Opinion: Rock Band Series and It’s Lack of Identity

The idea behind every iteration of the Rock Band franchise, is to allow the player to live the life of a rock star. The developers have always been implying that Rock Band is not just a simple rhythm based music game, but an elaborate RPG which allows you to role-play the life of a major music star. All four versions of the game allowed the player to dress up his/her star in a way that suited them, and their taste in music. And once your star was ready to take on the world, you’d play the entire repertoire of the game on your world tour, while your avatar was rocking out at the center of every stage. And for most this was, and still is more than enough as you mainly concentrate on what takes place on the rhythm bar, rather than on the stage; but once you take your eyes off the colourful rectangles that are rushing down the center of the screen, you’ll realise how bland and lifeless Rock Band truly is.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Rock Band, but with exception of a single iteration of the franchise, The Beatles: Rock Band, which was based on a single band and a group of diverse characters, the series is incredibly flat and lethargic. It’s like a mid-range high street fashion store, it caters to taste of nearly everybody, but by doing so it creates an army of clones, where one is more mundane than the other. Whereas, The Beatles: Rock Band is more like high-end fashion designer, who’s not as approachable, but always creates something much more interesting and unique. Ultimately, every single version of Rock Band, which ends with a number, is a mishmash of great ideas and below-par game design which is quite frankly, well, depressing. No matter how hard you try to craft your own, individual experience while playing any Rock Band game, you’ll always end up doing exactly the same thing, which is playing brain shattering 2010’s pop-rock song, while being covered in death metal clothes, and accessories. Because, you’re just a pawn in the hands of the developers, and you have to play the way you want you to.

One could argue, that maybe next time things will be different, that maybe next time Harmonix will have more time and resources to create a game which will be the ultimate rock star experience that they’ve been talking about for so many years.  But let’s be honest, we’re never going to get, and most importantly we don’t really need such game.

Some, if not most of us, play games like Rock Band, or Guitar Hero to live the life-long dream of becoming a rock/punk/metal/ska/etc. star. No game will ever be elaborate enough to create experiences, as memorable and impressive as the ones, experienced by the actual real-life ‘stars’, and maybe instead of trying to create new digital life for ourselves, we should at least try, and relive the lives of the all-time greats. 20th Century was host to a multitude of great bands and musicians, and would a be a great playground for any developer who would embark on creation of such game. In fact, the developer doesn’t have to concentrate on a single band, like Harmonix did with The Beatles, it can instead concentrate on a period, type of music, or a sub-culture that surrounds it, such as Punk.

In contrary to popular belief, Punk is not all about colourful Mohawks and studded leather jackets, as in 1970’s and 1980’s it was the only widely available form of public critique, that was not afraid to touch on subjects that others were afraid to even look at. While most were celebrating British Monarchy and Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, The Sex Pistols have played ‘God Save the Queen‘ while aboard of a private charter boat on the river Thames. Band’s stunt ultimately ended with all members of the band being arrested, and taken away, but has also made its mark on the cards of history and would be a great opening to a Rock Band which was to be all about the Punk music and the movement. This could be then followed by Skid’s ‘The Saints Are Coming‘, The Damned’s ‘Smash It Up 1&2‘, and The Ruts’ ‘Babylon’s Burning‘, before transitioning to the 1980’s and the emerging US Hardcore Punk.

 

1. Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen
2. The Damned – Smash It Up Part 1 & 2
3. Skids – The Saints Are Coming
4. The Ruts – Babylon’s Burning
5. Stiff Little Fingers – State of Emergency
6. Dead Boys – Down In Flames

