Journey

This was a piece I wrote for Gamers With Jobs to try and score a writing gig. They ended up going with two other writers, so I figured I’d post what I wrote here. Enjoy. It was last month when I realized that something had gone terribly wrong . There were fifteen people in my apartment, maybe a tenth of them lifelong gamers, and they were all here to play video games. Most strange of all: there I was, microphone in hand, belting out “Don’t Stop Believing” in front of my friends. As my voice cracked on the high notes I wondered how I reached this point. Wasn’t I the same guy who refused to go to karaoke bars to avoid singing in public? Weren’t these people the same ones who scoffed at Final Fantasy and Halo? ...

E3 started yesterday and the amazing Rock Band 2 tracklist was announced in a press conference. I could gush about a ton of these songs in massive detail, but instead I’ll just post the list and let the tracks speak for themselves (list borrowed from this IGN article): # Artists Song Title Decade 1. AC/DC Let There Be Rock 1970s 2. AFI Girl’s Gone Grey 2000s 3. Alanis Morissette You Oughta Know 1990s 4. Alice in Chains Man in the Box 1990s 5. Allman Brothers Ramblin’ Man 1970s 6. Avenged Sevenfold Almost Easy 2000s 7. Bad Company Shooting Star 1970s 8. Beastie Boys So Whatcha Want 1990s 9. Beck E-Pro 2000s 10. Bikini Kill Rebel Girl 1990s 11. Billy Idol White Wedding Pt. I 1980s 12. Blondie One Way or Another 1970s 13. Bob Dylan Tangled Up in Blue 1970s 14. Bon Jovi Livin’ on a Prayer 1980s 15. Cheap Trick Hello There 1970s 16. Devo Uncontrollable Urge 1980s 17. Dinosaur Jr. Feel the Pain 1990s 18. Disturbed Down with the Sickness 2000s 19. Dream Theater Panic Attack 2000s 20. Duran Duran Hungry Like the Wolf 1980s 21. Elvis Costello Pump It Up 1970s 22. Fleetwood Mac Go Your Own Way 1970s 23. Foo Fighters Everlong 1990s 24. Guns N’ Roses Shackler’s Revenge 2000s 25. Interpol PDA 2000s 26. Jane’s Addiction Mountain Song 1980s 27. Jethro Tull Aqualung 1970s 28. Jimmy Eat World The Middle 2000s 29. Joan Jett Bad Reputation 1980s 30. Journey Anyway You Want It 1970s 31. Judas Priest Painkiller 1990s 32. Kansas Carry On Wayward Son 1970s 33. L7 Pretend We’re Dead 1990s 34. Lacuna Coil Our Truth 2000s 35. Linkin Park One Step Closer 2000s 36. Lit My Own Worst Enemy 1990s 37. Lush De-Luxe 1990s 38. Mastodon Colony of Birchmen 2000s 39. Megadeth Peace Sells 1980s 40. Metallica Battery 1980s 41. Mighty Mighty Bosstones Where’d You Go 1990s 42. Modest Mouse Float On 2000s 43. Motorhead Ace of Spades 1980s 44. Nirvana Drain You 1990s 45. Norman Greenbaum Spirit in the Sky 1960s 46. Panic at the Disco Nine in the Afternoon 2000s 47. Paramore That’s What You Get 2000s 48. Pearl Jam Alive 1990s 49. Presidents of the USA Lump 1990s 50. Rage Against the Machine Testify 1990s 51. Ratt Round & Round 1980s 52. Red Hot Chili Peppers Give it Away 1990s 53. Rise Against Give it All 2000s 54. Rush The Trees 1970s 55. Silversun Pickups Lazy Eye 2000s 56. Smashing Pumpkins Today 1990s 57. Social Distortion I Was Wrong 1990s 58. Sonic Youth Teenage Riot 1980s 59. Soundgarden Spoonman 1990s 60. Squeeze Cool for Cats 1970s 61. Steely Dan Bodhitsattya 1970s 62. Steve Miller Band Rock’n Me 1970s 63. Survivor Eye of the Tiger 1980s 64. System of a Down Chop Suey 2000s 65. Talking Heads Psycho Killer 1970s 66. Tenacious D Master Exploder 2000s 67. Testament Souls of Black 1990s 68. The Donnas New Kid in School 2000s 69. The Go-Go’s We Got the Beat 1980s 70. The Grateful Dead Alabama Getaway 1980s 71. The Guess Who American Woman 1970s 72. The Muffs Kids in America 1990s 73. The Offspring Come Out & Play (Keep ’em Separated) 1990s 74. The Replacements Alex Chilton 1980s 75. The Who Pinball Wizard 1960s Bonus Tracks 76. Abnormality Visions 2000s 77. Anarchy Club Get Clean 2000s 78. Bang Camaro Night Lies 2000s 79. Breaking Wheel Shoulder to the Plow 2000s 80. The Libyans Neighborhood 2000s 81. The Main Drag A Jagged Gorgeous Winter 2000s 82. Speck Conventional Lover 2000s 83. The Sterns Supreme Girl 2000s 84. That Handsome Devil Rob the Prez-O-Dent 2000s ...