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mike rutherford

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Topic: mike rutherford
Posted By: greenback
Subject: mike rutherford
Date Posted: March 21 2005 at 13:48

he has one the the most varied bass sounds and patterns: he is VERY underrated!



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Replies:
Posted By: Swinton MCR
Date Posted: March 21 2005 at 14:23

Possibly - but Genesis was always so flowery and feminine - especially on Trespass and Nursery Cryme, Hackett thought it was feminine thus the bass is not as booming and driving as Rush and Yes...Thus he's not regarded as a top Bassist.....

He isn't as good as Squire/Lee - everybody knows that !!!



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Play me my song, here it comes again


Posted By: Jim Garten
Date Posted: March 22 2005 at 03:23


Truly one of the most under-rated musicians in progressive rock - bass guitar, 12 string guitar, moog taurus bass pedals, acoustic 6 & 12 string, backing vocals - not to mention one of the truly great rock noses; but then again, he has to bow down to Geddy Lee on that front too.

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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012


Posted By: Jim Prog Wizard
Date Posted: March 22 2005 at 13:50
Rutherford is IMO criminally underrated as a bassist.  Just listen to the bass on "Get 'em Out By Friday" and "Fountain of Salmacis".  Not to mention live recordings, he went all-out for them eg "Firth of Fifth" on Second's Out.

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"Progressive Rock is the ultimate form of music" (Mikael Akerfeldt, 2003)


Posted By: Zero the hero
Date Posted: March 22 2005 at 13:59
Originally posted by greenback greenback wrote:

he has one the the most varied bass sounds and patterns: he is VERY underrated!

I think Chris Squire to be the most unusual bass player.I note that he seems to play upper bass notes a lot,i think i remember an interview with Bill bruford where as he mentioned that he had quite a hard time keeping up with Squire's playing technique.Maybe i'm wrong...Any Yes fans to confirm this?



Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: March 22 2005 at 14:09
His first solo album is pretty decent, at least with regard to the 'smallcreep's day' suite.

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"Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood)


Posted By: slipperman
Date Posted: March 23 2005 at 08:02

Originally posted by Jim Prog Wizard Jim Prog Wizard wrote:

Rutherford is IMO criminally underrated as a bassist.  Just listen to the bass on "Get 'em Out By Friday" and "Fountain of Salmacis".  Not to mention live recordings, he went all-out for them eg "Firth of Fifth" on Second's Out.

Nice to see Rutherford getting proper respect! He is often not given due credit, but when you're in a band with one of the world's best guitarists (Hackett), drummers (Collins), keyboardists (God...err...Banks) and frontmen (Gabriel), you can see how he'd be left out now and again. Jim Prog Wizard points out some of the man's finest bass moments, but I'd also point to "Can-Utility And The Coastliners", which wins as much for the crushing Squire-like tone as it does for the lines he's playing.



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...it is real...it is Rael...


Posted By: Jim Prog Wizard
Date Posted: March 24 2005 at 00:29

Agreed, I love the super-fast bass doodle he does after the acoustic guitar mid-section in "Can Utility".

Also, "Afterglow" on Seconds Out.  His bass line over the outro is exquisite - not complex, just beautiful. 



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"Progressive Rock is the ultimate form of music" (Mikael Akerfeldt, 2003)


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: March 24 2005 at 00:37
Lets not forget the simplistic lead guitar either as in Abacab. You also have to listen to his solo ' Acting very Strange' to realize how frigging versatile he is. Highlight on bass though would have to be Dance on a Volcanoe and Squonk off TOTT. Very underrated and one of the most stabilising influences in the band, probably the main broker of peace between Collins and Banks too.


Posted By: Cygnus X-2
Date Posted: March 24 2005 at 00:57

Originally posted by Jim Garten Jim Garten wrote:



Truly one of the most under-rated musicians in progressive rock - bass guitar, 12 string guitar, moog taurus bass pedals, acoustic 6 & 12 string, backing vocals - not to mention one of the truly great rock noses; but then again, he has to bow down to Geddy Lee on that front too.

If we're talking noses, then Geddy would have to bow to Pete Townshend! 



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Posted By: Ben2112
Date Posted: March 24 2005 at 02:43

Originally posted by Jim Prog Wizard Jim Prog Wizard wrote:

Rutherford is IMO criminally underrated as a bassist.  Just listen to the bass on "Get 'em Out By Friday" and "Fountain of Salmacis".  Not to mention live recordings, he went all-out for them eg "Firth of Fifth" on Second's Out.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. And don't forget his ultra-groovy bass lines in "The Lamb..." (the song) and "I Know What I Like". Yes, his style is certainly similar to, and probably partially inspired by, Chris Squire, but I like his playing, AND that classic Rickenbacker tone, a whole lot.



