It’s hard to pinpoint exactly which part of the Kurt Cobain avatar on Guitar Hero 5 that’s most nauseating.
Is it seeing a soulful artist, who once embodied so much explosive emotion and destructive energy, rendering a cold robotic facsimile jumping up and down like a buffoon while flanked by cartoon characters? Or perhaps the witnessing of computer Cobain zealously belt out the kind of bullshit mainstream junk that his music single-handedly destroyed, temporarily, with one history-defining record?
Over the past week, reactionaries have pointed their accusatory fingers at Cobain’s terminally unstable widow Courtney Love. The blonde terror has been furiously defensive on her Twitter as of late, and even made empty threats to sue Activision. Meanwhile, Nirvana fans glare her way as they have done many times in the past.
Whether Love, and to lesser extent Grohl and Novoselic, signed an ill-fated deal unknowingly is beside the point, though it would be nice if Love showed a little more, if any, effort to protect the dignity of her late husband’s corpse. The real menace, however, that led to this crime against rock is the played-out, idiotic culture surrounding Rock Band and Guitar Hero video games. It’s time to put the plastic toys down and move on.
Back when NOW extensively covered the burgeoning trend, Guitar Hero was a pop hit. It was an ephemeral buzz to stand in your living room and strike those notes at the right time, getting a deceptive taste of the charge that comes with playing live rock music.
But it has since become a crass commercial and monster hungry to lap up every possible dollar that isn’t being spent on buying records. Endless versions and niche editions have since sprung forth, and people are no longer interested. Just witness the sluggish sales of the Beatles edition of Rock Band. If the Beatles can’t move this plastic crap, I wouldn’t expect a Stones version to fare any better. It’s over. Let’s Get Back as the Fab Four once said.
And what did Rock Band and Guitar Hero video games ever do to prop up the sagging music industry? Arguably nothing, except maybe line the pockets of a few dinosaurs who hardly needed another easy paycheque (Aerosmith, Metallica) for doing dick all.
If Guitar Hero or Rock Band inspired some kids to pick up real instrument then there’s a silver lining somewhere in this latest advancement to rendering music disposable and meaningless. Cobain’s “rape,” as Love has recently put it, clarified the end point of the music video game era. It got ugly, feelings were hurt and a person’s memory was trashed by a clueless corporation. It’s time to hit the reset button. [rssbreak]
