Rock Band is a 2007 music video game developed by Harmonix and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. The game is available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Wii game consoles. Rock Band is based on Harmonix's previous success with the Guitar Hero series of video games in which players used a guitar-shaped controller to simulate playing rock music. Rock Band expands on the concept by adding a drum and microphone peripheral, allowing up to four players to participate in the game, playing lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals. The gameplay in Rock Band is comparable to that in Guitar Hero along with elements from Harmonix' Karaoke Revolution.

Rock Band for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 and 3 shipped with 58 songs on disk, while the Wii version, released at a later date, contained 5 additional songs that were released as downloadable content for the game. The European version of the game also includes 9 additional songs that have since been released as downloadable content for other regions. The player can expand their music library on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions by purchasing new songs offered on a weekly basis through the consoles' respective store systems. A full list of downloadable songs is available. For the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of Rock Band, Harmonix has created Rock Band Track Packs that contain a selection of the downloadable content already offered.

With Rock Band 2 and Rock Band 3, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players can export a majority of songs from the Rock Band soundtrack to their console's storage device by purchasing a "transfer license".[1][2] Additionally, certain songs rated as "Family Friendly" by Harmonix are playable in Lego Rock Band. "Enter Sandman", "Monsoon", "Paranoid" and "Run to the Hills" cannot be exported to any other game in the series. The original recording of "Run to the Hills" was made available as a downloadable single and also in Iron Maiden Pack 01 on June 9, 2009.[3] While initially not exportable to Rock Band 3, "Black Hole Sun" and "Dani California" were made available via a patch released on November 8, 2011.[4] On the European version, "Hier Kommt Alex" & "Rock 'n' Roll Star" can be exported to Rock Band 2 but not Rock Band 3.[5] Exports of the Rock Band soundtrack (with the above exclusions) into Rock Band 4, for those that have already exported them into Rock Band 2 or 3, was enabled in January 2016.[6]

Main setlist

Players can play Rock Band alone through a Career mode for lead guitar, drums, and vocals, earning in-game money for their character to purchase new outfits and instruments. Each of the 45 songs[7][8] has a different difficulty ranking for each instrument part, as well as a total band difficulty. There are a total of nine difficulties, or tiers. In career mode each song in a tier must be successfully completed to move onto the next and unlock the songs in that tier. This tier system is also used for rating the difficulty of the song (the "Band" tier) and its separate instrumental parts for downloadable content even though the songs are not used to unlock new songs in career mode. Once songs are unlocked, they may be played in any mode, including Quickplay, and multiplayer (competitive and co-operative modes) off- or online. Each instrument part in each song can be played at one of four difficulty levels, which include Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert.

Song titles listed in bold utilize master recordings.

Song title Artist Year Genre Exportable Family Friendly Rewind DLC
"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" Jet 2003 Rock Yes No No
"Ballroom Blitz" Sweet 1973 Glam Yes Yes No
"Black Hole Sun" Soundgarden 1994 Grunge Yes[4] No No
"Blitzkrieg Bop" Ramones 1976 Punk Yes Yes No
"Celebrity Skin" Hole 1998 Pop/Rock Yes No No
"Cherub Rock" Smashing Pumpkins 1993 Alternative Yes Yes Yes
"Creep" Radiohead 1992 Alternative Yes No Yes
"Dani California" Red Hot Chili Peppers 2006 Alternative Yes[4] No No
"Dead on Arrival" Fall Out Boy 2003 Pop/Rock Yes Yes Yes
"Detroit Rock City" Kiss 1976 Classic Rock Yes No No
"Don't Fear The Reaper(Don't Fear) The Reaper" Blue Öyster Cult 1976 Classic Rock Yes Yes Yes
"Electric Version" New PornographersThe New Pornographers 2003 Indie Rock Yes No No
"Enter Sandman" Metallica 1991 Metal No No No
"Epic" Faith No More 1990 Rock Yes Yes No
"Flirtin' with Disaster" Molly Hatchet 1979 Southern Rock Yes No No
"Foreplay/Long Time" Boston 1977 Classic Rock Yes Yes Yes
"Gimme Shelter" Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones 1969 Classic Rock Yes No No
"Go with the Flow" Queens of the Stone Age 2003 Alternative Yes Yes Yes
"Green Grass and High Tides" The Outlaws 1975 Southern Rock Yes Yes No
"Here It Goes Again" OK Go 2006 Pop/Rock Yes No No
"Highway Star" Deep Purple 1972 Classic Rock Yes No No
"I Think I'm Paranoid" Garbage 1998 Alternative Yes No No
"In Bloom" Nirvana 1992 Grunge Yes No No
"Learn to Fly" Foo Fighters 1999 Alternative Yes No Yes
"Main Offender" HivesThe Hives 2001 Punk Yes No No
"Maps" Yeah Yeah Yeahs 2003 Indie Rock Yes Yes No
"Mississippi Queen" Mountain 1970 Southern Rock Yes No No
"Next to You" PoliceThe Police 1978 Rock Yes No No
"Orange Crush" R.E.M. 1988 Alternative Yes No No
"Paranoid" Black Sabbath 1970 Metal No No No
"Reptilia" StrokesThe Strokes 2004 Rock Yes Yes Yes
"Run to the Hills" Iron Maiden 1982 Metal No No No[a]
"Sabotage" Beastie Boys 1994 Rock Yes No Yes
"Say It Ain't So" Weezer 1995 Alternative Yes No Yes
"Should I Stay or Should I Go" ClashThe Clash 1982 Punk Yes No No
"Suffragette City" David Bowie 1972 Glam Yes Yes Yes
"The Hand That Feeds" Nine Inch Nails 2005 Rock Yes No Yes
"Tom Sawyer" Rush 1981 Progressive Yes Yes No[a]
"Train Kept A-Rollin'" Aerosmith 1974 Rock Yes No No
"Vasoline" Stone Temple Pilots 1994 Alternative Yes No Yes
"Wanted Dead or Alive" Bon Jovi 1987 Rock Yes Yes Yes
"Wave of Mutilation" Pixies 1987 Alternative Yes No No
"Welcome Home" Coheed and Cambria 2005 Progressive Yes No Yes
"When You Were Young" KillersThe Killers 2006 Alternative Yes No Yes
"Won't Get Fooled Again" WhoThe Who 1971 Classic Rock Yes Yes Yes
  1. ^ a b Studio Version available as regular DLC.

