{"id":75,"date":"2011-08-10T22:23:57","date_gmt":"2011-08-10T21:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/?page_id=75"},"modified":"2016-08-31T11:02:36","modified_gmt":"2016-08-31T10:02:36","slug":"artist-reviews","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/?page_id=75","title":{"rendered":"Artist Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

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McCartney was up there with Jamerson as the freest of bassists: fluid, inventive, throbbing, you name it. They may have been the first two bass players of the rock era to receive the coveted All-Access Pass on their instrument. The All-Access Pass would later be used to infiltrate the deepest reaches of referential rock \u2018n roll recordings by Bruce Thomas through his work with Elvis Costello & The Attractions.<\/p>\n

rocktownhall.com<\/p>\n

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How crucial Attractions\u2019 bassist Bruce Thomas was to punk-pop icon Elvis Costello\u2019s sound \u2026 His inspired performances on\u00a0\u2018This Year\u2019s Model\u2019 put him in a league of his own \u2026 Nearly every track on\u00a0the album\u00a0is a study of his independent and cocksure style \u2026 King Bruce rules the sonic landscape with killer tone, wicked articulation and inventive lines that seem to jump out of the mix and whack you across the face \u2026 it\u2019s a must have for any rock bassist seeking some inspiration.<\/p>\n

Brian Fox: Bass Player<\/em> magazine: April 2008\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Bruce Thomas is one of the most brilliant and inventive bassists\u00a0\u2026 the word \u2018backed\u2019 doesn\u2019t do Thomas justice \u2014 his bass lines consistently brought Costello\u2019s songs to a new level with tasty, melodic parts that fit perfectly with the chords, melody and lyrics \u2026 Full of playful syncopations, chords, feel changes and slides, his parts masterfully straddle the fine line between careful support and break-from-the-pack creativity \u2026 It just proves the power a bass line can wield \u2014 especially when it\u2019s created by a master like Bruce Thomas.<\/p>\n

Karl Coryat: Bass Player<\/em> magazine: October 1996<\/p>\n

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Wanna learn to play bass guitar with impeccable phrasing, rock-solid groove and an adventurous sense of melody?\u00a0 Go get any of the great albums by Elvis Costello & the Attractions and immerse yourself in the beyond-belief bass work of Bruce Thomas.\u00a0 Everything you need to know about pop bass is right there.\u00a0 Thomas\u2019s agile Duck Dunn-meets-Duck Dodgers prowess on an oddly-colored bass lent muscle and finesse to the Attractions, one of the most versatile pop commando units ever to storm stage and studio and with whom Thomas was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Examples of his highly lyrical bass expertise abound \u2014 marvel at how he treats each verse of \u2018Big Tears\u2019; the bridge of \u2018Radio Radio\u2019; the brilliantly slippery \u2018Accidents Will Happen\u2019; the frantic \u2018I Don\u2019t Want To Go To Chelsea\u2019; and so many other great songs.\u00a0 Plus, if Thomas\u2019s bass line to the classic hit \u2018Pump It Up\u2019 doesn\u2019t make various parts of your anatomy shake like they have minds of their own, you should see a neurologist at once.<\/p>\n

Jeff Owens: Fender.com<\/em>: May 2008<\/p>\n

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We\u2019ve heard the melodic, the improvisational, and the simply driving. Bruce Thomas\u2019s playing on \u201cLipstick Vogue\u201d can only be described as virtuoso. I\u2019ve been playing bass for 27 years. At this point, I can reproduce pretty much everything McCartney did and do a passable version of Entwistle\u2019s \u201cMy Generation\u201d solo. However, I will go to my grave with the painful knowledge that I will never, ever, ever be able to even manage a shitty facsimile of what Bruce Thomas does on \u201cLipstick Vogue.\u201d I can try explaining it, but I\u2019d only sound like an idiot, because frankly, I have no fucking idea what he\u2019s doing in this song and less of an idea how he does it. Are human fingers even capable of moving that fast? And with that level of precision? And stamina? You want to hear the most complex, most exciting, most mind-boggling Rock bassline ever coaxed out of four strings? Here it is.<\/p>\n

Ten Great Bruce Thomas Basslines<\/a>:\u00a0August 2013\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The Profile Signature Model Bass Guitar<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u00a0                       McCartney was up there with Jamerson as the freest of bassists: fluid, inventive, throbbing, you name it. They may have been the first two bass players of the rock era to receive the coveted All-Access Pass on their instrument. The All-Access Pass would later be used to infiltrate the deepest reaches of referential rock \u2018n roll recordings by Bruce Thomas through his work with Elvis Costello & The … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2823,"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75\/revisions\/2823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brucethomas.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}