I've noticed from Benicassim and now St. Malo that Simon's playing has definitely gotten fancier for these summer festivals. He's adding cool little fills and variations on songs like Push, The Blood, A Night Like This, and many others. Nothing too over the top, but I just thing it's very, very cool! :P
I've heard him get criticized for playing too simple of stuff and the same basslines over and over, but that's how The Cure's music is meant to be. That's one reason Michael Dempsey didn't stay in the band long. He had a more complex style. I don't think that would have worked too well on Seventeen Seconds, Faith, etc.
Anyway, I don't think Simon's new additions are too much... I just think it's another great breath of fresh air from this exciting new lineup. 8)
Hey, cool that you have recognized that. As a bassplayer too I heard some differences and now I'm happy that I'm not the only one. (Maybe it was only an imagination or i'm getting grazy :roll: )
But I like the way he plays...he was never a guy like Billy Sheehan or Stu Hamm but the right guy for the Cure. He is a very important Cure member and a good bassplayer for cures music.
HUm i dont know if these are additions to the bass melody are new, but he is adding different lines since the trilogy shows, which as a musiciand i think doesnt fit the chords progression. You can notice it in songs like a strange day and a short term effect, he played these songs like back in 1982 when he use to compete with robert to catch the audience!
simon rules forever and ever!
ariel
Wow the Bloodis funkier than ever!
I love the way simon plays to the vocal mlody aswell as the guitars.
As a bassist he has always been my Idol, I worship him even more than Bob!
When im playing i notice myself doing his semi-crouch moves but obciously im not as good looking as him.......then i stoop too low and miss the Mic!
Luke x :P
Perhaps these little variations are here because there's no keyboard ? So the bass can be more "present" ?
But really... playing the Strange day's bass line during so much time... I'm ok it can be a little bit boring !!!
B.
I had never really like the way the bass goes on the Trilogy DVD on A strange day, but the variations on the 2005 shows are really good especially on A night like this :shock:
Simon is my favorite bass player for years 8) and a model on my way to play bass :wink:
ahhh, Simon is great !!! I've learn to play bass with Cure... about a hundred songs !!!
And I'm thinking that A strange Day is better with the bass line of Pornography too...
B.
You're right BouCH ; I think exactly as you ... As there are no keyboards it's important that Simon should have a major part (powerfull play or more complex lines). Hopefully he is Simon, the best bass guitar player!
The one addition that he has added a bassline that I liked the most is right when all the insturments come in on "A Forest". I think he started it in 96 or 2000, can't remember off the top of my head. I do agree with all the above that I do not like the variation on "A Strange Day" during the Trilogy shows. But, I haven't played the song hundreds of times over 20+ years.
-Ian
Quote from: bananafish17The one addition that he has added a bassline that I liked the most is right when all the insturments come in on "A Forest".
The first time he ever did that was during the London '93 Finsbury Park concert. Very cool. :P
For those who haven't seen it, I have the video on my site:
http://www.imaginary-lemurs.com/London%201993.06.13%20(Great%20Xpectations%20Festival).htm
I also really like the intro of A Forest. Sounds really cool.
The strange noises he made in 96 before Lullaby to simulate a spider were great too.
im also a bassist and noticed stuff like this too, i think the bass sounded really good in 2005, simons sound seems to have more distortion than it used to which is really good coz it works really well on songs like 'disintergration' and 'fascination street', and that bit at the beginning of 'a forest' is great and 'play for today' has lots of fancy fills in it too, i actually prefer the extra bits in 'a strange day' coz it makes it more fun to play, the original is great to listen to but a bit repetitive, dunno, its all good, thats what makes them really good live,.......they dont try too hard to get an exact copy of the record. :D
i prefer simon's bass sounds from 85 to 87
cure in orange and all that
loved the sound back then
I heard that Simon's Bass Playing influenced is Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order