Bluesharpp:

This is Completely false.  Jerry Douglas and Dan Tyminski from Union Station rock on guitar hero, and I’d argue they can REALLY play guitar.  Expert Level is no problem after one day of playing.  Nashville Players just convert the colors to the Nashville number system.

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Merck Mercuriadis:

Bob,

You should go visit the headquarters of Valve – who make Half Life – or Bungie Software – who make Halo.

This is where the spirit of Ahmet and Jerry, Chris Blackwell or Herb and Jerry lives. The enthusiasm, commitment and belief is like Atlantic Records in 1968, or Island and A & M Records circa 1972 or Creation in 1995. They believe the world is their oyster and filled with endless possibilities and because they believe and follow through it magically is.

Halo, Half Life, Guitar Hero or Rock Band are the gamer’s equivalent to Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd but there are lots of other games too that are the Iron Maiden’s, Morrissey’s, and Radiohead’s of their world. Games that really mean something to gamers. Games that define and influence the gamer’s universe the way all the great artists defined and influenced- and still define and influence! – ours.

What you don’t get – other than the movie licenses perhaps – are games houses trying to create a blockbuster for the passive market. Even organic blockbuster Mario has to be important to hard core gamers who 20 years later are looking for the same innovation and exhilaration from Super Mario Galaxy – and getting it! – that we looked for in Captain Fantastic or On The Beach or Physical Graffiti.

The Games market knows a secret that we have forgotten. People who spend $50 to buy games are gamers. The glory days of the music business were ones when our focus was on the music enthusiast – the one in 267 that considers music such a significant factor in his or her life that he is not only willing but happy to pay for it – not the passive neighbour next door that bought two blockbusters a year. If you don’t think they exist think about who put White Stripes in at number 2 with 223,000 sold or Bullet For My Valentine in the top 5 and Radiohead at number 1?

Music will prosper once more – I believe bigger than ever – but first we will have to be brave enough to believe in the talent and in ourselves and then we have to remember that there are people out there who care about music and that they – not the 7th grader watching American Idol – are our future.

Best wishes,

Merck

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I get the idea of Guitar Hero and can see how it might raise consciousness of classic rock music for young kids, but here’s my one and only experience with it that I found depressing and ominous: A friend’s family includes a 12 yr old boy who couldn’t wait to get his Sqire Strat pack and start learning guitar and taking lessons. Kid showed diligence and aptitude and worked hard up to a point but then asked for Guitar Hero for a holiday gift and within weeks scrapped the lessons and has barely picked up his real instrument since. I was actually asked, as a guitar player who knows a lot of the classic rock tunes this kid is now playing on G.H., to try to have a talk with him extolling the virtues of continuing with his lessons and practice with his real guitar. I got absolutely nowhere. He’s addicted to this thing like a drug and the instant gratification aspect makes the much maligned Boomer attention span from our television programmed brains seem like Shakespeare level work ethic devotion by comparison.
I hope I’m wrong-

Rob Wolfson

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Take Back Productions:

I think that as long as Activision doesn’t try to milk to franchise to death (like they did with Tony Hawk) that we could see Guitar hero becoming a new platform for music distribution. Though I won’t lie, I think Rock Band has a greater potential for this, as well as the means to make it worthwhile. If you could spend $2 on a song (that’s what Rock Band charges per track, GH is like $2.50) but also get an mp3 for the song through iTunes or Amazon then I think we could see a greater interest in classic rock, and also we would see younger bands starting to write more intricate music.

Metallica is supposed to be releasing the single to their new album exclusively through Rock Band. And I expect to see the album sell better then their last effort, even if the album is crap. Because kids will buy it because it was in the game, and parents will buy it because they grew up listening to them. As all of these replays seems to show, it has a lot to do with convergence. Kids are getting into the music their parents grew up on. It’s a reason to pull the old LPs out or to get tickets the next time the stones come to town.

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I should have sent this earlier… a friend of mine that develops backend software for labels actually broke his knee playing guitar hero 1… amusing at the very least : http://www.guitarherobrokemyknee.com/

Charles Adams

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Matt Sherman:

To whom this may concern,

Mr. Lukather clearly is misguided when it comes to what video games are about.

I am a musician myself (keys, drums, guitar) and know many musicians that can wail away on an axe. Because we can play does not mean we think Guitar Hero is dumb or for non musical types. It’s a great party game to play with several friends. In terms of video games (now larger than the movie industry) and the rep they get from haters who clearly spent way to much time doing drugs in the 80s video games do not hurt brain power, they generally increase reaction time (hand eye) and memory capacity as well as the capacity to create and imagine. Most people are idiots. Don’t blame video games. The amount of intelligent people in the world have NOT changed. It’s just that more people are playing games and being social in new ways. There will always be a consistent amount of dumb people around and it has nothing to do with guitar hero or any other game. In fact some great "Guitar Hero Players" with thier new skills of hand eye coordination, rhythm and memory have taken to learning the real guitar. If anything this game is not only fun, but increases a players response time and this pays off directly with guitar in terms of reading music on the fly.

