Beatlemania

Happy Beatles Day everyone! I apologize for the blog's recent 3 week hiatus. Here is a post that I wrote 3 months ago and never got around to finishing...only it is most relevant now. 09/09/09 has officially been dubbed as "Beatles Day" for the release of the band's Rock Band game and remastered albums. The Beatles are currently the number 1 trending topic on Twitter and I just read several rumors that the Beatles discography will finally be made available on iTunes today. Many of you know me as the biggest Beatles fan you know. So naturally...I had to make this post.


A Fab-ulous Game
by Conor Levis

Yes, I am blogging about a video game today. It's not just any video game though. Months after the confirmation of a Beatles Rock Band game, details were finally released at a press conference on Monday (3 months ago). With Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison in attendance, we finally got our first look at the game with a trailer. Why is this important? Because Rock Band was once my favorite drunk game to play with friends and it instantly became cool again with a game dedicated to the greatest band of all-time. Not only that but there is the chance that this game will promote The Beatles' music and get some of the younger people and people caught up in only today's music to listen. If this game sells, which it already looks like it will, we could be headed for another Beatlemania in the U.S. It's going to be released on 09/09/09, which I found ironic given John Lennon's obsession and direct ties to the number 9 (Revolution 9 anybody? Number 9, Number 9, Number 9...). It's already got me giddy. Here's a look at the trailer for the game:



A few things I love about this preview. Definitely love the graphics. They have everybody spot on along with the venues. From Liverpool, to the Ed Sullivan Show where they first performed, to the concert at Shea Stadium in NY, and even atop of the Apple building. It looks like they are going to take you through the entire Beatles career.

I'm also happy about the song choices and the fact that we have some songs confirmed. When the game was first announced it was rumored that only songs from Please Please Me and Abbey Road would be playable...which would have been great anyway but is only a small sample of the Beatles work. It looks like they hit everything from the early years with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" to their experimental work with "I Am the Walrus" to the final albums with "Here Comes the Sun". Here's a list of the songs confirmed by the trailer:

"I Saw Her Standing There"
"I Wanna Hold Your Hand"
"I Feel Fine"
"Daytripper"
"Taxman"
"I Am the Walrus"
"Back in the U.S.S.R"
"Octopus's Garden"
"Here Comes the Sun"
"Get Back"

It has been confirmed that there will be 45 original playable tracks total. It's also been confirmed that the entire Abbey Road album will be available for download to play. Which got me thinking...what songs do I most want to see in the game?


10. Ticket to Ride

9. Yer Blues

8. Hello Goodbye

7. Can't Buy Me Love

6. Penny Lane

5. I Should Have Known Better

4. Getting Better

3. With a Little Help From My Friends

2. Helter Skelter

1. While My Guitar Gently Weeps



Since I made this list, 7 of the 10 songs I listed were added to the game.
Here is the complete list of songs in Beatles' Rock Band.

Also, two more trailers were created to show more of the game. Here they are in their entirety.





Not only is the game being released tomorrow, but also every Beatles album remastered and re-released. This is another chance to get people listening to some of the greatest music ever created. Stores across the country are having a special midnight opening on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and crowds are expected. It's been decades since the band has received as much buzz as they did this summer. The game has already done incredibly well in pre-orders so I want to make sure I get there first thing on Tuesday night and grab my game. I hope a lot of you do too.

Beatlemania 2009. It's coming!