Greatest Metal Bassist? Steve Harris of Iron Maiden of course.
Loudwire.com has recently run a massive poll where they’ve crowned among other things best drummer and best metal bass player. A familiar name has secured the no. 1 spot.You guessed it, Steve Harris took out prominent figures like Helloween’s Markus Grosskopf, Mötley Crüe boss Nikke Sixx, late Slipknot bass player, Paul Gray before knocking out Metallica hero Cliff Burton in the semifinals and Dream Theater‘s John Myung in the finals.
Writes Loudwire before the final votes were cast:
“Competing against Myung for the title of Greatest Metal Bassist is Iron Maiden‘s Steve Harris. The legendary band’s creative mastermind and galloping pioneer also took out some incredible musicians during his road to the final round. Harris has triumphed over an impressive list of challengers throughout this bracket, including Helloween’s Markus Grosskopf, Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx, Slipknot’s Paul Gray and Metallica’s Cliff Burton. Now he takes on John Myung in the championship battle!”
The poll ended Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 10AM ET
In related news, Nicko McBrain made it to the semifinals where he was beat by former Pantera sticksman Vinnie Paul. McBrain took out Tommy Lee and estranged Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward in the process.
Maiden Revelations 
Love him as we all do, he’s not in the same class, as a musician, as Myung or (RIP) Burton. Also not as good as Geezer Butler for the musicality of his playing and the contribution to the song.
He is, we will probably all agree, the standout best in terms of stage presence, creativity, dogged determination and all-round awesomeness. But even he might agree (well, maybe) that he’s not the best bassist on the planet.
I guess these are all relative factors anyway, so we can discuss it forever. The poll was about the greatest bass player and not the best player from a technical point of view. Myung might be superior to Steve Harris when it comes to timing and technique, but I find him soul less and pretty uninteresting. Point is Steve has a very distinct style and very characteristic sound that’s made a huge impact on the metal world. Hence most people voted for him as their preferred choice of the greatest metal bassist. Fairly democratic process 🙂
I thought discussing things forever was the whole point of the internet! 😉 My guess would be that Steve won because there are simply more Maiden fans than for any other metal band (who haven’t lost one bassist in a coach crash and had another leave that is).
Yes, Myung is a bit soulless, but I’d rather listen to Geezer or Cliff play than Steve. But, for the whole package, I’d obviously rather listen to, and watch, Maiden!
And yet, I wonder how much of his competition was influenced by him…?
‘Arry is most definitely better than Cliff Burton. I don’t even know how that’s up for debate.
Keep on galloping mr Steve Harris 😀
@Christer are you planning on doing reviews on Maiden member’s solo stuff- projects ??? that’d be interesting
@SakaRaka7: We’re going to be covering all of Maiden’s history at some point, including the solo projects. We’ll find the right occasion for it, and I’m sure there will be plenty of things to discuss. 😉
@2Mins: If having the most fans is the reason for winning such a poll, I can’t figure out why Nicko lost to Vinnie Paul… 😉
It’s all subjective. “Best,” “worst” are all in the ears of the beholder. Personally, there is absolutely no doubt that this man pioneered a very distinctive style and broke many boundaries. The bass, long before he came along, was pretty much considered a laid-back, coolness just bridging the guitar and the drums. Harry took that coolness and lit a fire under its ass. Cliff Burton, Blasko, and pretty much any metal artist after the 80’s would all consider him an influence. And with this, I am very comfortable with the poll results.
true
I think you could say all that about Geezer Butler, including that he influenced ‘Arry.
Arry was probably more influenced by any of the prog-rock bassists, Chris Squire in particular.
That’s a very good point, Ms Ray! It’s forever a shame that Burton got so little time in the world, but there is no doubt that Harris was a major influence on him. Lead bass!
When it comes to metal music, it would be hard to argue that any band has been more important than Black Sabbath. But it’s equally hard to argue that Harris doesn’t deserve this particular recognition.