MTV Games/AP
A still from the new video game "The Beatles: Rock Band," by MTV Games.
Could ‘Beatles: Rock Band’ tarnish the Fab Four legacy?
By Matthew Shaer | 09.08.09
The reviews are in for “The Beatles: Rock Band,” and for the most part, the critics are impressed. The professional musicians? Not so much.
Former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman says the game, the latest entry in the insanely-successful “Rock Band” franchise, “encourages kids not to learn.” Nick Mason of Pink Floyd has said just watching his kids play music video games is “irritating.” (Interestingly, Mason would not rule out the possibility that Floyd could – in the future – lend its tunes to a similar game.)
And Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page says there’s no way anyone will play his music on toy guitars. “Obviously, there have been overtures made to Led Zeppelin,” Page told a reporter for Starpulse.com, “but if you start with the first track on the first album, ‘Good Times Bad Times,’ and you think of the drum part that John Bonham did there, how many drummers in the world can actually play that, let alone dabble on a Christmas morning?”
Meanwhile, some bloggers have wondered about the effect the game will have on the Fab Four’s legacy. After all, this is the band that helped launch the rock and roll revolution. A band that inspired millions of would-be musicians, from China to Europe to the United States. A band that defined a generation. What could a video game – a glorified, super-glossy toy – add to that formidable history?
“Playing the Beatles Rock Band will deliver some joy,” argues music blogger Bob Leftsetz, “but it has none of the visceral excitement you got the first time you heard ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand.’”
Don’t Pass Me By
Still, the underlying issue here is one of relevance. Let’s face it: people aren’t buying many CDs anymore. The record industry is in trouble. And music video games are a proven success – a way to introduce the classics to a new generation of fans. To paraphrase the Beatles, wouldn’t it be a shame for this moment to pass us by? Here’s Seth Schiesel of the New York Times:
“The Beatles: Rock Band” is nothing less than a cultural watershed, one that may prove only slightly less influential than the band’s famous appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964. By reinterpreting an essential symbol of one generation in the medium and technology of another, “The Beatles: Rock Band” provides a transformative entertainment experience. In that sense it may be the most important video game yet made. Never before has a video game had such intergenerational cultural resonance.
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2. Remus | 09.09.09
Michael Johnson, you along with those rock musicians in the above article are all music elitists of the worse kind. By your “logic”, all folks who buy music to listen to are “sad” individuals who are only “living life through virtual experiences”.
It’s wonderful you have a gift that can give others joy but your own statements denigrate those same people for passively enjoying YOUR music rather than learning to create their own. Not everyone has the ability to actually sing well or play musical instruments. Besides, if everyone could do what you do, you wouldn’t be so special anymore, would you?
No one has said that Rock Band and Guitar Hero type games are the only ways to immerse oneself in music. But in a generation dominated by shoot ‘em up and fighting video games, I’m thrilled that my 11 year-old nephew has learned to embrace rock music, both classic and contemporary genres, via RB & GH. In fact, he’s been inspired to take up real drumming lessons and loves listening to rock music on his MP3 player. Will that lead to anything other than a deeper appreciation of music? Who knows? But somewhere I’m sure there WILL be kids who make the decision to learn guitar and drums for real, more kids who will be inspired to form their own garage bands. And somewhere amongst the millions of kids playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero, there may be the next Jimmy Page, Bill Wyman, John Bonham or Nick Mason, the next John/Paul/George/Ringo, and yes, the next Michael Johnson.
3. Chris Jenkins | 09.09.09
Guitar hero and Rock Band is lame. There, I said it. I’ve played it so I’m not just talking out of thin air here. I just don’t get the fascination with it. And I’m enormously happy that Led Zep refused to get sucked into this culture… although they did give up a bit of their street cred when they allowed their songs to be played on American Idol (the shame!).
The Beatles actually seem perfect for Rock Band. Their music is mostly fluffy boyband stuff, unless you’re talking about the later albums..
4. chris | 09.09.09
All these people moaning about music games making people not want to play the real instruments need to STFU. If you think that, it’s cause you have some kind of elitist complex and really need to go see a psychiatrist.
Most ‘real’ musicians who I’ve spoken to (i.e people who play music because they love it, not cause they think it makes them better than others) love music games, cause it exposes people to types of music they normally wouldn’t listen to amongst other things. Not every one wants to go ALL the way. Some simply enjoy listening to music, others go a step further and play music games, whilst others create there own music. You might as well say people should just stop listening to music and create there own. Lame
5. db | 09.09.09
Playing a music video game is not the same as playing music or listening to records. It’s not even a fair comparison - I’m not sure why everyone gets so uptight about it. Isn’t it fun to enjoy miming music with your friends at a party?
“Their music is mostly fluffy boyband stuff” - Chris Jenkins
6. Jennifer | 09.09.09
Will someone please explain to me what this is and how it works?? Kids pretend to play toy guitars while watching a music video? I dont get it … What’s the game?
7. seanny | 09.09.09
I’d be very surprised if the net effect of Rock Band (etc.) has served to decrease the number of musicians in the world, as opposed to capture the interest of a generation of kids. It’s amazing to think of how far we’ve come from the days of sheet music (as the primary method to “distribute” music), to now where practically *everyone* is engaged and interested in music– through their ipods, through music toys & games e.g. Rock Band, through the advent of cheap-as-free music recording/production tools, DIY marketing & distribution (via internet), and so on.
Every time some new technology-enabled idea comes along to expand the world of music (or any field of art for that matter) to new audiences and new possibilities, the elitists come out of the woodwork, horrified by the prospect of their tiny world having its strictly defined barriers demolished, rendering their archaic values of what constitutes “real art/performance” irrelevant.
