..February 26 is Johnny Cash's birthday. He would have been 78 years old. Three days prior, about six and a half years since his passing(has it really been that long?), his final album will be released. To hear the title track, Ain't No Grave, click here. I've given it several listens, and it's pretty powerful. The link also has some details about the "Wear black for Johnny" tribute. It's honestly the least we can do to pay even a small tribute to a man who was far more than just a great musician. I have lots of black shirts and such, so I would probably have done it anyway by sheer coincidence. Now, I'll be wearing the black with a purpose! And I have no doubt I'll be wearing that new album out, too.

Like the title says, just dropping a quick line to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I know that some of us are going through various trials at the moment, but at the very least, I hope all of you are able to spend some time with your loved ones these next couple of days, and get a fresh start with the new year.

It was 8 years ago today that George Harrison, former Beatle, and easily one of the most influential, yet underrated, musicians of the past century passed away. Some of my vary favorite songs are George Harrison songs, and I wish he was still around. Take a few minutes and enjoy these videos in tribute, if you're so inclined.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Live at the Concert for Bangladesh)


Here Comes the Sun (Live)


It's All Too Much

Not a long entry today, just a quick post to let you all know that today marks the 40th anniversary of what many consider the Beatles' finest moment, the Abbey Road album. It was 40 years ago today that the Beatles' swan song was released, leaving us with a musical legacy that will likely never be surpassed by anyone.

(I know some people still insist on referring to Let It Be as their last album, even though Abbey Road was the last one they recorded. If their last album was decided based on release date, that logic would lead us to the conclusion that 2003's Let It Be... Naked was their last album, so go to hell.)

And yeah, I'm still playing The Beatles: Rock Band. It's still awesome. Impatiently awaiting the full album download of Abbey Road on October 20. That is all.

In case any of you don't know, the famous opening chord of the song "A Hard Day's Night" has been debated for nearly five decades. No one seemed to be able to replicate it, or figure out exactly how the sound was produced (This was well before all the in-studio wizardry infiltrated the Beatles' albums; this sound was created purely with their instruments). In an article posted late last year, which I somehow missed, the solution was finally revealed!


It’s the most famous chord in rock 'n' roll, an instantly recognizable twang rolling through the open strings on George Harrison’s 12-string Rickenbacker. It evokes a Pavlovian response from music fans as they sing along to the refrain that follows:

"It’s been a hard day’s night
And I’ve been working like a dog"

Dr. Brown deduces that another George—George Martin, the Beatles producer—also played on the chord, adding a piano chord that included an F note impossible to play with the other notes on the guitar. The resulting chord was completely different than anything found in the literature about the song to date, which is one reason why Dr. Brown’s findings garnered international attention. He laughs that he may be the only mathematician ever to be published in Guitar Player magazine. 

“Music and math are not really that far apart,” he says. “They’ve found that children that listen to music do better at math, because math and music both use the brain in similar ways. The best music is analytical and pattern-filled and mathematics has a lot of aesthetics to it. They complement each other well.”


Cool, eh?
Original article is right here.

Oh, and if you're wondering where my thoughts on The Beatles: Rock Band are, they're coming. I played through the story mode yesterday, and am still messing around with the various features of the game, and all its unlockable content.

Best Buy has the demo! I swung by there this evening with Cindy, and heard "Yellow Submarine" wafting down the aisle. We turned the corner and saw a little girl, maybe 8 or 9 years old, banging the hell out of the drum set, and doing quite well at it! After she was done, I walked over and picked up the guitar. It was the old Strat with the rather m ushy strum bar they've had there forever, but I was willing to tolerate it to get an early shot at playing this game. I didn't wanna do too much, as I'll have the game in a little over 24 hours, but I played through Here Comes the Sun and Yellow Submarine. The game is beautiful, and I missed notes on several occasions because I was watching the dreamscape. Both were fantastic, but I must say that the latter is my favorite. As the song gets underway, Abbey Road studio 2 begins to fill with water, and the titular sub appears as the Beatles are transformed into the looks they sported in the animated Yellow Submarine film. For the first time ever, we have a music game that will be as much fun for people who are only watching as it is for those who are actually playing it.

Tomorrow will be the Beatles Blitz Bonanza, which basically consists of me listening to all the albums and watching the movies all day. Wednesday can't get here soon enough!

Like the title says, reviews for The Beatles: Rock Band began flooding in beginning at 9:00 last night, and they have been overwhelmingly positive. That wasn't unexpected, but it is nice to see all the same. However, there are three points that are brought up by nearly every reviewer that have begun to irritate me a bit, so I thought I'd address those here.

