I suppose I could say that it all started with "Guitar Hero." If you don't know the game you're either too sheltered or just plain deprived. I've been playing "Guitar Hero II" so much because, well, for those of you who don't know, it's just plain awesome.
Venturing over to the dorms, I downloaded about 15 of my favorite songs from the "Guitar Hero" playlist on Bizarro and burned them all on to a disc.
This was about six weeks ago, and the disc hasn't left my car stereo since. One night, I was driving around with friends, Jesse and Dan, or, affectionately, "JD" and "D.Blaine," and the three songs we hit during the drive were Kansas' "Carry on My Wayward Son," Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" and The Allman Brothers' "Jessica" - all fantastic, all classic and all exhilarating to virtually rock out to. Somewhere in between the guitar riffs, it occurred to me how unmatched the quality of this music is when compared to most of today's sounds.
"Wayward Son" was written for Kansas' 1976 album "Leftoverture," and hit number 11 on the Billboard charts in 1977. This week, number 11 on Billboard's top singles list is Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around...Comes Around."
Now, I don't have any personal problems with Justin Timberlake as I think he's a great performer and has a great personality, but I'm sure anybody reading this would agree with me that in 2037, when Sony makes "Dance Dance Revolution Version XXVI" for Playstation 14, "What Goes Around...Comes Around" will likely not be included.
The point is this: what happened to music? What happened to The Rolling Stones? The Who? Floyd? Zeppelin? Bob Dylan? Jethro Tull? The Beatles? Hendrix? The Grateful Dead? The Doors? Clapton? Shall I go on?
But most importantly, what ever happened to the standards of quality in music? I'm so sorry for those of you who have "My Humps," or that ridiculously absurd "I Wanna F*** You" song slated on your iTunes. I'm really very sorry. Does anybody actually believe 50 Cent is a talented artist? If so, remind me to send you a bouquet of flowers to your hospital bed while you're in post-op recovery from your recent lobotomy.
Is it possible that, perhaps, songwriters have run out of words? Has every great song already been written? Whereas Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones could butter a woman into a heavy swoon with "Angie," the only way today's musicians can get into a girl's pants is to just outright say it. Akon's got the right idea, and he doesn't waste time being subtle. Who's got time for subtly anymore? We live in a fast-paced world and we don't have time for romance.
"I see you lookin' at me when you already know / I wanna f*** you." Wow. Truly inspiring.
Moving away from lyrics and back towards "Guitar Hero," I'd like to briefly comment on the lack of actual modern day guitar heroes. Now, this isn't to take away from some of today's popular yet truly talented guitarists, of whom there are many, rather than comment on their lack of blazed-finger rocking and spotlight-stealing antics.
They just don't exist anymore. Many guitarists have just become backup singers who play G-chord...C-chord...D-chord, and if we're lucky, perhaps, an E minor.
Does anyone even care about a quality guitarist anymore? Have we given up on both lyrics and instrumentals? Will anyone remember a guitarist of today as one of the greats? Or a drummer?
True, there will only ever be one Keith Moon, one Jimmy Page. They're the stuff that dreams are made of - scintillating with rock and roll genius. "Guitar Hero" is a pleasant reminder of the past's greatness during this sad, modern septic tank era of so-called artists. My only hope is that what has endured the past 30 years will continue to last into future generations...because most of the music from our generation sure as hell won't. Thanks ,"Guitar Hero."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
