Have Your Cake and Rock It, Too.
I can’t speak enough on the wonder that is Rock Band.
A lot of developers talk about you playing with your friends and connecting with your buddies while you play games, but as far as I’m concerned, there are few people who hit that nail as hard on the head as Harmonix has with Rock Band.
What with the second iteration coming out recently, we’re all back into our usual “You know what song would be KILLER on Rock Band?” and every time we listen to a particularly rollicking song or classic, we pantomime generously and imagine playing it on those curious plastic guitars and drums.
What would it be like? Would it be hard? Easy? How much fun would it be? Would they even CONSIDER it?
I find myself asking the latter question most frequently. The Metalheads and Classic rockers all seem to get their bids, but more and more I wish certain acts would get their place on the digital stage. So I guess this is my first little fantasy entry for Rock Band 2.
Full Album Candidate: Cake – Fashion Nugget
Cake is one of my favorite bands, period. I was introduced to them right as my eyes were opened to the wonder of 99X after being raised on Latin music and Star94 pop classics. My old friend Max spun me this album, and Limp Bizkit’s Significant Other (say what you will about me or that album, it was eye-opening and life-changing for me in many ways) on the same day… and let me tell you, I felt like I was doing something WRONG, but I couldn’t stop enjoying myself.
Cake’s incredibly unique musical style is in many parts what makes them in my Permanent Top 5 of favorite acts. John McCrae’s half-talk half-sing vocal styles are not wildly popular, but they are very distinct, and as a personal preference— right in my vocal range (though I am still petrified at the thought of singing even in front of 3 of my closest friends.) Moreover, many of the songs that would be perfect for Rock Band would have some interesting curveball challenges for the bored microphone holder— “Stickshifts & Safetybelts” alone has notes held for 12 measures!
Their rolling bass lines are almost always groovy and interesting… which if you ask me, is an area sorely lacking in the current line-up for Rock Band. Most of the bass lines are absolutely sleep-inducingly boring in their simplicity, or are solo-guitar difficult on the more Thrash-metal side of things. It is my honest opinion that the two guitar-wielding players would end up fighting over who gets to play BASS over guitar… seriously.
Which is not to say that the guitar is poor, by any means. A wide range of styles that influence the guitar playing in the band, from country-rock slide to funky ska-ish— there is plenty here to ensure the guitar parts are very different from most of the current catalog.
Fashion Nugget is one of the best albums of it’s 90’s Alternative era, and of the band’s capacity— crafting an incredibly signature sound that is incredibly fun to listen to, even 12 years later.
If you were alive and had ears circa late 1996, you PROBABLY heard “The Distance”. It’s their most notable song, a hit single of it’s time that defined the band’s sound and style as well as the “alternative” style. With copious use of blaring trumpet, vibraslap and organ there was little else to compare Cake to, then or today. I have been an avid fan for YEARS now, and The Distance is STILL one of my favorite songs of theirs, and I think that says something.
Also very notable, and the main reason why I opted to suggest this album in question is Cake’s absolutely wonderful cover of the gloria Gaynor classic “I Will Survive.”
This isn’t the full song, it cuts out the bass solo that plays prior to the second guitar/trumpet solo.
If you ever have, or have ever thought, about covering a song, I IMPLORE you to listen to Cake’s version of “I Will Survive” as Exhibit A on how to do it and be ORIGINAL and INTERESTING. I find it increasingly difficult to hear covers of such quality, and then listen to bands like Hinder absolutely desecrate and trudge sloppily over Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild”. Yuck.
Anyhow-
Listen to “I Will Survive”, and tell me it’s not a good candidate for Rock Band’s song list; one that isn’t classic arena rock (YEAH!) or yet another awful, endless-string-of-red-notes, nu-metal song (NAY!).
Wicked guitar and bass throughout the song, consistent (not too challenging or too simple) drums. John McCrae’s unforgettable take on the classic lyrics. TWO awesome guitar solos, and the rarely-seen bass guitar solo!! Tambourine for the singer during trumpet/bass solos (I think).
High Points / Pros:
The Distance
I Will Survive
Stickshifts & Safetybelts
Italian Leather Sofa
Daria
Race Car Ya-Ya’s
—Wide range of difficulties and styles amongst entire tracklist.
—Wicked basslines to reinvigorate sleeping bassists, and maybe even encourage some fighting over who gets to play bass over guitar.
—Various options for band to play back-up vocals, what with Cake’s signature “Yea!” yelling, and call-back shouts. i.e. “She’s all alone, (ALL ALONE!)”
—Unique style of music currently somewhat unrepresented.
—Higher likeliness of coming to Rock Band do to heavy fanbase support on the Rock Band forums.
Low Points / Cons:
—“Nugget,” in all it’s glory, will likely not make the cut, due to it’s gratuitous use of the word “Fuck.”
—“She’ll Come Back To Me is a good songs, but is slower and of lower energy. Comparable to “Creep” or “Say It Ain’t So”.
—“Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” and “It’s Coming Down” are good songs, but may have formulas that may not be suited for Rock Band play on a wider scale.
—“Friend Is A Four Letter Word,” another slower song, could be fun to sing-along with… although the guitar is decent, bassline minimal, and drums may be too simple.
—“Frank Sinatra” may need to be edited, as it is a 12-second drumstick intro that isn’t game friendly, and is followed by an organ intro. After that, though, perfect for RB.
—“Race Car Ya-Ya’s” is a kick-ass song with a lot of personality, but it has an incredibly short run-time for Rock Band tracks at 1:21.
The Compromise: A Six-song Trackpack for Cake culled solely from Fashion Nugget, including the following:
The Distance
I Will Survive
Daria
Frank Sinatra
Stickshifts & Safetybelts
& Italian Leather Sofa
All six-songs can be obtained for $9.99, or for $1.99 a pop if purchased individually. Additionally, all Cake fans mourn tearfully the exclusion of Nugget due to it’s 20 approximate uses of the word “Fuck” in a 4-minute span.
Then again… maybe if we’re lucky, Cake will re-record it for Harmonix, exchanging for the word “Funk,” possibly making it all the much more fun to sing.
~LX implores everyone to supplement the word “Fuck” back into it’s rightful place when singing Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know.” Otherwise, it lops the beautiful estrogen-fueled fury right out of the chick-rock anthem.
Comments
← DiscomBOBulated PREMIERE!! Left 4 Dead gives Right 2 Life. →
