bass playing on VHIII

**PAF** · 03.12.02, 01:37 PM

o.k. from the first day i heard VH III, i have alleged on this and other boards that there is no way that michael anthony is playing bass on the album. but in fact, it sounds like EVH to me. since then i have heard others say the same. what is your opinion and give examples to back it up.

**Brett** · 03.12.02, 01:38 PM

I'm not sure, but I don't believe there is any bass on the album at all.

**PAF** · 03.12.02, 01:40 PM

brett, what do you mean? that the bass is buried in the mix?

**Brett** · 03.12.02, 02:06 PM

At least to me it is.

**lovemachine97** · 03.12.02, 02:24 PM

But isn't it possible that Mike has gotten way better as a bassist? I mean, maybe they took Gary being in the band as an opportunity for Mike to stop laying down quarter note pedal tones. He played the bass lines live didn't he?

**joe318** · 03.12.02, 02:28 PM

Originally posted by lovemachine97:
But isn't it possible that Mike has gotten way better as a bassist? I mean, maybe they took Gary being in the band as an opportunity for Mike to stop laying down quarter note pedal tones. He played the bass lines live didn't he?

there is bass on the album, the album was real different for a vh album, so that is why mikes playing is different from the way we know his playing.

**willy4pres** · 03.12.02, 03:56 PM

I really don't think that's Mike playing the Bass on that album. Listen to Sammy's last solo album before he joined Van Halen. There's allot of similarities in Bass playing when compared to VHIII, and that's Eddie playing on Sammy's album, so you figure it out.

**Dan Halen** · 03.12.02, 04:10 PM

Originally posted by willy4pres:
I really don't think that's Mike playing the Bass on that album. Listen to Sammy's last solo album before he joined Van Halen. There's allot of similarities in Bass playing when compared to VHIII, and that's Eddie playing on Sammy's album, so you figure it out.

Are you referring to 1987's "I Never Said Goodbye," which Ed played bass on? Sammy's last solo album before joining VH was VOA.

**Lou** · 03.12.02, 06:04 PM

I thought I heard somewhere that Ed played bass for at least half the tracks.

**JMJ** · 03.12.02, 09:30 PM

mikey smokes live so i dunno what the big deal is...

even if ed played most of it, we'll never know, so unfortunately it really doesn't matter

JMJ

**ShawnMichaels** · 03.13.02, 06:52 AM

This kind of goes with what I posted in the Ray Luzier thread here.

I posed the question that could Eddie/Alex/& hopefully Dave be doing the recording and after Mike is done with the Sammy project, come in and just add the harmonies?

I really wonder just how much playing Mike actually does on the albums.
He kicks ass live, but maybe that is his place in the band. He is a background singer that plays bass live.

**Raldo** · 03.13.02, 06:55 AM

It could have been Eddie's influence and suggestions to Mike that made him play the way he did. Eddie did have a LOT of say on this album.

**PAF** · 03.13.02, 09:20 AM

all good points and well taken. however, i am a bass player and have learned how to play countless VH songs and complete albums throughout the years and in my opinion the person who played bass on VH III is not the same person who played bass on every other VH recording in the past. while mike's playing style is not as groundbreaking or easily recognizable as his six string counterpart, it is distinctive to the trained ear. the reason i question the phantom bass player on VH III is:

a. if EVH did indeed play bass on VH III, then why not say so. why list michael in the credits.

b. to raise the issue of no matter how overlooked or under-appreciated even the smallest element is to a formula, sometimes changing that dynamic has disasterous results. although it may have seemed over the years that mike was doing nothing more than peddling 8th notes on the root or whatever you want to call it, his style effected
the overall sound of the music profoundly.

whether or not mike learned or was able to play the bass lines live or simplified/reworked them to be more fitting to his style is really not important. 90% of the audience would not notice the difference.

