Game Review: The Beatles: Rock Band

What I liked about Beatles: Rock Band is that it gets us to the core of the Rock Band and Guitar Hero game which is simple: Playing kick ass music. It's not about who gets the best score, it's about enjoying the music.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

First off lets get this out of the way: not being able to export Beatles songs does suck. BUT it needed to establish itself as it's own game, and it does that perfectly. We never really wanted to pop in Rock Band 2 and play that instead, we just kept going from song to song and having fun.

The inclusion of having three microphones was just a brilliant move, and I hope it's applied to other Rock Band games. The game is being well supported with DLC and I hope that continues to happen.

One of my favourite parts is the bonus material, such as pictures, factoids and videos. If anything I want more! The game plays well and is a little more picky with notes than Rock Band, in my opinion anyway. The story is loyal to the different periods of the Beatles music and was a blast to play.

Programming: 10/10 : 0 bugs, game loads quite fast
Graphics: 9.5/10 : The gang is captured perfectly and everything else is standard for Rock Band
Story: 9/10 : Could have been a little more, but addresses the history of the Beatles well.
Atmosphere: 10/10 : Captures the essence of Beatlemania perfectly
Multiplayer: 10/10 : The more the merrier, adding three microphones is something I hope to see in Rock Band 3
Overall: 9.5/10 : I don't think I could ask for a better Beatles game. Highly recommended.

P.S. When is Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da coming?

Pink Floyd: Rockband

Here is how I would do a Pink Floyd Rockband game.

The Early Years:
Piper At The Gates of Dawn
-Astronomy Domine /A Really Good Starter Song\
-Interstellar Overdrive /A really fun guitar instrumental\
-Bike /Would be fun for a vocalist and drums\

A Saucerful of Secrets
-Let There Be More Light /Listen to it, it's the Doom theme!\
-Corporal Clegg /Has a Beatles/David Bowie feel to it\
-Saucerful of Secrets /Crazy Instrumental\
-See-Saw /Interesting Song\

Ummagumma
-Careful With That Axe, Eugene /An 8 Minute Pink Floyd Epic\

Meddle
-One Of These Days /Awesome guitar instrumental\
-Echoes /How could I not use this epic 20+ minutes song to wrap up the Early Years\


Hitting It Big:
Dark Side of The Moon (Full Album)
-Speak To Me/Breathe /The Drummer starts by pedaling the heartbeat, which goes into the sound effects, vocals screaming, then the awesome guitars start with a sweet drum beat. It would be amazing to sing as well\
-On The Run /I think this would be possible to do (Instrumental)\
-Time /What can you say? Classic song, epic solo\
-Great Gig In The Sky /Almost has to be done, thought of has just a piano song but has good guitar pieces and drums\
-Money /Classic song period\
-Us And Them /Great to sing\
-Any Colour You Like /EASILY Pink Floyd's best instrumental WOULD be amazing on guitar (especially if they could both be guitars\
-Brain Damage /Great Vocals\
-Eclipse /One of my favourites\

Wish You Were Here
-Shine on You Crazy Diamond (I-IX)
-Welcome To The Machine
-Have A Cigar
-Wish You Were Here

