Jimmy Page About Gene Simmons as a Bass Player
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I always thought that Gene was a cross between McCartney & Geezer. At least early Gene. Mid 80’s Gene…he was lazy. By the time Revenge hit, he was definitely back!
Dont believe it !
At that point in his career, maybe Geddy didn't know that. Regardless, Geddy progressed to be a virtuoso and Gene showed promised with a lot of clever playing early, then just remained a solid player.... super wealthy solid player tho,,,LOL.
No. Huge self promoter. Show me a true source reporting that quote or a video of jimmy saying it. Not believing Gene’s claiming it as gospel.
He maybe a decent bassist, but I won’t believe jimmy compared him favourably to Entwistle without a proper source confirming it.
Kiss were a boring kids' band as far as I'm concerned. Just a way of marketing lunch boxes and other merch for children. If you like Kiss, you like the make up, Without that, no one would have even noticed them and they'd be forgotten by now. Their music sucks. 100% gimmick.
No effing way Gene can give Entwistle a run for his money. Give me a break!! No no no. As a bass player, if Page said that, he was just being nice.
I don't know. Both are older and very tall so I'd say a running race would be about even lol
Totally agree Page had class , and polite , Gene is always promoting I doubt he even had a conversation with Page. I've seen many interviews with Page and like Plant when asked of other musicians they would mention musicians most people never heard of , they traveled the world and admired the drumming of Africa the middle east, the music scene to them as Plant said is just manufactured duplicates of nothing new.
@@TeddMarshall-zb8gnyou are right Gene never had a convo with Page. You would know you were there man.
@KillerPowerslave I wasn't there man , Columbus,Ga. I'm sure Gene was referring to MSG or somewhere else huge ,you know Gene everything has got to be big ,larger than life I won't stick around and put these guys down I used to admire them to ,but after 11 or 12 yrs old I grew out of that ,I don't want to be anymore the bad guy , your heroes it's your right to love them pay $100.00 + dollars to watch them lip sync. Hey "rock n roll" all night "...
@@TeddMarshall-zb8gnwow. Lars is my favorite drummer.
also jimmy page is a polite gentlemen
I think Page was just being polite, he doesn't have a history of talking bad about other musicians, most are very in awe to meet him, it's in my opinion Page has class and doesn't need to put others down any bass player knows JPJ. is out of there league and that's who Page made music with , Kiss live are very overrated, I personally couldn't get into it. Gene Simmons is always promoting Kiss I doubt Page went to see them numerous times.
Jimmy has seen KISS a good few times. PAUL Stanley particularly has become good friends with Jimmy. Jimmy was a big influence on Paul. www.google.com/search?q=jimmy+page+paul+stanley&client=ms-android-samsung&sca_esv=88b3133b732abb5d&sca_upv=1&udm=2&biw=360&bih=560&ei=-BVoZoDGJYvJhbIP6caICA&oq=jimmy+page+paul+stanley&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIhdqaW1teSBwYWdlIHBhdWwgc3RhbmxleTIHEAAYgAQYGDIIEAAYgAQYogRInVpQohBYo1JwAHgAkAEAmAHJA6ABuRSqAQgyMC40LjQtMbgBA8gBAPgBAZgCGaACtBjCAgIQKcICBRAAGIAEwgIKEAAYgAQYQxiKBcICBhAAGAgYHpgDAIgGAZIHCDYuMTguNC0xoAfSMw&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp
Yeah Jimmy's opinion holds more water than your hate.
@scottsimpson5223 I didn't express hate , I just said the truth ,Gene is always promoting and that side by side he doesn't stand out or do anything to playing bass , ..I've seen them painfully live and Gene didn't play any solo or anything memorable to salvage an over rated live band. Paul Stanley played better than Ace and having V.I.P. tickets by way of a friend who was a Kiss fanatic ,got to meet them after the show instead of before ,and kept my arms crossed because I had on a Metallica shirt on and backstage it was a weird deal but the oddest thing was Paul walked over to where we were because we were standing with the sound engineers trying to find out what was wrong with Ace ,why didn't they volume him down ,he knew it was terrible, than Paul came up and towering over us with those stacks and was like the tallest drag queen in the world and asked how we were doing I slipped away my friend right behind me everything I thought about that band diminished. they had a gimmick in the day some songs but it's the gimmick that lives on, that was in Columbus Ga. in 95 or 96 I was there and you weren't and I never heard a word of Page mention them he's far to serious of a musician to have to have gone out of his way to see that. it's not hate my friend it's more fact than Gene's word.
