The Bus

What the hell? "True" rock? Give me a break.

GoVegan

Yeah, but you're redefining the word "rock" to only include the music you want. As far as I can tell, the Pixies have loud guitars, frenetic drumming and a guy singing/screaming into a mic. It sure sounds like rock to me.

Looking at the base songs and DLC so far, it looks like anything that falls under the "rock" umbrella is being released. It's not "Classic Rock Band" or "Hard Rock Band" or "Alternative Rock Band." It's more anything goes.

flashburn

Not "true" rock, just any rock would be just fine.

Silkk_34

I've actually been pretty disappointed in the DLC this last couple of weeks. Sometimes it just feels like filler releases.

RichC2

They've been giving pretty constant on the "rock" side of things.

Just because it isn't your style of sub-genre doesn't make it any less rock in the grand scheme of things.

People just want the bigger named bands, that's understandable.

Mad Dawg

Not so fast, me!

Oopsy, IGN. BTW, IGN has edited to say "late June."

UncleGramps

Yeah, I was just about to post that after perusing the RB forums. Perhaps something interesting is afoot...

AsmodeusVice

Is it me or does it seem like alot of the material Harmonix picks for Rock Band is their own self-indulgence rather than what the gamers want?

I mean there are alot of bands that I would have never heard had they not been in the game (the freakin Mother Hips have 3 songs on the game, who the hell are they?!?!?).

I know that some of the bands on there are the dev's bands, but there is a good load of obscure stuff on there. I have all the DLC (all of which I think is great to decent stuff) and can say for sure that I won't be buying the Pixies album. I finally think they picked something that is just way too out there for this game (my opinion, of course).

I know alot of it has to do with music rights, but for christ sakes The Pixies?!? I guess George Thorogood was just too expensive. I'd rather have no content than them scraping the bottom of the barrel for the cheapest licenses.

Just to clarify, I do consider myself pretty musically diverse, and most of my favorite stuff isn't well known (if at all).

thelwig14

Agreed. I was going to get GH: Aerosmith anyway, but these few weeks of DLC have made me crave it even more.

AsmodeusVice

Hell, I'd be happy if they just put songs on there that you can rock out to. I actually cracked my yellow pad on Hysteria. That song just freakin rocks.

Some of my choices would be of lesser known bands. I REALLY want to see Pat Travers "Boom, boom, out go the lights" on there.

Right now, my 3 choices for songs would be:

Pat Travers "Boom, boom, out go the lights"
Steely Dan "Bodhisattva"
Barenaked Ladies "Running Out of Ink"

They are not well known, but are VERY rockin songs.

Michael Corvin

^ You put it better than I did. I also agree about Hysteria. I'd never heard the song before but it rocks and I love it.

So I didn't choose the best wording. Sue me. I'm obviously not alone, but I'll be the whipping boy today. That's cool. I don't have a problem with what they're releasing, they're just okay. It's not about what I want, it's just that nothing that really rocks or stands out. Surely that's not a hard to grasp.

To lighten the mood, recent DLC told by smilies.

MTV2 pack -

Jimmy Buffet -

Disturbed -

the Cars -

Oasis -

Pleymo, Tokio Hotel, Les Wampas, Die Toten Hosen, H-Blockx -

Muse -

Sonic Youth, Blondie, the Clash, Pixies, Fall Out Boy, Mother Hips, Pumpkins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blink 182 2.0, -

Which brings us to April 22 and Judas Priest. I'm not a big fan but it rocks and isn't someone that has already been in the game.

RichC2

The Pixies are popular and well known, and pretty damn good on top of that, but isn't to everybody's taste. Cheap licensing? Probably not as expensive as some, but definitely more than most.

Get over it, if you don't like it, don't buy it (and you won't). The fact they're trying to get music out every week is impressive in it's own right, kind of sick of people giving them shit for not releasing exactly what they want. I think they've covered their bases pretty well thus far. You know they're going to keep the bigger name bands for the formal game release at some point, the DLC is being over analyzed as if it's supposed to compensate for future sequels.

Hell, some of the better known bands (The Clash, Ramones, The Pretenders) have some of the worst DLC thus far.

I agree, though in this context you make seem like Muse isn't a well known band.

I'm a fan of the variety we've been getting, the Yeah Yeah Yeah's songs are a blast on the drums, as are the Pumpkins songs (which are fun to sing as well). Buffet songs are fun to drink and sing to. The Pixies just kick ass.

That said, I mostly play the drums in the game so I can't gauge the other components as much as fairly and may be equally annoyed in some cases. I personally can't stand Aerosmith and am bewildered at that being the choice for the first band GH game.

Shagrath

Last time I checked, I didn't see any messages. You're in now. I usually check it every few days to see if new members are interested. Welcome to the club!

The Bus

I actually love what they are doing so far. They seem to be going after specific genres and getting songs that people who are fans of those genres would appreciate. I don't like Jimmy Buffet, but I'm pretty damn sure his fans would be excited over this. My friend's dad (a fan) asked him how he could play the songs, knowing next to nothing about Rock Band or videogames.

I fully expect Rock Band to put out a pack of Latin rock DLC: Juanes, Maná, Molotov, Café Tacuba, Control Machete... something along those lines.

I, for one, am happy that every release isn't metal or crappy dinosaur rock.

pinata242

Sort of random, possible RB2 news that fits in with the current discussion of what sort of content Harmonix seems to be going after.

http://kotaku.com/5016061/do-we-have...band-ii-artist
Same point made by this guy, but I think he's confusing "mainstream" with "top 40".

