‘The Beatles: Rock Band’ (re)makes history

More than 30 years after the Beatles’ untimely dissolution, a video game allowing fans to go where no fan has gone before rises from the ashes.

Today, “The Beatles: Rock Band” is released worldwide, enabling gamers not just to see John, Paul, George and Ringo perform psychedelic hits in legendary venues, but to be the band as well.

“John Lennon would be thrilled,” said Glenn Gass, IU professor of rock ’n’ roll. “He was always trying to reach people in the biggest ways. I’ve learned from my kids that songs played on Rock Band and Guitar Hero are among the music they love most. The game gives them inner workings of the music.”

Gass, a self-proclaimed Beatles fan since 1964, said that though the music is decades old, it won’t be stale for today’s generation.

“I don’t think it will sound like a bunch of oldies, because the music is so strong,” he said. “Beatles songs never get old. People could play this game again and again.”
 
‘Come Together’ 

Josh Randall, creative director and project leader of Harmonix Music System, said creating the game – from brainstorming to development to shipping – was a two-year process.

However, the idea for a Beatles Rock Band was conceived quickly
and unexpectedly.

Randall said the concept actually came about because of a chance meeting during the family vacations of Van Toffler, the president of MTV Networks Music Group, and George Harrison’s wife, Olivia, and son, Dhani.

“Dhani Harrison is a huge fan of Harmonix and had some smart ideas for music games, so Van connected him with Alex Rigopulos, CEO and cofounder of the company,” he said.

Randall said Harrison, Rigopulus and MTV Games’ Paul DeGooyer then contacted Apple Corps and its shareholders to commence game production. Apple Corps is a British conglomerate owned by Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison that guards Beatles music and brand rights.

‘With a Little Help From My Friends’

Help from those who’d lived and traveled with the band at the height of 1960s Beatlemania proved to be a constant factor in the game’s creative development.

McCartney, Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison were the game’s most influential editors, according to MTV Games press information and “were actively involved every step of the way,” said Mariana Agathoklis, manager of communications for MTV Games. “They approved everything you see in the game.”

From early tour dates at The Cavern Club in Liverpool to the final performance on Apple Corps Rooftop in London, the band’s journey is captured in the video game, said the four famous game consultants.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the access Harmonix has been given to both the resources of Apple Corps and the personal time and perspectives of Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Yoko Ono Lennon, Olivia Harrison and the entire Apple Corps team,” Randall said. “It’s a better game and one that’s truer to the Beatles in all the ways that matter.”

‘Do You Want to Know a Secret?’

An MTV press release revealed that by purchasing the game, Beatles fans will have access to never-before-heard conversations between the band at Abbey Road recording studios more than 40 years ago.

Other features, such as extra songs and 1960s-inspired backdrops, can be unlocked through the game’s story mode.

Replicas of Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325 guitar, McCartney’s Hofner bass, George Harrison’s Gretsch Duo Jet guitar and Starr’s drums with Ludwig-branded Beatles kick drum head allow gamers to rock out in true Beatles fashion to more than 45 famous tracks.

‘Getting Better’

Star-studded success didn’t come without obstacles.

“One challenge was how to adapt original master recordings for the game,” Randall said. “We’ve gone back to the multi-track masters of each song so that we can isolate the sound of each instrument and use that sound as feedback during game play.”

Randall said many Beatles songs had multiple instruments recorded on a single track, which made it difficult for producers to separate instrumental parts for Rock Band players to reproduce.

However, with the aid of English record producer Giles Martin and his team at Abbey Road studio in London, multi-track audio was constructed to fit the game’s format.

‘Here Comes the Sun’

“The Beatles: Rock Band” is also a charitable opportunity, according to an MTV press release.

Downloads of “All You Need Is Love” – released exclusively on Xbox 360 and made as an additional track for gameplay – will benefit Doctors Without Borders, a medical humanitarian organization active in 60 countries.

Randall said while the game is good for mankind, it’s fun for mankind too.

“The Beatles’ songs have the ability to transport people into a sort of daydream,” he said. “They invoke emotion. From my experience both making and playing the game as well as seeing others play the game, we’ve been pleased and sometimes surprised to see ‘The Beatles: Rock Band’ deliver a little bit of that emotional impact. People get these huge smiles, and sometimes even a little choked up.”