Classic Rock Musings, Rants & Raves

Of late, there’s been a big and loud buzz surrounding the music video games Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Some bars and taverns offer “Guitar Hero” nights in place of karaoke nights. Slash, Aerosmith and the Who have all signed on, allowing their music and likenesses to be incorporated into these games. There have been reports that the Beatles have even been approached about putting out a Guitar Hero game of their own. Oh, the humanity!

I confess total ignorance to the inner workings of these games. But the idea of marrying legitimate classic rock with a video game sounds fishy to me. For one, I fail to see the competitive angle. I mean, how do you win? Or lose? Secondly, wouldn’t it be far more fulfilling if the “players” were playing real musical instruments as opposed to these color-coded props they include with the games? I guess it’s easy to label Guitar Hero and Rock Band as time-wasters for the musically incompetent, but without knowing all the facts, I’m forced to hold my tongue. Somewhat.

In a Rolling Stone article entitled “Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero,” from October 18, 2007, Harmonix (the company behind both Guitar Hero and Rock Band) cofounder Eran Egozy contends that players get “to experience what it’s like to play every single part” of a famous song. While I would argue with Egozy that players who aren’t actually playing an instrument are, in fact, not experiencing what it’s like to play every part of a song, there are, nevertheless, some measurable benefits attached to Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

One view is that these games are responsible for turning a lot of people onto classic rock music. Not sure that one flies. Who in his right mind would purchase either game if they weren’t into classic rock music in the first place? Scratch that one…

Another popular opinion is that these games are inspiring some people to learn actual instruments. OK, I might buy that one although the props used as instruments supposedly require a completely different type of hand-to-eye coordination. Still, if one kid picks up an instrument because he kicks ass on Guitar Hero (how ever that’s done), then I suppose that’s a good thing. Back in the old days, kids like me were just as inspired to play guitar after spending a night strumming a tennis racket and singing into an indoor TV antenna (Oh, the concerts I staged!).

But let’s face the real hardcore facts: these games are providing an additional stream of revenue for artists whose legacy catalogs are no longer the cash cows they thought they were. Who would have thought 20 years ago — before the advent of the Internet — that video games and ringtones would replace albums as income for some of the world’s most renowned classic rock artists? Certainly not me.

Maybe if they add hotel destruction, groupie gathering, or ego crushing, the games might ring a little more true. But in this politically correct world, you can’t have everything. Now, if I could figure out how to restring my tennis racket, it might be time for an encore performance.