Rock Band Licenses The Beatles 266
eldavojohn writes "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that MTV's Rock Band has gained the licenses to an undetermined number of songs. Details are scant, but it would be nice to see a whole game based on just the evolution of The Beatles' music. According to Reuters, this has been in the works for months. Hopefully I can finally hide my strained vocals to so many beautiful songs within the privacy of my home instead of drunk off my ass at a bar."
Bonus points (Score:5, Funny)
You get bonus points for playing bass left-handed.
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If you name your character Pete Best, you aren't allowed to play.
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Actually, rhythmically, Ringo (or Paul if you subscribe to that theory) was right on. It's just that a lot of the rhythms that were played were off-beat. There's a major difference between the two.
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I believe it is called syncopation.
Re:Bonus points (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, but Ringo and Paul were the tightest rhythm section ever. Most bands tend to slow down or speed up the tempo at the beggining or the end of a song. Not Ringo.
Besides, there's a lot of reasons why an aspiring young drummer should listen to the beatles, for a quick start, read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_starr#Drumming_ability_and_appreciation [wikipedia.org]
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You kid, but that could very well be a Challenge within the game (Beatles Tribute Band: five stars and play the bass lefty and you get quadruple money or something), or even an Achievement/Trophy on 360/PS3. Didn't one of the Guitar Hero games give you an achievement for only strumming up while playing the bass?
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That would work, yeah. What's got me excited is that I'm really, really shit at the drums. So this is the game for me!
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I really hope they would.
I truly love the Beatles, but I wouldn't say most of their catalog lends to the Rock Band crowd.
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Actually, while my family (wife and three girls) enjoy playing Rock Band, they keep saying there needs to be a Pop Band so that they know more of the songs......I say it's time to branch out. (RB2 is a little better, but still heavily rock.)
(And for the record, the Guitar Hero franchise has a similar song class).
Layne
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I am a big fan of hip-hop, but I don't think it would be that much to play in a rock band setting. It's centered around rhythm and lyrical flows rather than a melodic progression. There are of course as always, exceptions.
As for the next version of DDR,I wish they'd license some Wu-Tang.
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Rock Band before iTunes? (Score:2)
Re:Rock Band before iTunes? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Rock Band before iTunes? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Does the future of popular music rest with video games?
Wouldn't that be the future of the past's popular music? It's not like Fall Out Boy (or whoever is popular now) is releasing straight to Rock Band before going on iTunes.
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I thought the Beatles struck a deal with iTunes last year. Maybe I'm wrong as I don't use iTunes. However I understand why Apple records would be upset that Apple computers clearly violated their earlier deal and got away with it.
Re:Rock Band before iTunes? (Score:5, Informative)
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Jackson bought the publishing rights to the music.
I thought Jackson didn't own them anymore?
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He probably doesn't. But the point still stands that whoever owns the publishing rights really doesn't have a say in whether the recordings are used in Rock Band.
Does that include the lyrics that are displayed on the screen during Rock Band, though?
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Where are the tapes?
Looks like you'll never hear Creedence Clearwater Revival on Rock band. Fantsy records owns the rights, but has none of the recordings, but the'll probibly get some session guys in, if Fantsy drops their pants.
Short straw has to be Ringo! (Score:2)
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So tell me, instead of Halo, did you join the Marines?
Instead of Super Mario, did you become a plumber?
Instead of Ace Combat, did you then go to the Air Force?
Or are you just an uptight cock?
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...it's Simon Says with a soundtrack.
Man, I should try that sometime.
Anyway, you're clearly just sore because "harmonica hero" hasn't come out yet. Out of curiosity, are harmonica players considered musicians? You say "musicians get chicks." What type of chicks go nuts over harmonicas, exactly?
Re:Short straw has to be Ringo! (Score:5, Insightful)
Why the hell is this popular?
Because it's a fun game, and they aren't uptight dickwads about it.
Are all these people idiots?
No, but you certainly are. Games don't have to model something you can't do in real life to be fun. No one bitches about how people playing Call of Duty should pick up a real gun and join the real army. The only people who bitch about games like Rock Band are musicians who act all fucking cool about it. Grow the fuck up.
