Guitar Hero’s Last Gig
I have always enjoyed killing Nazis, eviscerating zombies, and scoring touchdowns on my PlayStation. It was all about the shooters and sports games… Until Guitar Hero landed. Honestly I wasn’t sure what to make of it. My six-string playing friends scoffed, and were completely frustrated when they tried it because, of course, it’s not like playing a real guitar. But cracking open the box of the first version of the game, and pulling out that plastic Gibson SG over my shoulder felt cool, felt like, man, now I can deliver the rock. And strumming along to the opening chords of “Iron Man” or “Smoke on the Water” gave me chills. For someone who was at the absolute zero of music ability, this was transporting.
Then I started playing and realized how much I sucked. The weakest part of my game was my pinky, the cause of my downfall many a time, particularly on the more intense fretting. The primary colors were tough enough—green, red, yellow, blue—without having to deal with that freaky orange. Still, battling through Joan Jett’s I Love Rock N Roll, Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out, Motorhead’s Ace of Spades and Ozzy’s Bark at the Moon not only allowed me to ride the subway with a bit of swagger, but also gave me a deeper appreciation for the inner workings of a song. Not to mention the power and nuance of the whammy bar.
I know there were a bunch of versions and variations, with Legends of Rock and Aerosmith and Metallica and all that. But there’s nothing like the first time, the very first time. (I think that’s from a Foreigner song. Were they ever in Guitar Hero?) It was something completely different—feeling a sense of accomplishment after achieving a new level not because, say, you wiped out slews of demon spawn, but because you had mastered a song. Even at the crudest level, that’s satisfaction of a different order.
So, goodbye Guitar Hero. Thanks for transforming our living rooms into Madison Square Gardens, and for making those of us who could never be a rock star, feel like one.
Metal: The Hardest Rock of All
Following Grunge, Alternative, and Hip Hop Your It List and Rolling Stone now bring you back to The ’90s and into the hardest rock of all: Metal.
The metal chapter kicks off with an introduction by the one, the only, the legendary Slash of Guns’n'Roses fame and the chapter includes articles from David Fricke about Metallica, Kim Neely on Guns’n'Roses, the man himself Neil Strauss chronicles Marilyn Manson and ends with a return from David Fricke this time writing against Rage Against the Machine.
Buy your copy of The ’90s today.
Mustaine by Dave Mustaine: On Sale Today!
The fall and rise of a heavy metal icon
From his early, crazy days as a founding member of Metallica, Dave Mustaine has seen and experienced everything in the world of rock n’ roll. From his young triumphs and ignominious ouster from the band for his hard-partying ways to his later rule over Megadeth, one of the most successful heavy metal bands of all time, Mustaine tells it all. Outrageously candid and in-your-face, this is a classic rock memoir —an insider’s look at the loud and sordid world of heavy metal.
Available now wherever books are sold
A small gathering of friends
www.rockhall25.com
The evite went out today for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th Birthday Party at Madison Square Garden in October. So far a few friends have replied that yes, they will be attending. Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Simon & Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills & Nash, U2, Aretha Franklin, Metallica and Eric Clapton. More friends expected to reply in the next few weeks.
Tickets go on sale for Amex card members on July 27th and to the rest of the world on August 3rd through Ticketmaster.
Bono is baking the cake.