Posted By: jazzpiranha
Date Posted: April 16 2005 at 11:19
Much love to Mike Rutherford and his subtle and tasteful musicianship. He was a guitarist turned bassist, so I'm sure his approach to bass playing was more melodic and musical than the conventional groovin'.  Plus he had Phil Collins (most definitely the best musician in the band) driving his talents into uncharted territories.  His tone was the best on "Selling England", one reason that it's my favorite Genesis album, quite possibly my favorite album of all time.  Mike Rutherford was also one of few bassists/guitarists that ALWAYS kept his thumb on the back of the neck, (not that I'm downing Jack Bruce, Geddy Lee, or Chris Squire).  Of course Geddy and Squire are awesome, but being a great musician is about doing what is best for the music (some of Squire's noodling in "Yessongs" can give me a migraine).  Whether it's the fast runs in "Get Em' Out By Friday", the 8th note pulse of "Abacab", or the 13/8 groove of "Robbery, Assault and Battery", Mike Rutherford always kept it together!

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Kiss My Kerosene!


Posted By: greenback
Date Posted: April 16 2005 at 11:27

Originally posted by jazzpiranha jazzpiranha wrote:

Much love to Mike Rutherford and his subtle and tasteful musicianship. He was a guitarist turned bassist, so I'm sure his approach to bass playing was more melodic and musical than the conventional groovin'.  Plus he had Phil Collins (most definitely the best musician in the band) driving his talents into uncharted territories.  His tone was the best on "Selling England", one of a few reasons that it's my favorite Genesis album, quite possibly my favorite album of all time.  Mike Rutherford was also one of few bassists/guitarists that ALWAYS kept his thumb on the back of the neck, (not that I'm downing Jack Bruce, Geddy Lee, or Chris Squire).  Of course Geddy and Squire are awesome, but being a great musician is about doing what is best for the music (some of Squire's noodling in "Yessongs" can give me a migraine).  Whether it's the fast runs in "Get Em' Out By Friday", the 8th note pulse of "Abacab", or the 13/8 groove of "Robbery, Assault and Battery", Mike Rutherford always kept it together!

i always believed that ruth's bass make the solid and complex genesis' foundations.



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[HEADPINS - LINE OF FIRE: THE RECORD HAVING THE MOST POWERFUL GUITAR SOUND IN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF MUSIC!>


Posted By: alchemist
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 14:07
Ruthenford is great... HE WAS IN GENESIS, possibly one of the worlds most gifted rock bands in history!!!! he always did a great job on bass, and on 12 strings as well... listen to fountain od salamancis nad you'll find out how good he is!!



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no great genius has existed without a touch of madness...


Posted By: goose
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 15:11
Top musician - I was watching a live recording of Genesis earlier and it's quite funny how during Steve Hackett's solo the camera is just on Mike playing some chords - I guess Hackett sitting motionless on a chair didn't look so interesting?


Posted By: gleam
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 15:19
Originally posted by Zero the hero Zero the hero wrote:

Originally posted by greenback greenback wrote:

he has one the the most varied bass sounds and patterns: he is VERY underrated!

I think Chris Squire to be the most unusual bass player.I note that he seems to play upper bass notes a lot,i think i remember an interview with Bill bruford where as he mentioned that he had quite a hard time keeping up with Squire's playing technique.Maybe i'm wrong...Any Yes fans to confirm this?

Bill Bruford said he created his famous trademark "rimshot" off of the snare drum just in order to stand out from Squire.



Posted By: gleam
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 15:33

 

PS. Has anyone noticed that their is a Mike Rutherford listed in the membership area with the genesis website as a reference?



Posted By: OldFatherThames
Date Posted: April 23 2005 at 16:53
Mike Rutherford is like everybody say VERY underrated. Not only like a bass player, but like a guitarist two. His work for Genesis with bass and 12 string guitar is absolutely essential for the band. Not only Rutherford, but also Phil Collins, who I think is also very underrated just because people don't like him to sing some poppy stuff. I'm not a very hard fan of the Collins era, but I'm a HUGE fan of the Gabriel era, and really, Phil Collins is an excellent drummer ! He sure is on my top three favorite drummer. Just listen at cinema show......I love the drum part in the piano solo !!!


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April 25 2005 at 02:14
i cant imagin genesis with anyone else but rutherford on bass.he is
simply amazing. do you think genesis would settle for anything less than
an amazing player?


