Are you ready for Beatlemania?

[Bill]

I'm so out of it. I don't even know what the Rock Band/Guitar Hero thing is or how it works. I see kids jumping around looking at cartoons of guitarists at the electronics store and see fake looking guitar and drum kits at my friends houses. But I really have no idea what it's about.

[J-man]

Originally Posted by Bill

I'm so out of it. I don't even know what the Rock Band/Guitar Hero thing is or how it works. I see kids jumping around looking at cartoons of guitarists at the electronics store and see fake looking guitar and drum kits at my friends houses. But I really have no idea what it's about.

It's incredibly fun to play with your friends while drunk, and that's all that matters.

[Mike Eskimo]

People that play guitar and Guitar Hero ?

Ok.


Young people that just play Guitar Hero ?


Embarassing.


Video games - much like hours spent watching football - is considered really "male" but is actually as emasculating an activity as you could find.


Man caves ?


C'mon...

[Brad Pittiful]

Originally Posted by Mike Eskimo

People that play guitar and Guitar Hero ?

Ok.


Young people that just play Guitar Hero ?


Embarassing.


Video games - much like hours spent watching football - is considered really "male" but is actually as emasculating an activity as you could find.


Man caves ?


C'mon...

what about a man igloo

[David Barnett]

I've got both the mono and stereo box sets on order.

[David Barnett]

No Clapton on the "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"?

[David Barnett]

As for the game, isn't the controller really just Simon on a stick?

[Michael]

... for those of us who experienced their music and its evolution in "real time". I'm 52 years old, and my first Beatles single was "Do You Want To Know A Secret" on Vee Jay records; "Help" was the first LP I ever bought. I continued to buy their singles and LP's as they were released. For us, their music was a body of work in progress, not a fully finished Mona Lisa (great analogy by the way) to examine in retrospect. Being placed in its contemporaneous context you got all the sights and smells as they were happening, not as a history lesson. This does not mean it can't be appreciated and understood. I love jazz, but someone who lived through the development of the idiom listening surely has a deeper connection to the music than I do, through no fault or lack of appreciation on my part.

Musical permutations don't happen in a vacuum, they're the result of all the external influences being brought to bear on the artists, and are their musical reactions to them. Trends in art, architecture, and music are like branches of a tree, growing from what came before and nourished by what's happening now. I guess to some degree, to fully appreciate the impact you had to have been there. Perhaps the retrospective view is more... objective and comprehensive, but the risk in that is in applying the sensibilities, standards, and achievements of subsequent developments to an expression that went without a compass, so to speak.

Someone on the forum had a signature line that read something like this; "Writing about Music is like Dancing about Architecture". I really liked that. No worries, just enjoy!

[J-man]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

As for the game, isn't the controller really just Simon on a stick?

No.

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by J-man

No.

Okay, Simon on a stick with a toggle switch.

[J-man]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

Okay, Simon on a stick with a toggle switch.

They both have coloured buttons, but that's about the only comparison that can be made.

[tweedtone]

I have absolutely no desire to play Rock Band but the Beatles' music continues to be a source of joy, wonder and inspiration. I've had the pleasure of playing several Beatles tribute shows in the last few years and this Sept. 26th, I'm doing Side One of Yellow Submarine.

IMHO, you can never have too much Beatles.

[OutlawSteph1975]

Originally Posted by J-man

They both have coloured buttons, but that's about the only comparison that can be made.

I gotta admit.. it looks pretty fun. I imagine the market for video games is WAY bigger than those of us who know of lot of dominant seventh chords, so I get the marketing and the fact that the game can't be real music making in that respect.

[stevieboy]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

As for the game, isn't the controller really just Simon on a stick?

I thought it was just Dance Dance Revolution, but without the exercise.

(You get the idea after about ten seconds, no reason to watch the whole thing)

[VerySlowHand]

Originally Posted by imsilly

Listening to an old Beatles record to many is like staring at Leonardo's Mona Lisa, you know how significant what you are experiencing is, but the sheer familiarity of the whole event renders it underwhelming.

Underwhelming if it means nothing to you. Watched all the stuff on TV over the weekend and was transported back to my childhood on Merseyside. To me and my mates, these guys were like older brothers - part of the family. Not underwhelmed.

[JPW2105]

Originally Posted by telideli

Wow...I remember when the Beatles music inspired kids to learn to play 'real' instruments......

