[Rolo1446]

Oh, I know Brett Hestla is nothing more than the touring bassist. The mere idea of him actually contributing to Creed’s future music creatively is abhorrent...blasphemous even! I’d hate to see him tamper with Mark’s music. Hmph. Although, to be perfectly honest, I did like his work with the Virgos in “The Path of Least Resistance”.

Actually, I’m curious...did Mark write bass for Brother of Mine? I’d imagine Brett did the bass lines...but if anyone knows....do tell, do tell!...

Man, I love that song...Brother of Mine is great. Hm.

Anyway, back to the point:

TREMONTI Vs. MARSHALL -- BASS

As two pieces of puzzle are different, when combined, they fit together perfectly, accentuating and accommodating each others particular curves and contours, amalgamating to form a the grand scheme of things -- the way Mark and Brian seem to almost fit each other perfectly in the music they made is almost unbelievable. Let me give a brief synopsis:

Throughout the course of the album My Own Prison, Brian’s powerful, erratically paced, musically sound bass lines completely take Mark’s riffs to a whole new level.

Torn (throughout the entire song, Brian’s lines truly do a fantastic job of keeping the music in a nice tidy package, it sounds great from beginning to end, lots of influence)

Ode (From beginning to end, very strong bass lines, stand out really well, totally ROCK!...ahem...and maintain cohesion in the background...just great stuff)

MOP (Solid work)

Pity for a Dime (Again, solid)

In American (Solid? You bet)

Illusion (Perhaps some of the Mark/Brian combo at its best. I loved the beginning, or rather, opening bass line, and it just stayed flawless to the end...at no point does the music sound even the least bit flawed...almost TOO perfectly matched if you ask me,especially during the solo Marshall truly showcases his ability and in-your-face lines in this song AND the next....)

Unforgiven (Easily my favorite song on the album, and the most influenced by Brian as far the base line goes...this song is LADEN with base line goodness, he also shows his playing ability as a musician keeping up with Mark, and the extra crunch is just great....particularly impressive lines at the 3:02 “no more raging innocence” verse all the way to the end of the gold/god/fire/purity line)

What’s This Life For (Again, solid, a bit more subtle than the other tracks)

One (Solid yet again)

As you can see, Brian does a great job of showing his innovation and adding on to Mark’s general vibe/aura of the music to each song.

Now, on to Human Clay. You’ll notice that Brian’s bass lines are not nearly as loud, or rather, as “showy” in the second album. However more subtle, they are still strong, pumping up Mark’s riffs and maintaining quite an excellent rhythm throughout.

Are You Ready (Fantastic base work)

What If (I personally loved Brian’s solo in the Interlude, solid throughout, and if you notice, he stays on pretty well, following along Mark’s D-A 3h5 hammer ons in the song, giving What If that sharp, post industrial grungy feel I totally love.)

Beautiful (Great, albeit a bit more subtle than most of the “sharp” power songs on the album)

Say I (Ooo man....awesome...just...awesome...)

Wrong Way (Allow me to drool. *DROOL* ... Wrong Way just sounds plain good...the total dismal, clashing, slowly boiling yet undeniable power of the song...the way the base line engulfs the music...oh man...even all the way up to the bridge...powerful, truly, I think, Brian’s finest work on this album, in my humble opinion...but maybe I say this because this is my second favorite Creed song...)

Faceless Man - Never Die - Higher (All great)

Wash Away Those Years ( You can hear a bit more of Brian’s notes in this one, great stuff )

Inside Us All ( Pfft. No comment. )

As you can see, Human Clay offered more subtle, yet still very powerful and very evident base lines. Even in other songs like, “Is This The End?”, “Young Grow Old”, “Bound & Tied”, and “To Whom It May Concern”, Brian does a fantastic job of constantly staying in beat, and giving a great feel to each song, adding his own blend of crunchy base line goodness.

Weathered. Hm. Lets recall the puzzle analogy. Remember how Brian and Mark are different puzzle pieces? But they come together and fit well? And they make a good picture. Essentially, Mark tried to compensate creatively for the loss of Brian Marshall by adding his own ability to the music. However, what he did was...well...make a copy of himself as a puzzle piece, and he tried to fit the same shaped puzzle pieces together. Well, this just turned out odd. You can see the difference in bass lines between MoP and HC drop drastically in quality. Mark may be a genius with a guitar, brilliant even, and I KNOW HE WILL BE KNOWN AS ONE OF THE GREATEST GUITARISTS OF ALL TIME...and he may very well be legendary...but he just CAN’T use his own musical tastes/background/playing ability to accentuate his own music. It simply does not work. The key to a good bassist/guitarist combo is DIVERSITY that help bring out the strengths and the key points of the music.

Sadly, Mark, I think, falls short of Brian Marshall quality bass lines. It just doesn’t feel right.

But, again, this is ALL in my humblest of opinions. I’m just making CONVERSATION. Please, feel free to comment and add on...disagree/agree...and tell why. I’d like to hear if I’m making any sense.