Jimmy Page, What's Your Problem?

[nipsen]

..imo, Jimmy Page hates GH because there isn't one single Led Zeppelin song that would sound.. or play well if it's supposed to fit a steady beat, or be broken into pseudo- grips. Even if you stripped it of all the things that happen in between the notes and the bars. So.. if it was made into a GH track anyway, it would be so horribly bad that some of the really, really, really bad tracks (that really do poison the minds of the youth - I mean, I enjoy GH, but I literally cringe at some of the reproductions of the original tracks in World Tour) would seem like a tribute to the artist next to it. Really - it would just be best to make covers, and not pretend that you're playing the real song. Thought that was some of the charm with the first GH - that you're a garage band, just playing covers (badly).

 

[Slash Dementia]

I personally really dislike Guitar Hero and Rock Band for the same reasons as Jimi Page and the rest of them. I agree with them also.
Besides, it's their opinion, why whine about it? I love vanilla ice cream and if someone else doesn't I'm not going to put him/her in the spotlight and execute them.

 

[DigitalSushi]

great article mr Endo, pretty aggressive at the start.

Its funny that while musicians also whinge and moan about these games, ever heard a friend say "i'll play real guitar thank you", high brow snotty nosed brat, moaning about the encroachment of us casual types into their medium and blah blah and how its below par because its not the real thing.

I've never heard a murderer bemoan manhunt because its not real. Funny that.

 

[Abedeus]

Well, its insulting to guitarists that people who play these games actually think they can keep up (let alone play) real guitars with those who have already mastered them.

Exactly.

Idiots who think they are good at a game think they can play a real guitar.

Same like people who play too many FPS games and think they can handle a real one.

 

[level250geek]

Everyone complains about people thinking they can play guitar/drums for real because of their GH/RB skills, but you know I've never met anybody who actually thought that? I'm sure that they are out there, simply because if you look close enough at any group you'll find your unsavory characters, but it's not like they're so prevelant that real musicians have to constantly listen to a 14 yr. old who can 100% "Master of Puppets" on Expert call himself an "awesome guitar player."

Guitar Hero and Rock Band are games. The people who play them realize that they are games, and they are okay with that. Maybe they don't have time to learn to play a real instrument (that's why gaming is a hobby; you do it when you're not working for a living), or maybe they just don't want to learn how to play an instrument; it doesn't matter.

You don't hear the US military having hissy fits over Call of Duty do you? No. In fact, they capitalize on the fact that kids that love to play these games might want to shoot terrorists for real; it's time musicians followed suit and instead of whining about how these games are destroying music embraced them as a way to get people into music.

 

[Fursnake]

I think Jimmy Page takes offense because lately it seems that pretending to actually play music has taken a backseat to actually playing music.

 

[Lord George]

Its just a bunch of stuck up elitists getting angry at people having fun, hah ironic that's basically the general feeling that most adults had to rock and rock when it first emerged.

I like singers who embrace guitar hero like Amanda Palmer.

 

[Halbyrd]

I think Jimmy Page takes offense because lately it seems that pretending to actually play music has taken a backseat to actually playing music.

I'm sorry, that's an utter load of bull. People play GH/RB for the same reason they go to Karaoke bars, concerts, clubs and music festivals: to have fun with friends, while finding some connection to the music they love, whether that's singing/air-guitaring along, or just listening and nodding their head along to the beat.

Show me one instance--just one--of GH players displacing the band who actually made the song, and I might start to take you seriously.

 

[Fursnake]

I think Jimmy Page takes offense because lately it seems that pretending to actually play music has taken a backseat to actually playing music.

I'm sorry, that's an utter load of bull. People play GH/RB for the same reason they go to Karaoke bars, concerts, clubs and music festivals: to have fun with friends, while finding some connection to the music they love, whether that's singing/air-guitaring along, or just listening and nodding their head along to the beat.

Show me one instance--just one--of GH players displacing the band who actually made the song, and I might start to take you seriously.

I don't take me seriously most of the time, so you shouldn't either heh.

 

[Cousin_IT]

I still havent played any Guitar Hero or rockband games Nor do I think they are in any way a threat to music (whatever that means)

But that said, while we can harp on about these games being this generations walkman or napstar etc, at the heart of them is not a musical distribution system, but a colour matching rhythm game. You are not listening to music, you are playing a game. When viewed that way, the songs that are chosen are incidental, there to add a level of immersion to the game. Some musicians may not like the fact their their music has effectively been reduced, in the context of the game, to simply a series of alerts that help you push the right button at the right time.

If you take the walkman, napstar, radio etc & remove the music; what do you have left? Nothing.

If you take Guitar hero, & remove the classic rock music; what do you have left? A game that functions just as well but just doesnt have that pedigree edge to it. That is one reason I can see some musicians getting defensive about Guitar Hero & Rockband being championed as the future of musical consumption; the music is incidental & the game is the focus. The songs make the game better, but they dont make it work. Artists dont like to see the value or significance of their work diminished, which they perhaps see these games doing.

 

[Gunner 51]

Nobody ever had any complaints about Led Zepp stealing music, why does he feel entitled to whine about this? Yes Jimmy, we get it! This generation sucks and this used to be all fields. Now stop waving your cane and go back to bed.

Your post made me smile. Well said, sir.

 

[m_jim]

Well, its insulting to guitarists that people who play these games actually think they can keep up (let alone play) real guitars with those who have already mastered them.

Exactly.

Idiots who think they are good at a game think they can play a real guitar.

Same like people who play too many FPS games and think they can handle a real one.

I have never heard anyone make the claim that playing GH/RB means you can play the real thing. The only people I have ever heard voice that opinion is musicians claiming that gamers think that.

 

[TaborMallory]

Comparing music games to real life music and instruments is like comparing Call of Duty to real life war.

 

[sheic99]

Wait, Johnney Rotten is against RB/GH for wanting to learn to play real instruments. A guy who was accidentally hired for a band(whose bassist didn't know how to play) that influenced an innumerable amount of musicians in a genre know for angry teens who couldn't play their instruments.

Does this seem really ironic, or am I missing something?

 

[Maddness101]

Well, its insulting to guitarists that people who play these games actually think they can keep up (let alone play) real guitars with those who have already mastered them.

Exactly.

Idiots who think they are good at a game think they can play a real guitar.

Same like people who play too many FPS games and think they can handle a real one.

I have never heard anyone make the claim that playing GH/RB means you can play the real thing. The only people I have ever heard voice that opinion is musicians claiming that gamers think that.

Have to agree with this, No GH/RB players I know think that being good at those games (not that all of us are, heh) means they'll be good/decent with real instruments. I'm sure there are, unfortunatly, some people out there who think like that, but the idea is thrown around much more by people arguing against GH/RB so they can follow it up with 'But its not you [insert put down here]'

 

[cowbell40]

I'm not so sure people should be comparing the two activities so seriously. One is a tribute to the other, not a substitute.

 

[Fightgarr]

Thank you, Tom. This article was needed. I honestly don't understand how these games are ruining the musical industry. If anything I see it as aiding smaller artists who were selected for the game. Take Dragonforce as an example. Their popularity went through the roof after Guitar Hero III. Its not a way of destroying desire to create music, its a way to spread new music to new audiences.
Its also an accessible genre to almost any audience.

 

[gsf1200]

This is just more proof that being talented at guitar playing(or acting)doesn't mean you are not an idiot.

 

[nipsen]

...still, I mean - just imagine "Dazed and Confused" in GH.. *shudder*