Hey hipsters! Finally a good reason to download some songs for Rock Band. Next week’s DLC will feature two songs by The New Pornographers. The songs are:
- “All of the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth”
- “Use It”
Hey hipsters! Finally a good reason to download some songs for Rock Band. Next week’s DLC will feature two songs by The New Pornographers. The songs are:
There are some interesting tracks, to be sure. And even though I’m a little miffed (read: completely and utterly dumbfounded) by the lack of Muse (!!!), I’m really looking forward to tearing into System of a Down, Beck, and effing Mastodon! All downloadable content from Rock Band will be compatible with Rock Band 2, and by the end of the year, there should be 500 songs available to Xbox Live/PSN users. That’s pretty impressive.AC/DC: “Let There Be Rock”
AFI: “Girl’s Gone Grey”
Alanis Morissette: “You Oughta Know”
Alice in Chains: “Man in the Box”
Allman Brothers: “Ramblin’ Man”
Avenged Sevenfold: “Almost Easy”
Bad Company: “Shooting Star”
Beastie Boys: “So Whatcha Want”
Beck: “E-Pro”
Bikini Kill: “Rebel Girl”
Billy Idol: “White Wedding Pt. I”
Blondie: “One Way or Another”
Bob Dylan: “Tangled Up in Blue”
Bon Jovi: “Livin’ on a Prayer”
Cheap Trick: “Hello There”
Devo: “Uncontrollable Urge”
Dinosaur Jr.: “Feel the Pain”
Disturbed: “Down with the Sickness”
Dream Theater: “Panic Attack”
Duran Duran: “Hungry Like the Wolf”
Elvis Costello: “Pump It Up”
Fleetwood Mac: “Go Your Own Way”
Foo Fighters: “Everlong”
Guns N’ Roses: “Shackler’s Revenge”
Interpol: “PDA”
Jane’s Addiction: “Mountain Song”
Jethro Tull: “Aqualung”
Jimmy Eat World: “The Middle”
Joan Jett: “Bad Reputation”
Journey: “Anyway You Want It”
Judas Priest: “Painkiller”
Kansas: “Carry On Wayward Son”
L7: “Pretend We’re Dead”
Lacuna Coil: “Our Truth”
Linkin Park: “One Step Closer”
Lit: “My Own Worst Enemy”
Lush: “De-Luxe”
Mastodon: “Colony of Birchmen”
Megadeth: “Peace Sells”
Metallica: “Battery”
Mighty Mighty Bosstones: “Where’d You Go”
Modest Mouse: “Float On”
Motorhead: “Ace of Spades”
Nirvana: “Drain You”
Norman Greenbaum: “Spirit in the Sky”
Panic at the Disco: “Nine in the Afternoon”
Paramore: “That’s What You Get”
Pearl Jam: “Alive”
Presidents of the USA: “Lump”
Rage Against the Machine:”Testify”
Ratt: “Round & Round”
Red Hot Chili Peppers : “Give It Away”
Rise Against: “Give It All”
Rush: “The Trees”
Silversun Pickups: “Lazy Eye”
Smashing Pumpkins: “Today”
Social Distortion: “I Was Wrong”
Sonic Youth: “Teen Age Riot”
Soundgarden: “Spoonman”
Squeeze: “Cool for Cats”
Steely Dan: “Bodhitsattva”
Steve Miller Band: “Rock’n Me”
Survivor: “Eye of the Tiger”
System of a Down: “Chop Suey”
Talking Heads: “Psycho Killer”
Tenacious D: “Master Exploder”
Testament: “Souls of Black”
The Donnas: “New Kid in School”
The Go-Go’s: “We Got the Beat”
The Grateful Dead: “Alabama Getaway”
The Guess Who: “American Woman”
The Muffs: “Kids in America”
The Offspring: “Come Out & Play (Keep ’em Separated)”
The Replacements: “Alex Chilton”
The Who: “Pinball Wizard”
“I Want Candy” – Bow Wow Wow“Are You Going to be My Girl?” – Jet“Mambo Mambo” Lou Bega
Since the video game juggernaut Rock Band was first announced over a year ago, one of the game’s greatest, most intriguing aspects was the ability for users to be able to download whole albums to utilize in the game. Unfortunately, Harmonix and MTV Games have been slow to release these albums so far, and with the release of Rock Band 2 just a few months away, I have to ask, “What gives?” How many albums are available at this moment? Well, you can count them on one hand, if that means anything. So this post is my call for more albums, and 5 in particular that will actually get me excited about this feature of the game (sorry, The Cars just ain’t doing it for me). These are the Top 5 Albums That Need to Be on Rock Band!