Let the hate flow through you....😂@@TeddMarshall-zb8gn
Now that I think of it , Gene is a good bass player. A lot of Kiss songs are bass driven. It might be considered simple, but it's effective.
Many of the album tracks weren't played by Gene.
@@kmoecubwhich album? You know they’ve got 20 or 30 albums
After “Love Gun” the different members would record the numbers they’ve written with either friends or studio musicians. Paul and Ace would often play the bass parts themselves.
@@kasperkjrsgaard1447 In another video about KISS, I said something about Ace's guitar playing. Everyone said," Ace only played music that Paul created". Now Gene can't play anything either. I know they used a lot of outside help to record and write their music. My question is," did KISS even exist, or is there a glitch in the Matrix?
@@guitarhole
That’s an interesting question. And a difficult one too 😂 Don’t get me wrong, I love Kiss and have done it for more than 40 years, BUT, the question is whether they are a band or just two guys who hire musicians to go out to do shows - very roughly said.
Since “Love Gun” the different members have been using to, when writing a song, to play as much as the instruments themselves and get friends or studio musicians to play the rest. Songwriting and recording hasn’t been a band effort. It’s especially clear on “Unmasked” where the songs Ace Frehley wrote only featured him as a Kiss member. Fair to say, it was at the same time some of the best songs he’d ever made while being in Kiss.
As a band, Kiss was very disfunctional. As it is now, actually, as it was, it was Gene and Pauls band and all “band decisions” came from them. Singer and Thayer were nothing but hired hands. Very faithful hired hands. I’ve heard rumours that Tommy Thayer got $ 25.000 per show, which can pay a lot of loyalty and grease paint. And to be honest, he did a damn fine job. Compared to Ace he never tot late to a plane, never showed up drunk, always delivered what’s expected and as a bonus was a real fine guy to work with.
Ace today is a shamble. It can’t be exused with his sloppy type of playing. 20-30 years of booze and drugs and not practising don’t do wonders for the playing. You can take a random guy from the street, give him a guitar and after six months he’ll be able to play 90 % of Aces songs and even better than Ace himself.
Gene has even said that KISS will never be known for having great musicians in the band. But man, did they put on one heck of a show in the 70s.
Suited lots of other bands who were way better than them. All they cared about was making money and being famous. kiss *sucks.*
If I want to see fire, I'll go to a fireworks show.
Now now. Ace Frehley inspired a whole generation of guitar players. Ace was and is a great musician. Kiss wouldn't have survived the 70's without him
@@DouglasSnodgrassthen why does his playing sound so terrible?
@@matthewatwood8641 those who do know his impact would completely disagree ( dime bag Darrell, zakk Wylde, and 70% of guitarist playing rock professionally. ) do you even play guitar? Well I have since 7 years old. Next you will say peter Criss was a terrible drummer. Even Dave grohl respects Ace Frehley. It sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder. Even if you do not like kiss. Your critical assessment is off base. Ace Frehley does not even play that Dorian scale as much in his solo project. He made kiss stand out. Otherwise they would have faded in the 70's. If you are better show me your videos. You are in the minority about Ace Frehley's abilities and talent
@@DouglasSnodgrass no, celebrity musicians just say nice things about them because they know that's what people want to hear. Ace didn't have a distinctive style. His guitar playing always sounded to me like a teenager who had just picked up the guitar a couple of years ago. Kiss sounds like an overproduced garage band.