And yes, I play real guitar (as my nick might indicate). I don't feel the need to be a prick about it to everyone who doesn't, though.
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I always bitch when I see grown adults dedicating weeks of their time developing skills in inane games of pretend. Particularly when they start trying to show off how "awesome" they are at it like they're looking for a cookie. It's disgusting.
Well, don't bother coming to our kickass game of Dungeons and Dragons, then...
Re:Short straw has to be Ringo! (Score:5, Insightful)
Blah blah blah [xkcd.com].
Since you say in another post you're against adults spending weeks gaining skills in 'inane games of pretend', your obviously not a fan of video games in general (since that's what they all are). That's nice for you, but why don't you just avoid game-related stories since you don't belong and have nothing to contribute to them?
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They must be trying to change the game... (Score:5, Insightful)
This is tantamount to a complete change of rules in the sales of these. The original target markets are the youth. Most youth could care less about the Beatles and especially the early stuff. They want the metal, they want the punk-funk, they want that sort of stuff that is modern and from their era, not something from prehistoric times.
I can say that with a little moniker of authority as I am a working musician, and have been for quite a number of years both professionally and privately.
Also being a Dad, who at this juncture is 53 years old, (soon to be 54) with a 12 year old and 13 year old at home (yea' they're mine!), and a 20 year old that just moved back in. They like it when Dad plays his old Beatles albums (Yea, I still have the vinyl) and CD's, but when they are listening to their players or stuff on their computers, it's always their modern music that they like. Most times they tolerate Dad listening to this stuff in the car or van, but many times bring their MP3 players and plug their phones in their ears and they're off in their own worlds.
So I have a thought that this will be a gargantuan marketing flop. I don't see much out there in the way of parents my age that would buy this sort of thing. I could be wrong but even my band mates have indicated that they wouldn't spend money on that.
Re:They must be trying to change the game... (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm 32 and I listen to just about everything. My son will grow up listening to everything.
I am a musician and my son will be as well. I am under the impression that children need indoctrination in music.
The beatles will always be in my top 3 no matter what happens. I will try to instill an appreciation for all music in my son.
So how do you deal with the 3-chord knockoffs being published these days? There's a very low wheat/chaff ratio.
Re:They must be trying to change the game... (Score:5, Insightful)
"So how do you deal with the 3-chord knockoffs being published these days? There's a very low wheat/chaff ratio."
There have always been bands full of low talent hacks, and the wheat:chaff ratio has always been low. The crap bands will be forgotten, and in 30 years when everything new right now counts as "classic" they'll wonder how we managed to have so much amazing music with so little shit. That's just how it works.
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Howard Goodall on The Beatles... (Score:3, Interesting)
If you like The Beatles, it's well worth looking at composer Howard Goodall's analysis of their music and development. Not at all dull and dry, but accessible, entertaining and informative.
'Tis (mainly) on YouTube...
Part 1 [youtube.com]
Part 2 [youtube.com]
Part 3 [youtube.com]
Part 4 - can't find the damn thing. Curses!
Part 5 [youtube.com]
Part 5 [youtube.com]
Really, I can't recommend this enough.
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Damn! two "Part 5"'s! Sorry, of course "Part 5" mark II is really "Part 6"...
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Your son will rebel against your authoritarian ways in his teenage years by being a book nerd;)
Re:They must be trying to change the game... (Score:4, Insightful)
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Well, the average US gamer's age is 35 years old, that's still not quite in the range of growing up with the Beatles but who hasn't grown up listening to them? I think this will go over well. Parents, when faced with the option of buying Guitar Hero World Tour or Rock Band 2, they might have heard that they can get Beatles' songs with Rock Band 2, and that's the deal breaker.
Re:They must be trying to change the game... (Score:4, Insightful)
Really, the songs ought to just be add-on modules that you can install and play whatever you like. Games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero should be thought of as platforms.
I'm 33 years old, I love video games, I like the Beatles, I play Rock Band/Guitar Hero, and there's several million people who are just like me. I think they'll be fine on sales.