Why?: For as cookie-cutter as Incubus’ last album was, one forgets that their major label debut in 1997 was one of a kind and waaaay ahead of its time. For the most part, music on Rock Band is pretty straightforward. S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is anything but, with tracks that will make your head explode from the shear amount of craziness going on. There will be a few hurdles to jump, like how do you get “Magic Medicine,” an instrumental song, on Rock Band? But I’ll leave that to the powers that be.
Key Tracks: “Redefine,” “Vitamin,” “A Certain Shade of Green,” “Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)”
#4: The Mars Volta: De-Loused In the Comatorium
Why?: If Harmonix is going to put a crippled version of The Mars Volta on the game (Coheed & Cambria), they might as well put on the real thing as well. The Mars Volta’s debut album is still their best yet, and who wouldn’t want to play “Eriatarka” on drums? Most importantly, however, this would show all those kids who love that damn C&C song what Prog Rock is supposed to sound like. And who knows, maye they’ll realize how gay they’ve been acting all this time.
Key Tracks: “Inertiatic ESP,” “Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of),” “Eriatarka,” “Televators,” and “Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt.”
#3: Queen: Greatest Hits Vol. 1
Why?: A greatest hits album may seem like cheating, but honestly, who would want to play a single Queen album when they could play their greatest hits? This collection has every great song that the band ever made, if you name it, it’s probably on here. That’s all I have to say. If you have a problem with that, meat me in the back after this post. (EDIT: So I just got finished re-reading this post and saw that I wrote “meat me in the back” which is probably the best euphimism for gay sex ever! Totally accidental, of course, but too good to fix. Enjoy!)
Key Tracks: “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Bicycle Race,” “Somebody to Love,” “Seven Seas of Rhye,” “We Will Rock You”
Why?: Please don’t make me explain myself on this one. This is arguably one of the best alternative albums of all time and I don’t think you’d find many people who would be willing to argue that point. Really it all boils down to one thing: me getting to play “Paranoid Android.” That’s it. That’s really all I care about. Sure, every song on this album is great and worthy of being on Rock Band, but come on!
Key Tracks: “Paranoid Android,” “Karma Police,” “Electioneering,” “No Surprises,” “Lucky”
#1: Eagles: Hotel California
Why?: It’s one of the best albums of all time, featuring one of the best songs of all times, which contains one of the best guitar solos of all time. Is that enough of a reason for you? Yeah, I thought it would be. In case you’re still a doubter, check out these tracks.
Key Tracks: “Hotel California,” “New Kid in Town,” “Life in the Fast Lane,” and “Victim of Love”
The Guitar Hero series has been selling in mass quantities for years now, captivating gamers and non-gamers alike. It’s intuitive and addictive gameplay has always been its stongest feature. Who hasn’t spent at least some part of their lives wishing they were a rock star? Guitar Hero gives everyone the opportunity to live out their rock ‘n’ roll fantasies in the comfort of their own living rooms. With Guitar Hero On Tour, Activision is branching out into the handheld market with a unique experience that still maintains the look and feel of the console versions of the series. The result is something that has a few quirks and inconveniences, but still manages to please even the most die hard Guitar Hero fan.
Of course, the most intriguing part of Guitar Hero On Tour is the newly-designed guitar grip, a clever peripheral that recreates the feel of the Guitar Hero fret buttons in a relatively compact package. The peripheral plugs into the GBA slot of your Nintendo DS and has a strap that allows you to strap in while playing. The fret buttons themselves are about half the size of your standard Guitar Hero controller, and Red Octane and Vicarious Visions have smartly chosen to shrink the number of buttons down from 5 to 4. Because of the relatively small size of the bottons, it can be tough to get your fingers to hit the buttons that you want them to sometimes. My fingers are in no way fat, yet I still find that I could hit two buttons with one finger easily. A lot of missed notes ensue if I don’t stay on my game.
In addition to this complaint, I’ve also had a tough time getting used to the grip. My hands are slighly larger than normal and try as I might, I just can’t find a “normal” way to hold the grip that doesn’t result in a painful hand cramp. Personally, I’ve started playing with a 1-inch rubber ball in my palm to complement the natural curviture of my hand. I’ve also learned that if I don’t have the bottom of the DS pressed up against my abdomen, that my accuracy drops due to furious shaking of the DS that can occur when tackling a particularly rockin’ part of a song. It’s definitely not the most convenient way to play a video game, but I’ve learned to make it work. On a positive note, Guitar Hero On Tour also comes with a special pick-shaped stylus that works perfectly. I literally could not imagine playing this game with a regular DS stylus.
