Here’s this weeks review and playthrough for the Green Day 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.

Green Day – Oh Love

NOTE: The preview video got WMG’d. Sorry about that.

If I had to compare this guitar part to something, I’d compare it to Rocksmith’s Dynamic Difficulty. The riff starts out fairly easy (although it IS fairly easy for the whole song), but then as it gets played more and more, more notes start to come in. It goes from RY/GY/Space/G/Gpace/G/Space to RY/GY/Space/G/G/Space/G/G, as well as adding in HOPOs occasionally. The song has also got a solo that, while isn’t TOO hard, is still a tiny challenge. It’s actually pretty fun, although a dedicated guitarist could probably get a sightread FC of this.

Save for the solo on guitar, bass was more fun. The main riff consists of a note with a couple HOPOs that go across the fretboard. The chorus mostly does the same thing, but going in to it there’s some moderately paced alt-strumming that can break your combo if you’re not careful.

Drums are easily the strongest instrument on this song. The guitar, bass, and keys were all fairly easy, and I guess that this drum part is too, but it was filled with notes across the toms, snare, and cymbals with some bass pedal thrown in too. If you’re a super good drummer, you might not find this hard, but if you’re someone like me who’s not bad, but not the best, you’ll love playing this one!

Keys are just some long sustains throughout the whole song. It’s not fun at all and I don’t recommend this to anyone who’s interested in a fun keys part.

Vocals are actually pretty fun. Not the hardest in the world, but there’s some pitch changes that may catch you off guard if you’re not careful. Harmonies aren’t that great. They only really come in for a couple lines in the chorus, and I was able to get Double Awesome on them by singing into two mics.

This song doesn’t play THAT well in Blitz. The keys will almost certainly cause you to lose your multiplier. This is because they’re all just sustains. The other instruments aren’t that exciting, either. Super Guitar is the best bet on this song, due to the fact that there’s a guitar solo here.

Green Day – Brain Stew/Jaded

This is listed as being one of the hardest guitar songs in Green Day Rock Band, and maybe in comparison to other songs on the disc, it is, but as far as being a Rock Band song, it’s not that hard. The song is fun to play, until you get to Jaded. Up until then, the song is pretty easy, with some alt-strum parts put in after a few runs of the verse. Jaded, however, is just weirdly paced fast strumming. I didn’t like it, but I’m sure there are some people who will.

Bass is infinitely better than guitar. During Brain Stew, it’s pretty much the same, save for the lack of chords and muted strumming. The reason it’s so much better, is because Jaded is actually fun to play here. It’s not the mess of strummed chords that it’s six-stringed brother brought forth, instead opting to go for an actual pattern. It’s also a really fun bassline, and I recommend picking it up.

Drums follow a common theme of this song. Fun during Brain Stew, but not so much once Jaded comes in. During Brain Stew it’s not that hard, although someone who’s a beginner might get tripped up by the bass pedal, but once it gets to Jaded it just becomes “Hey! You thought you were going to have a nice song that you could chill back and relax with, but guess what? LOADS OF NOTES NOW!”. I didn’t like it, but I’m sure there are people who will.

I found vocals to be difficult during the Brain Stew part, but once it got to Jaded, I was able to get “Awesome” on everything. Harmonies are practically non-existent, save for doubling up the “On my own, here I go” and “Going straight will get you nowhere” lines. Not recommended if you’re a harmonizer.

In Blitz this song plays pretty well. Super Guitar is probably the best instrument to use, but Super Drums could also be good because the drums do get pretty crazy during Jaded. There aren’t any parts that will be difficult to level, if you make sure to keep on top of them.

Green Day – Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

Guitar was not what I was expecting it to be. I was expecting (and hoping for) a riff very similar to that of Weezer’s My Name is Jonas. Something that’s a long stream of challenging HOPOs. Nope, that’s not what it is. Instead the riff is all strums, put across a few different frets. It was fun, but disappointing. The rest of the song is just a bunch of alt strummed chords.

Bass was one of the most boring bass parts I’ve played all year. It’s the strings section of the song, because there isn’t any actual bass. If it were up to me, I would have just not charted anything to the bass and kept the song as just guitar and vocals.

This is one of those songs that everybody seems to know, and because of this, it’s one of those songs that everybody’s going to want to sing. Even if it has no harmonies, I wouldn’t be surprised if everybody sang along at a Rock Band party. The actual vocals aren’t that hard, so this is a good song to just kick back and relax with.

This is fun to play in Blitz, until the bass kicks in. The bass line is just long sustains, and that will make it very hard to level everything up. The best track powerup here is hands down Super Guitar.

Green Day – Minority

Guitar was pretty fun. It’s intro, and outro, is similar to what I was hoping for from Good Riddance. The main chunk of the song is some alt-strummed chords, followed by a few slower chords. It’s a pretty decent guitar part to play, but it’s not the best.

Bass claims to be harder than guitar, but frankly, I just don’t see it. It doesn’t have the alt strumming throughout, although there is a bit during the heavy-ish parts. Don’t get me wrong, it was still fun. I just think the tiering is bad.

Drums are actually quite challenging, for an easier song. It’s filled with odd timing of the bass pedal, and loads of rolls. In the middle of the song there is a part that consists solely of snare rolls and bass pedal. It’s quite hard. It’s a great song if you want a good challenge.

This song has the best harmonies of the Green Day Rock Band songs released this week. They double, and sometimes even triple, up the lead vocal, and toward the end, some of them go off and do their own thing. This is great for harmonizers, and you should pick this up if you don’t already have it.

Of all the songs released this week that are from Green Day: Rock Band, this one plays the best in Blitz. Every instrument is that great combination of “loads of notes, none too hard” that’s really good for Blitz. Once again, Super Guitar is the way to go here.

Green Day – Warning

Guitar on this song just goes to prove that easy songs can still be fun. The majority of the song consists of the riff, which isn’t too fast, but can still provide a bit of a challenge to someone who’s not overtly skilled. It consists of single notes that go across the frets, with the occasional chord thrown in. If you’re looking for a song that’s not too hard, but still fun, you should pick this up.

Bass was pretty much identical to guitar, save for the fact that guitar has chords. Fortunately, this means it was just as fun as guitar. I recommend picking this one up if you’re a bassist looking for something fun that won’t cause you to feel like a bowling ball was dropped on your fingers afterwards.

The drum part for the most part, it just a standard rock beat. Nothing too hard, but I personally found it fun. It’s got a few fills here and there, but overall, nothing too hard. If you’re looking for an easier song that’s not mind numbingly boring, then pick this up.

Vocals are pretty fun. They’re not too hard, but there’s a fair amount of moving between low notes, and higher notes. It’s pretty fun to sing, and I’d look into this if I were a vocalist.

Save for vocals, the instruments here are pretty much the same in Blitz. They’re all pretty good to play, and really, it doesn’t really matter what Super instrument you use (although there are a lot of double notes on drums, so you might be best going with Super Drums).

Pick of the week: Oh Love
What should you buy: Oh Love

20 Responses to “DLC Review 9/25 (Green Day’s Oh Love + 4 Green Day: Rock Band tracks)”