John Paul Jones = Lethally Great Bassist 🕶️🤙🏆🔥 °):
I was 8th row Aug 1977 the night they recorded the KISS ALIVE II album seated right in front of Gene. I can honestly tell you (as a touring/recording artist most my life) that Gene is one of the best bass players in Rock n Roll history. Better than Entwistle? I'm not sure about that one but I can say Gene plays within the song for the song and can play the entire set without ever looking at his fretboard and comes up with cool lines/scale within the song. All members of the original line-up and later were great players. Paul came up with really cool riffs like listen to Hotter Than Hell. Play it on guitar. It's a bad ass riff when you sit down with it. One Member who gets a lot of sh*t for not being a good player and as years went on he faded from the days Im about to talk about but take a listen to the song "Watching You" live at Winterland San Francisco 1975. If you listen to the beat he's playing kin to a Buddy Rich jazz style shuffle and through to the end of the song he just on it ....then when Ace does his lead at the end tell me that Peter Chris wasn't crushing it back then. That lead at the end of the song Ace does hammer on's using his pick on the fretboard way before Eddie Van Halen made it famous. Not saying he was as good as Eddie by any stretch but all of these guys individually and band as a whole back then were so good. Now you got to realize everyone in music has gotten so much better today playing wise. This is 1975... no internet, maybe magazines and for sure only vinyl. KISS in those days ('75-'77 especially) were at the top of their game and one of the best bands of that era. Seeing them at 10 yrs old that hot August night '77 at the Forum in Inglewood California was still to this day the best stage show I've ever seen. Anyone who says these guys couldn't play their instruments are flat out wrong or just saw some bad case videos when they weren't as good as these early days (which I agree they had tough times later on) that the old school folks like myself know them from. Very underrated band IMO and I'll never forget that band. Thanks to my Dad who took my friend and I to see them that night.
Side story: in 2005 I was at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Studio City sitting at a table outside with my wife and son. From the parking who comes walking towards us but Paul Stanley himself... I immediately recognized him and just uttered "Paul MotherF*cking Stanley!" literally said that not sure why but he said "how you doing.....Hey I'll be right back". He went in and got his coffee, came back to our table and asked if he could sit down with us. Paul sat there and talked with us for about 20 minutes. I told the story of my Dad taking us to the Alive II show/recording in '77 and how we had bad tickets nose bleed and my buddy and I decided to walk around leaving Dad behind... when 2 girls walked up and said "Do you want our tickets we were here to see the opening band"(Cheap Trick) which we then gave to the usher who walked us all the way down to the 8th row right in front of Gene Simmons and we watched in aw standing on the folding chairs set for the floor audience while my Dad sat through the whole show in the nose bleed section turning down people passing him joints. Dad always said "Yeah...the whole experience was a real treat" lol but Paul was the coolest rock star I've ever met in my life. Totally interested, engaged and shared what was going on in his life at that time. He was especially nice to my 7 yr old son. Just an awesome moment in my life that I'll never forget and thought I'd share that with you folks.
Appreciate these awesome memories! Hope you'll subscribe if you haven't already. 👍👍
Thanks for sharing that. I’ll attest to the fact that Paul is a very gracious and cool person having been lucky enough to meet him back in ‘95.
Better than Entwistle? Come on man
How could you be there most of those live albums were recorded in a studio?
Could you repeat that..?? Haha. I was at cobo hall,detroit as it was being fimed, So, i seen the who,as well..J.E. was so much more style, tone..etc. I have been in bands too! so no big deal
So what !
I can only say that I was within feet of him playing in 1983 and he could play the bass better than I could. 😂
Geddy Lee "didn't understand what a blues scale was" is a bit misleading actually. I just read the Geddy Lee "Effin'" biography. Geddy humbly admits that he was never formally trained as a musician and never became literate or studied music theory. If you listen to the first RUSH album from 1974 which was out when RUSH first toured with KISS it has many riffs, licks and solos played by Geddy and Lifeson that are all over the blues scale and minor pentatonic. Geddy very clearly could PLAY in these scales but he just probably didn't know the names of the intervals or just the basic theory of it. Also, Geddy spoke very highly of KISS in general and really bonded with Gene and Paul as he wrote about in his book.
Just a bit of a joke, really. But very nice catch! 😎I might do a video on that particular claim/story sometime. Hope you'll consider subscribing if you haven't.
Geddy is a class act. Guys at Geddy’s level need not speak ill of anyone. His playing speaks for itself!
As a bass player myself I can assure you that Gene Simmons bass lines are far easier to play than Geddy Lee bass lines. In his recent autobiography, Geddy does reiterate the professional way in which KISS treated Rush as an opening act but also relays a story about Gene getting very upset when Geddy dispatched a female fan after a show prompting Gene to pin Geddy up against the wall and berating him.
