# Iron Maiden's Steve Harris Voted Greatest Metal Bassist



## Daf57 (Oct 24, 2013)

Great bassist ... but the best?  Another UG poll. 

Iron Maiden's Steve Harris Voted Greatest Metal Bassist | Music News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com


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## asfeir (Oct 24, 2013)

Well yes, greatest metal bassist doesn't mean the best technically, there is more to it. If you consider a lot of stuff like the fact he is a precursor, the longevity, the song-writing skills... More importantly his influence on the guys that followed, and on metal music in general.


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## Eladamri (Oct 24, 2013)

asfeir said:


> Well yes, greatest metal bassist doesn't mean the best technically, there is more to it. If you consider a lot of stuff like the fact he is a precursor, the longevity, the song-writing skills... More importantly his influence on the guys that followed, and on metal music in general.



While I agree with this completely it's also fair to assume that anything voted on by the denizens of Ultimate Guitar is going to be misguided at best....


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## Sithman55 (Oct 24, 2013)

saw them live with coheed and cambria. they were pretty freaking awesome.


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## 77zark77 (Oct 24, 2013)

I'm an Iron Maiden fan (early days) and the most I can play
are Iron Maiden riffs
That particular "tacatatacatatacatata" allways sounds in my ears
like a frame on which you can play


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## JohnIce (Oct 24, 2013)

a) Unique style.
b) Revolutionary band (founding member and main songwriter)
c) Played _exceptionally_ well on the first two records (often overlooked as Bruce wasn't in the band yet).
d) Plays bass without pretending he's not 

The title says "_Metal_ Bassist" not "Bass Virtuoso". There's a huge damn difference there in my book  I think Steve's a fantastic role-model and an icon. All the Maiden guys are. The only thing I'll say against his case though is that he and the rest of the band are a lot less tight now than they used to be. Final Frontier is their sloppiest playing yet, sadly.


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## RV350ALSCYTHE (Oct 24, 2013)

Eladamri said:


> While I agree with this completely it's also fair to assume that anything voted on by the denizens of Ultimate Guitar is going to be misguided at best....



Normally I would agree about the UG community being misguided, but not in this case. If not Harris then who?
I'll reply to your answer with "who?" 

No one comes near to what he has accomplished within the metal genre as a whole and for the bass guitar. I can't even think of anyone else who would compare.

He's inspired more players worldwide than anyone else to choose bass over guitar in a guitar driven genre.


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 24, 2013)

I'm going to echo what most have said above, when it comes to flat out being an awesome bassist in the mainstream metal world it's hard to not pick Steve Harris. 

He has it all:
-Solid chops
-Great tone
-Fantastic songwriting skills
-A legendary band

So he doesn't have Billy Sheehan's speed, Steve DiGorgio's fretless chops, or Evan Brewer's right hand, but he actually has _more_ than that when you take in everything that he's accomplished and all that he still does. Name one metal band from the mid 70's that's still making great music with great basslines today that's _not_ Iron Maiden. 

Now, I might just be biased as I have two Iron Maiden tattoos.


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## SoItGoesRVA (Oct 24, 2013)

If we aren't talking in terms of technical ability, it's either Steve Harris, Geezer Butler, or Lemmy. No others need apply.


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 24, 2013)

SoItGoesRVA said:


> If we aren't talking in terms of technical ability, it's either Steve Harris, Geezer Butler, or Lemmy. No others need apply.



You can't have technical ability with an absence of song writing, it goes hand in hand. That's why not every uber-shredder on YouTube isn't Yngwie, Satch, Vai, or Petrucci. They might be able to play fast, clean, and within theory, but they're missing that "thing" the others have. 

As for Geezer, great player, but his songwriting and longevity aren't even close to Harris, and Lemmy has been "playing bass like it's a guitar" the entire time. Plus, Motorhead doesn't exactly have great songwriting. There, I said it!


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## 77zark77 (Oct 24, 2013)

@Max

Steve Harris and Motörhead have that in common :

They are the best in their own style which is only theirs
(hope that means what I'm thinking  )


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 24, 2013)

77zark77 said:


> @Max
> 
> Steve Harris and Motörhead have that in common :
> 
> ...



You're probably right. 

I know this is a metal faux pas, but I'm just not a big Lemmy/Motorhead fan, in a musical sense at least. I love the human caricature that is Lemmy, but the 85%+ of the music does nothing for me in any meaningful way.


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## JohnIce (Oct 24, 2013)

Another cool thing about Steve/Maiden is that their fans still buy their albums and like them. I'm almost ashamed that I don't own Final Frontier when I talk to other Maiden fans  Personally I think Brave New World and Dance of Death have some of the best material they've done, and I know many fans who agree.

