Posts Tagged ‘RBN’

The Rock Band Network has made it possible for lots of smaller or lesser-known bands to get their music into Rock Band and potentially expose their music to new fans. Arguably one of the most successful artists who has made great use of the RBN is Jonathan Coulton, with nine different songs released at the time of writing. I have only recently become a fan of his, so I’d thought I’d make this Thursday Throwback on one of three songs released as DLC, “Skullcrusher Mountain.”

Before you lose interest, this song is not a metal song. I’ve read a lot of comments stating that they nearly didn’t listen to the song because of the name. This track is featured on the album/EP Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow.

The song is fun to play on all instruments. The guitar has a few solid note changes, a good drum track, and mediocre bass, I would say that the vocals are the best of the bunch. As with many of his songs, the song has some funny lyrics and tells a story throughout the song. Here’s a few of the lyrics to see what I’m on about:

Welcome to my secret lair on Skullcrusher Mountain
I hope that you’ve enjoyed your stay so far
Even my henchmen think I’m crazy
I’m not surprised that you agree
You know it isn’t easy living here on Skullcrusher Mountain
Maybe you could cut me just a little slack
Would it kill you to be civil?
When I first sang the song, I was laughing for most of it because of the nature of the
lyrics. I am sure you will have a good time singing this song!

If you are still aren’t sold yet, the best part is that this song is only $.99!

I hope you enjoy your stay at Skullcrusher Mountain!

And here’s a preview of the chart:

That's his metal face.

With the transition to RBN 2.0 complete over on the Xbox 360, there is still some buffer time over on the PS3 to still get some RBN 1.0 songs ported over to the PS3. With a RBN 1.0 library of just over 1,000 songs, are there any songs that you PS3ers really want to see ported over that haven’t showed up yet?

Drop your suggestions in the comments below!

Not content with only three songs on the Rock Band Network so far (“Fake It,” “Rise Above This,” and “Remedy“), they are working with Rock Gamer Studios to bring their #1 iTunes rock single “Country Song” to the game.

Taken from the band’s forthcoming fourth full-length album, Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray, “Country Song” sees the band embracing their choice of recording location. With the new album being recorded in Nashville, “Country Song” has a bluesy, plucked guitar riff operating as the verses’ motif, before kicking into the high-energy, full-power sing-along choruses. The song has already been receiving great radio airplay, reaching the Top Ten on Billboard’s Rock Charts, as well as being the number one rock single in the US on the iTunes Music Store.

An advance preview video of gameplay can be found below:

There have been some interesting ways in which artists, authors, and record labels have promoted their tracks in Rock Band in the past, but I think this is the one that probably makes the most sense. Cleveland metalcore band Affiance recently released a their music video for their song “Call to the Warrior,” where they take their RBN single for a spin in the game.

While I certainly don’t expect many bands to devote this type of exposure for Rock Band and their songs in game, but it’s a refreshing change from the sea of average music videos that are on YouTube nowadays. And it appears to be working, as the video has already garnered nearly 9,000 views since its debut on Friday.

“Call to the Warrior” by Affiance was originally released on the Rock Band Network this January. Check out the video in it’s entirety below, and then pick up the song to see if you can beat their score!

The Rock Band Network has not only allowed many artists an opportunity to be featured in Rock Band that otherwise may not have had a chance, but has also opened the doors to other genres of music not typically explored via official DLC. One such genre that has been explored further on the RBN is Novelty.

While the Novelty genre sometimes carries with it a stigma not often associated with other more mainstream forms of music, there are a number of great songs that one should not overlook. Some Novelty tracks may be parodies like Eric Cartman’s “Poker Face” cover, others are entirely original compositions. Songs by bands such as Tenacious D, Flight of the Conchords, Spinal Tap, and many more should definitely be discounted.

One such Novelty artist appearing on the Rock Band Network is Rhune Kincaid, who’s RBN debut single “iPhone” has delighted those who have discovered it since its RBN release last September.  I recently had a chance to ask Rhune a number of questions via email, where we talk about his influences, his other songs, and Rock Band. Check it out!

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In the past month, we have celebrated several Rock Band Network milestones. We have passed 1,000 songs available for purchase in the Rock Band Network. This almost perfectly coincided with the Rock Band Network’s first birthday. And with the release of “Blue” by Eiffel 65, we have now officially transitioned from RBN 1.0 to RBN 2.0, which adds Pro Drums, Keys and Pro Keys, and Harmonies to the RBN format. To help honor these milestones, the folks from Harmonix have pulled together a few pieces of trivia over the last week based on the artists and songs available in the Rock Band Network.

Arriving last Friday on RockBand.com was a list of individual artist trivia to be matched up to entries in a corresponding bank of RBN artists. There are fourteen items to be matched together, so go see how you can do (without peeking, as the answers have already been released).

If that didn’t stump you, Harmonix also released a similar list of individual trivia about songs featured in the RBN today, which can also be matched up against a listing of RBN tracks. It will be slightly harder to cheat here, as the answers to these have not yet been published (UPDATE: answers now available here).

Some are harder than others, but let us know if you were able to FC these lists. Good luck!