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Halo 3 RULEZ!!!

Luke is right, it’s pretty weird trying to play Rockband if you actually play, so I stuck with drums which I can stink up a room on…then it’s pretty fun I must admit…..

Something REALLY weird about people playing that game as opposed to breaking out the acoustics at a party….it really DOES take a long time to get good at that game, and maybe people should just grab the guitar instead…..but according to my very geeked brother and his kids, all the VERY best shredders at the game are actual guitarists, so that’s really fucking weird too….

The whole thing’s pretty weird, but I’m the guy who knows what it’s like to be taunted by 9 year olds kicking my ASS at Halo 3….how weird is that?

Wade from STILL

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Richard Young:

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head.  There is this real feeling of being a part of something great that both Guitar Hero and Rock Band bring out of people. 

Over the holidays, I went back home to visit family and my younger brothers had Guitar Hero.  I kept hearing a lot of people talk about the game (which naturally made me not want to play it).  One evening, it was probably like 6PM and I was bored and I thought I’d try it out and play 1 round.  I looked at the clock shortly after and it was 1AM.  I couldn’t put the thing down! I was trying to play it at every opportunity I had.  When I got back to NY, the first thing I did was I went out and bought a 360 with GH3.  For someone like me, those are big purchases and I bought both without thinking twice about it.  There was not an ounce of dissonance.  When you can feel that way after making a purchase like that, you know that the product is special. I’m now interested in going back and getting the earlier editions of GH as well as the Aerosmith edition when it’s made available. 

It’s like you were saying though.  It’s a club.  You feel like you belong when you play it.  Your friends and colleagues all talk about it.  If you haven’t played it or you’ve been ignoring the hype (like I previously was), you’re missing out. 

Also, my opinion of GH vs. Rockband looks like this…

Guitar Hero > Rock Band (if playing solo)
Guitar Hero < Rock Band (if playing with a group)

The other thing you should note is the guitar part on Guitar Hero is a LOT harder than the guitar part on Rock Band.  I like the song selection better on GH as well, but that’s just me.  GH is essential though.  Don’t deprive yourself, Bob!

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ROCK BAND WILL CHANGE THE WORLD OF MUSIC.

I haven’t loved a video game like this since Techmo Bowl on the original Nintendo. The past week I’ve sat in front of my TV by myself for hours practicing drum patterns and trying to become an expert at Nirvana’s "Bloom" like Dave Grohl or the Stones’ "Gimme Shelter" like Charlie Watts. That’s right I practice at this video game.

And herein lies the beauty in this simple game – we can get people to actually respect live music again.

Part of the degeneration of popular Black music into snippy jingles, bad cliche lyrics and unoriginal, over-sampled music is owed to the fact that at one point in time kids quit learning how to play music. In the early 80s, thanks to the Reaganomics, money was funneled out of the public schools, and the first programs cut from those underfunded, inner-city schools was music. So kids with a passion for music making, turned to new technology that made music creation easy: synths, drum machines, sampling devices, etc.

So fast forward to now – an entire generation of youth have no idea what the sound, feel or look of REAL instruments is like. Enter ROCK BAND to save the day. This video game has the potential for millions of kids to shun the "band nerd" label and head to band class.

The music industry is already all over it. In addition to the rivers of licensing revenue that this game will churn out, this could change the way an entire generation performs and listens to music. Artists will start making songs specifically for ROCK BAND – you won’t just listen to your favorite songs, you perform them. Just note that 4 of the 5 folks in that picture above are established, working music industry professionals. And word on the street is that mega-producer Just Blaze is a huge fan of the game, and wants to challenge me and my roommate one-on-one.

Don’t get me wrong, my 3 hours a night playing drums on ROCK BAND isn’t going to make me Art Blakey or Max Roach. But it’s a start. And once the hardware is created, I can imagine this game supporting any instrument – horns, keyboard, other forms of percussion. Kids playing this game will know what it feels like to hold an instrument, and play it. The vocal monitor shows when you sing even the slightest bit off pitch (you know there are a few artists out now that can use this) and the drum pads (with real drumsticks) test hand eye-coordination to the max.

Since they aren’t teaching it in the schools, why not do it on XBox 360.

