My Gadget, Game & Gizmo Obsession

Next week’s DLC has been announced, and this week it features a return of some old favourites in Rock Band and one new artist.  Harmonix is releasing a second three-pack of Nu Metal from Disturbed, as well as double singles from DLC alumni Mother Hips and Silversun Pickups.  Making their RB debut is a band called TRUSTcompany.

• Disturbed – Meaning of Life
• Disturbed – Voices
• Disturbed – The Game
• The Mother Hips – “Third Floor Story”
• The Mother Hips – “White Falcon Fuzz”
• Silversun Pickups – “Panic Switch”
• Silversun Pickups – “Sort Of”
• TRUSTcompany – “Downfall”

Disturbed has been featured twice before in the weekly DLC, with a three song pack in June 2008 and two more followup singles in May 2009, and also featured a song on the Rock Band 2 disc.  Their music has a very complex and pulsing sound that translates very well to the note highways of Rock Band; the band’s songs are among some of the more interesting and fun pieces to play as the riffs are very addictive once you get the pattern down.   Indie rockers The Mother Hips were one of the so-called ‘Bonus’ tracks from the first Rock Band disc with their song “Time We Had” and also had a DLC track in May of 2008.  Silversun Pickups make their second appearance in DLC with two tracks from their latest CD, 2009’s “Swoon”, and are currently on tour with the wildly popular Muse.

March 2nd will also feature the debut of TRUST Company, whose sound is described as “Alternative Post-Grunge”.  Their track “Downfall” was their highest charting single to date and the song has appeared in over 10 different videogame soundtracks including “BMX XXX”, the “MVP Baseball” franchise, “Burnout” and “Project Gotham Racing 2″ as well as being the promotional theme song to many WWE Pay-Per-View events.  Recently the band has experienced hard times and have parted ways with some of the founding members of the group, so the outlook for more DLC from TRUST*CO is not terribly promising.

Next Week’s Prediction:  Classic rock from Scorpions and Flock of Seagulls, as both bands have “Best of” compliations out shortly.  My advice:  Run so far away!

So far in February we have been treated to three consecutive weeks of brand new music and artists in our weekly Rock Band DLC, and the selection spans not only the last few decades of Rock music, but also spans several genres of music, from Motown R&B to Electronica.   New music is always welcome, not only to attract new fans to the game, but to keep existing fans interested by allowing us to expand our setlists and ‘repitoire of replica-rock’.  Here’s a rundown of what has been added this month:

Otis Redding – “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”
Otis Redding – “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)”
Otis Redding – “I’m Sick Y’all”
Otis Redding – “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember”
Otis Redding – “Love Man”
All Time Low – “Weightless”
Alphabeat –“Fascination”
Brian Setzer Orchestra – “Stray Cat Strut”
The Chemical Brothers – “Let Forever Be”
HIM – “Heartkiller”
HIM – “Ode to Solitude”
HIM – “Wings of a Butterfly”
KSM – “Distracted”
Marilyn Manson – “The Dope Show”
One Night Only – “Just For Tonight”
The Police – “Walking On the Moon”

There have been some standout singles, and of course the can’t-miss pack from Otis Redding which is one of the first track packs especially for Rock Singers – basically the other instruments are not the focal point of the music and complement the vocalist.  H.I.M. is a finnish metal band, and they describe their music as “Love Metal” however I find that their sound is akin to the later works of Black Sabbath.  “Stray Cat Strut” is a classic from 80’s pop music.   The Chemical Brothers make their debut with their trademark, digital electronic sound.  Marilyn Manson is no stranger to heavy metal fans, and finally The Police’s “Walking on the Moon” contains their world famous mix of rock and reggae riffs (one of their all-time best songs, check out Cas Haley’s rendition from America’s Got Talent Season 2).  Once again Harmonix have treated fans to a wide assortment of music, and this is exactly what they need to keep doing to attract as large an audience as possible.