@@PlanetJimmer "Another One Bites the Dust" is "easier" to play than "Portrait of Tracy" but what is the significance of that? Millions and millions of people all over the globe can recognize that Queen song from the simple opening bass line but nobody knows who Jaco is. HA!
@@craigdamage that is different, you’re talking about popularity.
He has a lot of good running base lines on the early kiss albums . I think he was pretty creative .
Agreed! 😎
Gene is doing exactly what he is supposed to do in Kiss! He is serving the songs! What more can you do?
Always liked Gene's bass playing, he's always had a lot going on while performing too, he's also an actor and a vocalist and does all of the above quite well. He really sold his demon character while playing bass and singing "respect" 👍
Agreed. I always thought Gene and Ace stayed in character the best of the four. Not that I liked their personas the best, just they fully embodied them onstage. 😎
Gene is a songwriter and you have to know what you're doing on an instrument to write on it - I've never doubted his talent
I was never the biggest Kiss fan but Gene has some tasty bass lines on the first 3 records.
The first three KISS LPs are stellar!
John Harvey, your right absolutely, but this is a place where people express there thoughts, opinions ,and some are enlightening. But when your bored why write so much as in like your educationing people on here on what should be discussed you don't care about a thumbs down most don't care about your essay on music and opinion. but you are right it doesn't matter the skill level if you write a song that touches a lot of people, but the ? was Gene a great bass player ,...not a lecture on why overrated bass players get so much attention.
Gene Simmions is a fantastic bassist. His bass lines are very effective and can be complicated. His solos are ambient and theatrical. He is more than sufficient on bass and has a great tone, but he's no Enwhistle, not even close. I'm glad he admits that.
They may be feeling the same way most of the time!
the funny thing is Entwistle's own flat-fingered 'noodling' bass playing style is interesting and effective but there are many, many bass guitarists that have skill levels that relegate him penultimate. Not that that is only what bass playing is about since it's mostly intended to be a fundamental instrument.
I've never followed Kiss much even though our band covered two of their songs back in the day, (Rock and Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock City), but what I've heard, they are all beyond competent players. They are also very tight when playing live. And to do it all in all that crazy gear and act like maniacs at the same time is pretty darn awesome.
It’s a matter of taste and a fair understanding of what was happening musically at that time..Gene’s playing resonates with certain people and diminishes the mark with others..Dozens of albums, millions of dollars and a half century later the “debate” is moot and decided by a simple question “ which kiss song do you wish to hear when you’re in a bar?”
Gene wins again🍻🍻
Cold Gin? 😎
I think he actually meant Money! The Ox was notoriously horrible with his money whereas GS...well. I think Jimmy maybe was just being cheeky like the Brits do. That being said, Gene is a fine performing bass player. It shows more outside of Kiss.
Gen is much better than he gets credit for. I could always pick up on Gene’s bass lines even when I was little
I have always loved Gene’s bass playing. Very signature.
Agree!
Gene is not always interesting yet he is talented, and I respect him musically.
Gene CERTAINLY holds his own as a bassist. He can play intricate parts on his instrument while singing, to boot, as Paul once pointed out. Yes, Gene's playing style, also reminds me of that of Paul McCartney and Bill Wyman, combined. What he is NOT is a "root-note-along-with-the-bass-drum" player. I wouldn't exactly say Gene is in the same league with John Entwistle, as Jimmy, to his credit, had said. Gene isn't quite like a Chris Squire, or a Les Claypool. But he's good enough. For someone so notorious to wield such a MASSIVE ego at every opportunity, Gene remains surprisingly humble about his own musical talent.
(.....Never realized there were intricate bass lines in the KISS catalog...........)
@@jaggedstudios3315 Yes. To be fair, if you listen to "Goin' Blind," "Ladies' Room," and "I Stole Your Love," those parts Gene plays have a little more to them than what might be initially audible. That's why I was saying Gene is not a virtuoso, but he gets the job done a bit above and beyond.
John Paul Jones !!!!
I fell like no reasonably informed bass player would even compare Gene to McCartney.
@@PlanetJimmer I'd give Paul the edge, yes, but Gene is still good.
