February 16th, 2008
People In Planes
This past week, Activision announced that it was going to release an new Guitar Hero title in June. My excitement was short lived when the sentence following that edict confirmed that the title would be entirely dedicated to a single band; a whole game, an entire setlist committed t only one musical act.
And that musical act is Aerosmith.
I could feel my brain excrete a bunch of hormones to try and cope with my incomprehension of the moment. Like anyone, I enjoy a simple-minded rock-out to a classic rock band, but dedicating an entire game to one band? Isn’t Guitar Hero about balance between the old and the new? Do I really want to spend a whole game listening to the Good Mr. Tyler wail through an innocuous setlist of hits-and-misses?
Seriously, I ask all Guitar Hero shredders out there: Does the thought of playing Janie’s Got A Gun get your fluids white-watering up and down your veins?
In all honesty, there are so many other bands out there who pull off the anthemic stadium rock thing better. Like People In Planes, with their inviting melodies, immense power chords, and out-of-this-world flourishes. They have the stadium formula down, with just a hint of prog for good measure and more atmosphere than Jupiter (you should read up on that). With their moodful musicality and singer Gareth Jones’s powerful and adept vocals, People In Planes can guarantee being more fun than “living it up as we’re going down.”