Blur fans call Alex James one of the ‘most underrated’ bass players

Fans of the legendary British band Blur have called Feastival head Alex James one of the “most underrated” bass players in history.

The already thankless job of bass work has been lauded by fans of Blur who called James one of the best in class. A post to the r/Blur subreddit asked whether James could be considered an underrated bass player and one of “the best from the 90s.” Their question reads: “Is Alex one of the most underrated bass players and one of the best from the 90s? I know the label underrated gets thrown out too much, but I remember I saw a top 100 bass player list from a big music publication and he wasn’t on it.

“Girls and Boys‘ bassline should’ve automatically guaranteed him a spot, but there are so many Blur songs where his playing stands out. I can’t think of a better bass player for a big 90s band other than Flea and Les Claypool.” Fans agreed James’ bass playing had flown under the radar for too long, with people hailing him and Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood. 

One user wrote: “Him and Colin Greenwood are not praised enough for their playing.” Another user replied: “Colin at least is praised for songs like National Anthem, Alex seems to be completely forgotten.”

Another user added: “Amen, been saying this for years to anyone who will listen (and plenty who won’t). Girls & Boys and Entertain Me are obvious examples, where his bass stands out. But for me it’s more about how he lifts songs where it may not be as obvious, like Beetlebum. On Modern Life is Rubbish in particular, Alex’s playing is God tier. Pressure on Julian and Oily Water are very different songs without his basslines.”

A third praised James’ work, which stood out even during the “noisier” sound they had towards the end of their first run. They wrote: “And despite Blur’s later music becoming noisier and a bit more cluttered, you can still hear him jamming. Like on the end of Bugman, Jet‘s mammoth bass and Ghost Ship‘s slinky groove. Was a bit bummed on The Ballad of Darren that Alex didn’t stand out as much.”

James is not the only underrated instrumentalist in the Blur four-piece, with another fan suggesting Graham Coxon does not receive enough praise for his guitar work. One user wrote: “Yes, and Graham is an underrated guitarist. As a guitar and bass man myself, my respect for their combined talents is limitless. So many great lines peppered throughout their albums.”

Another added of James: “In my opinion, I think Alex James is one of the greats but is not mentioned anywhere near as much as he should be. I’m starting to think it’s just me who thinks he’s one of the best.”