Is There Anybody Out There: The Wall (Live)
Stop. Why The Wall live you ask? "People are going to ride the whine train all day!" you say. I'll explain it in the songs.
-Master of Ceremonies: ATMOS & In The Flesh (LIVE) /These are just to great not to go together. The singer would say the announcement part. (Which is okay since there's an instrumental)\
-The Thin Ice /Great lyrics, There's an extra bit of instrumental in the live version too\
-Another Brick In The Wall Prt. 1 /Not really to much difference here\
-The Happiest Days Of Our Lives /The originals a bit better, but I also like the lives stronger beat\
-Another Brick In The Wall Prt. 2 /I'll be honest this is the only song not as good as the original, the singing and guitars don't sound as good. However the 2 minutes of extra instrumental is pretty awesome\
-Mother /Again another song with extra guitar solo, yes please\
-Goodbye Blue Sky /Both equally good. The orig. has better light parts, while the live has better dark parts\
-Empty Space & What Shall We Do Now /If for no other reason, What Shall We Do Now is the reason that you'd have the live version of the Wall. Just a cool song. There's a drum solo and a big rock ending!\
-Young Lust /The starting solo guitar makes it so worth it to go with live\
-One Of My Turns /The guitars sound a little better live, but not much difference\
-Don't Leave Me Now /Again, not much difference\
-Another Brick In The Wall Prt. 3 /The guitar is better in the live version\
-The Last Few Brick & Goodbye Cruel World /An awesome instrumental live only, would lead into a pretty much singing solo ending song\
-Hey You /I like the guitars more in this one\
-Nobody Home /Pretty much the same\
-Is There Anybody Out The /There is a ton more to do for the singer in the live version\
-Vera & Bring The Boys Back Home /Basically the same on both\
-Comfortably Numb (LIVE) /solo has an extra minute of badassedness on it. It is literally THE best guitar solo in any Pink Floyd record released. It also ends with a big rock ending.\
-The Show Must Go On /Basically the same, some extra lyrics in the live version\
-Master of Ceremonies: Atmos? & In The Flesh /Just a ton more loud, especially drums\
-Run Like Hell /I love the guitars a ton more live, and the opening speaking to the fans would be great to do\
-Waiting For The Worms & Stop /Basically the same\
-The Trial /Basically the same\
-Outside The Wall /There's nice background singing in the live one\

TOTAL SONGS: 50

Debate: The Wall
In my opinion after completing the game, or completing a challenge like: "Do the entire Wall: Live as a setlist with 5 stars on every song" then you'd unlock the original Wall. However, there's also a possibility of making it DLC, if they did this they could offer Another Brick In The Wall Part II as a freebie with the game. Or the entire Wall as a freebie with a pre-order.

Downloadable Content:
Singles
-Apples and Oranges
-Candy And A Currant Bun
-It Would Be So Nice
-Paint Box
-Point Me At The Sky

Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
-Lucifer Sam
-Matilda Mother
-Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk
-Flaming

A Saucerful Of Secrets
-Jugband Blues
-Remember A Day
-Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun

Music From The Film More
-The Nile Song
-Cymbaline
-Ibiza Bar
-More Blues
-A Spanish Piece & Dramatic Theme

Ummagumma
-The Narrow Way: Part I
-The Narrow Way: Part II
-The Narrow Way: Part III

Atom Heart Mother
-Atom Heart Mother Suite
-If
-Summer '68
-Fat Old Sun
-Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast

Meddle
-A Pillow of Winds
-Fearless
-San Tropez

Obscured By Clouds (Full Album)
-Obscured By Clouds /Instrumental\
-When You're In /Instrumental\
-Burning Bridges
-The Gold It's In The... /solo could easily be mistaken for AC/DC\
-Wot's... Uh The Deal
-Mudmen /Instrumental\
-Childhood's End
-Free Four /Cool Solo\
-Stay
-Absolutely Curtains

Animals (Full Album)
Pigs On The Wing Pt 1&2
Sheep
Dogs
Pigs (One Of Three)

Final Cut
-When The Tigers Broke Free
-Fletcher Memorial Home
-Your Possible Pasts
-The Hero's Return
-The Final Cut
-Not Now John
-The Post War Dream
-Two Suns In The Sunset

Momentary Lapse of Reason
-Learning To Fly
-The Dogs Of War
-One Slip
-On The Turning Away
-Yet Another Movie
-Terminal Frost
-Sorrow

The Division Bell
-A Great Day For Freedom
-High Hopes
-What Do You Want From Me
-Poles Apart
-Marooned /Instrumental\
-Wearing The Inside Out
-Take It Back
-Coming Back To Life
-Keep Talking
-Lost For Words

On An Island
-On An Island
-The Blue
-Take A Breath
-Red Sky At Night /The Sax would be amazing to turn into a guitar solo\
-This Heaven
-Smile
-Where We Start

