Music News & Reviews

'Guitar Hero,' 'Rock Band' fight all-out music war

From The Associated Press:

'Guitar Hero,' 'Rock Band' fight all-out music war
By LOU KESTEN

As one historic duel — the presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain — ends, another is heating up. The stakes are high: nothing less than the soul of rock 'n roll. The competition is fierce.

And you will decide — with your wallet.

In one corner is "Guitar Hero," the franchise that revolutionized the rhythm-game genre in 2005. In the other corner is upstart "Rock Band," which rewrote the rules last year by adding drums and vocals to the mix. Several third-party candidates are waiting backstage, hoping that one of the two major contenders hits a false note.

Unlike the presidential election, however, this isn't a zero-sum game. I suspect many virtual rockers, especially those with deep pockets, will buy as many editions of both "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" as their publishers dare to release. Each game has its strong and weak points, however, so if you're on a tighter budget, read on. (The prices here are for software only; guitars, drums and microphones cost extra.)

_"Guitar Hero World Tour" (Activision, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, $59.99; Wii, PlayStation 2, $49.99): "Guitar Hero" may be the sales leader in this category, but when its developer, Harmonix, went off to create "Rock Band," many fans defected too. "World Tour" plays catch-up by adding, yes, drums and vocals, but also includes a music studio that lets players create their own tunes.

Most "GH" veterans will never crack open the music studio, and they won't be missing much: It manages the neat trick of being both simplistic and awkward, and the results won't get you onto the cover of Rolling Stone. I did prefer the "World Tour" drum kit, which has one more pad than the kit for "Rock Band" and feels more sturdy and realistic.

"World Tour" stumbles, though, in recreating a full band experience. The menu's to set up a band are confusing, and while you're playing it's nearly impossible to keep track of how your bandmates are doing. And unlike in "Rock Band," there's nothing you can do to bail out a friend who's struggling. The tour mode itself is really just a series of set lists, without the clever role-playing elements that make "Rock Band" so addictive.

Still, "Guitar Hero" remains an enormously entertaining social game. It has a nicely varied library of songs ("Beat It," "On the Road Again," even some foreign-language tunes) that will undoubtedly grow. Activision and its Neversoft studio have a few kinks to work out, but that shouldn't stop rock fans from taking this tour. Three stars out of four.

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Get Jack Bruce away from the bar!

Apparently they should cut off the wine at the annual Classic Rock Awards in the UK before 9PM. Cream's Jack Bruce had a few not-so-nice comments to say about those rock n' roll hacks - Led Zeppelin. I guess The Rolling Stones send Jack Christmas cards.

From Classic Rock:

Jack Bruce picked up the Classic Album gong for Cream’s Disraeli Gears at last night's Classic Rock awards.

After the ceremony Dave Ling grabbed Bruce for a quickfire interview – and was stunned when the legendary bassist launched into an extraordinary anti-Led Zeppelin tirade.

Here's a transcript of what transpired…

The million dollar question: Are Cream going to do anything again?
Oh yeah, I’m sure we will. But we’ll have Todd Rundgren [who’s just walked by] in the band by then.

It’s good news that there might be more from Cream.
Well, the trouble is that I’m doing so many amazing things on my own. Cream is just a band from many, many years ago, and we did do something [referring to the reunion shows in 2005]… Everybody talks about Led Zeppelin, and they played one fucking gig – one fucking lame gig – while Cream did weeks of gigs; proper gigs, not just a lame gig like Zeppelin did, with all the [vocal] keys lowered and everything. We played everything in the original keys. [Becoming animated]: Fuck off, Zeppelin, you’re crap. You’ve always been crap and you’ll never be anything else. The worst thing is that people believe the crap that they’re sold. Cream is 10 times the band that Led Zeppelin is.

That’s a bold opinion.
What? You’re gonna compare Eric Clapton with that fucking Jimmy Page? Would you really compare that?

To be fair, they’re different kinds of player, aren’t they?
No! Eric’s good and Jimmy’s crap. And with that I rest my case.

Are you having a good time this evening?
Sure. Yeah. I always have a good time, but especially tonight.

Especially tonight? So do you go to a lot of awards ceremonies?
No. I don’t go to anything. I’m not allowed out. I’m not even allowed in.

So what made you come along to this?
My wife and my kids insisted.

Why did they insist? Do they like magazine?
They like the magazine, yeah. I like your magazine, too. But that doesn’t mean I have to go along to your awards.

So who have you spent quality time with?
I met a lot of old friends. Jeff Beck. Gary Moore – loads and loads of people that I don’t often see. It’s nice to catch up with them again. Ozzy’s here and it’s really nice.

The atmosphere is quite chilled-out.
It’s excellent. No pressure. It’s quite different to the Grammys, though the Oscars are good.

So Disraeli Gears is now 41 years old.
Is it really? Wow.

It doesn’t seem like 41 years?
No. It seems much longer than that.

It must be an album you’re still proud of?
Of course. Albums like that are timeless. If you make something great – and Disraeli Gears is great, in its own way – it lasts forever. Nobody says Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony sounds dated, do they?

Read more of this story and fans' additional comments at 'Led Zeppelin, you’re crap. You’ve always been crap and you’ll never be anything else'....

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