Posts Tagged ‘RBN DLC’
Xbox 360 RBN DLC for 5/3
Unless otherwise noted, all songs are 160 MSP ($1.99). Songs not linked below were not available on RockBand.com at time of publishing.
Alternative
Hip-Hop/Rap
Indie Rock
- Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives – I Don’t Want to Hear About Your Crappy Boyfriend *
Metal
- All Shall Perish – The Death Plague
- Dirge Within – Absolution
- ETHS – Adonaï
- Hopes Die Last – Never Trust the Hazel Eyed
- Nightrage – Insidious (2x Bass Pedal)
- Strikken – The Final Act (2x Bass Pedal) *
- Volumes of Revolution – Blood of the Resistance
Punk
Reggae/Ska
Rock
- Harbour Grace – Wish I Was Dead *
- Look Left – Crack My Head and Let the People Out *
- Shatterglass – Coming Undone
- Sifting – All the Hated *
- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – Reap (Radio Edit) *
* Denotes 80 MSP ($.99) track pricing.
ROCK BAND NETWORK 5/3 XBOX 360 PLAYLIST
PS3 RBN DLC for 5/1
Unless otherwise noted, all songs are $1.99.
- A Talking Fish – Cheesy Pop Song *
- All Shall Perish – Never… Again
- Anarchy Club – Rise and Shine *
- The Asbestos – Say *
- The Trews – Hope & Ruin *
* Denotes $.99 track pricing.
ROCK BAND NETWORK 5/1 PS3 PLAYLIST
Xbox 360 RBN DLC for 4/26
Unless otherwise noted, all songs are 160 MSP ($1.99). Songs not linked below were not available on RockBand.com at time of publishing.
- All Shall Perish – A Pure Evil (2x Bass Pedal)
- Boomchick – TGTW
- Cohesive – The Only Difference
- Counterparts – Jumping Ship
- Fallen Angel – Watching
- Jeff Ball – Interplanetary Cruise *
- Nightrage – Wrapped in Deceitful Dreams
- Nightrage – Wrapped in Deceitful Dreams (2x Bass Pedal)
- Oklahoma Caddy Shack – Children of Brodom *
- Oklahoma Caddy Shack – Children of Brodom (2x Bass Pedal) *
- Pedro Castillo – Por Analogía
- Shelita Vaughns – Apple Martini *
- Sky Pie – Wabi-Sabi *
- Within the Ruins – Controller
- Within the Ruins – Controller (2x Bass Pedal)
* Denotes 80 MSP ($.99) track pricing.
ROCK BAND NETWORK 4/26 XBOX 360 PLAYLIST
PS3 RBN DLC for 4/24
Unless otherwise noted, all songs are $1.99.
- Blackguard – Firefight
- Machinae Supremacy – Rocket Dragon
- Miracle of Sound – Gordon Freeman Saved My Life *
- Rishloo – Feathergun in the Garden of the Sun *
- Rishloo – Keyhole in the Sky *
* Denotes $.99 track pricing.
ROCK BAND NETWORK 4/24 PS3 PLAYLIST
Xbox 360 RBN DLC for 4/19
Unless otherwise noted, all songs are $1.99 (160 MSP). Songs not linked below were not included at RockBand.com at time of publishing.
- Anarchy Club – Riddle Me This *
- Close Your Eyes – Keep the Lights On
- Dante’s Dream – Gamers Unite *
- Halcyon Way – IndoctriNation (2x Bass Pedal) *
- Heart Pharmacy – California
- Raggedy Angry – Take Me Home *
- Seven Day Sonnet – Farewell to Good Days
- Sherryce and DJ Jounce – Ooh La La
* Denotes $.99 (80 MSP) track pricing.
ROCK BAND NETWORK 4/19 XBOX 360 PLAYLIST
RBN Highlights: Less Than Jake, Powerman 5000, an Unkindness
The Rock Band Network is an invaluable source of new music but, perhaps because of the quantity of songs or the unfamiliar nature of the artists, it can be a little hard to find the type of music you want. As a tester and charter for the Rock Band Network, I get a lot of exposure to songs coming through the pipeline and there are definitely songs that deserve more recognition. This feature will help you discover new favourites, find a new challenge, and support the independent Rock Band scene. Each week I’ll highlight one new Xbox 360 song, one new PS3 song, and even a song released awhile back – all of them worthy of a listen!
Xbox 360: Less Than Jake – Younger Lungs
The RBN releases have been stunning, with new bands, old favourites and big hitters all available. It was really hard to narrow down the Xbox recommendation but Less Than Jake, making their RBN debut with Younger Lungs, just beat out some of the others (who will undoubtedly be featured as a retro or PS3 recommendation later on!) Taken from their newest EP, Seasons Greetings from Less Than Jake, Younger Lungs is a brilliant blast of ska punk that features intuitive harmonies, emphatic guitar and a surprisingly awesome bassline!
