The Watchtower of Destruction: The Ferrett's Journal - Odd Reviews: Rock Band DLC

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December 17th, 2008
09:42 am

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Odd Reviews: Rock Band DLC
I was disappointed when Rock Band announced that this week was the Country Pack, since I'm mostly a rock guy. But strangely, after downloading a couple of songs, they're some of the best add-on songs in Rock Band. Remember when you started playing Rock Band and took that great joy in cranking of quasi-chords to the music, feeling like you were almost playing real guitar to a cheering crowd of thousands?

Well, the country songs will bring back that feeling, albeit in a different sense, because you will be finger-picking bluegrass guitar. It's a lot trickier, but the increased talent only magnifies the illusion that hey, this is a skill I learned. It's fun. Also, the Dixie Chicks' "Sin Wagon" is one of the most challenging songs on Rock Band, fast and hard with lots of fiddly bits, but unlike the grinding repetition of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Snow (Hey Oh)" or the irritatingly fast alt-strums of Evile's "Thrash," "Sin Wagon" is the kind of number I don't mind dying repeatedly at 81% on.

While we're at it:
  • RBDLC.com is where I get most of my information on next week's songs - not just what they are, but links to reviews and music videos so I know what they're like before I buy them. They're a great site, but unfortunately, everyone there has this bias that if it's really impossibly hard, it must be a great song, and if it's from a band popular with teenagers, it must suck. However, you can compensate for that.
  • An overlooked gem is Miranda Cosgove's "Headphones On," which is an example of how great chording can save an otherwise-forgettable song. The song is a boilerplate pop thing, but whoever mapped buttons to music did a really insanely fun job of switching it up so even the simplest sections are just a little weird. I've played this song at least four times, and it's still rewarding for a simple song. Whoever did this? Give them more songs to do.
  • "Tempted," on the other hand, is the most boring song in all of Rock Band. Yeah, it's Squeeze, and I like the song, but the guitar involves you standing around for minutes at a time playing nothing. And then, when the game grudgingly gives you something to do, it's the same repetitive rhythm that's both easy and not particularly fun. It's the first time I've felt like a bystander at my own song.
  • Likewise, you may well love No Doubt, but I assure you their songs are all pretty dull to play. Still, there is the thrill of playing to a song you really love, even if only the top tiers like "Hella Good" are mildly challenging.
  • If you're looking for two minor songs to augment your arsenal, Shinedown's "Junkies for Fame" and Them Terribles' "Bullets and Guns" are good, fast songs that are quick to learn but make you feel like you're totally rockin'. Likewise, it's a straight dip down from his last big hit, but Papa Roach's "Time Is Running Out" is a really good song for those who can't get enough Matchbox 20. Keep your snarky comments to y'self, please.

(Tell me I'm full of it)

Comments
 
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From:[info]aiela
Date:December 17th, 2008 02:45 pm (UTC)
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Okay, if they have Miranda Cosgrove stuff, where's the Drake Bell love for me and [info]sheryl67? :P

(Damn, I got rid of my Drake Bell icon.)
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From:[info]theferrett
Date:December 17th, 2008 11:27 pm (UTC)
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So I get a duck. Nice.
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From:[info]day_pirate
Date:December 18th, 2008 12:46 am (UTC)
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Not just any duck! Darkwing Duck. He's the terror that flaps in the night!
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From:[info]aiela
Date:December 18th, 2008 02:48 pm (UTC)
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Plus! It's a BOY DUCK.

Which makes it .... a Drake!

I am topical, even when I'm vague. :P
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From:[info]kilbia
Date:December 17th, 2008 03:02 pm (UTC)
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Feeling like a bystander in your own song?

Welcome to the world of the vocalist. More so in GH:WT than in Rock Band, but yeah. You can tell it was for the benefit of the vocalists and any bystanders that they put as much work as they did into the (petr)animations of your characters on stage.
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From:[info]kisekinotenshi
Date:December 17th, 2008 03:07 pm (UTC)
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I only feel this way about songs I've sung before, personally. But that's very few in Rock Band, since I don't listen to the radio at all (not since I was 14), a lot of the songs in Rock Band are completely new to me. It's way harder to sight-read green lines than a score. XD
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From:[info]zillah3
Date:December 17th, 2008 04:05 pm (UTC)
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Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that. Also not looking forward to doing that in ranges that aren't written for me. I'm glad to see some female singers mentioned in Ferrett's post, it gives me hope. We finally have RB, and I can't wait to sing along!