in response to michael being inspired by the new situation and getting better, i say the bass playing on VH III was over the top and overplayed. it was not an improvement in my opinion. i remember years ago at the height of the "billy sheehan era" of bass playing, (mid to late 80's) some rumors surfaced compliments of DLR stating that mike was almost replaced in VH by billy but things never worked out for whatever reason. EVH commented that he liked mike's playing because mike played bass on the bass as opposed to guitar on the bass and mike gave him the freedom to move around musically. now as much as i love billy sheehan's playing and consider him a huge influence, i think that a billy sheehan/EVH combination would have been disasterous and VH would not have had the longevity they enjoyed with the original line-up.

in addition, i agree completely that the bass playing on sammy's solo album (played by EVH) is remarkably similar in style to the bass playing on VH III.

**PAF** · 03.13.02, 09:22 AM

all good points and well taken. however, i am a bass player and have learned how to play countless VH songs and complete albums throughout the years and in my opinion the person who played bass on VH III is not the same person who played bass on every other VH recording in the past. while mike's playing style is not as groundbreaking or easily recognizable as his six string counterpart, it is distinctive to the trained ear. the reason i question the phantom bass player on VH III is:

a. if EVH did indeed play bass on VH III, then why not say so. why list michael in the credits.

b. to raise the issue of no matter how overlooked or under-appreciated even the smallest element is to a formula, sometimes changing that dynamic has disasterous results. although it may have seemed over the years that mike was doing nothing more than peddling 8th notes on the root or whatever you want to call it, his style effected
the overall sound of the music profoundly.

whether or not mike learned or was able to play the bass lines live or simplified/reworked them to be more fitting to his style is really not important. 90% of the audience would not notice the difference.

in response to michael being inspired by the new situation and getting better, i say the bass playing on VH III was over the top and overplayed. it was not an improvement in my opinion. i remember years ago at the height of the "billy sheehan era" of bass playing, (mid to late 80's) some rumors surfaced compliments of DLR stating that mike was almost replaced in VH by billy but things never worked out for whatever reason. EVH commented that he liked mike's playing because mike played bass on the bass as opposed to guitar on the bass and mike gave him the freedom to move around musically. now as much as i love billy sheehan's playing and consider him a huge influence, i think that a billy sheehan/EVH combination would have been disasterous and VH would not have had the longevity they enjoyed with the original line-up.

in addition, i agree completely that the bass playing on sammy's solo album (played by EVH) is remarkably similar in style to the bass playing on VH III.

**Glenn** · 03.13.02, 10:44 AM

Originally posted by PAF:
o.k. from the first day i heard VH III, i have alleged on this and other boards that there is no way that michael anthony is playing bass on the album. but in fact, it sounds like EVH to me. what is your opinion and give examples to back it up.

Given this next quote...

i am a bass player and have learned how to play countless VH songs and complete albums throughout the years and in my opinion the person who played bass on VH III is not the same person who played bass on every other VH recording in the past. while mike's playing style is not as groundbreaking or easily recognizable as his six string counterpart, it is distinctive to the trained ear.

...it sounds like you're as qualified as anyone here to give a bunch of specific examples based on comparison. I'd love to read it, as I've always wondered why someone hasn't taken Eddie's bass playing on I Never Said Goodbye and compared it to some VH bass lines.

Also, it would be interesting to have someone compare the bass lines from VH studio songs to how Mikey played them live. Did Mikey play them differently live? Could that suggest he wasn't the bass player on the studio version of a given song?

There's so many people out there who can analyze EVH's guitar playing down to a science, I'd like to see someone fiddle with this bass question.

And in regards to...

if EVH did indeed play bass on VH III, then why not say so. why list michael in the credits

It would not have been in VH's best interest to advertise this, because the band was already fractured enough. There were so many changes already with this album; they were asking the fans to walk up a hill, saying that a ANOTHER longtime element of the band was not there would only make that hill steeper. As it was, a lot of fans chose not to climb, no point adding to the damage any more than need be.