Is Peter Hook the best bass player ever?
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i´m afraid i have to disagree. not the best. he´s unique for sure. but there are/were better bass players than him.
my 2 pesos 
There are much better bass players out there, but the arrangement of NO's songs makes his work a very prominent and signature feature of the band's sound.
don't know if he's the best ever but he's certainly my favorite bass player ever. no one is even a close second.
Hard to compare with others, as Hooky is playing a 6 string bass like a guitar (playing melodies) and is usually not playing basslines like most bass players do.
Usually, New Order have their bassline sequenced.
hard to think of anybody that compares to Hooky. i don't know (or really care all that much) about technical aspects, but he really gave the songs unique personality and emotion, especially late JD and early to mid 80s NO. on the negative side, not very funky at all but then he was not imitating like the other 80s English groups.
while some of the beats can sound dated, the classic bass melody songs sound timeless
Hate to say it, but no. Hooky is actually a VERY average bass player. There are guys down at my local pub who can play far better than him. Damn it, even I can play better than him
BUT what he lacks in technical skill, he more than makes up for in other talents.
I'd say he's one of the most influential bass players EVER and the basslines/melodies that he has come up with over the years have often been akin to musical poetry.
He and Jean-Jacques Burnel inspired me to start playing bass.
Yes - he's a great bass player in the only sense that really matters!
He's not my favourite, but I think he's underrated. I won't say my favourite though lest I be chastised!
Well i don't know about the technical aspect of playing BASS but he is my favourite SOUNDING bass player and that is what counts.
How the fuck do you define best ? Has some kinda bass players exam been devised, or a specialy adapted decathlon set up ?
Or BEST chance of having the sound of their bass recognised ?
What next who can play the fastest arpeggio ?
A person once openly mocked;
'Peter Hut, the bloke who plays lead with a bass! - har! har! hady! har!.
I stood silent for a few moments, contemplating the terrible error that had just occurred.
Originality tends to confuse folk - the lucky ones embrace it. And revel at the throbbing noises boomed from such classics as 'She's Lost the Controller'.
Is he the best? - he’s certainly the best New Order bass player.
he is the most innovative bass player ever, talent wise he is solid, i think he actually used ot be better but im betting if new order isnt touring he isnt practicing . its what he does to the song and the bands sound that makes them different thats what makes him great. if your a bass player you can rip off chris squier, geddy lee and jack bruce's style to some extent but if you are doing hooky there is no doubt whos style your imitating.
Originally posted by Garymac Or BEST chance of having the sound of their bass recognised ?
I had a Cure track on the other night and the missus asked if it was Hooky
He's the dogs bahollicks alright!
Originally posted by ShugZV© > Originally posted by Garymac> > > Or BEST chance of having the sound of their bass recognised ?>
I had a Cure track on the other night
:headoff:
Hes fuckin 1st class,but best ever no. I think hed be happy in the top 50. No.1 must be John Entwhistle.
In terms of technical playing ability then no he isn't, but in terms of taking his chosen instrument and redefining the way in which a whole generation of musicians approach the instrument, then Hooky is right up there with the finest. Of all the considerable influences that this band and its members have had on contemporary music, the trademark bass sound is probably the biggest.
i think hooky's an excellent bass player, but i lean more towards les claypool as far as raw talent goes. the sounds that come out of his instrument are utterly strange and wonderful.
I think Peter Hook is one of the most creative and intellegent bass players but I think there are people like Flea or Peter Maas who over the decades seem to hold a bit more skill with the actual playing. Peter Hook seems to play it more like a guitar sometimes. However, like I said that is what makes him unique and allows his creativity to flow, wouldn't want him to change a bit.
he is in my opinion, what sets jd/no aside from other bands. sure steve is a brilliant drummer, bernard and gillian have their own particular way, and ian stamped his style on them, but hooky - well its that bass that first attracted me to neworder, and even , years later, still keeps me listening.
and he seems like a top bloke (i really enjoy the "hooky on peter saville" comments). is it true that he once worked as a docker?
forget fidgety techinal aspects, he just has IT
Some of the replys on this thread made me laugh. People saying they're better than Hooky remind me of the Spinal Tap guy comparing himself to Jimmy Page. He rated himself because he had learned to play "Stairway to Heaven" when 14 but Page didn't write it until he was 25.
I've always felt that creativity and an ear for melody easily outweigh technical chops.
Whomever played Bass for James Brown was incredible, ditto the basist in Motown's official backing band, I can't remember her name, but there's a woman that played bass for Phil Spector and Brian Wilson in the sixties who was amazing. Jack Bruce as others mentioned is well deserving of acclaim, as was McCartney. I'm a big fan of Bootsy Collins' bass playing, and my brother's teenage favorite when I was little was Cliff Burton, and while I was never a metal fan, I could understand why the late, great Metallica Bassist was such an icon amongst metal purists, and bass players.
Hooks my favorite, for the most part, because his playing is unmistkable and so deeply rounded in it's focused way, you can get really aggressive, deep rumbles like that featured in Touched By the Hand of God, or temptation, and you can get melancholy melodic beauty like what you get in BLT, or the more simplistic tones of Atmosphere. He didn't play w/much funk, but what he did do, he did flawlessly, and someone once mentioned that it wasn't any specific flavor or genre in the arts that merits disgust or distaste, it's only poorly done art that merits distaste. Art should be judged by how effective the artist was in achieving their intentions, and while this might not always sound like a good rule to go by, I think in judging most artists, and Peter Hook, by it, you can see that in what New Order and Joy Division sought from, he found it more than within his power to provide, and provide spectacularly, so whether or not he's the most technically proefficient, or funkiest bass player around isn't as important as how amazingly effective and evocative he was as New Order's bass player.
