Yes, that's a keytar. And, YES, Panther often dons his helmet for live shows!!Enter an Orwellian dystopia. No one knew how the world had decayed to such ruin; they just knew no one would oppose the robots. Dr. Wily's power was absolute, unchallenged -- or so he thought. A worker in Wily's society by day, Dr. Light toiled by night in his apartment 20 stories high. Light's ideas were revolutionary, dangerous in the society in which he lived. So he worked under the cover of darkness, when the watchful robots wouldn't detect his plans. Light worked tirelessly, alone, to create a machine that would stand up, challenge the establishment, and deliver humanity's salvation. Twelve years he worked, and on a cold night in 200X, Protoman was born. He was built for one purpose and one purpose only: to destroy Wily's evil army of robots. "Ready, willing, prepared to fight!"

This is the beginning of Mega Man's story, as told by The Protomen. The original game's story was fairly shallow, so the band took quite a few liberties in their retelling. The end result is an epic rock opera. The paraphrased narrative above is just half of the first track, "Hope Rides Alone," off their self-titled debut album. The song begins with light static and a single, foreboding acoustic guitar. Lead singer, "Panther" (yes, all band members have code names) begins calmly telling the narrative. Following several guitar, drum, and synth strikes, the song picks up. Panther's words crescendo into exclamations accompanied by a heavy synth backdrop. He yells, "Attack!" and the whole band comes crashing in.

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