Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and The White Stripes' Jack White have slammed the popular Guitar Hero franchise.
During a press conference in Los Angeles last Friday (19 June) to promote MusicRadar's favorite new movie, the documentary It Might Get Loud, the two guitarists said that they don't feel video games are the ideal way to expose people to music or to teach them to play instruments.
"You think of the drum part that John Bonham did on Led Zeppelin's first track on the first album, Good Times Bad Times," Page said. "How many drummers in the world can play that part, let alone on Christmas morning?"
"It's depressing to have a label come and tell you that [Guitar Hero] is how kids are learning about music and experiencing music" Jack White
White went on to say that "It's depressing to have a label come and tell you that [Guitar Hero] is how kids are learning about music and experiencing music." While he added that he doesn't try to limit "which format people should get their music in…if you have to be in a video game to get in front of them, that's a little sad."
White last line takes on special significance: In the upcoming Guitar Hero 5, due out in September, The White Stripes' song Blue Orchid is featured alongside tracks by Santana, Vampire Weekend and The Rolling Stones, among others.
