Ultimate Guitar

Ultimate-Guitar.com recently invited their readers to nominate their favourite bassline ever for a Top 10 poll: Hundreds took part, resulting in what has been dubbed “a definitive list of awesome riffs.”

An excerpt from that list is available below:

5. METALLICA – ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’

“Cliff Burton, yet another brilliant bassist who was taken before his time. People used to mistake this opening sound for a guitar, but instead it was Burton’s bass running though distortion and a wah-pedal. He actually wrote the riff before joining Metallica, and first aired it during a 12-minute jam at a battle of the bands competition in 1979.”

4. BLACK SABBATH – ‘N.I.B.’

“It seems UG readers love a bit of wah on bass! This time it’s from Geezer Butler, who recorded his part in one legendary take. Geezer says he named the song after drummer Bill Ward’s beard, which makes so little sense that some Americans decided to rename it ‘Naivety In Black'”.

http://youtu.be/TOXPSSZkFD0

3. QUEEN – “Another One Bites The Dust”

Bassist John Deacon was perhaps the most mild-mannered member of Queen, but he was a creative powerhouse. He wrote some of the best-selling Queen singles, including this one which shifted over 7 million copies.

2. MEGADETH – “Peace Sells …”

It’s easy to let frontman Dave Mustaine and his controversial comments overshadow the awesomeness of Megadeth. Thanks to bassist Dave Ellefson, this song was pretty close to winning our award for ‘best baseline ever’ and missed out by only four votes.

1. PINK FLOYD – “Money”

Who would have guessed! All of us, obviously. Never has a 7/8 riff sounded so effortless and groovy. It could have sounded quite different – Roger Waters originally demoed this song in G-sharp minor, but it was eventually recorded in B minor. Either way, the result was one of the all-time great basslines, and today it’s your winner. Enjoy!