Posts Tagged ‘Tom Petty’

In a continued effort to provide fun songs from different artists, this week I turn to a song from one of the many live tracks released for Rock Band. While many people, myself included, generally prefer studio versions of tracks over live ones, sometimes the occasionally one sneaks through and you think “Wow, that’s even better than the original version!” In fact, some songs are more well known for their live versions (I Want You To Want Me, Do You Feel Like We Do, etc.).

This week’s pick, Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Live), was released as part of the 1993 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Greatest Hits album (which is how I discovered the band) and went to number 1 for two weeks on the U.S. Billboard Album Rock Tracks. While many draw illusions from the song title, the lyrics, and drug references in other Tom Petty songs, this song originally titled “Indiana Girl” was originally meant to be a song about goodbyes, most notably for Tom’s wife Jane, with whom he had a divorce about a year prior to writing the song. This track was released in late 2009, as part of a six-pack to coincide with the release of The Live Anthology album, and one of 16 total tracks by Tom Petty in Rock Band.

I have just purchased the track myself last week, and I can obviously say that I enjoyed the track on all instruments. The 4-tier guitar threw me off a bit at first, because the song sounds a little different than the studio version of the track, but I soon overcame it quickly enough, and enjoyed the quirky little solos added in for good measure. I found the 2-Tier bass fun too, although it’s just your standard bass chart with no walls of notes (which I don’t enjoy). While I haven’t played 4-Tier Pro Drums, the chart looks great. 2-Tier vocals is also challenging, as Mr. Petty sings in different pitches at various points in the song, so it may take a playthrough to adjust if you’re used to singing the studio version. It also features a cymbal section, which seems to be featured less and less for Rock Band.

Here’s a playthrough:

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy reading the future posts in this series. Any tracks you would like to see featured? Give us a shout below, along with your thoughts on this pick.

I would appreciate it if you would have a look at my growing fansite, The Tribute Pages and also have a look at the Rock Band 3 page! Thanks!

Looks like we may have another artist that wants to throw his hat into the Rock Band ring.  Tom Petty was interviewed by famous rock journalist Ben Fong-Torres for this coming Sunday’s Parade magazine (you know, the one in your local newspaper).

When asked if he would ever do Rock Band, he had this to say:

If we want this music to be accepted by coming generations, it might almost be a necessity. But I wouldn’t want to do a commercial. A lot of younger groups want to be on commercials, but I don’t.

Not sure if Harmonix will continue their latest trend of single artist titles after Green Day, but we’ve pointed out here multiple times that other artists (Queen, Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, U2, The Who, Jimi Hendrix) have already expressed interest.  Like the other artists above, he certainly has the catalog to get it done, and I for one would DEFINITELY buy this (one of the few artists I’ve seen multiple times live)!

If anything else, Tom Petty’s statement is further proof that the “genre isn’t dying,” as some critics have been trying to posit the last few months.

[Parade Magazine]

Hello there ladies and gentlemen. Hello there ladies and gents… are you ready to rock? OK, sorry, been watching the Rock Band 2 intro too much lately. Let’s take a break from the high profile late night battles and check out what’s in store for us next week, shall we?

• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Woman in Love (Live)”*
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Breakdown (Live)”*
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Century City (Live)”*
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Jammin’ Me (Live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Nightwatchman (Live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “The Waiting (Live)”*
• Phoenix – “1901”*
• Phoenix – “Lisztomania”*
• Silvertide – “Blue Jeans”

* Denotes Family Friendly track compatible with LEGO Rock Band

[Official announcement]

Man, we’re already into the final week of November, and then only one month left of 2009. Next week, I’m going to do a rundown of how Harmonix is doing on the “1,000 DLC tracks by year end” goal. But for now, let’s find out what’s coming out next week for DLC.  Looks like Tom Petty indeed made it into the DLC offerings, as rumored here.  What else can we expect?

Xbox 360, PS3, Wii:

• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Thing About You (live)”*
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl (live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Even the Losers (live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Here Comes My Girl (live)”*
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Mary Jane’s Last Dance (live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Refugee (live)”*
• Kelly Clarkson – “Miss Independent”*
• P!nk – “Who Knew”*
• The Go-Go’s – “Our Lips Are Sealed”*

* Denotes tracks that are Family Friendly and capable of being played in Lego Rock Band.

The Tom Petty 6 pack will be $9.99 or 800 MS Points.

There doesn’t appear to be any Rock Band: Unplugged DLC tracks for next week.  I will update if that changes.

[Official announcement]

ROCK!!! Don’t know why I said that, just feeling good this morning. Anyway, here’s what’s on tap for next week, kiddos!

Xbox 360 and PS3:

• Tom Petty – “Won’t Back Down”
  
• Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down a Dream”
• Fleetwood Mac – “Don’t Stop”
  
• Fleetwood Mac – “World Turning”
  
• Billy Idol – “Mony, Mony”
• Billy Idol – “Rebel Yell”
  
• Jet – “She’s a Genius”

Nintendo Wii

• Blind Melon – “No Rain”
• Blur – “There’s No Other Way”
• Dropkick Murphys – “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”
• Eve 6 – “Inside Out”
• Foo Fighters – “All My Life”
• Foo Fighters – “I’ll Stick Around”
• Foo Fighters – “Lonely as You”
• Kaiser Chiefs – “I Predict a Riot”
• Belly – “Feed the Tree”
• Ghost Hounds – “Wind Me Up”
• Godsmack – “I Stand Alone”
• Grateful Dead – “Cold Rain & Snow”
• Grateful Dead – “Doin’ That Rag”
• Grateful Dead – “Don’t Ease Me In”
• Grateful Dead &nd ash; “Fire on the Mountain”
• Grateful Dead – “Hell in a Bucket”
• Grateful Dead – “Uncle John’s Band”
• James Gang – “Funk #49″
• Mute Math – “Typical”
• Rob Zombie – “War Zero”
• Turbonegro – “Wasted Again”
• White Zombie – “Black Sunshine”
• White Zombie – “More Human Than Human”
  

Rock Band: Unplugged – PSP:

• The Zombies – “She’s Not There”
• White Zombie – “Black Sunshine”

[Harmonix announcement]

A few weeks ago, Rock Band DLC rocketed past the 800 mark, and today at Gamescom in Germany, Alex Rigopulos, CEO and cofounder of Harmonix, announced that DLC from Queen, Nirvana, Tom Petty, Elton John, Iggy Pop, The White Stripes, Pantera, Talking Heads, Korn, The Raconteurs and more will be among the artists coming to Rock Band in the future.  He also mentioned that Harmonix-authored DLC alone (not counting RBN tracks) will hit the 1,000 point by end of 2009!

If my math is right (and I’m an accountant by trade so I’m hoping it is), that means that each week, we should have an average of about 10 DLC tracks released to reach 1,000.  I’m not sure about you, but this announcement makes me a happy little fella.

[Official announcement]