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Denver, 6:17 PM
Fri Nov 20
53 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/17/09
What it lacks is tween crap, and that's a good thing. #guitarhero
11/17/09
People should make their own damn music! #guitarhero
11/17/09
I listen to music that I like. I do not listen to music that I do not like. Not only that music can be timeless and can be appreciated no matter when you are listening to it. I'm just as likely to love Beethoven and Mozart as I am Muse.
For that matter, where's my Beethoven Hero? I'll totally rock your face off with FĂĽr Elise. #guitarhero
11/17/09
11/16/09
But I think I've spent more time listening to even older dudes whose reputations are even more bloated... Brahms, Debussy, Rachmaninoff... I'm looking at you! #guitarhero
11/16/09
11/16/09
I'm sure there are many excellent bands that never make it to a radio station in the first place, but if you want to provide music that is both reliably popular and high quality, you go for the oldies. #guitarhero
11/16/09
I'm not much of a radio person. I have CD's from people on the radio, but most of my collection is not on the air.
But Lady Gaga? Now that's f-ing awesomesauce. (Okay, not really... I can't even stand to look at it.) #guitarhero
11/16/09
Indeed...
However, even classic radio is a bit shit in my neighborhood.
How many times have we heard the Simon and Garfunkel rendition of Scarborough Fair, or some good ol' Moody Blues in the last 5 years?
Here in Portland Oregon, talking about songs as such is blasphemy. #guitarhero
11/17/09
I'm pretty sure that Gold FM (Melbourne) just has a CD of 50 tracks that they play 24/7 on the station. #guitarhero
11/17/09
Reburn it every 2 weeks cause the laser ate through the CD... Yeah, you and me, great minds! : ) #guitarhero
11/16/09
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11/16/09
I can see where you're coming from, but it seems like you're kind of discounting electronic music as a whole. I would say things like Kraftwerk, Daft Punk, and any number of composers that use VST's are just as valid as music played with more traditional instruments.
As for the article in question, it makes sense to acknowledge the past, but not to glorify it so much. That just leads to us repeating things that have already been done as opposed to a new generation of kids helping to push music further than it's gone before. #guitarhero
11/16/09
The 80's can't even come close to the quantity of sheer quality that the alternative rock scene pumps out. Hell, 80's pop is better than most of the rock that came out. And sure there is good music from the 70's, but there is more high-quality hip-hop/rap in the past decade than there was "good music" in the 70's. With the internet and iPods, the only people still using their radios as music guides are people who grew up 30/40 years ago. #guitarhero
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11/16/09
Mozart was overrated! #guitarhero
11/16/09
11/16/09
How's the view from up there on your high horse? #guitarhero
11/16/09
11/16/09
My point is that taking GH and RB as assaults on current music, when a healthy portion of their library is current music is just moronic. Getting all worked up and saying that GH and RB are somehow indoctrinating kids into classic rock is ridiculous. It's classic for a reason. That's like saying fucking literature classes are indoctrinating kids into Shakespeare and Hemingway. Classics are classics for a reason.
But I'd rather say something pithy than type out exactly what I'm thinking. #guitarhero
11/16/09
11/16/09
"I don't know art, but I know what I like" is a perfectly valid opinion, but you cannot tell me that great art is only great because people know of it. People know of it BECAUSE it's great.
I can't believe I'm even arguing this. #guitarhero
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And, yes, Kiss sucks. #guitarhero
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11/16/09
Then again, bringing this into reality, we all know that neither of the companies making these games are going to bring out a game with a bunch of music that most people have never heard of regardless of how good the music is. #guitarhero
11/16/09
To claim that a majority of classic rock is art would to be to ignore even thinking about viewing it through an analytical perspective. The stylings of music from the 60s-70s is almost homogeneous enough to be sickening. #guitarhero
11/16/09
Putting words in my mouth and calling me narrow-minded is pretty critical, I'll give you that. But that doesn't make it true. I plainly state that classics are to be discussed and not everyone likes every thing.