The bass part is so good it warrants first mention – I went in to the song expecting your average root note bass part, mirroring the guitar. It was an absolute pleasure to realise that the bass part wanders all over the place, has loads of hammer-ons and was surprising enough that I was unable to hit the first few riffs simply because they were so unexpected! Talking of the guitar part, Younger Lungs is very chord heavy but still really fun – there are some fast strum flourishes where a quick wrist will serve you well. (Stop snickering in the back there!)
Drums are fairly standard when compared to other punk songs – a lot of kickpedal between beats and fun cymbal work. There are a good amount of basic fills – tending towards cymbal/kick combos – but all in all it’s by no means a boring or repetitive song. The energy of the song really comes through the drums, spurring the song on.
Harmonies are a real treat here too – not only are there the standard dual-sung choruses but the vocals are split between singers as well, meaning Harmony 1 (aka the orange line) gets almost as much to do as the lead vocalist! Despite having never heard the song before playing it in Rock Band, the harmonies were easy to pick up and sounded awesome when sung correctly.
There’s not too much in the way of ska in Younger Lungs, but the horn section is mapped to the keys – a nice touch. It’s great to see a bigger band like Less Than Jake support the RBN and we can only hope there’s more to come!
Sounds like: Ska punk staging a comeback?
Perfect for: Harmonies, bassists, newcomers to the RBN wanting something a little more familiar
PS3: Powerman 5000 – Do Your Thing
Powerman 5000 songs sound like funkier, slightly more upbeat Rob Zombie tracks and there’s a good reason for that: Spider One, Powerman 5000’s frontman, happens to be Rob Zombie’s younger brother. There are already a good selection of songs from the 2009 album Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere, including most of the lead singles, so it’s great to see a deeper cut from the album make it to Rock Band too. It’s got a pounding industrial beat, a great guitar riff and a bit of synth to liven up proceedings.
The driving force of this track has to be the drums which almost border on disco at times… While it’s not got too much in the way of differentiation it’s still got an infectious beat that keeps things motoring ahead. A lot of the singing veers more towards chanting, especially in this track, and the drums act as a great companion in keeping tempo. The end of the drum chart gets a little tricky – a disco beat with double cymbal hits almost seems impossible, unless Spider is quite literally a multi-armed band member with extraordinary skills. Which I doubt… (It’s probably a drum machine!)
Bass and guitar begin fairly low key with the guitar riff taking the forefront. Once you’re hit with the first wave of hammer-ons you’ll realise the song has a few tricks up its sleeve. There’s a neat little solo as well – nothing too hard and some good movement up and down the frets. Bass gets ever more interesting as you progress as well – usually industrial songs tend to have fairly monotonous basslines but this one is slightly different to most.
The synth is rather understated but still fundamental to the song – it’s actually a really easy Pro Keys chart that would make perfect practice for beginner players looking to go up a level. Also, as it’s always present through the song there aren’t any awkward downtimes spent watching everyone else play.
Finally, the vocals are also nicely easy – once you’ve found the right note it doesn’t stray too far. However, the lyrics are such that there’s ripe opportunity to alter them should you want to move up from T for Teen to something a little more risqué. If you’re a fan of Rob Zombie or industrial rock then check this out, as well as the other Powerman 5000 tracks available too!
Sounds like: Rob Zombie
Perfect for: Guitarists, singers afraid to sing, group vocals
Throwback: an Unkindness – Foundation
Another song from the stable of thematically mysterious folk, don’t let Foundation’s rather bizarre album artwork fool you – this is a classy piece with a beautifully dark melody and lush vocals. As a RBN 2.0 song there are harmonies, keys and Pro Drum charts. The fact that this song is completely the work of Adam Johnston alone (with help from Dave Stoten) is unbelievable. The guitar part features an early acoustic part that will require some creative strumming, chords that will stretch those digits as well as a fantastic solo in the latter part of the track. Bass follows suit and, although quite simple, resonates throughout the mix and really adds power to the song’s sound.
Drums are really interesting thanks to a staccato snare part that recurs throughout, as well as a song-ending crescendo that sees cymbals being put to good use. It’s nothing particularly strenuous but some of the snare/kick parts could cause you to come a cropper.
Foundation is also really keys heavy so anybody looking for some practice with Pro or standard keys should definitely give this a look. Again, there a lot of the same types of chords but the piano is such a driving force within the song that it comes across as fun by default.
The vocals are darkly beautiful with quite a low timbre that really highlights the harmonies when they are introduced. There are moments of power and quieter, almost sinister moments giving vocalists the ability to imbue their singing with character.
Hopefully there’s more from an Unkindness on the way. If the songs are anything like Foundation then RBN aficionados are in for a treat, especially for the low, low price of only 80 MSP!
Sounds like: A little like previous RBN recommendation Look Left
Perfect for: Challenging keys, vocals, guitarists