Next Week’s Predictions:  I was right about H.I.M. but wrong about the date.  I’m getting closer.  March 2 will be new music from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and a follow up pack from Gorillaz.

This year’s NFL Superbowl halftime show was a rock’n'roll medley by legendary rock icons “The Who” called the Superbowl S-Mashup.  The medley features five of their greatest all time hits arranged together to form a seamless song.  The majority of these songs are already available as master tracks or DLC in the game, which should be no surprise, as The Who are one of the game’s main acts with 19 tracks available to play.  The songs in the S-Mashup are, in order:

• Pinball Wizard (Rock Band 2)
• Baba O’Riley (DLC)
• Who Are You ? (DLC)
• See Me, Feel Me  (New)
• Won’t Get Fooled Again  (Rock Band 1)

The song is rated as a 5 star difficulty (bass and drums and vocals).  Here is a preview of the medley in two parts.  The song is a mere 160 points, but if you’re like me, you already own the master tracks and would rather play those all the way through.

This winter I find myself obsessed with one game in particular, Bioware’s suitably epic “Dragon Age: Origins“.  By epic, I mean it’s truly “Lord of the Rings-ian” in scale.  DA:O is a deeply complex, story driven RPG for the PC and XBox 360.  For the hardcore enthusiasts, this is Baldur’s Gate 3 without the Dungeons & Dragons licensing to weigh it down, and instead contains some very creative writing to keep the story moving forward and provide a fresh perspective on hack & slash roleplayers.  Dragon Age is anything but predictable and has a handfull of major plot twists that will lead you to multiple endings.

Welcome to the world of Felderen, one that is in critical danger of being overrun by an unending horde of demons called The Blight.  Your army is defeated and your friends and family are all dead.  Your mission is to raise an army by any means neccesary to battle back the cadres of undead and evil minions.  Along the way you will encounter all the modern RPG trappings:  Companions, leveling, spellcraft, looting, dungeons, crafting, and inventory management.

You play the role of a young Grey Warden, a new initiate to a warrior tribe that is charged with the defense of the realm against the Blight.  There are six unique origin stories that setup the rich storyline.  Each origin is entirely unique but ultimately unites you with the same starting companions, albeit through entirely different means.  For example, starting as a Human Noble has you fleeing from your home castle as it is being raided by rogue mercenaries, while starting as a Mage has you taking on the trials of the “Harrowing” which is the final test that all mages must survive.  Origin tales lead the character to the first major battle at Ostagar where they meet certain defeat.  After the conclusion of your Origin, you are uncerimoniously deposited in Ferelden with a long list of quest options ready to explore.

What you do from that point on, is what makes this game very compelling indeed.  Should you choose to seek out more companions, it will comfort you to know that you won’t be lonely on this journey,  you may recruit almost a dozen characters to join your cause, some of them are inherently good and righteous, and others are dark and evil to the core.  The world is ‘open’ but not exactly a ’sandbox’ – you are not free to explore every inch of the realm (like in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion) but there are a large number of locations to visit on the main map.  More sub-locations open up as you visit each major city and discover new areas.  You won’t feel lost, but the maps can feel a bit claustrophobic sometimes, particularly when battling more than 10 enemies at once in some of the narrow corridors.

Combat is strategic, and is conducted in realtime for all characters in the battle. You must always control one of your party in combat.  The rest of your party’s actions are governed by “Tactics” which are a set of commands that each member follows before doing something.  The use of Tactics in the game are what make the combat interesting and challenging, but they require a large amount of experimentation and trial-and-error to get the characters to perform at their best.  Rather than have your party constantly charge into battle, you can use Tactics to cast buffs, heals, and support your tank characters instead of attacking the closest bad guy.  Frequently you’ll be wondering why they are standing still, as it’s easy to set a command that they cannot actually complete due to one condition or another.  Don’t get me wrong, it sounds more difficult than it really is, there are lots of default tactics that you can quickly switch between and they all seem to be effective on some level.  Tactics are what make the combat unique and challenging, and is most of DA:O’s true appeal.

