Pearl Jam – Black (Rhythm in Rocksmith)
I’ve warned everyone that this blog is unpredictable and can contain just about anything. In the spirit of self-improvement, I’m tracking my improvement in several hobbies. A couple of those hobbies involve guitar and bass. I am a decent bassist, a marginal lead guitarist, and an absolutely wretched rhythm guitarist. Is that going to change for the better? I sure as hell hope so. I’m going to experiment with Rocksmith (music learning software) for an extended period of time and see if it works successfully as a learning tool.
Overview
I’ve always been a massive fan of 90s alternative. Among the major alternative bands of the early 90s, I’d put Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, Jane’s Addiction, and Soundgarden at the top. There’s a certain weight to Corgan’s, Cantrell’s, Staley’s, Farrell’s, and Cornell’s music that still carries itself today. At a slightly lower echelon, I’d have Stone Temple Pilots (latter output), No Doubt, Rage Against the Machine, Beck, Tori Amos, Foo Fighters, REM, and Weezer, because they were extremely successful at integrating pop sensibilities, while still retaining their edge and personality. I am not a fan of Green Day, but they belong here also.
The third tier would be the peloton of most other major bands, such as Veruca Salt, Live, POTUSA, Hole, Filter, The Breeders, The Flaming Lips, Offspring, etc. The fourth tier includes treacle like Counting Crows, Collective Soul, Goo Goo Dolls, Spin Doctors, and Train.
Toward the bottom, I’d put Pearl Jam, Bush, Candlebox, Creed, et al. It’s hard to blame Pearl Jam for their imitators but, at the same time, I think Pearl Jam permanently shifted alternative music to a trajectory which led to Nickelback, nu metal and the sick state of the music genre. Dave Matthews Band also sits at the very bottom at this list because, well, it’s DMB.
Finally, there are those bands that I find a challenge to rank, like The Pixies, Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Dinosaur Jr., Radiohead, and Nine Inch Nails. They’re important to music to the extent that I find it hard to judge them, even having been a music fan during that era.
Song Review
Having said all that, you’ll notice I put Pearl Jam toward the very bottom of the list. I would still listen to Pearl Jam over Bush and Creed, 10/10, but I would never go out of my way to listen to anything by Vedder and co. The blueprint they provided to alternative rock just sits wrong to me. I’d also recommend anything by Gossard (bass) and Ament’s (rhythm) prior band, Mother Love Bone.
But Black isn’t Jeremy or Alive, so I can grant a partial pass to this song. To the song’s detriment, it’s maudlin to the point of comical. To the song’s credit, at least it is somewhat different from the standard Vedder-Gossard output. Putting the lyrics to the side, the way the rhythm and lead dance with each other is really nice. B-
Rhythm Track Review
Holy smokes, man. If you know some basic open chords (E, A, C, Em, D), you can crush this track. It’s disturbing how easy it was. Comparing this to the lead track, it appears that Ubisoft moved all the challenging chord patterns to lead and left just enough skeleton on the rhythm track to make beginners feel comfortable. Bravo. I think this is an excellent strategy. A
How Did I Learn It?
It’s just five or so open chords at a slow pace. Do you know basic open chords? Then you’ll get 100%.
The Details
Played on: Fender Blacktop Jaguar
Difficulty: Easy
Approx hours to learn: 0
My final accuracy score on Rocksmith: 100%