Very very very good point.... As a long standing player / teacher, I am disheartened that a lot of kids are more interested in playing this rockband game than picking up a real guitar.

It is just typical of the instant gratification mentality of the kids today.... bloody kids.... I remember when all this was fields.... not in my day... when I were a lad I used to live in sack in end of road.... By heck, work 8 days a week for tuppence ha'penny etc etc....

[jmecale72]

I was at Gamestop yesterday and I checked out the package that they are selling for this game. Looks like with the package you get the set of drums with the Beatles logo on the bass drum head and the Hofner bass. George's and John's guitar are being sold separately.

[metropolis74]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

No Clapton on the "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"?

Maybe after scoring 1,000,000 points the Clapton character is unlocked

I'm not a fan of Guitar Hero by any means, but I'm amazed at the little details that they got right with the Beatles...Ringo's swaying right hand on the high-hat, John and George pull out the Fender Bass VI for some songs just like in the studio, the Shea Stadium and Buddakon scenes are pretty accurate, and during the rooftop performance Ringo even has a cymbal with rivets just like he really had on that day. That's some nit-picking details that only a Beatle geek like me would notice.

The game still gets some things wrong, so I'm sure they had to do some guesswork for most of it. The game creators just couldn't put a warning in that for 'Back in the USSR' your buddy playing Ringo has to leave the room in a huff while whoever is playing Paul fill in on drums. Of course the Beatles never performed many of the songs on the game live, but it's a cool "what if" scenario.

[davechen]

I've pre-ordered the mono box set.

I played Rock Band once. It was OK, but I just thought why am I wasting brain cells trying to master a video game about playing guitar when I could be actually playing guitar?

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by J-man

They both have coloured buttons, but that's about the only comparison that can be made.

Both have colored buttons that you have to push in a certain order, an order that really doesn't relate to guitar playing or music much if at all.

[jjkrause84]

Originally Posted by JPW2105

Very very very good point.... As a long standing player / teacher, I am disheartened that a lot of kids are more interested in playing this rockband game than picking up a real guitar.

It is just typical of the instant gratification mentality of the kids today.... bloody kids.... I remember when all this was fields.... not in my day... when I were a lad I used to live in sack in end of road.... By heck, work 8 days a week for tuppence ha'penny etc etc....

I honestly don't think ANYTHING has changed. Young people who would be turned on to music and pick up an instrument are still doing so (as is evidenced by the 16-year-old GC shredder crowd). What Rock Band does is take all those kids who normally woould not like music in any realy way and give them an outlet for experiencing music in a "safe" and easy way withotu much intellectual engagement (lest they get bad ideas...). My sister and her boyfriend and associated friends all LOVE rockband but they hardly ever listen to or engage with music....there are NO musicos out there who are saying "Yeah, I was gonna learn guitar, but then I got Rock Band". On the other hand there's a lot going the other way around....putting down the plastic and picking up a wood and metal guitar.


I've played and I don't find it very fun...UNLESS I get to drum Still, I see no reason to denigrate it (and I'm glad you're taking a healthy amount of self-deprication in your post )

[J-man]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

Both have colored buttons that you have to push in a certain order, an order that really doesn't relate to guitar playing or music much if at all.

It's not meant to relate to it. Honestly, it's no more a replacement for playing guitar than buying a steering wheel/pedal controller and playing a racing game is for driving a car. Or buying a light gun and a shooting game is for joining the army, or buying Dance Dance Revolution was for taking dance lessons. It's entertainment, pure and simple. Anyone who is stupid enough to reject the reality for the computer game equivalent probably wouldn't have bothered with the real thing anyway.

And pushing coloured buttons in a certain order is an extremely vague description of just about every computer game made to date.

[stevieboy]

I'm with J-Man. It's just a game, if there's a little fantasy involved, that's just part of many games, video or not.

[63dot]

I think that this game can bring on a new surge in Beatles sales. That and the recent death of the man who owned the Beatles/Northern catalogue, Michael Jackson. Many factors will depend on the distribution of this game and how available the songs will be via iTunes and other sources. Also, will the popular media catch onto this and add more Beatlemania?

I also think a Stones guitar game could do pretty well, too. Start with a black Keef tele and we are on our way. As a guitar player, I came in thinking that this game couldn't possibly be as hard as guitar but there are aspects to the game which make it hard in its own right. At the very least timing/meter is improved through use of such a game and that can't hurt for real musicians. Sure, there will be kids who learn how to pose with guitars and that's not as important a skill. :)

[Ironwolf]

From the reaction to the game(s) that a lot of the members have, I'm guessing that the concept of "just having fun" is something that's lost on them.