I also love that their policy still is to play at least 6 songs from the latest album every show. Hell, on AMOLAD they played the entire album every night  As Steve said: "How else are we gonna know if they're good live songs or not?". Can't think of any high-profile band that's that old and still thinks like that, it's just awesome!


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## 77zark77 (Oct 24, 2013)

JohnIce said:


> Another cool thing about Steve/Maiden is that their fans still buy their albums and like them. I'm almost ashamed that I don't own Final Frontier when I talk to other Maiden fans  Personally I think Brave New World and Dance of Death have some of the best material they've done, and I know many fans who agree.
> 
> I also love that their policy still is to play at least 6 songs from the latest album every show. Hell, on AMOLAD they played the entire album every night  As Steve said: "How else are we gonna know if they're good live songs or not?". Can't think of any high-profile band that's that old and still thinks like that, it's just awesome!


 
The tradition with Maiden is : they begin the show with the first song of the last album, and "Iron Maiden" just before the break.

I' ve first heard about them with the "Live after Death" Album and my favourite is "Somewhere In Time"

They made the "Somewhere Back In Time" tour because of some thousand (millions?) fans like me who prefer the "Iron Maiden" to "Seventh Son of a Seventh (string ) Son" era.


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## Eladamri (Oct 24, 2013)

RV350ALSCYTHE said:


> Normally I would agree about the UG community being misguided, but not in this case. If not Harris then who?
> I'll reply to your answer with "who?"
> 
> No one comes near to what he has accomplished within the metal genre as a whole and for the bass guitar. I can't even think of anyone else who would compare.
> ...



Overall I'd go for Geezer. I MUCH prefer Sabbath to Maiden though and that's where it starts to become subjective. For pure chops, I've never been more impressed than when watching Alex from Cannibal Corpse live.

But it's all totally subjective, that's the problem with these things.


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## The Spanish Inquisition (Oct 24, 2013)

He definitely deserves it, especially because he is such a huge influence for a lot of bassguitar players. And when people think about metal bass, they think of Iron Maiden, since the bassguitar is so present there.


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## Adam Of Angels (Oct 24, 2013)

I've always liked Martin Mendez


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## Static (Oct 24, 2013)

Love Steve, but I'd probably vote for him under "most influential metal bassist" rather than the "Greatest" or "Best".


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## The Spanish Inquisition (Oct 24, 2013)

Static said:


> Love Steve, but I'd probably vote for him under "most influential metal bassist" rather than the "Greatest" or "Best".



Greatest has a different meaning than best though. I think when you add up everything, he is one of the greatest at least!


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## cGoEcYk (Oct 24, 2013)

I like Steve Harris and all.

Let's see... 4-string in E-tuning, one style (two-fingerstyle), the same rhythm used in just about every riff in every song.

I like Ryan Martini and that guy from Tool as more modern players. "Greatest ever"? Nah, but there is more cool stuff for me to learn from in their playing.


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## RV350ALSCYTHE (Oct 24, 2013)

cGoEcYk said:


> I like Steve Harris and all.
> 
> Let's see... 4-string in E-tuning, one style (two-fingerstyle), the same rhythm used in just about every riff in every song.



While you're down-playing Steve Harris' style and ability could you also please suggest another more deserving person who has progressed metal and bass more than this man?

Great people inspire and uplift those around them. Can't disagree Harris doesn't fit this perfectly.

Reading lots of "meh" themed comments about the guy but no "better" suggestions.


Edit: caught Geezer being mentioned and he's definitely up there with Steve.
This IS a subjective topic when personal bias for/against comes into play, but I think you can rule out the general UG fanboy BS as they are both equally well known and enjoyed. That said I still agree Harris has been a bigger contributor for Metal Bass and metal music.

I've seen plenty of terrible ass-backwards Polls and Articles on UG (probably 99.99% of them)...just be thankful they didn't vote nikki sixx


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 24, 2013)

cGoEcYk said:


> I like Steve Harris and all.
> 
> Let's see... 4-string in E-tuning, one style (two-fingerstyle), the same rhythm used in just about every riff in every song.



Because how many strings and in what timing are the true determinants of quality.


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## cGoEcYk (Oct 24, 2013)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Because how many strings and in what timing are the true determinants of quality.


Not quality, time stamp.

Can we just give him the title "Greatest 80-era Metal Bassist" ?


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 24, 2013)

cGoEcYk said:


> Not quality, time stamp.
> 
> Can we just give him the title "Greatest 80-era Metal Bassist" ?



So four strings are obsolete? Is 4/4 out the window too? 