The song list on the game is not my favorite collection of tunes, but for the casual crowd that the Ninendo DS seems to attract, I can see how it would be a smart move for the developers. The better tracks on the game include “Anna Molly” by Incubus, “Helicopter” by Bloc Party, and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Pride and Joy.” The balance things out (or cater to the casual folks), there’s also Smash Mouth’s “Rock Star” and Blink 182’s “All the Small Things.” It’s not a terrible collection of songs by any means, but not nearly as challenging as its console brethren. Of course, this is also probably related to the guitar grip, which limits your ability to “rock out” as fluidly as you would normally. In addition, the songs have been compressed to fit them all on the DS cartridge. That results in less than stellar sound quality obviously, and headphones don’t really fix the problem at all. Still, with 25 songs (most of them master tracks, most of them unique to this version of Guitar Hero), there’s not a whole lot to complain about with the songs.
Looking at Vicarious Visions’ past games, I was a little skeptical of how the development team could do with the Guitar Hero franchise on a handheld. But they have far surpassed my expectations with this game! Over a year of development, testing, and tweaking have resulted in a handheld game that truly does feel like Guitar Hero! All the staple features of the game are there: career mode, the shop, quickplay, and co-op multiplayer via local wireless. This version also introduces the guitar duel feature which is similar to battle mode on Guitar Hero 3. Players can play in this mode against the CPU or against other players using local wireless connection. Unfortunately, there is no option for online play, but that’s not entirely surprising considering the lag problems with Nintendo’s Wif-Fi Connect service.
The strumming motion that players are required to make over the DS touch screen feels entirely natural, and really adds a new level of excitement to the franchise. To whammy, players simply hold out the note with the fret keys and move the pick back and forth over the screen. I’ve run into the problem a few times where the note will end in mid-whammy, which then turns my fast whammy into a frantic strum and a whole lot of missed notes. A small oversight, but players should be able to adapt and correct themselves in no time! I was also a bit disappointed that the game doesn’t come with its own standard-sized DS box, only a small case about the size of the cartridge itself. Considering how often I lose things, and how small the cartridge is, this can’t bode well.
But for the most part, Guitar Hero On Tour is still a fun handheld version of an incredibly addictive game. The console versions of Guitar Hero focus on recreating the feel of playing a guitar. This version focuses more on recreating the feel of playing Guitar Hero, rather than the guitar. There is a bit of a learning curve, even for seasoned Gutar Heroes. Personally, I hopped right into Expert and was able to get 4 or 5 star scores by the the 5th song or so. There are a few hurdles to jump over, and a few quirks to deal with, but Guitar Hero On Tour is a great way to get your Guitar Hero fix no matter where you are! For me, it was totally worth the purchase!
The Good: It is the ultimate party game. It’s fun to play every instrument (except maybe for bass). Cool visual style.
The Bad: $170 price tag. Guitar peripheral a mixed-bag. Unfulfilling single player mode.
Audio Overflow is a music blog, as the title would suggest. Normally that means that you’ll be reading about music, CDs, MP3s, and the like. But occasionally, I’ll throw in some “music-related” stuff to keep things interesting. There was that whole Guitar Hero III review I did a month or so ago, and remember my review of those in-ear studio monitors? And let’s not forget the two top five lists. Yes, I do my best to mix it up from time to time.
The largest problem with the guitar is the strum bar which, even though it is entirely silent when strummed (finally), feels too spongy for it’s own good. In a fast song like The Ramones‘ “Blitzkrieg Bop” where you’re required to strum quickly, it can become difficult to lose track of where you are in the song. The old Red Octane guitars had a definite “stop” to it that you could feel (and hear). These do not. Overall, it’s a somewhat decent peripheral (even if the failure rate is remarkably high). Still, I won’t be throwing out my Red Octane guitars anytime soon.
But like all songs, there are times when you’re not going to be singing, just standing around. Harmonix has smartly added in a nice gimmick to keep you busy. During these times, small dots will appear on the screen and you’ll have to tap the microphone in time to simulate shaking a tambourine or clapping your hands. It’s not the most enthralling gameplay ever, but it keeps you from getting bored while your buddy is wailing away on the guitar. The worst part about singing is trying to tackle a song that you’re unfamiliar with. Fortunately, Harmonix has done it’s best to get a wide variety of songs in to make sure that most people know a few songs beforehand.
