Iron Maiden's Steve Harris voted as the world's greatest bassist: Poll

He was voted ahead of Cliff Burton of Metallica, Geddy Lee of Rush and Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath

A poll by heavy metal magazine Hammer found that Iron Maiden founder and bassist Steve Haris is the best ever.

"He's been the driving force behind the greatest metal band of all time. He's an icon, a hero and a living testament to the power of ambition, determination and humility. But more important than that, Steve Harris is an absolute beast of a bass player," the magazine said after a poll by its readers voted him ahead of Cliff Burton of Metallica, Geddy Lee of Rush and Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath. The number of votes garnered by each was not revealed, however.

"There are undoubtedly more technically gifted bassists in the rock world, but the sounds Steve conjures from four strings provides Maiden with a precise and propulsive backbone; that unmistakable, clattering pulse, as essential to the band's music as Bruce Dickinson's voice or those seminal twin guitar harmonies. Throw in the fact that H is also a truly great songwriter and it's not hard to see how he topped our poll."

The magazine, by TeamRock in the UK, said Harris, with foot on monitor and fender precision aimed, machine-gun style, at the first few rows of baying fans "is simply the visual essence of Iron Maiden."

"How do his fingers move that fast? Steve's playing style is so unique that, surprisingly, it has never been credibly emulated by anyone. Perhaps metal musicians just instinctively know that you don't mess with the master."

The top ten as voted by Hammer readers was:

1 Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)

2 Cliff Burton (Metallica)

3 Geddy Lee (Rush)

4 Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)

5 Les Claypool (Primus)

6 Paul Gray (Slipknot)

7 Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report)

8 John Myung (Dream Theater)

9 Justin Chancellor (Tool)

10 Lemmy (Motörhead)