Gene is definitely a talented bassist/musician/businessman.
Last time I saw Kiss (saw them 5x) maybe 20 years ago?
They were performing Tears are Falling, and Paul blew out his voice badly on one of the higher vocal runs. He immediately ran over to Gene, and said something in his ear, probably "I just blew out my ******* voice" and Gene straight away sang the rest of the song and next couple of songs! They didn't miss a beat! Paul later pulled a Mick Jagger and talked the rest of the songs Lo! Hey, they weren't faking it back then!!!
IMO they should have called it a career that year.
Rock The Nation Tour was when Paul's voice started to noticeably get worse.
During the first reunion tour (1996/97) Gene Simmons had a throat illness at one point and couldn't sing for a night or two. Paul did ALL Gene's songs and even managed to sound almost like him on some songs.
Is Gene good? Gene studies under Carol Kaye ..'nuff said :)
Excellent point. The video of them together is really good... you can see how hard he studies.
Gene doesn't always grasp sarcasm. The British are masters of it.
i think he's a very good bass player. He makes it look effortless, because he's been doing it a while. Heavy. melodic, great feel.
Ya, very melodic and deep bottom end.
I've seen them twice with the original line up. Gene bass playing is the signature sound of kiss. listen to there records. without the unique bass playing, it's not that kiss sound. he is and was the signature sound of kiss.
Gene Simmons has some great bass licks_ I like the funky bassline in Torpedo Girl (Unmasked 1980)_ It's like Gene himself said, "I'd rather hear a song where 1 note was placed just right rather than a bunch of notes just cramed together"
ace played on that song
Ace sang torpedo girl , are you saying Gene didn't come up with that funky bass rif ... I sing and play guitar but if I ever pick up a bass the Torpedo girl riff is the first thing I play .i learnt it when I first heard it at 14..ha ha..
Gene Simmons is a pretty damn good bassist. KISS a pretty damn good band with talented members. Everyone played and sang well and they have some pretty cool tunes. Theatrics a side, they brought it.
Excellent bass player.
Gene’s playing has always reminded me of McCartney. Very melodic and structured around the vocal lines.
High praise from Jimmy for sure!
I play bass and have checked out a lit of Kiss basslines. I have never come across a song where he was playing with his fingers. Pick man for sure. I really like his work on God Of Thunder and Cold Gin.
Agree!
I was always a fan of Gene Simmons bass playing.
I played with Gene at SIR Studios in Hollywood right after the dumped Peter Criss and as a drummer he was a very solid pocket player.
Simmons gave Geddy Lee a bass lesson? Good one.
Ya! I think that claim deserves its own video!
Gene believed they were entertainers, not musicians, and only had to act the part to be successful.
Reminds me of McCartney’s bass playing- WHILST SINGING💪💪💪
gene is a great bass player, he never played dull bass lines pedeling on the root note
While learning to play bass I would play along to KISS songs because much of it is easy and fun to play. Some friends would tease me about it but most of them never learned to play anything.
Ain't that how it always goes? Thanks for your comment and view! 😎
Just listen too 100,000 years and Detroit Rock City! Not that they are incredibly difficult? Just so freaking "Groovy"👊
Yup. Simple, but every note in the right place with a groove. 😎
Hey man it’s only rock and roll!! Beethoven is down the road if that’s what ye after.gene is rock solid AND sings as well as spits blood fire and all the rest.kiss alive is a rock and roll lesson on how to jam and offend as many as possible. I’m 60 and still love it.loud.😃
Gene Simmons was/is a very versatile bassist who creates a lot of atmosphere though his bass lines. His walking bass style is so joyous and always makes me smile. One has to remember, that many bass parts on the records were performed by Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Bob Ezrin or others.
Good points... 👍
As with The Beatles, the guys in KISS were not virtuosos by any stretch of the imagination. But also as with The Beatles, they (KISS) had a chemistry that only those four individuals could bring to the soup.
Kiss might gave not been virtuosos like the Beatles but here stops the comparison: the Beatles are Legends...Kiss are not.the Beatles songs are timeless.Kiss are not.Gene Simmons might be an able bass player,but he's nothing compared to Macca.And Gene Simmons giving Geddy Lee a bass lesson? Please...