Don’t get me wrong. Rock Band is a corny game and a laughable facade of actual guitar-playing, but any fear of it “destroying” music seems as unfounded as the advent of audio recording, synthesizers, ipods, and the sub-$1000 “home studio revolution” bringing an end to the music world when they’ve done the opposite– smash traditional boundaries, expand the dimensions of expression, and open up the world of music to the masses who may not have otherwise participated.
8. Alex | 09.09.09
What’s being left unsaid here is that Guitar Hero and Rock Band are an introduction to music performance. No one thinks that strumming a plastic guitar in time with a television screen is as impressive as, for an example, the acoustic intro to “Crazy on You.” However, it’s possible to learn the strumming pattern. The timbre of a person’s voice may keep him from being a lead vocalist, but if you can match pitch (as Rock Band and Guitar Hero teach), you can progress from there and do backup. The drum kit might not be as large or impressive as a put-together kit, but it teaches the maintenance of the rhythm and how to do fills without collapsing the song.
These games aren’t meant to replace. They’re meant to give a creative outlet for people who can’t perform, and to make the people who have that potential realize that they have it. I’d never have learned any guitar if someone hadn’t goaded me into plucking a few strings, and now I love it and practice daily. I also play the game, and I’m good at it. They’re symbiotic.
9. James | 09.09.09
My little next-door neighbor has been inspired by Rock Band to take up real drum lessons. It’s great! Because of the video game, he knows all the classic rock songs/bands and wants to become a professional drummer — he’s only 9!
10. Nicole | 09.09.09
So I am a DIE-HARD music fan… I have no interest in learning to play a guitar, but I like the idea of combining two of my favorite loves Music and Video Games. I think this is a great way to open up people to new musical tastes… Each game (rock band and guitar hero) does a decent job of mixing old and new music… If one young person plays a rock band game and likes what he hears (something that isn’t played on the top 40 music stations or MTV for that matter… not that they play music anymore anyway) and finds a love for that band, good for them!
I myself can’t get enough of the music… Plus it is a GREAT party game!
11. Jennifer | 09.09.09
I think I’m beginning to get what these “games” are–but what’s so great about rock music, anyway? Everyone’s talking as though it’s been such a great influence on contemporary society, and it seems to me rather the opposite. Especially the interest in it among children. That I find a little scary.
12. michael johnson | 09.10.09
i’m wouldn’t tend to say i was an elitist… but instead a musician, photographer, bicyclist, video artist, juggler, and world traveler with no time for “wanking” to vid games. i’m a DYI kid of guy. but if by elitist you mean some one who feels sorry for those who live their virtual lives interacting with a computer instead of real life (and women) i plead guilty.
13. Steven | 09.10.09
I do believe that video games are a great place to showcase music for bands, and should a band choose not to (Led Zeppelin), then that is their choice. However, when people as ignorant as M. Johnson choose to bash video game players as “wankers” then they need to grow up and realize that this is another source of entertainment no different than a movie…or (Oh no!) reading and commenting on articles on the computer (YES, you are still interacting with it, don’t use the lame excuse that you are interacting with other people since if you do, then many video games have this option too…it’s called multiplayer). Lastly, women play video games too, so your last comment about spending time with video games and not women is stupid as I and many others do both.
14. Michael W. | 09.11.09
My 13- and 9-year-old kids have been thoroughly transformed by Guitar Hero/Rock Band, both of them being inspired to pick up the guitar and keyboards. It is a flawed premise to think these “toys” won’t influence the next generations great musicians the same way Legos inspired generations of architects. The new Beatles Rock Band, which “we” bought yesterday and finished in one sitting, completely engaged my kids who proclaimed it the best of all the music-based games. I can tell they are already developing an all new appreciation for the Beatles, which they are already trying to play out on their guitars. So much attention and fanboy-ism was paid to this game and the Beatles mythology, I believe it is a very proper tribute to (probably) the greatest rock band of all time. Thanks God for it, too! I’ve been waiting for the day when my kids finally play some music I actually like.
15. John | 09.12.09
Led Zeppelin will always be the best…..
That said, I can play a guitar and don’t quite like the guitr hero type games, but I don’t want to rant about it.
And first poster guy, good job, hope that made you feel good about yourself.
16. Russell | 09.18.09
I am in a band and play rockband. I love playing around on my real guitar and writing lyrics and everything that comes with being in a band. But sometimes I just like to chill out and play some of the classics. Sure it is fun to go and learn a song and actually be able to play it for real. But there is something about the simplicity of rockband that just makes it fun as well. Also its just a great party game. Not everyone is able to go out and be in a band because not everyone possesses those talents. Rock band allows us to embrace our inner rock god and just let loose. Getting in a room with a bunch of people messing around with some guitars and drums and vox is a lot of fun. So lighten up! Rockband and Guitar hero aren’t killing the music industry
17. Alex | 09.28.09
I would like to say that Rock Band actually does make me want to learn real guitar. I don’t think everyone is just not inspired to play a real instrument. It has if anything only revived my love for rock music. And if it was not for these games. I would be probably listening to crap like rap.
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1. michael johnson | 09.08.09
want to have a truly transformative experience?? buy a guitar (or any instrument) and learn how to play it. and perform before real people. strumming fake guitars to vid games is directly akin to trying to “make love” to pornography. yes… for losers. seeing the beatles was certainly an epiphanic experience for me and millions of people. but it couldn’t be matched by the experience of actually doing it and creating my own real time experience. america has increasingly become a country of “wankers”, living life through virtual experiences. so sad. i have been performing and writing music since i was 16 (1968) and every single day real people walk up to tell me how i have effected their lives in a positive way with my music. beat that guitar heroes!!