5 Most Inventive Rock Bassists

Bass players tend to always be the dark horse in any band. The adulation is normally saved for the guitar player or the frontman while the bassist stands to the side and fills out the sound. However, there is always that rare breed of bass player that does more than just pull their weight.

While there have been many progressive bass players over the years (Les Claypool, John Myung et al), the rock bassists on this list have been incredibly inventive as they incorporated their trademark bottom end to some of rock's most classic songs.

Whether it be through stellar bass lines or through their all-around approach to the instrument, these players have certainly made the most of the four-string.

While the list is kept at 5, I would be a fool to not give an honorable mention to John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, whose concise fretwork and keyboard flourishes took each Zeppelin tune to new heights.

Nevertheless, here are a collection of bass players that were able to take their understated role in the band to the forefront of every song they played.

In a band as eclectic as Queen, each member had a broad musical palette that crossed many different genres. While the personality of the band was always in Freddie Mercury's hands, the groove of each Queen song came from John Deacon.

The way his basslines could veer in styles so effortlessly made for great musical moments like jazzy material, ("Bicycle Race"), hard rock ("Stone Cold Crazy") and even showtunes ("Seaside Rendezvous.")

Even though Deacon could make his instrument fit into any genre, his songwriting showed that his strength remained in the more soulful genres of funk and R&B. His song contributions to each Queen release yielded killer singles from the lovely "You're My Best Friend" to the fist-pumping "I Want to Break Free."

The man also gave the world the greatest bass hooks of the modern age on songs like "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Under Pressure."

Given Queen's tendency for doing anything and everything with their music, John Deacon was the ideal bass player when it was time to serve the song rather than use the song as a showcase. Over bombastic musical arrangements, Deacon is always right where you need him, keeping a groove tight and swinging.