(And I've always said that they were neglecting all those girlfriends that might sing along if there were female singers- having so many male singers adds one more hurdle for their enjoyment!)
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From:[info]kisekinotenshi
Date:December 17th, 2008 04:14 pm (UTC)
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Considering the male rocker's range is usually quite high, I can generally manage all the songs without having to sing up an octave (and it does recognize octaves, usually). But then, I am a mezzo with an impressive lower range. XD

It's not that hard to sing along to the song if you don't know it, the problem is hearing the song over your own voice, as well as the sounds of the other instruments (if you're playing with others).

That having been said, there are more than a few female singers in Rock Band. They're not the majority, but they're there. XD
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From:[info]zillah3
Date:December 17th, 2008 04:56 pm (UTC)
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Yay, I will take all of that as signs of hope. :) I'm rather mezzo as well, but am usually asked to sing high. It does seem to work best for me to take a baritone solo and sing it up an octave, so maybe it'll be ok range-wise. I still don't want to sing about how sexy that girl across the room is, and what the lyricist wants to do to her. :(

I am worried about hearing the melody over everything else (including me).


I once sang lower than a countertenor in an impromptu match... but then he won the higher pitch contest. :(
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From:[info]kisekinotenshi
Date:December 17th, 2008 05:08 pm (UTC)
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There really aren't that many risque songs in it either, I think because they knew kids would want to play it too. There's mild sensoring (using spit instead of shit, for instance), and I haven't encountered any really explicit lyrics yet. They want to market it to families, and I doubt they would have much luck if there was a bunch of that stuff in there. XD

I once scared the crap out of a baritone friend of mine by singing my lowest (decent) note behind him in the hallway. XD He jumped a foot and went "was that YOU?!" I also have been used as a tenor in choir when the tenors are scarce (which is often).
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From:[info]kilbia
Date:December 17th, 2008 09:19 pm (UTC)
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There's not a whole lot of the whole "sexy mama" lyricizing. It's there on some songs, but for the most part I've not encountered any songs I didn't know that bothered me. (I figure if you know the song already, you'll know whether you're comfortable with the lyrics.)

I can't remember whether it was in Rock Band 2 or in Guitar Hero: World Tour, but we performed "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit, and they simply went with the radio edit of the lyrics, where the expletive is simply erased from the vocal track. There is a corresponding blank spot in the game. I flubbed that phrase so hard because I couldn't stop giggling once I realized what had happened. =)
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From:[info]theferrett
Date:December 17th, 2008 11:36 pm (UTC)
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Not me, sister. When I sing, I belt it out so loud they hear me in other houses. I may not be playing all the time, but I assure you I take center stage once I sing "Master Exploder."

(Also, nice MNI reference!)
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From:[info]badlittlemonkey
Date:December 17th, 2008 03:06 pm (UTC)
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I actually was surprised to find I liked most of the No Doubt stuff I played. I don't know that it was super challenging, but I think it's like you said -- they're fun because of knowing the songs so well. Sometimes I want that challenge, sometimes I just wanna mindlessly rock a little bit, and the No Doubt stuff seems tailor-made for that. :)
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From:[info]wyrrlen
Date:December 17th, 2008 05:04 pm (UTC)
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I think the "fun rather than hard" sentiment is what has made Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive one of my all time favorite songs from both GH and RB. All-American Rejects Dirty Little Secret is right up there as well.
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From:[info]theferrett
Date:December 17th, 2008 11:28 pm (UTC)
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Totally.

Agreed.
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From:[info]theferrett
Date:December 17th, 2008 11:28 pm (UTC)
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That's why I say that the RBDLC really mistakes "extremely difficult" for "fun." As mentioned below, I'll take "Dirty Little Secret" over a thousand "Sleepwalker"s.
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From:[info]pentane
Date:December 17th, 2008 03:27 pm (UTC)
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Totally different world for drummers. Tempted is mindnumbingly dull, but you work. Polly, on the other hand. 4 beats.