-Vasco B.
Razor & Tie / KIDZ BOP

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My son had a houseload of kids over. One of them brought Rock Band and plugged in with their console and our big screen. They kept coming up on 70’s songs. I was two rooms away, listening (ha and waiting!). "Mister Hauser – please come in here – we don’t know this song." Man, I was ALL over it. I remember "Mississippi Queen" best from that night. I’d finish a song, get embarrassed (all sweaty from "the work"), and run out of the room, only to be called back within 5 minutes. Didn’t mind at all!

Chris Hauser
Nashville

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Lonn Friend:

I was sitting with Richie Sambora in San Marcos Square that day and a half we spent in Venice in 01.  Drinking pinot grigio, my video rolling, pigeons mulling.  He tells me a story about the night Bon Jovi was doing some benefit somewhere maybe Tokyo and Dylan is on the bill.  In fact, he’s backstage, drifting about the halls, no doubt halting each and individual he passes dead in their tracks (please see the retrospective at Skirball ASAP it’s breathtaking).  I’ll try and paraphrase in Sambora voice.  "So anyway, man, he just appears. Fucking Bob Dylan.  And Jon and I are standing there, talking or whatever, and as he’s passing, Dylan stops, looks at us and says, "I like the Cowboy song."

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Jill Augusto:

Bob – i am SO pleased you got the band back together!! Rock Band has changed the lives of many of us forever. In fact warner bros records is having a company wide Rock Band competition at our offices this friday. Its going to be intense!! I hear i could possibly win any iphone.__

And ps – who knew fall out boy wrote such complicated songs!?!? What is that about?

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Adam King:

Bob, It’s so funny to me that your final say on rockband/guitar hero
is the same as every one else on the planet: complete infatuation!
Not what I thought your reaction to be. I thought you’d like to know
that’s there’s actually a small, music shop up here in Vermont that
is actually using GH to train kids on their initial approach to
guitar. Guess if you’ve never played it before, getting the rhythm
and finger strength down really helps novices accelerate on the real
thing. Who woulda known?

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Dan Rodriguez:

Bob,

God bless you for writing this.

I managed a GameStop through my years in college, and I’m now doing indie metal radio promotion. Somehow I made that transition without ever noticing the common thread, until you just pointed out.

What I loved about that job, and this one, are those great moments when you share genuine excitement about what you’re promoting with the person you’re promoting to. You make a connection and wind up in these wonderful, deep conversations about this same thing. It gives you hope that the best is yet to come. I need those moments to re-fill my energy tank; they’re the perpetual light at the end of every dark tunnel. (Wow I’m just full of clichés today.)

It’s really sad now to look back and think that those moments came much more often at the shitty, minimum-wage game store job than they do in my radio calls. I wish I had the opportunity to talk to more MDs who are as genuinely excited as I am, like the game geeks I had way back when.

Thanks and best wishes.

DAN RODRIGUEZ
RADIO + MARKETING
The Syndicate

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Paul Chesne:

I walked in to a house party at like 3am in Hollywood a couple months ago. There were 50 people standing around cheering on impromptu groups playing Rock Band on a big ole flat screen in the living room. The fella that invited me directs videos for Norah Jones, Mandy Moore, and then a whole bunch of cool indie bands — He was talking me up telling everyone that I was a great singer/songwriter in one of the best bands in LA. It came time for me to sing. You know if you fail 3 times, the whole band loses. I did just that. It was humiliating. I shall stick to the real thing!

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As a musician and a gamer who has had the pleasure of working on the series, I can honestly say I suck out loud at the Guitar Hero! I’ve heard virtually every excuse (and even made a few up myself) as to why I can play Hangar 18 in real life, yet fail to make it past the 40 second mark in the game. I think as a whole, we guitarists are creatures of habit with borderline superstitious personalities, and nothing can spook a player more than a wayward twinge in a wrist. The fact is, GH uses a completely different set of muscles than required for the real instrument, but the beauty of the game lies not in the mechanics of technique, but instead lies in the sheer beautiful truth that it is entirely possible for our next Jimi, Dylan, or Eddie to emerge from the Guitar Hero generation and hold the torch aloft for generations to come.
 
Marcus Henderson, lead guitarist for the Guitar Hero videogame series.

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Ron Scott:

Dear Bob,
 
While reading the various comments regarding GH3, it was interesting to note that Terry McBride’s consistently referred to "we", rather than "I".
 
Now that’s the type of team leader that I would want to work with/for; regardless of whether his roster is classic enough for the current wave of games, Nettwerk will no doubt be plugged in to some relevant ideas in the near future.
 
Please continue to share the grapevine comments; they are an important aspect of your newsletter, allowing one a (sometimes) nicely rounded perspective from old, burned out souls like me, and freshly inspired new minds raring to make it work for all the right reasons.
 
Warm regards from chilly Canada, eh?!