The Official Police Thread

[boo boo]

I just think it's immature to write off Anthony for ONE performance. His use of basic root notes is pretty influencial on the metal genre. And there are some songs that have some pretty solid basswork. He does his job so I don't know why you don't respect that.

Also I was wrong when I said that Anthony and Sting are the same kind of bassist, Sting is much more skilled and IMO his instrumentation is the main attraction of the ensemble as opposed to Summers, The Police has a more bass oriented sound than a guitar oriented one. While with Van Halen it's obvious which instrument is the main attraction of the ensemble.

Summers was more restrained in The Police than Sting was, he's capable of some seriously technical Robert Fripp stuff but you mostly only hear that from his solo work and the stuff he did with, well..... Robert Fripp. Still all 3 were skilled musicians and they all let it show but like all the best tight ensembles it complements the music.

Also bassists aren't supposed to be restrained, as in it's alright if they are but they dont have to be, it's simply the bassist's job to keep the rhythm. But HOW they do it is entirely up to them.

While players like Geddy, Flea and Entwistle show off a lot they still keep the rhythm and overall they still operate as bass players. Guys like Victor Wooten do not.

There's a great variety of rhythms, they can be very simple or very complex but they're still rhythms and they dont have to be exclusively one or the other. I do stick up for guys like Anthony who don't show off and just do what they do well. But I won't pretend they're better than bassists who can exhibit a lot of chops AND do their job at the same time.

Though for me, a great bassist doesnt have to be a virtuoso he just has to contribute something special, basslines that are great enough that you could enjoy hearing them on their own, Sting does that for me. I tend to prefer bassists who don't get buried under the guitar, just strumming a few notes over and over, though I can also appreciate bassists who play like that if they do it well, Ian Hill for example.