Ahh, but most people aren’t going to be buying Rock Band for the guitar or the microphone. They already own games like that. No, the big draw for Rock Band is the new drum peripheral. And it’s great! I had my doubts the first time I hopped behind a demo kit, but now that I’ve had substantial time with the drum peripheral, it’s safe to say that this is what people will be fighting over at the inevitable Rock Band parties. The build quality of this peripheral is phenomenal. It feels solid, and unless you’re taking out your aggression on the bass pedal with cement shoes, you should have a hard time breaking it. Real wooden sticks are included in the package, and though the pads don’t have as much bounce as a real kit would, the experience of sitting behind the kit and rocking out is awesome!
The gameplay is very similar to the guitars. Notes will scroll vertically from the top of the screen, and you must hit the correct colors in rhythm. When a long orange line appears, you must step on the bass pedal. It’s all pretty straightforward and self-explanatory for anyone familiar with Harmonix’s other games. In addition to that, there are also “fill sections” where you’re free to bang around on the drums at your leisure and hitting the crash cymbal at the end of the section will trigger “overdrive” (Rock Band’s “Star Power”). The fill sections can be a curse too, however. While a real-life drummer could knock out a fill without hesitation, someone who absolutely sucks at playing real drums (myself) will find themselves struggling to keep rhythm when they’re not spoon-fed scrolling notes. It really breaks-up the gameplay. When you add in the fact that these fill sections will become more prominent until you activate your overdrive, it can get kind of annoying. Also annoying is when you’re playing guitar while someone else comes across a fill section and butchers it, screwing you up in the process. It’s a cool idea, but poorly implemented.
And now on to the game, itself. Single player is set up almost exactly like the Guitar Hero series. There is a career mode, where you play through the game’s entire soundtrack, and there is quickplay. Career mode is the game’s biggest failure. It’s an absolute chore to complete this mode by yourself when all you want to do is jam with friends. And you have to complete it if you want to unlock all of the game’s songs too (a huge, huge misstep). Unlike Guitar Hero, there are no encore songs, and therefore no surprises. It’s just a straightforward play-through mode with little to no reward for completing it.
Multiplayer is where it’s at. And unlike most Xbox 360 games, local multiplayer severely trumps online play. When you’re in a room with 3 other people in your virtual band, it can get pretty fun. You just don’t get that same feeling when you’re going online against people you don’t know and can’t interact with. The biggest attraction in multiplayer mode is the Band World Tour mode (no Xbox Live functionality here), where you and your friends can start a virtual band and tour the world. The better you perform, the more fans you attain. Likewise, if you fail a song, you lose fans. You can also unlock vans, buses, and other rock gear to help you on your tour across the globe. The whole idea of this mode is to realistically mimic the real-life journey of a real-life band. For real. Harmonix has also added in some choices to the gameplay that will keep things interesting (i.e. Will you sell out or not? Will you play this large venue and risk losing more fans or stick to the small one?). It all makes for a surprisingly fun, and engrossing multiplayer mode.
The standard multiplayer modes are here as well, including “Tug of War” and “Score Duel” (similar to Guitar Hero’s “Face-Off” and “Pro Face-Off,” respectively). Unfortunately, these only work if you have two of the same instrument lying around. Unless you’re unfathomably wealthy, that means you’ll likely be dueling on guitars only for the time being.
The game has a pretty cool visual style, with heavy distortion and filters applied to almost all in-game character animations. It gives it a very raw feel, which fits the game’s rock-theme perfectly. There is a pretty deep character customization system too, where you can create a digital version of yourself or your idealized self. Tattoos, piercings, and fauxhawks are all available for you to play around with, and you can even unlock more through the game’s career mode. Load times can be a bit grueling (at least on my early-model Xbox 360), and the lack of any wireless peripherals is an absolute joke! Expect plenty of tangles, especially from that 20-foot mic cable. The game also comes with a USB splitter to allow you to connect all peripherals, but unfortunately it requires it’s own power supply.
In the end though, there are very few things to complain about when it comes to Rock Band. Harmonix’s dream game has finally made it’s way onto store shelves, and if you’re lucky and rich enough to snag a copy (the game currently retails for $170), you will have an absolutely amazing time rocking out with friends. If you don’t have any friends though (or at least any that would be interested in playing Rock Band), you may want to spend your money elsewhere. Rock Band’s single player experience is fun for a short time, but you’ll find yourself longing to play with real live human beings before too long. And if all you’re interested in is the drums, you can always just wait until early 2008 to pick up a copy of the game with the drums only (for much cheaper). Anyways, the point is that Rock Band is one of the finest music rhythm games ever made and quite possibly the greatest party game ever to come into existence. If Guitar Hero was your thing, and you have plenty of friends to play with (and, of course, the money), buy Rock Band! You will not be disappointed.
