I don't know if it's the speakers/headphones i'm using, or just everything that's happening in the songs at once; but it seems to me that in almost every Linkin Park song with the exception of Given Up and Bleed it Out, I can never EVER here Dave's bass lines whatsoever. Does anyone else have this problem too?
Well, Dave is not the most flashy bass player in the music world, that's for sure, but there are still other songs where you can easily hear his work: Crawling, In My Remains, Burning In The Skies, ... On the other side, you can hear him playing in a different (and more audible) way in his old band, Tasty Snax ; )
You can hear it clearly in Easier to Run, too (although Dave hates that song). Bass has just never been an important part of Linkin Park music. Not hearing it is not really a problem. Not for me, at least, although I would like to hear it more clearly.
No, pheonix plays a more inaudible role. If it was gone you would notice it but you can't tell it's actually there.
Most basslines aren't audible until you compare it with a bassless track. Your ears will focus on the vocals or lead melody every time before it focuses on the bass.
IN MY REMAINS has a really noticeable bassline during the second verse. Waiting For the End's bass is pretty easy to hear, so is the bassline in The Catalyst
I've found that his basslines have been easy enough to hear ever since Minutes to Midnight...Meteora's the only album he actually played on where his parts got buried a lot.
I usually never notice bass when just casually listening to a song. Not even in RHCP stuff, where it's the main part of the track. But when I pay attention it's actually pretty easy to hear...