Hey Rocksmith fans!
Lately there’s been a lot of talk about how @UbisoftSF isn’t catering to bassists enough with the weekly DLC. I had been racking my brain to understand exactly what exciting bass lines actually meant but I could only surmise it was a combination of difficulty, fun, and of course, personal taste.
In any event here are a list of bass lines that are sorely missing from the Rocksmith 2014 library and should be added tomorrow. Thanks in advance!
“Slow Ride” by Foghat
Only featured so far as a cover in Guitar Hero III this tasty bass driven classic features an incredibly varied bass part with no tuning off of A440 necessary!
“Age of Aquarius” by The 5th Dimension
While the first part of the song is interesting enough, 2:20 is where it really gets good. Matter of fact the whole Hair Soundtrack is incredible for bass lines. Watch/Listen to it and I guarantee you’ll be dreaming of playing those on Rocksmith.
“DMV” by Primus
Let’s be real, pretty much any Primus would be amazing, or anything by Les Claypool for that matter. So I’ll leave you to chewing me out for picking DMV over Tommy The Cat or Jerry was a Race car driver, or My Name is Mud, American Life etc.
“N.I.B” by Black Sabbath
Funny story, this was a cover in Rock Band when the game first came out (as DLC) and for whatever reason they cut out the Bass intro… Come on Ubisoft, we know that Guitar Hero somehow got four Sabbath tunes so surely you may be able to get one or two or twelve right? We lack Geezer!
“Longview” by Green Day
This one is a no brainer. An iconic and getting to be timeless 90s bass line that almost encapsulates an entire generation. More classic Mike Dirnt.
“Around The World” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Still waiting for the RHCP pack…
“Another One Bites the Dust” Queen
No explanation needed.
Update: Now available as DLC
“Little Green Bag” by George Baker
If you are a Tarantino fan you might recognize this one.
“I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5
When was the last time you really listened to this track? There is a monstrous bass line lurking in this classic chart topping pop hit.
Footloose by Kenny Loggins
Yo, K-Log doesn’t mess around. Don’t get left behind on this scorcher or you may find yourself in the Danger Zone.
“Holiday In Cambodia” by Dead Kennedys
Klaus Flouride as far as hardcore punk goes is a pretty solid bassist, I’d say he’s the Geezer Butler of Punk Rock.
“Van” by Descendents
Since we are talking about Punk why not throw in a Descendents song, way too much talent in that band!
“Maxwell Murder” by Rancid
Listen to this bass line if you really want the truth.
“Carousel” by Mr. Bungle
Ok this is a bit unrealistic but I’d love to pretty much see any Mike Patton bands in Rocksmith and Trevor Dunn is just an incredible bassist in general.
“Veil of Maya” by Cynic
Do you like your fingers?
“The Pot” by Tool
Hey it could happen right? Any song would be appreciated.
“Around The World” by Daft Punk
Or basically anything by them right?
“Death Blooms” by Mudvayne
Nu-Metal labels aside the bassist in Mudvayne knows what’s up.
“Stash” by Phish
While guitarists would certainly benefit from Trey’s jazzy chords and soaring leads being added to the Rocksmith library, Mike Gordon is a true master of his craft and basically any Phish song would be a dream come true for any bassist.
“Terrapin Station” by Grateful Dead
I always found GD to have this kind of country twang to it so perhaps adding some of their material could temporarily satiate the very vocal “Where is the Country music” fans of Rocksmith? Regardless Phil Lesh’s bass lines are absolutely legendary.
“I Shot The Sheriff” by Bob Marley and The Wailers
YouTube Original
We are due for some classic Reggae by now wouldn’t you agree?
“Coopers World” by Squarepusher
Squarepusher is just the best! Having a totally bass driven artist backed by electronica would be quite the change to the usual mostly rock oriented DLC we get.
“Roundabout” by Yes
Yes, we need Roundabout.
“The Call Of The Wintermoon” by Immortal
This song actually has a cool bass line, but you’ll uh… Just have to take my word for it? Extreme Metal is something that rarely gets any play via DLC so it would be cool to get a nod to Black Metal from Ubisoft, does anyone else agree?
“Super Stupid” by Funkadelic
We need more funk!
So there we have it, some of my personal choices to satisfy bassists for years weeks days to come! What bass lines do you think are sorely missing from the Rocksmith library? Besides Orion I mean.
Hmm…The Pot, eh? While we’re at it, toss in Schism, Lateralus, Aenima and fuckin’ Rosetta Stoned and I’d say we’d have a nice Tool bass pack. I don’t even play bass but give me some of that damn shit and I’d be camping out front of my local pawnshop that same morning looking to add a four stringer to my collection.
