I love Guitar Hero.  As a musician who long ago gave up his art to focus on his profession, I frequently miss the cathartic effect performing had on me.  Guitar Hero gives me a way to quickly reconnect with that aspect of my life, without the long-term investment of locking myself in a room and practicing every day.  I know it's a far cry from really making music, but it does a good job of simulating it.

So, with great anticipation, I picked up Rock Band today.  Well, my wife picked it up, actually.  She's probably too tolerant of my fetish for geeky expensive toys, at least from a financial standpoint.  Understand, she plunked down the MSRP $170 for the full set, with the game, the guitar, the mic, and the drums.  This is not a cheap hobby.  This just supports my theory that I have the best wife ever.  Scott Hanselman sometimes gets shot down because of low Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF), but I don't think I've actually been shot down yet.  The rule of thumb is, as long as the bills are paid, the kids are clothed, food is on the table, and I don't question silly expenditures like family portraits, she won't question the serious expenditures like $170 for a toy guitar and drum kit.  I think it's a good arrangement.

I digress. 

Rock Band is awesome.  Well worth the money, particularly for a Guitar Hero fan.  Aside from the guitar and bass parts, the game also allows you to play drums and sing vocals.  Or, at least, try to sing.  It makes me feel like I can sing, and that's what's important.  I reject your reality (the one in which my singing voice is somewhere between William Hung and a cat in a blender) and substitute my own (where my voice would make Frank Sinatra jealous).

The defining moment of my evening tonight:  When I discovered that, while playing the vocal part, you sometimes get to tap the mic in your hand to simulate a tambourine or, in the case of Don't Fear the Reaper, cowbell.  Yes, that's right.  I got to be Will Ferrell!  :)

More Cowbell!