The game only features 45 songs. That's typical for games devoted to a single band. When you consider the expense incurred by Harmonix in licensing the Beatles' music, that number seems more fair. Factor in the copious amounts of downloadable songs we'll be getting in the coming months, and it seems even less significant a point. Lastly, previous games devoted to a single band (Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: Metalllica, both released by Rock Band's competition) featured less than twenty songs by the titular bands, it seems almost idiotic to gripe about the number of songs included on the game disc.

The songs aren't hard enough. This one is a bit mystifying to me. At what point was it decided that crippling difficulty equals fun? Just because the songs in this game aren't as impossibly difficult as Judas Priest's "Painkiller" in Rock Band 2 does not mean they aren't fun to play. This game is an interactive journey through the career of the greatest band of all time, not an exercise in making your fingers fall off. And anyway, judging by some of the charts I've seen in some of these gameplay videos, I think the game won't be as easy as many people seem to expect.

All the songs are by the same band. No shit! It's a game about the Beatles! I swear to you, I have actually seen several reviewers complain about this. It stands to reason that you won't be interested in this game if you don't like the Beatles-- and you shouldn't be allowed to go on living either, but that's beside the point-- but I've seen several reviews where this was listed as a shortcoming of the game. That's stupidity you can't make up, folks.

Most of you know that I don't put much stock in what other people think about things; I prefer to draw my own conclusions. But these were just a few things that I've seen brought up often enough that I wanted to put my two cents in.

Two more days, everybody! We're getting down to the wire, here!

Like the title says, the hotly anticipated Beatles: Rock Band game is showing up randomly around the world, as unsuspecting retailers place them on the shelves a bit early. Those lucky enough to snag a copy early have been graciously posting gameplay videos for the rest of us. I'm eager not to spoil too much of the experience, but I gotta have some crumbs, at least. I'm only watching gameplay vids of songs that we've already seen chunks of in the trailers. I'm certainly not watching the closing cinematic or encore song! Of the half dozen vids I've watched, my favorite dreamscapes are While My Guitar Gently Weeps, I Am the Walrus, and Octopus's Garden. (The dreamscape for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band & With a Little Help from My Friends is quite spiffy, too.) I'd really like to see Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows (the excellent mashup from the "Love" album) and Yellow Submarine,  but I haven't been able to locate them just yet .

There are a couple of people posting these videos, but I find that this one currently has the most, and the quality is better. I recommend watching the ones I listed above, if you only have time to watch a few.

Five more days, people! We're in the home stretch!!!

Okay, I had a nice, lengthy, in-depth post all typed up. My fingers slipped as I neared the end and somehow, I hit some combination of keys that ERASED MY ENTIRE GODDAMN POST. After yelling a string of cursewords that the devil himself would be embarrassed about and having my blood pressure skyrocket to the point that my eyes turned blood red and squirted flames( I'm assuming here), I sat down to write a quickie synopsis. There is no fucking way I'm retyping all that.

So, to sum up:

-The collector's edition is overpriced. The extras and presentation are nice overall, but the batarang-- arguably the main draw for this set-- is a lightweight, cheap-feeling piece of crap that is permanently attached to its stand. This thing should have retailed for $80, tops. If I hadn't gotten mine for only $43 and change ($20 down when I reserved it, trade-ins with a bonus 25% for putting the credit toward this game, and paid the remaining $23 and change when I picked it up), I would have been pissed. As a raving Batmaniac, however, I'm still glad to have it.

-The game is AWESOME. I had gone into some detail regarding exactly why, but I'm not gonna re-tyoe all that. Basically, all the elements in this game are executed perfectly to make you feel like Batman. Things like silent takedowns, and dropping from a gargoyle and pulling an unsuspecting thug to his doom are pants-wettingly awesome. Guys, make sure you play this only in the presence of people you know and trust, because chances are it'll make you squeal with glee like a little girl.

That is all.

In a rare instance of me preordering a video game, the limited collector's edition of the the Batman: Arkham Asylum game hits today. I opted for the collector's edition because, frankly, it has so much cool shit in it that it couldn't exist without me owning it. I'm excited for the game, as it looks as if the Dark Knight will finally be done justice in video game form; every review I've seen for the game gives it a near-perfect score, and it is already being universally hailed as the greatest comic book game of all time. (Most comic-based games suck, but there have been quite a few good ones.) Once my crippled ass hobbles into Gamestop to pick the game up, I'll post some pics of all the extra stuff, and give my early impressions of the game.