Posted By: Guillermo
Date Posted: April 25 2005 at 15:24

Yes. He is very underrated both as bassist and as guitarist. But he is a very good musician. Maybe he was "forced" a bit to be the bassist in Genesis. But he always combined very good the use of the bass, the 12 string guitar and the bass pedals. I think that it is not easy to play guitar while you play bass pedals. He also was a very good composer in Genesis.



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Avatar: Photo of Solar Eclipse, Mexico City, July 1991. A great experience to see. Maybe once in a lifetime.


Posted By: sigod
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 11:49
Yup a man of rare quality that doesn't like to blow his own trumpet.




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I must remind the right honourable gentleman that a monologue is not a decision.
- Clement Atlee, on Winston Churchill


Posted By: Progger
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 12:01
'Small Creeps Day' & some of the stuff he did with 'Mike & The Mechanics' just proves how important he was to the Genesis songwriting. You might also be surprised at just how much of the guitar playing on the early Genesis stuff is in actual fact Rutherford & not Hackett!


Posted By: Moribund
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 13:27
First time I heard of Mike Rutherford was a little photo in Jackie (UK teen girls' magazine) explaining that he had broken his thumb and couldnt tour! This was in the day when the magazine could feature whole page photos of Argent or Deep Purple for said female adolescents to pin on their walls (c. 1972 I think). God, how times have changed...

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www.masterpiecestheconcert.co.uk


Posted By: Prog_Bassist
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 15:02
I think he is criminally underrated as well.

I don't really like the pick style of playing, but I gotta tell ya, he's still a damn good bassist, and shows it.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhuxaD8NzaY" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhuxaD8NzaY


Posted By: silvertree
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 15:02

I also think Rutherford is underrated as a bassist.

But can anyone explain what happened to the brilliant bassist in Mike & The Mechanics ?



Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 15:21

Okay, it's good that somebody gave Mike Rutherford some attention. I like him very much as a bassist on the early records, and as a 12-string player, as many of us do, luckily. Two months ago I was at the Musical Box-concert (they did The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway-show) and I was quite surprised that the guitar-intro of The Supernatural Anaesthesist was actually done by " the Rutherford" instead of " the Hackett" of the band. So yes, I guess that Rutherford was doing more things in Genesis than you think.

What I don't like is some of the grungy guitar sounds he makes on some of the later Genesis-albums. And the question is still: why oh why did they become so mediocre, Rutherford also. Lately I bought the 1st Mike and The Mechanics for just 1 euro, and I was shocked because it sounded so horribly commercial. Yak!

But Rutherford deserves a lot of credit for his work with Genesis in the 70's , and for his magnificent 1st solo album! No doubt about that!



Posted By: Rick4001
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 16:00

It seems we all agree that Mike is underrated, a great musician and composer. I feel it's unfair to compare to compare him to Squire (both are my bass  heroes). As Swinton MCR
says the Genesis approach is more delicate and requires a more sensitive style. This is not to say that Yes are inferior (Yes and Genesis are definitely my fav prog bands) but they are more vibrant. Furthemore Squire's leading piano tone bass is the single factor which defines Yes's sound. Mike had a harder job having to 'comp' and complement Banks, Hackett and Collins. Yet in the tracks where the bass could come to the forefront - and here I disagree with Swinton - his pieces are on the par with Squire and Lee.  Another problem is that unlike Messrs Squire and Lee, Rutherford is usually lower down in the mix, and one does sometimes have to strain to hear him properly. Undoubtedly this man made important contributions to IMO some of the most beautiful music in history.



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"...seems Helen of Troy has found a new face, again ..."


Posted By: venemarg
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 16:33

You are all right to said he was underrated. his work as a solo artist plus his collaboration with Anthony Phillips are to be remembered also. One of my favorite Bass parts is included in Spot the Pigeon's "Inside and Out", great palying!!!



Posted By: Yanns
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 18:31

Originally posted by Jim Prog Wizard Jim Prog Wizard wrote:

Just listen to the bass on "Get 'em Out By Friday" and "Fountain of Salmacis".  Not to mention live recordings, he went all-out for them eg "Firth of Fifth" on Second's Out.

 

Exactly what I was going to say. Get 'Em Out By Friday has one of my favorite basslines in any song ever.



Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April 27 2005 at 18:48
I didn't knew that anyone DIDN'T think that Mr. Rutherford is an excelent bass and guitar-player.


