Wolfie or Mike? And Why?

[ELVIS]

I thought the Bass solo he did in 1984 in Biloxi Ms. was pretty cool...

The space effects and his entire routine sounds cool filling up a huge auditorium...

But he is an excellent bassist both on the albums and live...

He's the perfect foundation for Edward...

[DavidLeeNatra]

oh yeah...when drums stop...very bad...bass solo...

[if6was9]

http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/onehand/114.html

"When Alex Van Halen performs a long solo following not too far after Michael Anthony's bass solo (bass solo? Really? Still?), you start looking at your watch. Anthony did little more than run around and bang into the amps (...) and pop his strings. Luckily, that one was short."

http://jefitoblog.com/blog/?p=1037

"Let's pause here to point out that Michael Anthony is not a very good bassist; in fact, he's probably an extremely crappy bassist. I know people who think he’s the worst bassist in rock history, but I'm not willing to go that far, and anyway, it never mattered — when was the last time you listened to a Van Halen album and paid attention to the bass? The only people acutely aware of Anthony’s ineptitude with the bass are those who have seen the band play live. Like many of you, I've been treated to a Michael Anthony "bass solo" — if you never had the pleasure of seeing one, they usually lasted about ten minutes, during which the rest of the band would exit the stage, leaving Anthony to stumble around like a man frantically trying to extricate himself from a bass that's been surgically attached to his body. Like the girls in TLC used to say, unpretty."

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/01/13/172642.php

"Michael always got a solo in the Van Halen live shows and I will have to admit not being very impressed with those. He usually got his Jack Daniel's bass out and that was enough to get the party hearty crowd going before he even strummed a single note. Once he hit a single note, the crowd got even more fired up, so he basically played this single note over and over until he got tired. It's a mark of rare genius to know when showmanship trumps ability. He saved his best moves for the studio and the world is all the better for it. Plus, if you get really bored and want to play a game of musical mix and match, just think if he had been the Beatle's bassist instead of Paul. The possibilities of amusement are endless."

I'm sorry, I couldn't find other opinions about Mike's bass playing.

[ELVIS]

This is EXCELLENT bass playing...

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[matt19]

Originally posted by ELVIS
I thought the Bass solo he did in 1984 in Biloxi Ms. was pretty cool...

The space effects and his entire routine sounds cool filling up a huge auditorium...

But he is an excellent bassist both on the albums and live...

He's the perfect foundation for Edward...

Sorry I have to disagree... the space effects were cool, but it dates the whole thing. Foundation for Edward, maybe, but with the right effects that solo can be played by a middle school bassist.

[kamaboko]

And this is any better?

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[if6was9]

Originally posted by kamaboko
And this is any better?

Of course not! But these are better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFi9NlxAJmE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fZk5qX00Dw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EOvAy3evU3k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRuOQtg-pJ0

[Little Lamont]

Mike is not a poor musician and those who say he is are the ones I was talkin bout last night.

[if6was9]

Originally posted by Little Lamont
Mike is not a poor musician

Prove it.

[Little Lamont]

Man, I'm tired of arguing with you.

[if6was9]

Arguing requires arguments.

[FORD]

I'd consider Mike an "average" bass player.

He's obviously not on the level of Billy Sheehan, John Entwistle, or Geddy Lee but on the other hand, he's not Sid Vicious or Stuart Sutcliffe either.

It's no secret that Mike's harmonies were his primary contribution to the Van HALEN sound, more than his bass playing.

[if6was9]

I tend to agree with Ford. "Average" is much more suitable word than "poor".

[Terry]

I will say his bass solo came across much better if you were actually in the arena. On video, it sounds and looks a bit silly, but it was loud as shit live - only bass player I ever heard play louder was Geezer Butler...

Mike is an okay player. There was a bit more to what he did than the often-ripped on RWTD intro, but he really didn't NEED to do much more anyway...Ed was doing so much as it was that to have a Sheehan thing happening on top of that would have made it sound too cluttered, IMO.

[Plexi Head]

Originally posted by if6was9
Prove it.

Have you listened to Fair Warning lately bud?

Proof enough in my book that Mike was capable enough of grooving and laying down the foundations for the greatest guitar player of all time and one of the best rock drummers ever.

Van Halen would sound like a mess with a busy wanker bass player. Who the fuck cares about a bass solo anyway? Mike entertained, he wasn't there to win any awards, he left that up to the guitar player.

What constitutes a good bass player anyway? A good bass player in my book makes the bottom end rock solid and is the consumate team player which is what Mike always was.

When did music and musicianship become sport anyway?