There are dozens of great bassists that still use both, even in the context of more modern "br00tlz" music. 

What's so "80's-era" about his playing other than gear and when his band got big? 

If you strip the bass tracks and just listen to them, they're not that telling as to what year and genera they are from, which is why they're so good. 

I feel Harris and Tommy Shannon have some of the most similar styles and they play music world's apart.


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## cGoEcYk (Oct 24, 2013)

He's a solid, true "rock star" bassist - obviously famous, world tours, millions of albums, writer in his band (respect), etc. He's just from the time period before double bass.


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 24, 2013)

cGoEcYk said:


> He's a solid, true "rock star" bassist - obviously famous, world tours, millions of albums, writer in his band (respect), etc. He's just from the time period before double bass.



I guess I don't see why that's a bad thing. I mean, I can only think of three or four extreme metal bassists than can even touch Steve Harris as an all around musician/bassist. They're all faster, but by that logic those guys you see playing Flight of the Bumblebee at 666bpm are better than Steve Vai or John Petrucci because those guys are from the days of drummers not racing to see who can sound like a broken metronome faster.


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## shawnperolis (Oct 24, 2013)

I can dig this choice, Iron Maiden rocks. Maybe a close runner up would be Cliff Burton from early Metallica? He was pretty iconic and unique in the speed-metal scene, most of those bands played bass like a guitar to keep up - but not Cliff.


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## guitareben (Oct 24, 2013)

Eladamri said:


> While I agree with this completely it's also fair to assume that anything voted on by the denizens of Ultimate Guitar is going to be misguided at best....



But of course, any list where 'person' is voted the best is bound to annoy people who's favourite musicians aren't at the top. Which is to say, most people who see the list


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 24, 2013)

shawnperolis said:


> I can dig this choice, Iron Maiden rocks. Maybe a close runner up would be Cliff Burton from early Metallica? He was pretty iconic and unique in the speed-metal scene, most of those bands played bass like a guitar to keep up - but not Cliff.



It would be interesting to see the metal landscape if Cliff's influence wasn't so tragically brief (3 years, 3 albums).


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## shawnperolis (Oct 24, 2013)

MaxOfMetal said:


> It would be interesting to see the metal landscape if Cliff's influence wasn't so tragically brief (3 years, 3 albums).



Maybe Metallica wouldn't suck hard dicks right now if they still had Cliff. Tragic loss for the world of metal.


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 24, 2013)

shawnperolis said:


> Maybe Metallica wouldn't suck hard dicks right now if they still had Cliff. Tragic loss for the world of metal.


 
[OFFTOPIC]

I see that a lot, but who knows. All the guys were very different people way back when, and if the terrible documentaries they've done is any indication a lot of what turned them into the people they are today was the accident and its results. 

[/OFFTOPIC]


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## abandonist (Oct 24, 2013)

I'm not a big Maiden fan, but let's put it like this: Dude is a solid Heavy Metal bassist, and he's not afraid to use a major key. He's world renown and doesn't have to mean mug all the time to get a point across.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Oct 24, 2013)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Name one metal band from the mid 70's that's still making great music with great basslines today that's _not_ Iron Maiden.


 
I was gonna say Rush, but they're not metal in the strictest sense of the word. They do have their heavy bits and Steve Harris had no doubt been influenced by Geddy Lee. /rushfanboysim

Still, agreed with everything, especially the fantastic songwriting, even lyrics too. And also considering their age, they still give 100% live and they can still crush a lesser band without effort.


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## TemjinStrife (Oct 24, 2013)

^ "Age" doesn't even enter into it. Watching Bruce Dickinson running around at full speed, waving a flag, wearing a huge felt jacket, and leaping from speaker to speaker in 102-degree, 80% humidity weather while singing his balls off was ridiculous. Especially since he couldn't have been more than 20' from constant pyro flares.

I can't think of many artists one third his age who could do that for two hours straight.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Oct 24, 2013)

TemjinStrife said:


> ^ "Age" doesn't even enter into it. Watching Bruce Dickinson running around at full speed, waving a flag, wearing a huge felt jacket, and leaping from speaker to speaker in 102-degree, 80% humidity weather while singing his balls off was ridiculous. Especially since he couldn't have been more than 20' from constant pyro flares.
> 
> I can't think of many artists one third his age who could do that for two hours straight.


 
 Exactly. It actually becomes completely irrelevant once one actually sees Maiden live. They can and still can erase any other band, even a great live band.


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## Espresto (Oct 24, 2013)

I was rooting for Thessling, Malone, or Brewer I really feel like they're the ones taking bass further as an instrument, and progressing metal as a genre.


