Latest Rock Band and Americian Idol DLC recap
by Dustin Burg 
{ Mar 4th 2008 at 11:15AM }
It's a new music DLC Tuesday and this week Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore joins Rock Band in the new downloadable content funnery. Joy! As we mentioned last Friday, the Grateful Dead finally makes its Rock Band debut with a six track blowout allowing DLC purchasers to buy each of the six master tracks individually for 160 Microsoft points or as a pack for 800 points. Then we have the somewhat forgotten KR:AIE who is offering a massive twenty-one song DLC blowout today with various tracks ranging from Michael Jackson's "Beat It" to the B-52s' "Love Shack" all for 120 points apiece. Not too bad. We listed and conveniently broke down the new musical DLC for both Rock Band and KR:AIE after the break. Rock it fellow Deadheads!Today's Rock Band DLC
Individual Tracks - 160
"Truckin" by Grateful Dead
"Sugar Magnolia" by Grateful Dead
"I Need A Miracle" by Grateful Dead
"Franklin's Tower" by Grateful Dead
"China Cat Sunflower" by Grateful Dead
"Casey Jones" by Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead Pack 01 - 800
"Truckin" by Grateful Dead
"Sugar Magnolia" by Grateful Dead
"I Need A Miracle" by Grateful Dead
"Franklin's Tower" by Grateful Dead
"China Cat Sunflower" by Grateful Dead
"Casey Jones" by Grateful Dead
Today's Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore DLC
Individual Tracks - 120
"Just My Imagination" by The Temptations
"Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes
"She Talks to Angels" as made famous by Chris and Rich Robinson*
"I Want You Back" by Jackson 5
"You Really Got Me" as made famous by Ray Davies*
"ABC" written by Alphonso Mizell, Freddie Perren, Deke Richards and Berry Gordy, Jr.*
"Beat It" by Michael Jackson
"Bizarre Love Triangle" written by Stephen Morris, Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner and Gillian Gilbert*
"Chattahoochee" as made famous by Alan Jackson*
"Crazy" as made famous by Willie Nelson*
"Don't Know Why" as made famous by Jesse Harris*
"I Hate Everything About You" written by Gavin Brown, Adam Gontier, Neil Sanderson and Brad Walst*
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye
"I'll Make Love To You" as made famous by Babyface*
"It's the End of the World As We Know It" written by William Berry, Peter Buck, Michael Mills and Michael Stipe*
"Love Shack" as made famous by B-52s*
"One Week" written by Ed Robertson*
"Oops! ... I Did It Again" as made famous by Britney Spears*
"Rich Girl" written by Daryl Hall*
"Virtual Insanity" written by Jason Kaye and Toby Smith*
"California Dreamin'" written by John Phillips and Michelle Gilliam*
(asterisk denotes cover song)
Read - KR: American Idol Encore DLC
Read - Rock Band DLC
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gemini Ace @ Mar 4th 2008 11:30AM
Grateful Dead? Who cares?!
HazyCloud @ Mar 4th 2008 11:31AM
I care! Casey Jones and Truckin' will be teh awesomez. Will gladly grab the pack for 800.
Ian @ Mar 4th 2008 11:52AM
Hippies.
dan @ Mar 4th 2008 11:50AM
can't wait to try this out later today!
next up from the Dead is a 47 minute Dark Star, with some of Phil's Earthquake Bass :)
Jonathon @ Mar 4th 2008 11:59AM
Um, Grateful Dead is one of the best jam bands around, and there certainly needs to be more content on Rock Band that is not of the Generation Crap variety. Give me some Phish, give me some Beatles, give me some moar B-52s.
What's really troubling is that for Karaoke Revolution, One Week and Love Shack are both covers. I honestly cannot fathom how horrible those songs would be not being performed by who they're supposed to. It's weird that One Week isn't denoted by "as made famous by Barenaked Ladies" either instead of just mentioning one of the writers.
Bravo6 @ Mar 4th 2008 12:02PM
Too bad you can't just use the 360 as a karaoke machine instead of having to get that game.
Jomolungma @ Mar 4th 2008 12:11PM
Downloaded the Dead 6-pack and played them all on guitar this morning except China Cat Sunflower (ran out of time). I really like them. They provide some reggae and folk/blues rhythms that aren't in any of the other songs in the catalog. That provides for some new and interesting challenges as well as a good change of pace from the other songs. I haven't played them on drums or sung them yet, but I think I'll really enjoy singing Truckin' - not that great on drums so my opinions there probably aren't worth much (not that my opinions re: guitar and vocals are worth much either).
Boy Howdy @ Mar 4th 2008 1:14PM
Jomolungma:
Haven't played them yet (although I'll be downloading them tonight), but from what I've read, China Cat Sunflower is supposed to be a blast on guitar.
Just something for you to look forward to.
bsbauman @ Mar 4th 2008 1:11PM
did anyone actually buy the american idol game? Why if you can do that and so much more on rock band?
baby sea tuna @ Mar 4th 2008 1:13PM
Bought.
Kev @ Mar 4th 2008 1:16PM
Yay! I picked up KR:AIE on the weekend and my non-gamer friends loved it! Time to buy some more MSPoints.
Starsmore @ Mar 4th 2008 1:25PM
All those tracks are from the first KR game (my wife has it)...
Ripoff...
caslaw @ Mar 4th 2008 2:26PM
I downloaded the pack this morning and played all the songs before leaving for work. They did seem more challenging than how they are rated IMO.
As a deadhead, I like the fact that the pack covers the spectrum of the Dead's career, from a psychadelic-era China Cat to a 70's Franlin's Tower, to a later-career I Need a Miracle. Definitely a diverse pack. People should definitely try the bass on these songs (particularly China Cat and Franklins Tower), as Phil Lesh played the bass much like a rythm or lead instrument.
To casual fans or those who don't know the Dead, I would say that the first pack would better suit those if it had Alabama Getaway and Touch of Grey (the one song almost everyone knows) as both of those would probably turn on new fans. In contrast, China Cat Sunflowerwill likley seem eerie and strange since it is circa 1969 or so. On the other hand, it certainly adds great diversity to the song list.
ChromaTick @ Mar 4th 2008 3:10PM
Downloaded and played all six songs (on guitar). Absolutely love this pack!! This has been my favorite bit of DLC so far.
Kev @ Mar 4th 2008 3:34PM
@ #12, Starsmore
How exactly is it a ripoff? Are you being forced to buy the extra songs? Some of us don't have the older KR games and are glad for the songs.
dmendro @ Mar 4th 2008 4:58PM
No Uncle Johns Band? I know there's no drums, but theres a tambourine I think! :P
AnonyMack @ Mar 4th 2008 8:22PM
I'll never get the amazing metal fix I crave will I?
No Pantera, No Slayer, No Dio, No Dragonforce, No nuffin' =[
Mrbishop77 @ Mar 5th 2008 12:30AM
I agree AnonyMack. I am not a dead head (even though I am glad to see them testing the waters with new genres) and won't be getting this pack, but where is the heavy stuff? I am waiting for some real metal other than Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Iron Maiden. You get it on GH why not here?
Oh, and they can keep bringing more Pumpkins, FNM, and Radiohead....love it.
zlionsfan @ Mar 5th 2008 5:47PM
I bought KR because it's got a wider variety of songs and because I enjoy singing. (Practice at the KR games on the PS2 helped me through the solo vocals career on RB.) It isn't necessarily an either/or situation.
It's a little disappointing that the two DLC groups for KR are from the other games, but on the other hand, that's a large selection for extra songs, and it's exactly what we expected from GH II and never got.