@@user-om9ix2lh3tnot one of the Beatles knew music theory or could read music. If it weren't for their producer, they would've remained a low talent boy band. That's why all their solo stuff sucks.
Right....🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Had to me good,he made millions playing bass. That's enough proof for me.
The bass hook on "Detroit Rock City." Case closed.
For real. Not to mention 100,000 years or even God of Thunder. 🤘
@@TalkLinkMusic-gd7fz @TalkLinkMusic-gd7fz Aye ! I'm from Glasgow and during the 70's and I was in a Kiss cover band (lead guitar) "100,000 Years" is braw for certain and "God of Thunder" is my personal favorite ! 🍀🎸🍀
Gene can play a walking bass line. You don’t hear much of that in most rock music. So, props to the man.
Gene and Michael Anthony are two bass players that I think never got their due though they got the job done just fine. I heard an interview with Michael one time and the interviewer came right out and accused him of not doing much. His response was basically that with a guitarist like Eddie, you don't have to do much. Same goes for Dusty Hill from ZZ Top- he did exactly what he was supposed to be doing...
I don't know about any of that story but I do agree with your assessment of Gene as a bass player.
Thanks for your comment and view!
Gene is a solid performer. Just listen to kiss live. Not just a showman.
Gene is a GREAT bassist! He swings and can walk a bass line which most rockers cannot. Love Gun, Rock and Roll All Night etc. Sings lead and harmony etc. I am a musician. Country, Rock, Jazz and can tell you Gene can play.
You're a musician so naturally you'd site swinging and walking around as a musical skill. As for his alleged singing, he's as tuneless as an ally cat.
Glen Hughes was a far better bass player and singer.
It is officially known, that the Bass playing on "Love Gun" was done by Paul Stanley!
🤘🏻
@@bennahor6057 True, forgot about that. Still Paul told Gene a few years ago to play bass on an album because he has a style and a groove others do not.
@@kennygardner5041Gene's live tone in the '70s was badass
If Gene is so bad ass than why would spend like 6 or 7 excruciating minutes thumping his top string while rising up on some prop and shake his head and fake blood flying out of his mouth I seen them in 95 or 96 and wanted to walk out before half the show over ,but couldn't because the people I was with had us V.I.P. and meet and greet was supposed to be before the show ,I was close to one of the sound engineers to ask him what was going on with ace frehley he sounded terrible, the third time he looked at me a bit pissed off, honestly in Columbus Ga. I was utterly surprised they didn't volume him down we zoned in on where his hands were ,they were they should be ,Paul Stanley played very good I was very surprised , but as a whole the show sucked after 15 minutes of I want to rock n roll all night I was ready to puke , I thought meeting them would be cool but when we were escorted with other V.I.P. people I crossed my arms because I had a Metallica shirt on and they were walking around like king shit, I swear I was standing there not approaching them and joking with my buddy who was a Kiss fan about Ace cat squealing solo's and Paul made his way around to us and we shook hands and he ask us how we like the show but what was freaking me out more than all the other things was Paul was towering over everyone of course but it was like meeting a drag queen he sounded very, very ,gay. not picking on him but my buddy die hard fan , we were like WTF. was that. That was there first farewell tour ,Back to Gene we never seen him run the fret board in any song that you would expect live, nothing even outside the box. That's the whole truth ,nothing but the truth.
When you listen to Cold Gin... you hear him noodling around on the bass... made the entire song a success..
my thought has always been that, at its core, the bass should be the ocean that the other instruments sail around on...
Saw Kiss 5-6 times always a good show still have my Kiss Army Pin
We have ears. Most of us heard a lot of their music and have seen film clips of him live. So bias aside, it's fair to say he's limited, but he gets the job done. He's got the skill of an average bar band bass player -- he just happens to be in a supergroup. As for Page's comment...well, obviously, they're friends and Page was being gracious. I wouldn't take it too seriously. The one track that shows slightly more technique than basic playing is "Detroit Rock City" which was supposedly played by Bob Ezron. And if you listen to KISS live throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's you'll see and hear that he never played those licks live. But he does now. Why? Because he got better! Do anything for 20 years and you'll get better. He's still no virtuoso, he's simply an "okay" pro player who improved. And I think Gene would admit to that.