The Real Problem with the Music Industry

It ain't downloading. It's quality. No ones buying albums because there's nothing to buy! They just don't make music like they used to. I will show you a clear cut example. See how many future classics you can find in 2008:

2008 #1 on charts:
Low by Flo Rida?
Love in this Club by Usher?
Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis?
Touch My Body by Mariah Carey?
Lollipop by Lil Wayne?
Coldplay, whatever
I Kissed A Girl, a song no ones gonna give a shit about in a yea...oh wait we already don't give a shit
Disturbia by Rihanna?
Whatever You Like by T.I.?
So What by Pink?
Live Your Life by T.I. Featuring Rihanna?
Womanizer by Britney Spears??
and finally Single Ladies by Beyonce?

That's the best 2008 had to offer? What a joke! Let's look at 1978:

Some Beegees, Wings, Rolling Stones, Anne Murray Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer

How about 68?:
Beatles right off the bat, Simon and Garfunkel, The Doors, The Rascals, More Beatles, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross

This year is even WORSE!

We've got Just Dance by Lady Gaga?? My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson? Crack a Bottle by Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent? Right Round by Flo Rida? Fuck me who listens to this shit!?

Lets look at 1979 then shall we?:
Bee Gees, Chic, Rod Stewart, Gloria Gaynor's "I will Survive", Doobie Brothers, Blondie, Donna Summer, My Sharona by the Knacks, Michael Jackson, Eagles, Styx and a bit more Barbra Streisand.

How about 69 then?:
Marvin Gaye's "Heard it Through the Grapevine", Sly & The Family Stone, Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar", Temptations, More Beatles, Steam, Diana Ross and fucking Elvis!

I REST MY CASE.

P.S. I should also note you would have also had guys like Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Tom Petty, CCR, George Baker Selection, Bob Marley, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Cream, David Bowie, and many other all making ground breaking music at that time too.

Top 25 Christmas Rock* Songs

*Okay some of them aren’t rock but are still awesome.
25. The Coventry Carol- Alison Moyet
Okay bad start. The start is sort of mysterious. The lyrics are pretty well done as well. A little lengthy though at 3 and a half minutes.
24. I Only Want You for Christmas- Alan Jackson
It’s technically Christmas Country Rock. I love the lyric “Tie a ribbon around yourself”. The solos are pretty nice. Ho! Ho! Ho!
23. Jingle Bell Rock- Bobby Helms
A classic. What more can I say?
22. Last Christmas- Wham
This is sort of a sad song. But it’s still well sung.
21. So This Is Christmas- John Lennon
Oldie but a goodie. War is over.
20. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree- Brenda Lee
Like #23 this is a classic, good sax solo, and it’s short at only two minutes!
19. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus- John Mellencamp
This is a great twist that ‘the Cougar’ puts on this classic. Like how the end turns into just kids singing.
18. Christmas Cannon- Tran-Siberian Orchestra
Just a wondrous song. Every part seems like Christmas magic. Expect more TSO coming up!
17. Back Door Santa- Bon Jovi
Strange but original song, good guitar work and it’s pretty humorous . It’s live too.
16. Elf’s Lament- Barenaked Ladies
The chorus is so great. “I…. make toys but I’ve got aspirations!” The lyrics are so funny and it’s upbeat which a great change from most Christmas music is.
15. Run Rudolph Run- Bryan Adams
This song is a classic. I’m not sure if Home Alone made this popular but it probably helped. Good guitar solo too.
14. Snoopy’s Christmas- Royal Guardsmen
Tricks ya at the start with it’s Taunenbaum song but quickly goes into awesomeness. “Merry Christmas… My Friend!”
13. We Three Kings- The Beach Boys
This is the only version of this song that I listen too (well there’s one other). The Beach Boys harmony is amazing.
12. Christmas for Cowboys- John Denver
I’m not going to pretend this is rock. It’s not even country, it’s John Denver. Really amazing song.
11. It Feels Like Christmas- The Lettermen
I don’t know why but this song always strikes a chord with me. Just the story is well done.
10. Blue Christmas- Elvis
Start the top 10 with a bang, Elvis is amazing.
9. Wizards of Winter- Tran-Siberian Orchestra
A real great piece of music. If you haven’t seen the music videos for it here you go:

