player in the sense he plays very hard and fast,remember the chillis are not really a funk band but a punk band with a funk influence.My fingers could not stand up to that punishment i have pianists hands,i would always go for a chaka groove over a chilli hammer,but they are still a fantastic band i love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 These kind of rants rarely go anywhere as its down to personal preference. personally, I find Wooten , Marcus Miller etc boring. They may have the finest chops but I can't stand listening to any one of them for more than a couple of minutes without switching off. I enjoy listening to talented bass players but only if they are playing a decent tune. same reason i can't listen to Jaco or Manring - it doesn't mean anything to me - doesn't mean that someone else isn't going to get enjoyment from it but I just can;t relate to it. I like Silly Putty by Stanley Clarke cos its a good tune and hymn of the seventh galaxy by Return to Forever cos its a good tune. Personally, I am a fan of Flea and his playing but I like the chili's music as well. I could take offence at your post but it seems to me that I enjoy one thing that you don't and you enjoy something that I don't. I don;t see a problem with that but clearly you do. I could equally have started a thread about how I don;t get why so many people like Jaco, because personally I think he's $h!te but others get enjoyment from his music. When you say how people hold Flea in high regard against Wooten - its not a contest - there is no world's greatest bass player just like there is no world's greatest sandwich - its down to personal tastes. If you don;t like someone then avoid them and references to them instead of getting annoyed. We're all here to learn from one another and hopefully become better, more knowledgable players as well as have a laugh. One man's Pamela anderson is another man's Hattie Jaques etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Your really not going to get any new debates out of this old bean, it is purely down to personal preference which can't be rightly disputed. I'm baffled by the amount of his clones that litter the music shops with their poor technique and under practiced Flea licks, but ultimatley the guy is a decent introduction to Bass, as is Claypool, Cliff Burton etc... You can put up as many Meshell or Wooten videos to prove "your" point, but really what difference will it make? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan_da_man Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 People hold Flea in high regard because he is what made them start playing bass in the first place. Well at least for me he did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-L-B Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 It looks to me like you're transferring your aggression towards those who refuse to move to your opinion onto the things they choose. Flea never insisted to you that he was this virtuoso musician, he's just a bloke in a band. Clearly some growing up needs to be done here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Maybe it's one of those things where people hold the members of a particular band in high regard because they love that band and their music. I see where you're coming from with other players maybe being more technically advanced or having a better groove factor and having a bigger library but maybe you just like their style and chops better. There's no doubt that the man can play bass and given the choice, yes I would rather go and see the Flecktones than the Chilis but that's not just based on the bass player in each band. It's my taste in music. I remember when Oasis first hit the big time, Guigsy, (or however you spell it) appeared on the front cover of bassisit. Not because he was a great bassplayer, but because he was in the biggest band in the world at that time. I wrote in and complained. I guess one good thing came from that in that it maybe encouraged a lot of kids to take up bassplaying. In my opinion, he was absolute sh*te, but right for that band at the time. I guess it's all just personal taste. Nowdays, I tend not to slag off famous players (not that you do) where "I just don't get it" as it's got me into too many arguments in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Never been a fan of Flea but he has his style and plenty buy their records. Can't for the life of me see why anyone would want to copy him though... but there you go.. Could say that about plenty of others as well. Horses for courses.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 (edited) skills aside, i would choose to listen to flea over wooten any day of the week. I just find wooten to be pretentious and boring. Atop of that, flea was proabably my biggest influence to pick up a bass, and i know i wont be alone there. Surely thats enough to regard him a great playr if he inspires people to play? Thats what its all about for me, not playing amazing grace with harmonics.... Edited October 4, 2009 by Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lateralus462 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 (edited) Since when was it a competition? - Flea isn't my favorite bass player, but you cannot deny his influence. He has reached a much wider audience than Wooten and to be fair how much has Flea done in terms for raising the profile of the bass player? - there aren't that many succesful bands I can think of (and by that I mean properly succesful bands) where the bass player is as well known as the guitarist. (to the general public I mean, of course any one on here will automatically look at the bass player in any band.) Flea's a rock star with mass appeal, Wooten is a session player who appeals to a very niche market- there is no real comparison. Edited October 4, 2009 by lateralus462 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 I tend to judge bass players by what they do for their band. And Flea does a lot for his band. That to me makes him great. I don't really care how technically proficient a bass player is, who the hell does apart his girlfriend,and she'' go for a piss with the drummers bird when the solo stuff starts. I just like good (in my opinion) bass lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 I still think 'Blood Sugar' is one of the best albums ever, and is a bass tour-de-force. 