Image from OhgizmoAs a music game enthusiast, there may not be a bigger day than 09-09-09, when The Beatles: Rock Band hits store shelves. A game based around the biggest musical act in the history of music made by the guys who make my preferred rock music game of choice is guaranteed to be "full of win". There isn't really much to be said other than it's Rock Band but with Beatles music.
As a Beatles "fan", my journey towards this game makes for a far more interesting story. Sure, I know all the hits, and I grew up in a house where I was taught from a very young age that the Beatles were the best band in the world. I never questioned it growing up.
But now I feel like I want to know more before I plunge into this game. I'm sure the game will do a decent job of starting off a person's quest into learning about the band, but I really wanted to form my own opinion about their music. So, I raided my dad's Beatles stash and ripped every album onto my computer. I've been trying to listen to albums front-to-back to try and get a sense of the full album experience.
It's really interesting to listen to this music and read the history behind each album to see where it was coming from. It's also really cool to see how they evolved musically. I'm not done my "vision quest" just yet, but my favourite album I've listened to front to back so far is Revolver. With the exception of "Love You Too", I thought every song on there was great, and does a great job of capturing the transition the group made from pop hits to more experimental and rock stuff.
Worst album? This one is easy for me. I think Beatles For Sale is awful. After reading about the making of that album, I could see why. They only had 2 weeks to record it, and almost half the songs on there are covers, and not necessarily great ones. With the exception of "Eight Days A Week", this album left a really bad taste in my mouth.
I feel really good being able to enlighten myself about the Beatles and form my own opinions about their music and to a point, their legacy. It's good to find great album music that never got any play on the radio. It's also a good feeling that I'm not going into this video game cold. 9-9-9 is only a few days away!
As a Beatles "fan", my journey towards this game makes for a far more interesting story. Sure, I know all the hits, and I grew up in a house where I was taught from a very young age that the Beatles were the best band in the world. I never questioned it growing up.
But now I feel like I want to know more before I plunge into this game. I'm sure the game will do a decent job of starting off a person's quest into learning about the band, but I really wanted to form my own opinion about their music. So, I raided my dad's Beatles stash and ripped every album onto my computer. I've been trying to listen to albums front-to-back to try and get a sense of the full album experience.
It's really interesting to listen to this music and read the history behind each album to see where it was coming from. It's also really cool to see how they evolved musically. I'm not done my "vision quest" just yet, but my favourite album I've listened to front to back so far is Revolver. With the exception of "Love You Too", I thought every song on there was great, and does a great job of capturing the transition the group made from pop hits to more experimental and rock stuff.
Worst album? This one is easy for me. I think Beatles For Sale is awful. After reading about the making of that album, I could see why. They only had 2 weeks to record it, and almost half the songs on there are covers, and not necessarily great ones. With the exception of "Eight Days A Week", this album left a really bad taste in my mouth.
I feel really good being able to enlighten myself about the Beatles and form my own opinions about their music and to a point, their legacy. It's good to find great album music that never got any play on the radio. It's also a good feeling that I'm not going into this video game cold. 9-9-9 is only a few days away!