Posted By: Progger
Date Posted: April 28 2005 at 05:35
Let's not forget that Mike Rutherford became the groups 'lead' guitarist. To my knowledge he is the only bass player who moved to lead guitar, quite an achiement if you ask me! We always see lots of debates about  Gabriel or Collins, maybe we should start a thread called Hackett or Rutherford?


Posted By: Trotsky
Date Posted: September 01 2005 at 03:29

Originally posted by Progger Progger wrote:

'Small Creeps Day' & some of the stuff he did with 'Mike & The Mechanics' just proves how important he was to the Genesis songwriting. You might also be surprised at just how much of the guitar playing on the early Genesis stuff is in actual fact Rutherford & not Hackett!

I'm curious about this one ... and Michael Rutherford's guitar playing in general ... just how much did he play? Just how does Rutherford the guitarist compare to Ant Phillips and Steve Hackett?

Blacksword commented on another thread that Rutherford seems to be trying to imitate Steve Hackett on the And Then There Were Three album (I certainly felt that on the Burning Rope guitar solo) ... (it's all a bit strange when you consider the "Hackett trying to imitate Phillips" and "Collins trying to imitate Gabriel" vibes that one gets at various times)

Personally I love MR's bass playing, but am generally disappointed with his work as a lead guitarist ... is it because of the compositions (most of it was with pop Genesis and Mike And The Mechanics) ... or is it because of his technical limitations? Answers on a postcard please ...



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"Death to Utopia! Death to faith! Death to love! Death to hope?" thunders the 20th century. "Surrender, you pathetic dreamer.”



"No" replies the unhumbled optimist "You are only the present."



Posted By: BiGi
Date Posted: September 01 2005 at 03:50
Originally posted by lucas lucas wrote:

His first solo album is pretty decent, at least with regard to the 'smallcreep's day' suite.

The suite is really outstanding!
I love each and every part of it! Especially Out into the daylight...just imagine what a monster would have been were it played by Genesis!!!

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A flower?



Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: September 01 2005 at 04:38
Originally posted by Cygnus X-2 Cygnus X-2 wrote:

Originally posted by Jim Garten Jim Garten wrote:



Truly one of the most under-rated musicians in progressive rock - bass guitar, 12 string guitar, moog taurus bass pedals, acoustic 6 & 12 string, backing vocals - not to mention one of the truly great rock noses; but then again, he has to bow down to Geddy Lee on that front too.

If we're talking noses, then Geddy would have to bow to Pete Townshend! 

Do you mean John Entwhistle?? He played bass for The Who, not Townsend. Entwhistle WAS a superb bass player. I love the fluidity of his playing, especially throughout Quadrophenia.

Rutherford too deserves recognition for his bass playing. His style was very important to the Genesis sound, especially throughout the mid to late seventies where he really matured as a musician IMO..



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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!


Posted By: M. B. Zapelini
Date Posted: September 01 2005 at 07:40

IMHO Mike Rotherford is a great and underrated bassist, but I don't like his guitar playing. He is a solid rhythm player and fits well to 3-piece Genesis, but the band would be less interesting if he was the guitar player at their 5-piece days. Steve Hackett rules...

Talking about Steve Hackett - if GTR were Steva Hackett, Steve Howe and Steve Hillage, how it would have sounded?



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"He's a man of the past and one of the present"
PETER HAMMILL


Posted By: NetsNJFan
Date Posted: September 01 2005 at 11:53
Originally posted by M. B. Zapelini M. B. Zapelini wrote:

IMHO Mike Rotherford is a great and underrated bassist, but I don't like his guitar playing. He is a solid rhythm player and fits well to 3-piece Genesis, but the band would be less interesting if he was the guitar player at their 5-piece days. Steve Hackett rules...

Talking about Steve Hackett - if GTR were Steva Hackett, Steve Howe and Steve Hillage, how it would have sounded?

Steve Hogarth could sing to keep the SH going



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Posted By: Heptade
Date Posted: September 01 2005 at 12:11
Mike Rutherford is a very handsome man who looks good with two necks.


Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: September 01 2005 at 13:24

Originally posted by Jim Prog Wizard Jim Prog Wizard wrote:

Rutherford is IMO criminally underrated as a bassist.  Just listen to the bass on "Get 'em Out By Friday" and "Fountain of Salmacis".  Not to mention live recordings, he went all-out for them eg "Firth of Fifth" on Second's Out.

