Posts Tagged ‘albums’

Well, if MTV Games Senior VP Paul DeGooyer had his way, some album purchases in the future would be bundled with Rock Band DLC.  Similar to how Pearl Jam’s “Backspacer” special edition album sold exclusively at Target last year, music artists could option to have a normal album, as well as a premium bundle that would contain the album’s tracks capable of being played in Rock Band.

“We would love to see a world where in your premium bundle for the next Muse album, you’re able to also receive that album on your console of choice, and be able to play it,” he said, speaking at MIDEM’s Images & Brands summit this morning.

Oh, and not sure if you caught that or not, but he name dropped Muse.  That ought to be make some people in the community especially happy.  (In other words, don’t be surprised if there’s some Muse coming to Rock Band soon!)

[Musically.com via PlasticAxe.com]

Ach der lieber! A bunch of the Harmonix folks are in Germany right now for Gamescom (some of them sans luggage, from what I’ve heard), and official word from the camp just recently came out with a nice little load of announcements, of which I’m voraciously reading and trying to post here, so bear with me.

First up are details of the Beatles: Rock Band DLC albums.  We already knew that “All You Need Is Love” will be a timed exclusive for the Xbox 360 available on 9/9/09 for $1.99.  We also knew the first three albums coming as DLC are “Abbey Road,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” and “Rubber Soul.”  What we didn’t know was the release dates for said albums… which are as follows.  “Abbey Road” will be landing first on October 20, 2009, followed by “Sgt. Pepper…” in November, and “Rubber Soul” sometime in December.  Pricing will be $16.98 (or 1360 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for the first album, or $1.99 (or 160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for individual tracks.

As a side note, I talked with HarmonixSean this weekend at the Fest for Beatles Fans in Chicago, and he told me that all Beatles DLC will have NEW DREAMSCAPES (costumes, environments, etc.)!  I think this makes the $1.99 per DLC track price a pretty darn good deal (excuse the harsh language… I get excited).

Another detail is the actual tracks to be featured on the DLC albums.  There was some confusion, as different tracks were sometimes featured on albums released in different countries.  Here’s what you can expect to find:

Abbey Road (1969)
Release Date: October 20, 2009

• “Come Together”
• “Something”
• “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”
• “Oh! Darling”
• “Octopus’s Garden”
• “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”
• “Here Comes The Sun”
• “Because”
• “You Never Give Me Your Money”
• “Sun King”
• “Mean Mr. Mustard”
• “Polythene Pam”
• “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”
• “Golden Slumbers”
• “Carry That Weight”
• “The End”
• “Her Majesty”

In addition, purchasers of the full album download of Abbey Road will have the option to play the famous 16-minute B-side medley as a single continuous track. The medley includes “You Never Give Me Your Money,” “Sun King,” “Mean Mr. Mustard,” “Polythene Pam,” “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window,” “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End.”

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Release Date: November 2009

• “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
• “With A Little Help From My Friends”
• “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”
• “Getting Better”
• “Fixing A Hole”
• “She’s Leaving Home”
• “Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite”
• “Within You Without You
• “When I’m Sixty Four”
• “Lovely Rita”
• “Good Morning Good Morning”
• “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)”
• “A Day In The Life”

Rubber Soul (1965)
Release Date: December 2009

• “Drive My Car”
• “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”
• “You Won’t See Me”
• “Nowhere Man”
• “Think For Yourself”
• “The Word”
• “Michelle”
• “What Goes On”
• “Girl”
• “I’m Looking Through You”
• “In My Life”
• “Wait”
• “If I Needed Someone”
• “Run For Your Life”

[Official announcement]

The New York Times featured a very long (8,000+ words), but excellent article about The Beatles: Rock Band this morning.  Be sure to check it out here, but for those with short attention spans, let me fill you in on some of the more juicier details (i.e. the headline of this post).

According to the article, ‘the first three albums scheduled for release are “Rubber Soul,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Abbey Road.”‘  We already knew about Abbey Road, but Rubber Soul and Sg.t Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band are new additions to the Beatles DLC list.

If you have some spare time today, please read the New York Times article.  It’s a long article, but it’s easily the best article I’ve read about Harmonix, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and now The Beatles: Rock Band.