rank the bassists

[dodoz]

https://ia600504.us.archive.org/21/i....d1t07_vbr.mp3

Jimmy and D'Arcy are locked in to me.

Fuck the technical side, D'Arcy was part of what made the Pumpkins sound. I don't care if Melissa played better - as some said, her tone was awful (let's not mention her banter). And since then, it's been...shredding on bass, as annoying and useless as Jeff's.

[bye june]

Originally Posted by Elphenor

Some people don't seem to get that technical playing does not a cool rock band make.

Go listen to Rush

They're one of Billy's big influences.

[juliana]

Originally Posted by dodoz

https://ia600504.us.archive.org/21/i....d1t07_vbr.mp3

Jimmy and D'Arcy are locked in to me.

Fuck the technical side, D'Arcy was part of what made the Pumpkins sound. I don't care if Melissa played better - as some said, her tone was awful (let's not mention her banter). And since then, it's been...shredding on bass, as annoying and useless as Jeff's.

Um... That was not shredding on bass..........

[juliana]

Originally Posted by christian zombie vampires

i can't remember if it was one of billy's blog posts or a reissue book or something... but i read something a while ago where he cited jimmy hating d'arcy's playing as a major source of friction. then it hit me: imagine for a moment, you are jimmy fucking chamberlin. god among men, drummer among drummers. and the other half of your rhythm section is not only unable to play almost anything beyond steady quarter notes, but very likely refused to even attempt to. and then you are forced to spend your creative career that way. it resulted in a unique sound that we all came to love, and i guess tension helped everything end up the way it did, but she really seemed like the one 90s SP member who never progressed or pushed themself. even then it's not like she had no talent but certainly less than average.

i just checked paz's discography. i was never really into perfect circle. what other good bass did she play? i had no idea she played fiddle on tanglewood numbers and a jenny lewis song and a QOTSA song. that's pretty cool.

The entrance band, she doesn't sing but is obviously the star of the power trio.

[slunken]

let me put it this way - the bass playing on a bc-related album has never been an issue

[Elphenor]

Originally Posted by bye june

They're one of Billy's big influences.

Exactly. And Billy's playing is pretty technical. D'arcy's simplicity and James's Artyness is what made the band cool while Corgan and Jimmy's chops made the band Rock.

And of course Billy is a creative song writer and all

[dodoz]

Originally Posted by juliana

Um... That was not shredding on bass..........

Noodling then, or whatever.
Even before D'Arcy left, I often felt that the bass player in that band had to keep it fairly simple, or else it would become too busy. In that respect she was the perfect match.

[jczeroman]

Originally Posted by christian zombie vampires

Nicole
melissa
ginger
paz
linda
d'arcy

kinda stupid if Nicole is out. oceania had the best bass playing of any SP/related album
at this point it would really be a coup if the next bassist was a guy

Exactly this list. It's when you listen to practices and demos that you realize that d'arcy was barely a musician.

[paranoid]

Originally Posted by jczeroman

Exactly this list. It's when you listen to practices and demos that you realize that d'arcy was barely a musician.

Bad reasoning.

To be fair, we have no rehearsal or demo recordings that exist of Melissa, Ginger, Or Nicole. And ultimately, Darcy was able to sound pretty damn good for the recordings and live shows.. So all that reveals is that she was able to adapt and progress as a result of practice, which is a hallmark of a good musician.

Also, listening to any of those demos/rehearsals, Billy's voice sucked just as much if not worse than her bass playing.

And RE: on Darcy not being a shredder.. Maybe this band would have been so much better off with a Vic Wooten? Christ. Less bass=more jimmy. Even Melissa was too much. Nicole only sounded decent because she had to make up for the shit drummer behind her, but other than that she noodled too much.

My list:

1. Darcy
2. Melissa/ginger (can't decide which I prefer)
3. Nicole

That's it.

[herzogxyu]

Plus we got to see D'arcys boobs. A few times.

[Ram27]

I agree wholeheartedly with the last two posts.

http://www.feelnumb.com/wp-content/u...3/darcy028.jpg

[F.Delacroix]

caveman

[Ram27]

Everyone is a caveman at some level

[Trotskilicious]

incorrect

[The Omega Concern]

Originally Posted by juliana

Agreed, but paz is the best bassist in general on that list.

cuz the Heroin...

[dodoz]

Shall we rank Billy's bass playing as well ? It wouldn't be high in the list for me.

[JRock]

[quote=dodoz;4092764]https://ia600504.us.archive.org/21/i....d1t07_vbr.mp3

Fuck the technical side, D'Arcy was part of what made the Pumpkins sound. I don't care if Melissa played better QUOTE]

Totally agree. People should not be so quick to dismiss D'Arcy. There are many ways to define who was the "best bass player" in the Smashing Pumpkins, technicality aside.

[houseofglass11]

Even BC thought Melissa sucked.

"BC: If the bass is too on top, like for example, Melissa Auf der Maur. When she played with us, she played very on top, and it was constantly tripping all over the fucking guitars. It’s hard to get… the Pumpkins’ sound. If you can bottle it, it’s sort of predicated on the idea the guitars are clearly on top and ahead of the drums; the drums sit in the middle, and the bass is a little back, so it has an impact and wide-scope sound. That’s the sound that I like to hear. Maybe it was developed through playing with D’Arcy and the way she played. I got used to that feeling, and so I’ve looked for that feeling ever since. "

http://consequenceofsound.net/2012/0...hing-pumpkins/

[juliana]

Melissa was not the most technical, she was the most metal \m/ don't know why pepple thought she was so technical....

[Bread Regal]

Guitars being on top is the gist of straight rock music in general.

There's a sound guy in my town whom everybody wants working their gig because he's, simply put, the best in town. I had a chat with him and asked him what made his work stand out. He said to consider the instrument that the audience want sto hear the most, turn it up as loud as possible, and just make your way down the totem pole. The loudness hierarchy for rock shows is guitars-drums-bass. Hip-hop: drums-vox-everything else. Folk: Vocals-guitars/auxiliary instruments/drums. Kind of simple formula.

Hasn't much to do with this thread but I thought I'd share that interesting thing I learned. Zeitgeist and MSOTS would be much better sounding records if the guitars were the loudest thing on them.

[juliana]

Guitars can suck a dick.

Billy says that shit about melissa because she is cooler than him and commanded the stage, d'arcy was more shy, james was shy, jeff is shy.

[houseofglass11]

Feminism can suck a dick.

[Bread Regal]

juliana, i'm not calling you dumb, but you post a lot of dumb shit

[Ram27]

When guitars are mixed loud it sounds fucking amazing, especially if they can drive the song but still have melody

[juliana]

Originally Posted by Bread Regal

juliana, i'm not calling you dumb, but you post a lot of dumb shit

Good, then I fit in here.

[Bread Regal]

http://i.imgur.com/uek94eY.gif

[slunken]

Originally Posted by Bread Regal

He said to consider the instrument that the audience want sto hear the most, turn it up as loud as possible, and just make your way down the totem pole.

These were Phil Spector's rules for his "wall of sound" as well, more or less.

[bye june]

I hate it when people mix the vocals louder than the music...they should be on the same level.

[slunken]

in terms of bc, i blame it on trying to do rock songs with headphones on. you need monitors and bleedthrough i don't care what anyone thinks.

[bye june]

Yes I find it easier to sing more extreme when the guitars/drums fill the room.