Thoughts on King Diamond playable in Guitar Hero

I was already leaning towards a purchase of Guitar Hero: Metallica when I heard that King Diamond would be a playable in game character, with the classic top hat and bone microphone. You know, a lot like that image to the left.













So then I started thinking about who else would be awesome obscure playable characters in future Guitar Hero games. (For the record I prefer Rock Band but they don't do this stupid guest star shit)

David Yow! Wouldn't that be a fun motion capture session? David Yow with those MoCap ping pong balls on his penis. Besides Guitar Hero needs some Duane Denison riffs. Personally I would want to play Boilermaker or Wheelchair Epidemic.


Joey Demaio! Aren't all of the backing musicians in this game just modeled after him anyway? I would also like to see if loincloths and codpieces are tame enough to allow Guitar Hero to keep its T for Teen rating. Also, I think Joey can really use the money right now. And to add to that Guitar Hero wish list, let me play Hail and Kill or Brothers of Metal!








Gaahl! Not only would the Gorgoroth singer be a delightfully creepy addition to the game, there is a great business opportunity for Activision here. Let people buy the dresses that he and his twink boyfriend have designed. Also a great boss battle can be Gorgoroth vs Gorgoroth.



Who else would you put into a future Guitar Hero game?

METALlica Guitar Hero is METAL, I get it

Gotta love the guy from Neversoft boasting about how Metal he is on the Playstation Blog.

But I have seen the track listing for the game, and yes there is more Pete Seeger and Lynyrd Skynyrd than Mercyful Fate.

So don't show me your fucking Celtic Frost, Kreator and Voivod vinyl album covers if you aren't planning on putting them in the game. It just makes you look like a douche nozzle.

Slash: Guitar Hero

While waiting in line for a beer at the Metal Master's tour this summer, I was fortunate enough to observe some of the geekery that can only happen between music fans. More specifically, drunk music fans: one drunk guy yelling at another drunk guy wearing a Guitar Hero t-shirt that "we need to make sure we teach kids how to play real instruments, or the sort of shit that's going on over there [gesturing towards the stage] won't have a future." I thought of that man and his anti-Guitar Hero crusade (I shudder to think of what he would say about the Air Guitar Championships) when reading this story from a Rolling Stone interview with Slash:

Has the huge success of Guitar Hero boosted your rep even further?
Yeah, but the flip-side of that is I met this kid who came up to me and was blown away by the fact I was the guy in the Guitar Hero game, and he kept going on about that. Ten minutes later he goes, “Do you play real guitar?”

Ouch, dude. Maybe Mr. Drunk Music Fan has a point...or maybe that kid needs to get out of the house more.

Via Kotaku

Jack Ripper, Jimi Hendrix, and An Anthem

So you're a 12-year-old guitar prodigy. You have the kind of hair that would get you a part as an extra in Airheads, a fresh-faced look that harkens back to the days of Hanson, and your shredding - as one Blabbermouth commentator put it - might one day put Skwisgaar Skwigelf to shame. Your stage name is Jack Ripper, a clever doulbe entendre that encompasses both your playing skills and the grotesque horror favored amongst metal denizens in general and your favorite rocker, Alice Cooper, in particular. You are playing Rocklohoma, some rock music festival in the middle of our fair country. What do you choose to play?

As you can see in the clip above, Jack Ripper chose "The Star Spangled Banner." In fact, not just "The Star Spangled Banner;" a version of "The Star Spangled Banner" that at the very least owes an enormous spiritual debt to Jimi Hendrix's iconic rendition from Woodstock. Interesting choice when you - or, more likely, some adult behind you - is trying to market you as the next big guitar god, but somehow I doubt young Jackie's got the context for Hendrix's version down just yet. And heck, even if he does, is Hendrix the guy you want to follow directly? 27 is a pretty young age to die.