Watching, or better still, being one of a group of party goers enjoying Rock Band beats the h-e double toothpicks out of the typical "my stock portfolio is better than yours" conversations most parties become.

God almighty people. Loosen up and have some fun. And stop giving crap to people who are having fun. You sound like my great grandfather expounding on how flying would be a passing fad. In 1963.

[upinthemteles]

Originally Posted by telideli

The rewards in the game are 'instantaneous'. Video game addiction is a serious affliction.

We really should outlaw these games, the games we had in our day were different, definitely not as potent. Kids get these really advanced vidya games now and they just knock your socks off.

[Mechanic]

I will buy the games as my kids and grand kids play it. I SUCK at it but watch them play. I try it for comic relief for my family. I love the visuals I saw on the Youtube clip. I've 3 grand kids that want to play the real thing from this game. They're 6, 12,& 14 and wouldn't have tried without the game. As for the remasters, people are raving about them. Maybe work a couple hour of OT for it later on but I won't join the feeding frenzy.

[telideli]

Originally Posted by upinthemteles

We really should outlaw these games, the games we had in our day were different, definitely not as potent. Kids get these really advanced vidya games now and they just knock your socks off.

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/f...diction-no-fun

[zimbo]

IMO the Beatles will be much better to listen to than than the Jonas Brothers.

On the other hand the resissued CD's will sound no different than the original CD's/ It's just a moneymaker for Paul and Ringo. Who say they really aren't interested in the money.

[Hiker]

I've been studying (some of the) Beatles songs whilst sittin' in the woodshed, lately.

Nah, not caught up in the 'game' release, and for those of you that are...enjoy!

[bendecaster]

9/9 is here, and I'm ready!

[BoogerRooger]

Love the Beatles and I look forward to hearing the re-mastered albums, paticularly Rubber Soul and Revolver.

Just makes me sad and frustrated that there's no new music that creates the same sort of excitement that's been generated by a band that split 40 years ago!.

[Overseer]

Originally Posted by zimbo

It's just a moneymaker for Paul and Ringo. Who say they really aren't interested in the money.

dont you mean jacko's estate? :)

[telideli]

I can't wait for the plastic sitar to become available during the holidays!

[Skully]

I can't wait for the plastic sitar to come out during the holidays!

That would be hilarious! I'm gonna have to steal that joke!

[telideli]

I'm gonna have to look for my old authentic 'one-size-fits-all' genuine 'mop-top' styled nylon Beatle Wig,....yeah, yeah, yeah, wooooooooooooo!!!!

[telideli]

Originally Posted by telideli

I can't wait for the plastic sitar to become available during the holidays!

....and the optional 'Yoko' Avatar that clings to John while he plays.

[all_identaties_taken]

One things for sure, from the numbers I've seen Paris and Prince Michaels 1&2 are going to be set up for life by the end of the year from Michael Jackson's share of the Beatles alone.

[all_identaties_taken]

Originally Posted by Mike Eskimo

People that play guitar and Guitar Hero ?

Ok.


Young people that just play Guitar Hero ?


Embarassing.


Video games - much like hours spent watching football - is considered really "male" but is actually as emasculating an activity as you could find.


Man caves ?


C'mon...

Well said.
Anyway 'Man Cave' always sounds like it should be the name of a gay nightclub to me, …not that there is anything wrong with that!

[Escondido Bound]

Originally Posted by all_identaties_taken

One things for sure, from the numbers I've seen Paris and Prince Michaels 1&2 are going to be set up for life by the end of the year from Michael Jackson's share of the Beatles alone.

I wouldn't be too sure of that. As I noted above, the Jackson estate AND Sony co-own the publications rights to the music--i.e., the SHEET music--and NOT to the Beatles' recordings of that music. The recording copyright is owned by Apple/EMI.

Yes, Northern Songs gets a piece of each of those recordings because they own the songs, but recall that it also has to pay John, Paul, and George in royalties. Northern Songs probably makes a LOT more when other people cover Beatles songs than it does when a Beatles recording is sold. And the Jackson estate only gets (at most) half of what Northern Songs makes after it pays John, Paul, and George and other expenses.

It's also not entirely clear that Michael Jackson's estate will own all of that music once the debt vs. asset assessment is finally done.

EB