This section of the story would ideally begin with the Bay Area Music Awards show, where Dead Kennedys where the ‘New Wave‘ addition to the overly mainstream event. However, in a true anti-establishment fashion, the band has stopped playing the song they were practicing all day prior to their public performance, ‘California Uber Alles‘, and following front man’s (Jello Biafra) statement, “Hold it! We’ve gotta prove that we’re adults now. We’re not a punk rock band, we’re a new wave band,” which directly attacked the organisers of the event, they’ve played ‘Pull My Strings‘ which statically criticised the American music industry. This performance served as a stepping stone for many aspiring musicians, and led to formation of multitude of Punk Bands across the United States of America. And just like Sex Pistols’ ‘Thames Stunt’, it could be followed by variety of different music acts of the same period, such as Rollins fronted Black Flag’s ‘Nervous Break Down‘, T.S.O.L’s ‘Dance With Me‘, and Bad Brains’ ‘Right Brigade‘, before moving onto, what some people consider the final days of Punk.

1. Dead Kennedys – California Uber Alles
2. Dead Kennedys – Pull My Strings (Live)
3. True Sounds Of Liberty (T.S.O.L.) – Dance With Me
4. Black Flag – Nervous Breakdown
5. Bad Brains – Right Brigade
6. Agent Orange – Bloodstains
7. Minor Threat – Cashing In
8. Circle Jerks – Letter Bomb
9. FEAR – I Don’t Care About You
10. The Plugz – Braintime

Third and final act of the game, unlike the previous would concentrate mainly on a single band, The Clash. And this is not because I favour it in a particular way, or because I deeply dislike what followed the first two waves of Punk, but because the story of The Clash highlights two very important aspects of this particular genre. First is the fact that even the most anarchic, and anti establishments group has to one day succumb to the world of commerce, and second is the fact that Punk can support many ideals, from both political wings.

Back in its day, The Clash was seen as one of the biggest bands of its genre, with concerts around the globe they were pulling the masses from their sofas, and straight into the stadiums where they’ve performed. However, popularity and ever-increasing fandom came at a cost, as with years the core band members where ‘walking away’, due to managerial decisions, and ironically, band’s blind obedience. First was the drummer, Topper Headon, who due to his Heroin addiction had to leave,  next was Clash’s biggest asset, Mick Jones, who left due to managerial decision of Bernard Rhodes. However, before all hell broke loose, and The Clash became a commercial act, playing the songs of the past, they’ve created some of the most intelligent, intriguing, and controversial songs in the industry.

‘Rock The Casbah‘ which featured on Clash’s fifth album, ‘Combat Rock‘, is defined by many as a catchy song, but in reality, it is much more than that. The song itself, just like majority of Clash’s ‘hits’ criticises not a person, or a state, but an idea as a whole. In this instance, The Clash chose to target the Middle Eastern persecution of ‘western’ music. ‘Rock The Casbah‘ details the perception of music from two perspectives, one is of Sharif, a Middle Eastern noble, and the other is of the Middle Eastern Public. Through the song, Sharif constantly tries to punish people for their disobedience and ownership of western music to which they ‘wail’, however, public disregards him on every step, and takes the music straight inside the mosque. Unable to deal with the public himself, he ultimately calls in a jet to bomb the mosque ”between the minarets”, however, as soon as he evacuates the site, the jet pilot tunes into the radio, and ”wail’s along with the rest of the public.

1. The Clash – Rock The Casbah
2. The Clash – Ivan Met G.I. Joe
3. The Clash – Washington Bullets
4. The Damned – These Hands
5. Dead Boys – Sonic Reducer
6. The Casualties – Unknown Soldier
7. X – Breathless

As a final product, the game which I’ve just outlined would be similar to the previously mentioned The Beatles Rock Band, as it would feature live performances, such as the one of Sex Pistols on the river Thames, and sets that are much more surreal, such as the one pictured by the clash within a song titled ‘Ivan Met G.I. Joe‘. But as I’m writing this article, I’m also looking at the latest sales figures, and if they’re anything to go by, then I deeply doubt we’ll ever see another Rock Band game ever again, and especially a game as licence heave as the one that I’ve just described. And it’s a great shame, as the Rock Band franchise could be something much more than a lifeless videogame a la Rock Band 4, which in itself has less personality than a piece of wet cardboard.