Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Back to Bass-ics

This may be old news to many, but a recent poll by New Music Express has pronounced Muse's "Hysteria" as having the best bassline of all time.  I'm a big fan of Muse, and having developed many a hand cramp from trying to keep up with this bassline in RockBand2, I find no reason to disagree with this finding.



Like all such lists, this one is incredibly subjective and designed to evoke passionate discussion, if not outright bloodshed.  I found it highly interesting that Canadian prog-rockers Rush took silver with "YYZ", another entry which I find personally agreeable.


1. Muse – 'Hysteria'
2. Rush – 'YYZ'
3. Queen – 'Another One Bites The Dust'
4. Queen and David Bowie – 'Under Pressure'
5. Pink Floyd – 'Money'
6. Metallica – 'Orion'
7. Michael Jackson – 'Billie Jean'
8. Yes – 'Roundabout'
9. The Who – 'My Generation'
10. Tool – 'Schism'



Likewise for the two entries by Queen, although I probably would have reversed the order myself.  Depending where you draw your borders, it's a very decent turnout for progressive rock, with 4 of the top 5 sewn up, and another one or two besides.


But what defines "best" in this context though?  Is it the speed or the difficulty, or something harder to define, like catchiness or funk?  Is it resonance, or the length of time the riff takes to leave your head?  Is it standing the test of time, like "My Generation", or abandoning conventionality like "Schism"?


Any list that makes me crave headphones has done its job, and this one has certainly done that.

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