And to be frank, as much as I would like my children to think critically, I sure as hell wouldn't want them claiming Hemingway sucks because they didn't like The Sun Also Rises. You can agree to disagree, but calling me narrow-minded because I recognize inherent value to classic pieces of art, even if I don't like the art or don't agree with the message, is kind of ridiculous. Seems to me, being narrow-minded is to close off others opinions. You don't learn from objecting to everything everyone says. You learn from listening to people and forming your own opinions. #guitarhero
11/16/09
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11/16/09
But then again, you're talking to someone who thinks the discussion of videogames as art is a fucking no-brainer. Of course it's art. Just the individual pieces (drawings/renderings, music, (voice) acting, etc.) are art, so why would the combination be somehow less than its parts?
There's obviously high and low art.
My point at the beginning of this whole discussion is getting buried in opinion and bullshit, so I'll state it again once and for all:
Classics are classics for a reason.
That does not mean you have to like them. I would appreciate a little fucking respect for them, however. Look, I hate fucking Shakespeare. But that doesn't mean that for centuries people have been wrong and that it's not art. I think folk and country music are festering, derivative turds. But I wouldn't say Woody Nelson or Simon & Garfunkle aren't great artists. #guitarhero
11/16/09
Even in the last year there has been plenty of talent that has exploded into the music industry. While they may not all be instant classics, they are making good music and show promise of actually pushing music as an art form forward.
The radio and MTV are no longer the primary way to learn of new music, at least not if you have any taste (I kid, kinda). Online publications, blogs, and sites like Myspace have already become the new means of discovering new, innovative, and simply put good music.
As for the idea that Guitar Hero and Rock Band are at fault, yes and no. It would be great for a Guitar Hero or Rock Band to come out featuring artists that don't get commercial play, but those would never sell, and how many people are really gonna go "Oh wow, here's this music game featuring a bunch of people I may hate for $60. Let me buy that and take my chances." We've already seen that most people aren't of that mindset, and most people aren't gonna be bothered to look up a bunch of musicians in a music game if they aren't instantly recognized. And honestly, I don't know how successful music games in the US would be without the use of well known, established artists.
EDIT: To clarify, we've already seen that most people aren't inclined to take a chance given the generally low sales of new IP and risky titles, the success of sequels, and the emphasis on review scores and sites like Metacritic.
11/16/09
Now that all the talk about rhythm games "saving" or "ressurecting" classic rock is said and done, people starts complaining.
It's the circle of life.
I can even understand where the guy is going after, but really? It's music, not rocket science.
You see, if the guy is pittying new musicians because classic rock is back on with Rock Band or Guitar Hero, know that lots of these new musicians use their own techniques to get fans all over the world. And that sometimes includes borderline pornography among others.
Also, it's not like every single kid out there who plays rhythm games will instantly become classic rock fans and automagically forget about new bands and music.
It's a niche market, just like the generation before ours had fans of older music styles.
Let's also not forget that new music is created from old. Knowing and liking classic rock doesn't mean that people will get stagnant when it comes to music style. It might serve just as inspiration to new ones.
Finally, like I said before, music isn't science. The main problem with people "glorifying classic rock" is the lack of respect for people with different tastes.
But that has nothing to do with games with plastic guitars and 3D models or gaming abilities. It's a problem way older than that, that happened on previous generations which obviously didn't have any rhythm games to start with.
Just think The Beatles. Their music is loved, people get inspired by it, and I also will agree that they are over-glorified.
But that fact alone never stopped new kids from listening to new music, and creating new music.
It's quite the opposite actually.
What I mean is: Let Rock Band and Guitar Hero be what they are - games. And trust society and our kids to their own views about classic rock.
Trust me. There are kids that likes the whole thing, but there are also kids who think it's all very ridiculous.
I mean, really, I don't think the stage performances are that glorified when you see they use cartoonified stereotypical versions of musicians back then, and not the real counterparts... #guitarhero
11/16/09
11/16/09
And now let me knock down his arguments. These games glorify music regardless of age - has he seen how much Dave Grohl is in RB? RHCP? No Doubt? Sure there is Rush and Boston and the Who too - but shouldn't there be?
What's the argument here; music from the 70s is was fun to listen to originally AND fun to play in these new-fangled videogames? Wow, bummer. Wait, no I mean that's awesome, of course!
Sorry if you had a bad experience in the 70s bro; I don't think a 'Frankie and the Drifters: Rock Band' is coming any time soon though. #guitarhero
11/16/09
Something being put out (and becoming mindnumbingly popular) that isn't your taste doesn't mean it's a horrible influence on the world. #guitarhero
11/16/09