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## GenghisCoyne (Oct 24, 2013)

clearly none of the people voting have ever head kiss


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## Chiba666 (Oct 25, 2013)

GenghisCoyne said:


> clearly none of the people voting have ever head kiss


 
I've heard Gene is going to buy UG so all future polls have him coming out on top.

Even though calling Kiss Metal is a stretch in my honest opinion.

Mr Harris all the way or if I had my way Sir Harris. Writtens ome of the most iconic metal tracks of all time, that Maiden gallop that so many bands copy not to mention still going 100% at aevery show. Seen Maiden 3 times and each time they impress me more and more.


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## petereanima (Oct 25, 2013)

My only problem with Steve Harris is, that he obviously still has not killed the soundguy from their last tour. Besides that: OF COURSE he is the greatest metal bassist. 

Not the "best", nor the "fastest" or the "most technically advanced up to date"...simply the _greatest_.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Oct 25, 2013)

I do agree that Harris is the obvious winner to this contest, but if we're searching for anyone else who could've come close to winning it, I'd suggest Alex Webster. He's a founding member of one the most (if not THE most) influential Death Metal bands ever, and he's been a driving force in that band since what, the late eighties? That's not quite as far back as Maiden goes, but it's still 25 years, and Corpse is still bringing it just as hard as they ever have. On top of that, of course, Alex' chops are solid as dino turds.

Again, I do agree Harris deserves the number one spot in a poll like this, but I don't think he edges Webster out by that much. Harris' extra longevity and influence on a wider range of genres gives him the upper hand, but an argument could certainly be made for Webster to be up there, too.


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## morethan6 (Oct 25, 2013)

I couldn't agree with this choice more - Steve Harris is absolutely the greatest metal bassist out there.

I would go further - I think he's probably one of the most important and influential people in metal full stop. 

Without Harris - no Iron Maiden. Without them, probably no metal as we know it today.

Discuss...


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## sniperfreak223 (Oct 25, 2013)

Eladamri said:


> Overall I'd go for Geezer. I MUCH prefer Sabbath to Maiden though and that's where it starts to become subjective. For pure chops, I've never been more impressed than when watching Alex from Cannibal Corpse live.
> 
> But it's all totally subjective, that's the problem with these things.



Have you ever seen Mudvayne live? Ryan Martinie is just mind-blowing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBfEIdY3pso


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## petereanima (Oct 25, 2013)

morethan6 said:


> I couldn't agree with this choice more - Steve Harris is absolutely the greatest metal bassist out there.
> 
> I would go further - I think he's probably one of the most important and influential people in metal full stop.
> 
> ...



No discussion needed, all true.


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## 77zark77 (Oct 25, 2013)

Lots of Maiden pieces are written by him as a real bassist, not a frustated guitarist : that's one of the unique and important ingredient in Iron Maiden history


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## shadowlife (Oct 26, 2013)

Steve is definitely my choice for the greatest.
Although i agree with the poster who said the band isn't quite as tight as they used to be, i am still amazed at the high quality of the the songwriting and playing on the newer albums they've released. 
Up the Irons!


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## Bloody_Inferno (Oct 26, 2013)

GenghisCoyne said:


> clearly none of the people voting have ever head kiss


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## troyguitar (Oct 27, 2013)

ITT: People who like extreme shit exclusively vs people who don't.

A lot of bands have good guitar players and singers, most of them have forgettable rhythm sections. Steve and Nicko make Maiden better than their peers. Those 2 turn the simple good songs into great ones. 

...which would be even better if they played them in double time with polyrhythms and microtonal 10-string guitars tuned to Zb with Bruce farting rhythmically over the top of it, clearly.


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## 77zark77 (Oct 27, 2013)

troyguitar said:


> ITT: People who like extreme shit exclusively vs people who don't.
> 
> A lot of bands have good guitar players and singers, most of them have forgettable rhythm sections. Steve and Nicko make Maiden better than their peers. Those 2 turn the simple good songs into great ones.
> 
> ...which would be even better if they played them in double time with polyrhythms and microtonal 10-string guitars tuned to Zb with Bruce farting rhythmically over the top of it, clearly.


 
hahaha


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## Andromalia (Oct 27, 2013)

cGoEcYk said:


> He's a solid, true "rock star" bassist - obviously famous, world tours, millions of albums, writer in his band (respect), etc. He's just from the time period before double bass.


You don't need a double bass when you have Nicko at the drums.
Maiden got as high as they are because all their musicians are good, they have a signature recipe for songs, and that recipe includes actually hearing the bass. There are very few bands who have songs you can identify as easily as theirs at a first listening.


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