I like AC/DC songs the best. Fun to play, good songs (my first album was back in black), and not super repetetive.
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From:[info]theferrett
Date:December 17th, 2008 11:28 pm (UTC)
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That's the way it is from drummers in the real world, though.
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From:[info]zillah3
Date:December 17th, 2008 04:11 pm (UTC)
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Thank you for the link- we've been playing GH for a long time, but only recently (Black Friday, anyone?) got RB. It'll be nice to have reviews of the DLC tracks. I've been anxiously awaiting RB, as I can finally play along with my husband and his gaming partner and be something other than Decoy in a Tom Clancy game or Plasma Sword Bait in Halo (which is fun, but gets old after a while). :)
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From:[info]roninspoon
Date:December 17th, 2008 04:37 pm (UTC)
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Sweet. I haven't been paying much attention to Rock Band lately because of Fallout3, but man, I've been waiting for some country songs to drop.
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From:[info]phillipalden
Date:December 17th, 2008 04:49 pm (UTC)
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You remind me that I need some time with Guitar Hero.
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From:[info]orejen
Date:December 17th, 2008 04:53 pm (UTC)
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Have you tried the Jimmy Buffett pack yet? How was it?

I am thinking (economics permitting) of getting a Wii, Wii Fit and Rockband next year with a work bonus.
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From:[info]zillah3
Date:December 17th, 2008 04:57 pm (UTC)
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The game industry will appreciate you. :) And I applaud, that's a good selection. :)
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From:[info]kilbia
Date:December 17th, 2008 09:24 pm (UTC)
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I've tried the Jimmy Buffett pack - one of my friends bought it half because she knew I was a fan. =)

I find the tracks "dangerous" for a vocalist. I'm guessing you heard, he went and re-recorded those three songs expressly to be used in Rock Band. So knowing the songs ahead of time only does you *some* good. Buffett didn't exactly feel the need to stay faithful to how it was recorded in the studio for the album twenty years ago. And it's not that I blame him in the slightest - it just means I have to treat the song as one I've not heard before or I'll "mess up" by singing it the old way instead of how it is presented in the game.

(I insisted that we start with "Volcano", because I just KNEW he would record new lyrics for it. And he did not disappoint. =)
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From:[info]theferrett
Date:December 17th, 2008 11:34 pm (UTC)
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Jimmy Buffet's okay, if you like Jimmy Buffet. The songs are reasonably tricky on guitar, but they're fun. I'll only ding a song if I think the button-mapping is either too tricky, too repetitive ("Snow (Hey-O)" is a prime example of one that's too tricky and too repetitive), or too dull, so I'm not necessarily the best person to ask here.
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From:[info]tacologic
Date:December 17th, 2008 05:09 pm (UTC)
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Tempted is a pretty boring song for guitar, but it's pretty fun for vocals. And on guitar, I actually kinda like playing Spiderwebs.
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From:[info]theferrett
Date:December 17th, 2008 11:34 pm (UTC)
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Oh, I bought Tempted for the vocals; I was just extremely disappointed by the (admittedly accurate) guitar.
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From:[info]tsgeisel
Date:December 17th, 2008 07:33 pm (UTC)
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Most of Squeeze's seriously fun songs involve piano, and aren't as famous as "Tempted" is, which I can mentally imagine as being not especially interesting. Take heart - maybe you'll see "Pulling Mussels From A Shell" or "Take Me I'm Yours" sometime soon.

And, frankly, even if I don't play, it's about time they released some country music. I'm still surprised we haven't seen a full-on Country Hero or Country Band expansion yet, complete with oversized acoustic-like guitar body. A great time to introduce some serious bluegrass as well as Johnny Cash, Hank Williams (and probably Jr, too), and some more modern artists as well. Maybe they're testing the waters with these few songs...

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From:[info]kilbia
Date:December 17th, 2008 09:30 pm (UTC)
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I expect that's exactly what's happening. Though also, note that these are all *modern* country acts. Ever since Garth Brooks or thereabouts, there's been a really heavy pop/rock influence in the country music scene - to the point where I can think of two songs that were released simultaneously by two different artists, one onto the country charts and one onto the pop charts. ("I Swear" and "Shameless", for those curious.)

And I think it's a smarter move to simply release a little DLC in a new genre than to try and completely repackage the game. It's not like they're trying to release "Big Band" and trade out the guitar and microphone for a trumpet and saxophone. =)
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From:[info]tsgeisel
Date:December 17th, 2008 10:40 pm (UTC)
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I'm anxiously awaiting *that* too.

But, really, what I want is the keyboard capability, so we can do Prog Rock correctly.
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From:[info]raiden_kitsune
Date:December 17th, 2008 07:54 pm (UTC)
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Hmm...I'll have to take your advice and give the country pack a try, then, despite the protests I'll likely get from the rest of my RB group.

Have to disagree on No Doubt, though; my "bandmates" and I all found the vast majority of them to be some of the more fun songs to play so far. We're not really top-tier players, so maybe they just aren't as much fun to someone who's looking for the most challenging songs, but we definitely all enjoyed playing through the song pack.
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