Here’s this weeks review and playthrough for the Smash Mouth and Offspring DLC. Included below are playthrough videos of the DLC from the always awesome thenewnoelisoncruz. Definitely check out and subscribe to his YouTube channel!

All tracks are 160 MSP ($1.99). Pro Guitar/Bass charts are noted below where applicable, and can be purchased for an additional 80 MSP ($0.99).

Review is after the jump.

WAR Mouth – Why Can’t We Be Friends?

I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting much from this guitar part in the way of difficulty. Especially when you consider the other Smash Mouth songs in the game. I was able to sightread FC All Star and Walking on the Sun, and I was easily able to sightread Gold Star Can’t Get Enough of You Baby. Boy was I shocked when I played this. Filled with really fast alt-strumming, loads of HOPOs, and really fast chord changes, this is a great song if you’re looking for a challenge. To top it all off, it’s super fun as well. If you’re a guitarist, you need to have this song.

Bass was pretty good. It’s got a lot of fast paced alt-strumming, but mixed in to that is some slower paced notes, and HOPOs. I thought this was a fun bass part, and you should definitely check it out!

Drums are really hard, but that’s something typical of Ska-style songs. The whole song, save for the intro, is really fast cymbal (hi-hat for most of it, crash for the last little bit) hits, with the occasional snare thrown in, and somefairly hard bass pedal. Great for advanced drummers, but people who aren’t that good should stay away from this.

This keys part is really, really fun. The main part of it is quickly alternating between chords and single notes, and that’s sure to prove a challenge to some less experienced keys players! I highly recommend this keys part.

Vocals are pretty fun to sing. As someone who is only really familiar with the WAR version of the song, I found myself being able to, for the most part, sing this well. That’s not to say, however, that there aren’t a few instances where someone who doesn’t know this version all to well will fumble. As far as harmonies are concerned, this song has double harmonies that only come in during the chorus, and, save for the last chorus, sing the exact same note.

This song plays really well in Blitz. It’s got great, fast instruments that will keep you on your toes, and it’s got a solo! The only thing to watch out for is that sometimes the keys will be just sustains throughout the whole section, so you may find it difficult to level up. Super Guitar is the best instrument powerup here.

? and the Smash Mouths – Can’t Get Enough of You Baby

Guitar was pretty fun to play. It’s mostly just chords, but I personally found the song really fun. I’d look in to this song if I were a guitarist looking for an easier song that won’t bore you.

Bass was the weakest part of the song. It’s not like it was bad, or anything, but there just wasn’t much going on. Most of the song was just sustains alternating between a couple of frets. I wouldn’t recommend this bass line to anyone but beginners.

Drums were very, very fun. It’s not that they’re hard, but they were tricky. The part isn’t too fast, which is nice because that makes it manageable. It’s got some bass pedal that comes in to make the part trickier too. The main beat of this part is hitting the crash, but occasionally alternating with the snare. I’d recommend it for all the drummers out there!

Keys are pretty fun. The main chunk of the song has you going between some three note chords and single notes fairly quickly, and that’s sure to keep you on your toes. There’s also a fairly easy solo, but it’s still fun to play!

I don’t know why, but I had a lot of difficulty with vocals. If you’re looking for a challenging vocal part, then I definitely recommend checking this song out!

This song is OK in Blitz. It’s nowhere near as fun as Why Can’t We Be Friends, due to the fact that this is a slower song. It’s still got a solo though, but again, it’s nothing special. If you want to score well, Super Keys is the way to go on this song.

The Offspring – Days Go By

Guitar was actually pretty good. It got a great riff that goes throughout the whole song. It’ll take you all over your fretboard many times, and features some alt strumming sections thrown in, just so you’re not doing the same thing over and over again.

Bass is what I’ve come to expect from bass lines. It’s a series of moderately paced strums across different frets. As I say about all of them, I don’t hate them, but there’s nothing special going on that makes me say “Wow! I like this bass part!”.

I wasn’t overtly fond of this drum part. The only thing that makes this part hard is the bass pedal, and even that isn’t THAT hard. I honesty don’t know what it was about this drum part that rubbed me the wrong way, but it just did.

There are 17 notes on keys, the Gold Star cutoff is around 5,100, and all the notes are sustained chords at the end of the song. I’ll let you try and figure out what I thought of this keys part.

I’ve never heard any of the songs this week (although I am quite familiar with the WAR, and ? and the Mysterians versions of the Smash Mouth songs), but I still found this to be very easy to sing. Despite not knowing the song AT ALL, I still managed to pull off a very respectable 96% on a sightread of expert vocals. Either this song is exactly in my range (possible) or this is just a very easy song to sing (more possible).

This song plays well in Blitz, until the keys come in. They don’t come in until almost the end, but when they do, they’re just sustained chords. As I’ve said about any part with nothing but long sustains, it can, and most often will, cause you to either not level up or only level up once. The best track powerup for this song is Super Guitar.

Pick of the week: Why Can’t We Be Friends
What should you get: The Smash Mouth songs

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