Bonus songs

A total of 13 bonus songs can also be unlocked through the game's Career mode.[8][9] The bonus setlist consists of bands formed by Harmonix employees as well as local bands from near Harmonix's headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, or from Boston. The exceptions are Flyleaf, Crooked X, and Mother Hips. "Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld" comes from the titular fictional band featured in the comedy show South Park.

Song title Artist Decade Genre Family Friendly Rewind DLC
"29 Fingers" KonksThe Konks 2000s Rock Yes No
"Blood Doll" Anarchy Club 2000s Metal No Yes
"Brainpower" Freezepop 2000s Pop/Rock No Yes
"Can't Let Go" Death of the Cool 2000s Rock Yes Yes
"Day Late, Dollar Short" The Acro-Brats 2000s Rock No Yes
"I Get By" Honest Bob and the Factory to Dealer Incentives 2000s Indie Rock Yes Yes
"I'm So Sick" Flyleaf 2000s Nu-Metal No No
"Nightmare" Crooked X 2000s Rock Yes No
"Outside" Tribe 1990s Rock Yes Yes
"Pleasure (Pleasure)" Bang Camaro 2000s Rock Yes Yes
"Seven" Vagiant 2000s Punk No Yes
"Time We Had" Mother HipsThe Mother Hips 2000s Rock Yes No
"Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld" Timmy and the Lords
of the Underworld 		2000s Rock No No

Wii version

The Wii version of Rock Band features 5 additional songs originally released as downloadable content on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.[10]

Song title Artist Decade Genre Family Friendly
"Dirty Little Secret" All American RejectsThe All-American Rejects 2000s Emo Yes
"Don't Look Back in Anger" Oasis 1990s Rock Yes
"Roam" B-52's The B-52's 1980s Pop/Rock Yes
"Rockaway Beach" Ramones 1970s Punk Yes
"Roxanne" PoliceThe Police 1970s Pop/Rock No

European version

The European version of Rock Band features nine additional songs not available on the North American disc. These bonus songs include English, German, and French vocals.[11] These songs were released as downloadable content in the North American market on May 20, 2008.[12]

Song title Artist Language Decade Genre Exportable Family Friendly
"Beetlebum" Blur English 1990s Alternative Yes No
"Countdown to Insanity" H-Blockx English 2000s Rock Yes No
"Hier Kommt Alex" Toten HosenDie Toten Hosen German 1980s Punk Rock Band 2 only No
"Hysteria" Muse English 2000s Alternative Yes Yes
"Manu Chao" WampasLes Wampas French 2000s Punk Yes No
"Monsoon" Tokio Hotel English 2000s Glam No Yes
"New Wave" Pleymo French 2000s Metal Yes No
"Perfekte Welle" Juli German 2000s Rock Yes No
"Rock 'n' Roll Star" Oasis English 1990s Rock Rock Band 2 only Yes

External links

References

  1. ^ Sean Baptiste (2008-09-04). "Title Update for 360 Available". Harmonix. Archived from the original on 2008-09-14. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  2. ^ Sean Baptiste (2008-09-09). "PS3 Patch (and PAX Pack info)". Harmonix. Archived from the original on 2008-09-09. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  3. ^ "Iron Maiden DLC". Harmonix. 2009-06-09. Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  4. ^ a b c "New Rock Band 3 Patch Adds Back In Chili Pepper, Soundgarden Rock Band Exports". Rock Band Aide. 2011-11-07. Archived from the original on November 10, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-07.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "How do I export Rock Band songs for use in Rock Band 3 or other Rock Band games?". Harmonix. Archived from the original on 2011-08-16. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
  6. ^ Nunneley, Stephany (2016-01-14). "PS4 players in North America can now export Rock Band 1 content to Rock Band 4". VG247. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
  7. ^ "Rock Band Official Website: Song List". Archived from the original on 2008-09-08. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  8. ^ a b Goldstein, Hilary (2007-10-26). "Rock Band: The Complete Licensed Track List". IGN. Archived from the original on 2008-07-13. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  9. ^ "Rock Band and the Lords of the Underworld". IGN. 10 November 2007.
  10. ^ "Rock Band Wii 'bonus songs' already released on 360/PS3". Joystiq.
  11. ^ "Rock Band Gets Official Euro Release Date". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  12. ^ "DLC Week of May 20th". 2008-05-16. Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
Categories