Maybe Jimmy Page was JOKING and exaggerating on purpose. "....Same league as Entwhisle's" WIFE, MAYBE. HA, HA, HA.
"Because he got better". That's rich. I mean, really. It's because they're playing to a track. Because he hot better! 😂😂😂 I hope that I can stop laughing, I have to go to bed soon.
@@guillermo3564 You're trying too hard.
@@guillermo3564 only Paul was singing to tracks during End Of the Road Tour get your facts straight.
well said. I see a lot of fan boys talking out their arse on this string. Gene is average at best.
l consider gene simmons elite bass player the way he moves around and jumps. like in his early year's and still be able to play bass is incredible. john entwistle just stood there but for sure an elite bass player. they are both elite top bass player's.
Gene had some great moves for sure. Ox was like a statue!
I’m very impressed by him doing some of those bass lines while singing.
I often lose one or the other when i have tried similar things.
I know there was a Nirvana song that drew me nuts.
Singing it…fine.
Playing it on guitar…fine.
Doing both…oh the chaos.
Singing and playing Bowies ”Rebel,rebel”….or KISS ”I stole your love” ( the guitar riffs ) would probably drive me crazy too.
Gene is good, very tasteful basslines.
The idea to compare him to sir Paul!
I recall music magazines from the 70’s like Tiger Beat always pushing the KISS vs Zeppelin narrative
More than how you play is WHAT you create.
I’ve never found the bass any fun, I have one I pick it up now and then…….no fun, I like Gene Simmons though!
JP is the 2nd nicest person in R&R only behind Brian May who will tell you he hates conflict.
I'd take his word over Gene's if it ever came down to it. 😎
thats really cool !
I think Entwistle just started to run...away when Gene played I Love It Loud!
Gene Simmons is a decent bassist. His early work is his best work..the first three studio albums and Alive. He is no prodigy by any means, but he got the job done. He wrote and co-wrote many great songs with some really good basslines. I am a bassist. I started playing in '77 and learned a lot of Kiss songs back then.... and got some valuable things from learning them. My playing evolved from that, to more complex and demanding music and went to college studying jazz.... but it all started with learning Kiss songs. Let Me Go Rock and Roll...Lover Her All I Can...Room Service....still fun songs to play.
He is a good bass player. Especially the early stuff.
The basslicks on Detroit Rock City is pretty all the time
Gene was a student of R&R. Big Beatles fan. They were influenced by the Who , the stones, and early hard rock. He has a almost a walking bass style that suits the kiss sound. Very different than the chugging train sound that was popular. I was a huge fan
Very well said!! 👍👍
Any band would do well with a bassist of Gene's caliber
I always change the station when kiss comes on.
Kiss was a fun band, influenced by Zep, like most hard rock bands of the 70s. They weren't metal but their songs were heavy, they weren't pop but their songs were catchy.
He lays in down and can play.
Jimmy Page's sense of humor is priceless! 😅
»He recalls giving Rush's Geddy Lee a bass lesson: He didn't understand what a blues scale was ». I never knew Trump was a bass player !
It’s no surprise to me that Jimmy Page would’ve seen KISS live a few times. After all, even though Zeppelin was the biggest band in the world in the 70’s, KISS was pretty huge, too, and as a fan of Music in general, Page would naturally want to see what the excitement was all about.
As for the Entwistle comparison, I agree with others in that Page was really being polite, as Page never seemed to be one who speaks negatively of other musicians and certainly was not willing to speak negatively of another musician who introduced him to his son.
In addition, invoking Entwistle tells me that Jimmy Page thinks QUITE HIGHLY of John Entwistle.
After all, ranking Simmons with a lesser Bassist would mean nothing to Gene Simmons.
Most Bassists would lose their mind if a musician on Page’s level compared them to John Entwistle.
Gene Simmons is a very capable player and always does a great job. Also, he helped to make the bass cool.
Ya!
Indeed!