I BELIVE THAT HE DESERVED TO PRAISE MORE OFTEN  ON THE PROG WORLD WHEN I GOT INTO GENESIS YEARS AGO ONE OF THE THINK THAT I LOVED AND STILL LOVE ABOUT EARLY GENESIS IS THE BASS SOUND THAT CAME OUT MY SPEAKERS. HE IS AN EXTRAORDINARY BASS PLAYER THAT IS VERY UNDERRATED HE IS RESPOMSABLE FOR MOST GENESIS LYRICS AND ARAIGMENTS!!!!



Posted By: jojim
Date Posted: September 01 2005 at 18:58
On the DVD "Genesis Song book" he is giving a lot of interviews. There you can see and feel, that he was a bit like the soul of GENESIS, the human being behind that monster-band. When he is talking about  the wonderful old times you can feel his sadness that the exciting times of the (especially early) GENESIS is over. This man has a soul. And he added much value to the music of this outstanding band.

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YES - Close to the edge / UK - UK / GENESIS - The lamb lies down / KING CRIMSON - Discipline / MIKE OLDFIELD - Tubular bells / JETHRO TULL - Aqualung / GENTLE GIANT - Three friends / TMO - IMF


Posted By: Syntharachnid
Date Posted: September 01 2005 at 23:28
Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

Originally posted by Cygnus X-2 Cygnus X-2 wrote:

Originally posted by Jim Garten Jim Garten wrote:



Truly one of the most under-rated musicians in progressive rock - bass guitar, 12 string guitar, moog taurus bass pedals, acoustic 6 & 12 string, backing vocals - not to mention one of the truly great rock noses; but then again, he has to bow down to Geddy Lee on that front too.

If we're talking noses, then Geddy would have to bow to Pete Townshend! 

Do you mean John Entwhistle?? He played bass for The Who, not Townsend. Entwhistle WAS a superb bass player. I love the fluidity of his playing, especially throughout Quadrophenia.

Rutherford too deserves recognition for his bass playing. His style was very important to the Genesis sound, especially throughout the mid to late seventies where he really matured as a musician IMO..

Yes, but we're talking about noses, not instruments.  Therefore, he most assuredly meant Pete.



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Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: September 02 2005 at 04:26
Originally posted by Syntharachnid Syntharachnid wrote:

Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

Originally posted by Cygnus X-2 Cygnus X-2 wrote:

Originally posted by Jim Garten Jim Garten wrote:



Truly one of the most under-rated musicians in progressive rock - bass guitar, 12 string guitar, moog taurus bass pedals, acoustic 6 & 12 string, backing vocals - not to mention one of the truly great rock noses; but then again, he has to bow down to Geddy Lee on that front too.

If we're talking noses, then Geddy would have to bow to Pete Townshend! 

Do you mean John Entwhistle?? He played bass for The Who, not Townsend. Entwhistle WAS a superb bass player. I love the fluidity of his playing, especially throughout Quadrophenia.

Rutherford too deserves recognition for his bass playing. His style was very important to the Genesis sound, especially throughout the mid to late seventies where he really matured as a musician IMO..

Yes, but we're talking about noses, not instruments.  Therefore, he most assuredly meant Pete.

I should pay more attention. For some reason, I read 'noses' as NOISES.  Still dont make sense, I guess...

But ask yourself this, how 'progressive' is Pete Townsends nose? Geddy Lee still wins. Townsend's may be big, but for many years Lee's was backed up by a fine prog mullet haircut..



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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!


Posted By: Evan1211
Date Posted: September 03 2005 at 14:44
YEAH!! Finally people are realizing the truth- he is one of the best freaking bassists ever. His lines are extremely complicated to play- in my opinion, way more than Lee and as hard as Squire (Yes I play bass so Im not making that up.) "Visions of Angels" is one of the MOST complex basslines I have ever heard- comparable to Jaco's "Havona" w/ Weather Report in complexity. I never understood why he was bashed so badly, but he IS great. I would rank him in the top 5 bassists ever.

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Posted By: transend
Date Posted: September 03 2005 at 23:52

Love mike, great musician..

by the way, he NEVER touches a bass guitar in 'Dance on a volcano', the live version..he plays guitar and taurus pedals..



Posted By: Sir Hogweed
Date Posted: September 04 2005 at 03:56

I love his bassmaterial on the early stuff and the stuff he did on guitar and basspedals besides Hackett. But when Steve left they should have been looking for a proper replacement on lead guitar (not just for live gigs). The studio albums afterwards sound to me like Mike pays 50% attention to his bass-parts and 50% to his guitar parts. A bit like what Collins's singing has been doing for his drumming. And why is the bass hardly audible from Duke on?

But I still agree. He IS underrated as a former bassist (although Squire and Lee still know how to play the instrument).




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