Anyway, GH does seem to be going after the big boys, the epics, the "Legends of Rock" that, love em or hate em, everyone knows while Rock Band seems to be going with the indie/niche crowds.

Interested to see what is announced that isn't the Pixies today.

AsmodeusVice

You know, I really don't care if they release EXACTLY what I want and am glad for them pumping out songs every week, but they don't have to raid some nu-hippie's College music collection from the 90's to find songs for the game. I would have NEVER played some of these songs in the bands I was in to "Get the crowd moving".

I'm really enjoying discovering new bands through the game, and I have been generally pleased with all the stuff released so far. My argument is about the ROCKIN content. I don't see myself playing air guitar to The Pixies ...or just rockin out in general to Doolittle. That's the kind of music for the film Slackers. Why not put the Dead Kennedys on there while you're at it.

I appreciate that they are diversifying the content, but just because I love Morphine, doesn't mean it belongs in a game called ROCK Band.

Please, give us obscure stuff. But for god sakes, let us "Rock out with our C@&K out".

I agree, and welcome lesser known songs, but they could have picked better songs (see argument above). I would have personally liked to see "Don't get me wrong" by the Pretenders.

GoVegan

I'm happy with what they've been doing so far as well. Sure, a month or more will sometimes go by without any releases I'm thrilled about, but I've even enjoyed a lot of songs I would never intentionally listen to outside of the game. I'd rather it be up/down than just a constant dissapointment.

I hope the Pixies are the bottom of the barrel. We should be so lucky. I can't wait to see what's filling the rest of that barrel.

Mad Dawg

I completely understand why people are frustrated with DLC, but some of this was kind of expected going in. It wasn't intended to be a wall to wall hit-fest, and they were going to cross sub-genres, dig into stuff, and launch new music.

That totally works for me, as I've been pretty happy with the choices from that perspective. Even the stuff I don't buy hasn't bothered me, because someone does want it and it's nice that there's a choice. I think they've done a very good job with DLC, but to each his own.

devilshalo

Coming the week of June 24th - the long-awaited (especially by me) release of the Pixies' incredible album Doolittle. 14 tracks join the track "Wave of Mutilation" which was included on the Rock Band disc to complete the album.

Release date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 (Xbox LIVE® Marketplace)
Thursday, June 26, 2008 (PLAYSTATION®Store)

Tracks:
“Crackity Jones”
“Dead”
“Debaser”
“Gouge Away”
“Here Comes Your Man”
“Hey”
“I Bleed”
“La la Love You”
“Monkey Gone To Heaven”
“Mr Grieves”
“No 13 Baby”
“Silver”
“Tame”
“There Goes My Gun”

(All tracks utilize the original master recordings)

Price:
$18.99 (1520 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for the Album or $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track.

pinata242

hmxsean with the misdirection.

Edit: Oops! 6/24. That's a the week after next. I guess the 6/17 is still up in the air.

aktick

And that's why I'm starting to lean more towards the GH side than RB.

What I'm looking for are songs that I really enjoy listening to (things I grew up listening to, classic rock and alternative from the 90s, some more current stuff as well) and are/would be fun to play. While I have discovered some things either on disc or via DLC that I didn't know about and now enjoy, I'm personally less interested in being exposed to new music than pretending I know how to play great, well known tracks.

The Mother Hips, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Pixies, The Strokes, Garbage, the MTV2 pack, things like that just don't interest me at all. Yes, they're DLC now, but if that's the way they're going to be with RB2 on disc, I'll probably skip it.

I'm mainly interested in things like GNR, AC/DC, Zeppelin (haha), some Metallica, Pumpkins, Rolling Stones, The Who, Aerosmith, RHCP, Black Crowes, Clapton, Live, STP, U2, Tom Petty, etc.

Just seems like GH is much more interested in catering to somebody like me than RB, which is fine.

Mad Dawg

Based upon past interviews with Harmonix, it seems that they're taking the approach that on-disc songs will be genre or band favorites (factoring in difficulty), while DLC will give them the ability to offer music that doesn't fit in with that. So I think it's pretty safe to say that the RB2 disc would be more like RB1, whereas DLC will be the place to get not only additional favorites, but songs or genres that don't work on-disc.

The Bus

# of artists you listed who appear in GHIII: 8
# of artists you listed who appear in RB: 8

What?

pinata242

This is perfectly understandable (and should be acceptable ), but I thought "RB" was supposed to be a platform for DLC. I can understand wanting engine upgrades and all that. I understand that not everyone who plays RB has access to the DLC (no internet, no desire to buy them, playing on a Wii) so there is a definite need for retail expansions of content.

I just wish they'd pick a stance. Is RB meant to be a digital delivery platform for content or is the digital content merely meant to be minor augmentations of the retail disc content?

I'll continue to buy what DLC I like and what I can tolerate for the price and ignore those I don't. I still get to get annoyed that week to week is stuff I'm not interested in.

Besides, if RB2 really will include such major headliners like Turbonegro... I don't really have a finish to that start.

pinata242

I've only heard the Offspring song once. Will have to listen again. Hopefully they go back in their catalog now that they're on the docket.

Crooked X isn't my cuppa, but they're local boys and I dug Nightmare. So this is one instance that me being force-fed a band may benefit the DLC accountants.