8. Gabriel’s Message- Sting
A really strange song. Has no instruments except drums. Just a ton of great work with voices and it’s only 2 minutes.
7. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)- U2
One of my favourite U2 songs period. Baby please come home!
6. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings- Barenaked Ladies feat: Sarah McLachlan
This is the second one I mentioned with the Beach Boys. The beat is great and Sarah’s singing is too.
5. Merry Christmas Baby- Bruce Springsteen
A long one (5 minutes) but a great one. Entertains me the whole way through.
4. Here Comes Santa Claus- Elvis Presley
Now were in the serious stuff. Just the changes in rhythm are enough to make this song awesome, combine that with Elvis’ voice and the background singers.
3.Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You- Billy Squire
Cool intro with the guitars. I don’t listen to Billy Squire but this is a great song period. Lyrics are fun and simple.
2. Wonderful Christmas Time- Paul McCartney
Love the intro. The beat is awesome. Lyrics are great.
1. Carol of the Bells (Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24)- Tran-Siberian Orchestra
God! A start slow and leads you in then bam! Guitars! Woot! Carol of the Bells on its own is a great song. Add in guitars like they do and wow. The guitars dragging combined with the fury of pianos then the big explosion! Bam bam bam bam bam! Then the ending with everything going absolutely crazy! I compare it to Halo's theme music MJOLNIR mix. It’s great. #1 always!

Honourable Mention: Aspenglow by John Denver, just got into this song and love it.

P.S. When are they going to put some of these in Rock Band or Guitar Hero, especially the last two

Stinger503's Top 30 (June/19/08)

I didn't take long for me to change it from last time, like the next day it was different. Well here we go:
Starter: MC: Atmos & In The Flesh (Live)- Pink Floyd (NEW)

1. Fool In The Rain - Led Zepplin (NEW)
2. The Logical Song- Supertramp (0)
3. Walk of Life- Dire Straits (0)
4. Signs- Five Man Electrical Band (NEW)
5. Chicks N' Cars (And The Third World War) - Colin James (NEW)
6. Evil Woman- Electric Light Orchestra (+4)
7. Just What I Needed- The Cars (+2)
8. One Vision- Queen (+3)
9. Rock 'N' Roll Duty- Kim Mitchell (+4)
10. Sultans Of Swing- Dire Straits (+5)
11. Rocklandwonderland- Kim Mitchell (+2)
12. Take The Money And Run- Steve Miller Band (+3)
13. Final Countdown- Europe (+7)
14. Diamonds Diamonds- Max Webster (+7)
15. Moondance- Van Morrison (+7)
16. Walking On The Moon- The Police (+7)
17. Somewhere Down The Crazy River- Robbie Robinson (NEW)
18. For What It's Worth- Buffalo Springfield (NEW)
19. Werewolves of London- Warren Zevon (-10)
20. Running On Empty- Jackson Browne (+18)
21. I Am A Wild Party- Kim Mitchell (+4)
22. People Are Strange- The Doors (-19)
23. Jane- Barenaked Ladies (+3)
24. Life In The Fast Lane- The Eagles (-23)
25. Pour Some Sugar On Me- Def Leppard (+2)
26. Hells Bells- AC/DC (NEW)
27. Listen To The Music- Doobie Brothers (NEW)
28. This Beat Goes On/Switching To Glide (-11)
29. Layla- Derek & The Dominoes (NEW)
30. Fortunate Son- Creedance Clearwater Revival (NEW)
    
    OUT OF TOP THIRTY

• Start Me Up (S-110)
• Limelight (5-112)
• Little Green Bag (6-32)
• Don't Stand So Close To Me (16-52)
• Goodbye Stranger (18-39)
• Fame (19-91)
• Mary Ellen Carter (24-34)
• Minnie The Moocher (27-36)
• Space Oddity (29-55)
• Crocodile Rock(30-31)