If they want to do a Jazz Band or a String Quartet game, I'll start worrying more about sales. Those would be pretty cool games, but probably won't have a mass market appeal in quite the same way as a game based on pop does.
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You mean you don't think the video gamer demographic is waiting with bated breath for Viola Hero? "Man, you guys, AFI's pretty sweet, but I wish we could just play some -chamber music-."
Yeah, probably right.
(I'm 30, just got Rock Band 1 and 2, and would buy the HELL out of some Beatles DLC.)
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I think until they completely saturate the market for these games, they'll be fine.
These music games seem hugely popular, and my (utterly non-gamer) GF is totally hooked on them. We have GH3, GH4, GH:Aerosmith, Rock Band. We have friends who have all of them as well, and know a lot of people totally hooked on them.
I'm pretty sure
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Most youth could care less about the Beatles
Umm, the phrase is "*couldn't* care less". Why would we care if the youth *could* care less?
Idiom "could care less" (Score:2)
Umm, the phrase is "*couldn't* care less". Why would we care if the youth *could* care less?
Because in practice, "could care less" is short for "could barely care less" or "could care less, but it would be a chore".
Re:Idiom "could care less" (Score:5, Insightful)
Because in practice, "could care less" is short for "could barely care less" or "could care less, but it would be a chore".
No... it really isn't. :) It's just a misstatement of the phrase by people who don't think about the words they're speaking or typing.
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Once enough people "misspeak" the expression, it reaches critical mass and becomes proper usage.
I can accept that for, say, mispronounciations, such as irregardless (well, "accept" isn't quite right, but...). But, come on, this is *clearly* a case of an incorrect grammatical construction.
So while this may be common usage, it most certainly is not *proper*.
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Isn't that the point of language?
If that were true we wouldn't have courses on spelling and grammar. We wouldn't teach people correct professional writing for essays, resumes, and so forth. Thus, clearly, writing is about more than just transmitting simple ideas.
What exactly is the point of your pedantic posts
Oh, make no mistake, there isn't any.
So it must be sarcasm (Score:2)
when abbreviating a phrase, certain key words need to remain, for example:
I'd really like you to cut my penis off
I'd really like you to not cut my penis off
They mean the same thing; the first just says it with sarcasm. "I could care less" is likewise sarcastic.
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You're forgetting that there's a generation that's halfway between you and your kids. As a 3X-year-old, I and my similarly-aged friends are huge fans of Rock Band. Bear in mind that we're probably one of the earliest generations to have grown up with video games (enabling us to see past the stigma of games being "for kids"), so we're most certainly
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Yeah, kids these days like things modern and from their era... like Aerosmith and Pat Benatar and Cream and the Sex Pistols. Guitar Hero III is chock full of older music and that Aerosmith Guitar Hero package sold very well. I can't imagine the Beatles doing any worse. I would agree with your assessment except that your original assumption: "The original target markets are the youth." is waaay off. The appeal might not skew as high as 53 year olds who already know how to play an instrument, but there ar
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Well, the influence of the Beatles in modern rock music is hard to escape. I would even go so far as to say that almost all modern popular music today has been influenced by the music of the Beatles in one way or the other. Even metal and thrash. Listen to "Helter Skelter" sometime... A serious rock musician would recognize this fact and keep open ears.
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This is tantamount to a complete change of rules in the sales of these. The original target markets are the youth.
You must have been away from video games for a while... Have you priced out a full-out Rockband set? Rockband 2 sells for about $190 US. To play on a $300 console. That's out of the price range of most youth. If you want to move on to a "premium drum set", that's another $300. A "premium" guitar? $70. Then there are the customizable skins at $20 a pop... You can also buy a synchronized light and fog machine... A Rockband obsession can cost you more than $1000 easily.
Amazon's 6 screens of fake band gam
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Perhaps you missed the recent Slashdot article on how the average new video game player was something like 33. And plenty of people who grew up with video games are in their 40's and 50's.