9 out of 10 Stars
This week, I’ve decided to group news by category. Maybe I’ll do it this way from now on. Who knows?
General
Photos
Tour Dates
nerdXcore
Meh, I don’t like it.
Hey kids! Please to enjoy the news!
Like are we now only spitting eggs.
What do you get when you take a series that is virtually flawless and endlessly addicting and combine it with a developer who is known for ruining a virtually flawless and endlessly addicting series? You get a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, Neversoft, the studio responsible for the rise and fall of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, has decided to take that recipe and throw it out the window. Since acquiring the rights to the Guitar Hero name, Activision has seen to it that Neversoft be in charge of creating all future games in the franchise. And for a built-from-scratch first effort, they succeeded beyond my wildest expectations! Guitar Hero III not only continues the tradition of great music rhythm games, but it adds in some much needed features and game modes that really make it a must-own for any Xbox 360 owner!
First off, let’s discuss the changes that Neversoft made to the game. The art direction in general takes a much more “hardcore” approach, as characters like Judy Nails go from being sweet little rocker chick to big-breasted, pierced alt rocker. Most of the other characters have undergone similar changes, most of which are for the worse. The original games had a very cartoony type of image to it, and Neversoft tries to recreate that with more edge, but they end up looking like they’re trying too hard to make the game hardcore. Fortunately, this is a music game so graphics will ultimately take a back seat to the gameplay and music.
Gameplay-wise, Guitar Hero III picks up where II left off. New game modes have been introduced into the series, including Co-Op Career (a long-needed mode that features songs you can only unlock through it) and Battle Mode, which allows you to gain attacks (rather than star power) which you can then launch at your opponent to make them fail a song. The last person standing wins! The first time through this mode can be daunting, but after a while it quickly becomes a welcomed addition to the franchise! Also included this time around is full Xbox Live support for Face Off, Pro Face Off, Co-Op, and Battle Mode (unfortunately Co-Op career is not available for online play at this time). The system works great too, and in my dozens of matches online, I’ve only experienced brief lag once. There’s something thrilling about going to battle with someone you’ve never met and throroughly embarassing them! This feature was well worth the wait, and will undoubtedly add hours upon hours of play to an already addicting game.
Of course, the real strength of a music rhythm game will always rest in its soundtrack. Fortunately for us, Guitar Hero III rocks one of the most comprehensive and diverse soundtracks ever put in a video game. Neversoft has finally figured out what Harmonix never could; you can have difficult songs on the game that aren’t metal (i.e. Muse’s “Knights of Cydonia” or QotSA’s “3s and 7s”)! Add in the fact that a large portion of these songs are master recordings, and the game’s music just sky-rockets to a whole new level! And while Gutar Hero III’s soundtrack is clearly the best in the series, it is not without it’s missteps either. For example, “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys is a great song, but it really doesn’t belong here as there’s very little guitaring going on in the song. Overall though, the diverse collection of songs in the game almost assures it’s acceptance by those who may have been hesitant in the past, as there’s definitely something for everyone!
My complaints with the game are few. My largest gripe is the new Red Octane wireless controller which is very pretty, but has given myself and other gamers some problems. For me specifically, some of the fret buttons will occasionally stop working during a song and you’ll need to stop playing, disconnect the controller, and reconnect it for it to work again. This is a huge drawback, but hopefully they can get the bugs worked out in later models. Another small complaint is the lack of a matchmaking system for online play. I play on expert, but I’m more of a low-mid range expert who doesn’t stand a chance versus someone who’s been playing the game for a few years now. In the end, however, these complaints really overshadow what is a phenomenal game and a great first effort for Neversoft. I highly recommend it to anyone who may be on the fence about it. $99 for a video game is steep, but the hours and hours of enjoyment you’ll undoubtedly get out of Guitar Hero III are well worth the price. Buy it now!
Why do we all look like worms?
Is it because we are made of long, stringy, goo?
If you were awesome enough to visit the site last week, then you should be caught up on the Top 5 Reasons to Buy Guitar Hero III Instead of Rock Band. But let’s say that list wasn’t good enough for you. Let’s say you’re a millionaire and you can actually afford to buy Rock Band (it’s a smooth $170 at launch). Here are the top 5 reasons why you should buy it instead of Guitar Hero III.