Stones Legend Bashes Guitar Hero

Fab Four reps in talks with Guitar Hero and Rock Band makers

(NEWSER) - Representatives of the Beatles' companies are meeting with video-game outfits to hash out the rights for possible Beatles-themed games. The reps are holding discussions with the makers of Guitar Hero and of Rock Band, the Financial Times reports. Analysts say that a deal might lead to more licensing of Beatles songs in other digital media. More»

Game is good, clean cross-generational fun

(NEWSER) - The Beatles: Rock Band successfully brings the winning music-game formula to one of rock’s biggest names, writes Elizabeth Landau for CNN. Designed to be played by as many as six, the game "does make for a great time and will probably be a hit at parties." Meanwhile, spectators "can watch animated re-creations of the Beatles rocking out on the TV screen, and enjoy the colorful graphics, while your friends try to hit the notes." More»

(NEWSER) - In honor of Woodstock—which happened 40 years ago this weekend—and the “seminal documentary” that captured it, John Farr shares his list of the 10 best rock concert/performance films—all of which are “meant to be played loud,” he writes on the Huffington Post. “So crank it!”

• A Hard Day's Night (1964): “The disarming charisma and spontaneous energy of the Beatles made no traditional plot necessary. It was sufficient to portray a day in the life of the world's most talked about rock band.”

Video game may spell end of bad cover acts

(NEWSER) - The hugely popular "Rock Band" is more than just a video game—it's a musical revolution, Brett McCallon writes in More Intelligent Life. The game, which expands "Guitar Hero" to two axes, a drum kit and a singer, finally realizes “the democratizing dreams of the punk movement.” McCallon should know, because his "Rock Band" band plays live—and has amateur musicians grousing. More»

CDs showcase Fab Four as they were meant to be heard

(NEWSER) - The Beatles just got better: every one of their original albums and a batch of collected singles has been remastered, boosting the quality to the level “the Beatles themselves would have heard and intended,” writes Matt Hurwitz in the Washington Post. The stereo CDs remind us that the Beatles were a “rock band”: these recordings pack a punch not heard on the older discs. More»