Gene gets a lot of hate, but I've always considered him to be one of my favorite bass players. Especially with a lot of the earlier catalog of songs, Gene had a really identifiable sound especially when one listens to isolated bass tracks. I think he got sloppy and started to "phone it in" especially towards the end, but in his heyday he had great fretboard presence without having to look at his fingers, he could play and sing, and do it all while wearing a lot of heavy stage costumes. Gene was a very good bass player and really helped shape some iconic songs
Totally agree with you about his "phone it in" decline and also about iconic songs.
the reason jimmy has been at kiss gigs because of his photographer and best friend ross halfin plus without led zeppelin and alice cooper theres no rush and kiss
Gene is a decent player, he's solid but not in the league of players like John Paul Jones which seems ironic given the premise is Page lauded Gene's playing.
Gene Simmons plays his instrument well within the context of his band/music genre. That's all that matters, plus whether Genre enjoys playing bass guitar.
Enjoyment is a very important factor, to be sure!
Top 5,I find that hard to believe, maybe 50..
Gene is a badass bassist. Equally a great singer. Dr. Love is sneez!
Gene is pretty solid. !
I've only heard a few Kiss songs and don't have any desire to hear more. They just don't do it for me. So that would include Gene Simmons. He does, however, make great villains that I wanted to see get snuffed out in the two movies I saw him in. 👍😊
Gene Plays better than Nikki Sixx plus Gene writes his own bass parts he has some pretty cool riffs.
Nikki couldn't even hold Gene's guitar strap, imo.
I think Page said Gene would make a run at Entwistle’s money.
the bass line in the studio version of Detroit Rock City is never duplicated live - specifically the bass figure in the verses between singing parts. Amazing line, but Gene doesn't or can't play it
Ask Carol Kay what she thinks about Gene's playing lol.
That's a great clip....
I always thought Simmons was a solid bass player, better than good; incredibly tight and tasteful…but he ain’t no John Entwhistle lmbo.
Pray up.
My old cover band used to do "Rock & Roll All Night" and I thought Gene played great lines on that tune.
Apparently good enough to fool the public! 😂
Take the “ Gene Simmons visual test “
Go here on UA-cam and start watching KISS videos performing live .
In all that makeup, with all that costume gear on , dressed in war paint , with bombs and risers and smoke , blood and fire . .
Count the times Gene is actually LOOKING DOWN AT HIS BASS .
Gene isn’t a good or adequate bass player , Gene is a GREAT bass player 🔥
Exactly!
I always thought he sounded like he was influenced by Paul McCartney
Ya!
He very much was influenced by McCartney. You are correct. He wanted KISS to be like heavy metal Beatles. 4 unique characters and singers. The song See You Tonight is quite Beatles like.
Gene is an entertainer. His hobby is bass.
He's one of the better bassists in Rock and one of the top 5 singing bassists.
Yeah, not even close
Not in the same league as the top 10000
@@slipperyjohnson7016 Other than McCartney, Bruce, Lynott, and Lemmy, I can't think of another singing bassist in the genre that's as good with style and tone. Could argue for Sting, but he's kinda boring, and Geddy sounds like a shrieking marmot.
@@one_with_kevrything9825 Just because you can't think of one, doesn't mean there weren't TONS better. Say "No" to drugs and you might be able to think more clearly. HA, HA
Hahaha
are you talking about Gene Simmons ..................................................................................................of KISS?
Haha! Gene is a good bass player, but he's a better business man than bassist. Entwhistle was a god among men on bass.
Indeed! Long live The Ox 🐂! Boris the Spider. ❤😊
Entwistle bomb
I watched gene Simmons in Oklahoma. Tulsa convention center. On their I was made for loving you tour
They lost Lost half the audience between dynasty and before. I was there
Unfortunately Entwhistle wasn’t the greatest businessman
@@kasperkjrsgaard1447 LOL! I think you're right about that.
This is a strange argument. You have a John Paul Jones, a Geddy Lee, a Steve Harris and a Gene Simmons. All are fantastic and each is great in its own style.
"You can give John Entwistle a run for his money" ??????? Okay.. wow. What was Pagey on? Simmons is a good bassist but Entwistle was the best of the best.
To be honest I thought he wasn’t that good…. But over time and watching them live he isn’t that bad as a bass player. The song easy as it seems on unmasked is pretty good.
I think it was meant as a joke. I know Jimmy Page doesn’t really think Gene is that good. He was just being an English gentleman. Notice he doesn’t say John Paul Jones.
A joke, or Gene's embellishing.