Fans of either Saturday Night Live or Will Ferrel are likely familiar with the classic sketch featuring the cowbell player from the ’70s psychedelic group Blue Oyster Cult and his plight to get his instrument of choice featured more prominently in the band’s songs. It was a pretty ridiculous sketch, and brought the phrase “more cowbell!" into our collective pop-culture vernacular.
It’s true that the cowbell is woefully underrepresented in popular music, but it’s about to get its moment in the sun in the form of an iOS game. Taking the tapping-to-the-beat kind of gameplay from rhythm hits like Guitar Hero, Cowbell Hero promises 16 licensed tracks including the infamous ‘(Don’t Fear) the Reaper’ as well as 11 bonus tracks that feature more cowbell than you can shake a stick at.
Personally I’ve had a hard time getting into rhythm games on iOS as something feels lost on the touchscreen without the satisfying clicking of physical buttons. However, as an advocate of the cowbell as a serious musical instrument and a huge fan of the SNL sketch, I’m excited to get my hands on Cowbell Hero. You can hit up developer Digital Hero’s website or the thread in our forums for a full track listing, and expect Cowbell Hero to arrive within a month’s time.