A Dead Kennedys pack would be epic.
I would absolutely love some Cynic.
One listen to DMV should prove why you picked it immediately. While we’re on the subject of N.I.B., how about the Primus cover if it? Les supra- pretzelfies it, squares that and dares anyone to do better (nice try, Ugly Kid Joe).
I know it’s a little obscure but why not a sampling of Geezer Butler’s side metal band G//Z/R? Good n chunky!
Bring down the birds/Groove is in the heart would be an awesome choice for bass players!
I wonder if adding a Morphine song is possible Im not even sure what his setup was but it would be cool to try. At least add Nirvana songs like Lithium, Smells Like Teen Spirit
Morphine is a great pick. Fretless bass could work on Rocksmith I suppose.
Awesome list. Love the Aquarius pick. Another that would be great (in line with the essential Longview) is Blink-182’s Carousel.
Fantastic article.
We need some Guv’t Mule! Blind Man in the Dark & Thorazine Shuffle especially.
Great list, i half thought the list was going to be 3 or 4 songs at most 6. There is enough content in here to keep us bassist happy for a while. Awesome selction.
Please Primus!!!!!!!!!!!!
I already request “Maxwell Murder” by Rancid.
It really matters what you are looking for. The bass for Midnight Oil – Beds Are Burning sounds fun to me, but others might say it’s not complex enough.
I would say bass is not being ignored. We’ve already got some fun bass lines in game but I could always get more!!!!
edit – where is Jethro Tull – Aqualung?
The Pot, and Long View are great picks!
I would also like to see some more White Zombie and maybe Rammstein – Engel.
Much love to Nate Dogg. Is there a way to get an edited version of
“Ain’t No Fun (if the Homies Can’t Have None)?
Anybody hear me on that one?
G-Funk!
Bootsy collins will be awesome
Funk is not domestically produced…..
Hollywood Squares
I’d Rather Be With You
Funkentelechy
Between this and you notable gaps article there are a lot of songs I didn’t realize I wanted , but now I want them immediately
Ugh, Phish?
the band Zombi has fantastic bass lines. they’re a synth/bass/drum band that play spacey horror rock ala Goblin/John Carpenter.
Weather Report – Barbary Coast
Yes! They’ve already shown they’re willing to venture out of just rock, so if we’re talking about great bass lines, we can’t leave out Jaco Pastorius.
Nice choice, but the lack of guitar is going make any Weather Report a hard sell.
How about the baseline laid out by Mr. David Brown on Santana’s No one to depend on?
Wow. Really nice set of bass numbers here. I agree. Well done. I’d buy almost every one you cited.
Anything by Sid Vicious
Don’t play much bass but I can tell you a “yes” DLC pack would be amazing. ‘Round about’ and ‘the ladder’ yes please “yes” 😀
I bought Bandfuse because I saw Yes’ Roundabout on it. That particular song has been tabbed to death but I’ll take it any day. If you’re a bassist and you want great bass lines you have to listen Chris Squire! Please RS put some YES in the mix! Long distance runaround, startship trooper, The Fish, Heart of the Sunrise, etc… And I 100% agree with THE LADDER Midget! Thank you for posting this, I don’t feel so alone any more!
No love for My Friends RHCP?
I’m sure there’s love for your friends, RHCP 😛
OH Hell Yeah. We are due for some Reggae. Not a bad choice to, however; I like the baselines in
Sun is Shining and
Burnin and Lootin better.
Sooooo glad to see someone giving respect to both Funkadelic and the Motown Sound. I like that Jackson 5 choice. That would even be fun for the lead guitarist.
And the RHCP. Well, you know if you have Funkadelic on here, gotta have RHCP and that’s a good one as well.
But oooooooh there is a ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. You talking bass, you should be talking funk (yeah you know where I’m headed) you talkin funk, you should be talking about the Godfather.
Best choices, Super Bad, Pts 1&2 (that bassist, with permission from his parents is 17 year old Bootsy Collins) C’mon y’all.
Other choices:
I Got That Feelin’ (forget the scandals, all I picture is little Theo and Rudy Huxable dancing)
Mother Popcorn
Cold Sweat
Come on Ubisoft, Bring it on the 1.
Something else that would just be a nice touch: Mustang Sally by (as my Dad called him) The Wicked Mister Wilson Pickett.
(note on another subject: Still waiting on Maggot Brain)
Grand Funk Railroad-Got This Thing On The Move (or any Mel Schacher bassline for that matter!), Chicago-I’m A Man, Cream-Politician, Steppenwolf-Monster, Danzig-Mother, Deep Purple-Lazy, The Who-Boris The Spider