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As a 40+ year old who remembers seeing the Beatles perform on the roof of Abbey Road on TV this does interest me. I am not of the video game generation. No game has interested me at all until the Wii came out -- it was the first game unit that actually looked fun to me. I don't want to shoot things, role play or play driving games -- games consoles had no appeal for m
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I cant entirely agree with your assesment that the target market for Rock Band is the youth (unless you mean younger than you) I'm 30 and almost everyone I know who is 20-40 loves Rock Band, the diversity of the songs is quite apparent that they are targeting a broad audience. The amount of Rock Band parties that friends have and friends who arent gamers have had is astounding, when you go to bar and they have a Rock Band night you know this is not just for the kids.
lets take a peek at the set list for Rock
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You can't teach "good taste", sure the 60-70 had great music, but if everyone had good taste WTF was everyone running round with the giant flare/bellbottom pant and the platform shoes?
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Just download it from the Playstation store.
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I don't have numbers to support this, but I'm pretty sure a lot of adults are already the ones playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I know a lot of people in their 40s who are huge fans of the game.
I think the whole music-game th
Abbey road (Score:5, Funny)
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In all fairness I think that comparison is unfair to the cow. Ono is more of a harpy.
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Just so long as I don't have to marry a tuneless cow and then get shot in the back...
On Beginner mode, you only have to do half of those things.
That's nothin... (Score:2)
When you complete Helter Skelter on "Expert" mode, you actually do get blisters on your fingers [wikipedia.org]!!!
Actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea for an achievement name.
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And if you play the game disk backwards, it says, "The recording industry is dead, the recording industry is dead, the recording industry is dead..." over and over.
Will this include.. (Score:2)
Apple Music (Score:2)
They're not still bitter over that Apple Corpse/Music legal fight are they?
oh please (Score:2)
In related news... (Score:5, Funny)
They've also licenced all of Mozart's works for their upcoming Harpsichord Hero.
I'm sure the kids are dying to pretend playing grandpa's music.
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Funny.
But I just realized something: "Please Please Me" was published in 1963, 45 years ago.
Technically, The Beatles IS grandpa's music!
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They've also licenced all of Mozart's works for their upcoming Harpsichord Hero.
I'm sure the kids are dying to pretend playing grandpa's music.
No, Harmonix doesn't do the "Hero" series anymore...
This also means, unfortunately, the long-rumored "Accordion Hero" will never be released...
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Wow, not only are you drunk and incoherant, you also utterly failed to reply to your own comment.
I recommend you find a doctor to pump your stomach for you.
Beatles Story? (Score:5, Funny)
'All together now', 'Ask me now' 'Any time at all' 'Because' 'I should have known better'. 'I want to tell you' 'In spite of all the danger' 'I'll be on my way' 'With a little help from my friends'. 'Help', 'I'm so tired', 'I'm only sleeping', 'I'm down'. 'Good night'!
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No new games, please (Score:5, Insightful)
No, actually it wouldn't be nice to have another whole new game just for one band. What would be nice is to be able to purchase and download individual songs at a reasonable price. The AC/DC version of Rock Band costs $40 for 18 songs, and you can't buy individual songs - it's all or nothing. This shit has gotta stop.
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You're almost certainly right that that is the calculation that they're making. But they've got to realize that with there being such a big spread in the options (zero dollars or forty dollars), there's a big middle ground of money that they're just leaving on the table.
I think what's likely is that after a while, all these songs will become available as individual DLC. If you don't mind waiting, you'll get a chance to pay just for the songs that you want.
There's also another level of the middle ground, whi
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The AC/DC version of Rock Band costs $40 for 18 songs, and you can't buy individual songs - it's all or nothing.
I hope you're not complaining about the pricing - assuming the a la carte download pricing two dollars per song, yo'ure only paying four dollars more for the physical product. Admittedly, it'd be cheaper than $36 if it were up as DLC and you bought the entire album, but I'm pretty sure this isn't a value problem.
AC/DC and the Beatles have been two of the bands that have shown the most resistance to downloading - unless you've got a particular cell phone you can't legally download AC/DC's catalog, and you c
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I am complaining about the price because I don't want 18 AC/DC songs. I only want a few of them, and that's not worth $40 to me. AC/DC says they sell albums, not songs, and that's their right. It's also my right to complain about it and not purchase any of their stuff.