'Mellowship Slinky' is amazing...and bloody hard to play! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exile252 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 mhm, no need to say anything here, I'd just be repeating what everyone before me said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 (edited) Are you sure you've had a really in-depth listen to his playing? The way he fills out a guitar/bass line-up is quite brilliant IMO. You can buy a book of the Stadium Arcadium album, where the bass and guitar tracks are isolated. Take a listen to this and then have a re-think on your opinion. Flea readily admits his playing has matured since his furious slap days, and I agree with this. Edited October 4, 2009 by Pete Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 [quote name='Pete Academy' post='616243' date='Oct 4 2009, 09:15 AM']I still think 'Blood Sugar' is one of the best albums ever, and is a bass tour-de-force. 'Mellowship Slinky' is amazing...and bloody hard to play![/quote] Yeah some of Flea's parts on that album are really nice. Not especially difficult to play but well-chosen and brave too in some places. Whereas Wooten can of course play tastefully but usually resorts to that barrage-of-sh*te approach he seems so fond of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldo Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Stan_da_man' post='616212' date='Oct 4 2009, 08:17 AM']People hold Flea in high regard because he is what made them start playing bass in the first place. Well at least for me he did.[/quote] [quote name='Kev' post='616217' date='Oct 4 2009, 08:36 AM']skills aside, i would choose to listen to flea over wooten any day of the week. I just find wooten to be pretentious and boring. Atop of that, flea was proabably my biggest influence to pick up a bass, and i know i wont be alone there. Surely thats enough to regard him a great playr if he inspires people to play? Thats what its all about for me, not playing amazing grace with harmonics....[/quote] Same here. Wouldn't have picked up a bass if it wasn't for him. Oh and I don't suppose I'm the only person who's noticed the irony of posting a Claypool song THAT ISN'T EVEN HIS SONG Edited October 4, 2009 by Waldo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Flea is in a huge planet-striding colossus of a band that plays tunes people can whistle on the way to work. Victor... isn't. If you need to ask why one is held in such high regard and the other less so, then... *shrugs shoulders* Don't stress about it, man. I'm sure Flea & Victor aren't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 [quote name='Les' post='616242' date='Oct 4 2009, 09:11 AM']I tend to judge bass players by what they do for their band. And Flea does a lot for his band. That to me makes him great.[/quote] +1 Like it or not the real home of a bass player is in band context supporting the song. Solo bass is fine, but it is really a sub genre of the art as a whole. Why do so many people rate Flea? Simple he's just more accessible, which is due to his work being in songs that have other attributes beyond just bass playing. Don't get me wrong I like solo bass players, but it's often their more "band" type compositions that I always come back to; Stanley Clarke's School Days and Rock & Roll Jelly for instance, or Victor's You Can't Hold Groove. At the end of the day who [i]you[/i] like is who [i]you[/i] like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 I think good slap bass playing didn’t last long and it had largely died out by the end of the 70's. Most slap is now just a part of "circus bass" playing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-L-B Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Anyone seen that guy in Amsterdam who does the football keep-ups on Leidseplein? He's great to watch and does some amazing tricks but he isn't the best player in the world. In the context of a team he's probably sh*t... I'd pick a player over a showman for my team/band any day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Robert Trujillo has always been a monster player but it wasn't until he joined Metallica that he became really famous. Victor needs to join a band like U2 top raise his profile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 [quote name='D-L-B' post='616278' date='Oct 4 2009, 10:02 AM']Anyone seen that guy in Amsterdam who does the football keep-ups on Leidseplein? He's great to watch and does some amazing tricks but he isn't the best player in the world. In the context of a team he's probably sh*t... I'd pick a player over a showman for my team/band any day.[/quote] He must have had the week off when I went out there a few months ago- saw a pretty good breakdance troupe though! Back on-topic, I personally prefer the work of Mr Michael Balzary to Wooten- he plays some great stuff on The Mars Volta's first album for those who aren't already aware! However, I believe that both these players deserve equal respect for their deep passion, both for bass and for music, and their proactive approach in inspiring young people to pick up the instrument for the first time (Wooten for his books and Boot Camps, Flea founding the Silverlake Conservatory, etc). That to me is worth more than setting up an imaginary pi$$ing contest based on technical ability! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 [quote name='Pete Academy' post='616361' date='Oct 4 2009, 11:35 AM']Robert Trujillo has always been a monster player but it wasn't until he joined Metallica that he became really famous. Victor needs to join a band like U2 top raise his profile. [/quote]The horror, the horror. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 I'd rather staple my tongue to my foreskin that sit through a Wooten gig, with all those middle aged men fawning over his double thumbing, as for The Flektones, his brother should never have left Milli Vanilli. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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