Fair enough. The Beatles are an album band too, though, and with the exception of "1" and the Cirque du Soleil show, their albums haven't been chopped up and rearranged. I'd expect the same kind of treatment here.
By the way, I just noticed this update [xbox360fanboy.com] to the news. Apparently, this Beatles "thing" is not going to be a Rock Band-branded game. So there's a possibility that the songs won't even be transferable to Rock Band.
According to this [kotaku.com], the game's going to be compatible with the Rock Band instruments, and they haven't said that the music WON'T appear in Rock BAnd, dodging that question when it came up. Don't discount the possibility based on what we don't know.
Wake me when.... (Score:3, Funny)
Seriously, that is cool. It might be fun to get the whole family playing 'Hey Jude'.
Not Rock Band (Score:4, Informative)
It's going to be a whole new game, not an expansion for Rock Band. Also, it won't be out until XMas 09.
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It's going to be a whole new game, not an expansion for Rock Band. Also, it won't be out until XMas 09.
Lame.
Gah! Will they NEVER die??? (Score:2)
Nice theme, I've got better (Score:2)
Beatles music is not very intricate, elegant, or difficult to play (even LH bass). I think game devs would enjoy a better market response for the following titles.
- DOOM IV: Beatles Reunite!
- MS Flight Simulator Lynyrd Skynyrd bonus pack
- Leisure Suit Larry: Return of Neverland
- Wiifit: The McDonalds super-size me edition
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Beatles music is not very intricate, elegant, or difficult to play (even LH bass).
You need to put on your historical relativity goggles. Their music was vastly more sophisticated than 90%* of the rest of popular music of the time.
And I'd love to see you play the sitar.
* ~10% for Stax [wikipedia.org]/Atlantic [wikipedia.org]
Hooray for the Beatles! (Score:5, Funny)
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The articles elude to but do not specify whether this is an exclusive. If anyone is dictating those terms my gut says that it is Apple Corp.
Uh huh. (Score:2)
I suppose you just didn't have friends who wanted to play with you. Poor baby, awwww... Now you can woo them with BUSKING . Now you're cool!
Re:In the mean time... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not trying to knock on your decision to try a real guitar, but at such a novice and uncommitted level of playing, are you really doing anything more useful than what you'd get farting around with RockBand?
You're not likely to build a musical career out of it. You're not learning any special skills that are applicable to the rest of your life (at least not any that can only be learned through "real" guitar playing).
If you're having fun with it, that's great. But the suggestion that everyone who's enjoying guitar hero or rockband would be better served with a real guitar is missing the point of those games. And stating that messing around with a real guitar is inherently a more worthwhile activity than a video game is short-sighted as well.
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Well, sadly, my life is full of responsibilities and such that make it basically impossible for me to be a rock star. And even more unfortunately, most of my friends have similar issues keeping them from living out their musical potential as well.
Rock Band puts us in a situation that I cannot encounter. I am more likely to end up managing a city than I am to end up playing guitar in a big auditorium.
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I look forwards to the advances in technology that extend my life to the point where I can accomplish all the other goals that I have for my life so that I can finally find the time to really learn how to play an instrument. Until then I'll just have to suffer under the knowledge that I'm destined to live a life full of unimportant tasks and mired in a cultural wasteland.
By definition, nobody really knows what it's like to be anybody else. There are lots of hills out there to climb, music isn't some magical
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You forget three things:
1. Guitar Hero builds/uses precisely the mental pathways as are used by real musicians reading music.
2. Guitar Hero teaches meter. And there are PLENTY of non-musicians out there (and even wannabees with a borrowed amp and an old Strat) without meter.
3. Guitar Hero is fun
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I like a lot of the Beatles later stuff. Can't say I care for the bubble gum pop crap that they did. But what was truly amazing about them was how they managed to create a sonically interesting piece incorporating relatively low instrumental and vocal skills. Pop sta