The voice acting is another one of the game’s biggest attractions – Tim Curry, Claudia Black, & Kate Mulgrew.  Bioware never fails to attract some intriguing and talented voice actors. I’m a huge fan of all three Stars:  Trek, Wars and Gate – so an extended scene featuring Vala Maldoran (SG-1) and Captain Katherine Janeway (Voyager) was quite memorable.

There are two final things that I find noteworthy.  First, your main character can have a romantic encounter with most of the main companions, and quite a number of NPC’s.  This trend began in Bioware’s “Mass Effect” and has appeared in all of their games since, and while there are no pre-rendered XXX cutscenes to be seen, the sexuality can be very overt at times and therefore this is not at all safe for a younger audience.  Secondly, and this is more of a warning for younger players,  DA:O contains explicit, over-the-top blood and gore that often covers your party from head to toe, even in the cutscenes (yes, the gore is persistent).  Almost all of the death animations are hyper-exaggerated to include graphic dismemberment with fountains of blood covering everything on the field.    I find this to be excessive and detrimental to the story pacing, but not enough to want me to turn off the option.

I picked up this game in January at Electronics Boutique, trading in two titles (Call of Duty 4 and Civilization Revolution) and paying an additional $19.99.  Bioware has included a few nice rewards for being the first person to purchase the game, both of the rewards are free DLC in the form of a quest addon & companion (The Stone Prisoner) and some unique armor (Blood Dragon Armor, also works in Mass Effect 2).  You can get a further headstart for free, by playing and completing the mini flash game, Dragon Age: Journeys, which will net you a few more helpful items in your starting inventory.  I was so impressed with the ‘bonus’ items, that I also chose to pick up the additional DLC as well for 960 points, and I probably would not have done so without the incentives that came in the retail box.

Dragon Age: Origins will soon have its own expansion in the form of Dragon Age: Awakenings which is released in March 2010.  This is a full expansion with which you can continue your adventure with your original characters from Origins in an entirely new area in Ferelden.   Bioware is quickly becoming famous for loading savegames from previous titles and reviving some of the choices you made in the new game (like they have done with the Mass Effect series) so it should be interesting to see some of the original characters and locations from Origins make an appearance or reference in Awakenings.

Harmonix has doubtlessly been extremely busy surrounding the recent public beta of the Rock Band Network, and this week they are taking a ‘bye’ of sorts from the weekly DLC releases.  That’s not to say we aren’t getting any new tracks, in fact there are seven new tracks, but six of the tracks are in fact already available to purchasers of the “2009 Metal Track Pack” which we discussed earlier last year.   The final track is an additional song by the legendary prog-rock band “Blue Öyster Cult”.

For what it’s worth, the letter O with an umlaut (ö) appears naturally in the German, Finnish, Hungarian, Turkish and Crimean alphabets, but in the case of Blue Öyster Cult the symbol represents a diaresis, which is a pronunciation of two adjacent vowels (O and Y).   Scores of other bands would later copy the use of umlauts in their band names, and many of them are even featured in Rock Band 2 (Motörhead, Mötley Crue and Spinäl Tap to name a few).

• Blue Öyster Cult – “Godzilla”
• Blue Öyster Cult – “Transmaniacon MC”
• Hawkwind – “Master of the Universe”
• I Mother Earth – “Levitate”
• Motörhead – “Killed by Death ‘08”
• Nazareth – “Hair of the Dog”
• Rage Against the Machine – “Bulls on Parade”

The standout hits are pretty obvious – “Bulls on Parade” by RATM was the first single from their legnedary Evil Empire cd.  Personally I have been waiting for this one FOREVER, it’s one of the band’s greatest songs. “Levitate” from the Edwin era of I Mother Earth (and also one of their earliest singles),  and also B.Ö.C.’s “Godzilla” features some challenging extended guitar solos and even some shouting in Japanese.

Before you pick up Nazareth’s “Hair of the Dog” you should probably listen to the re-recorded version beforehand – the song has been updated, the drums, vocals, and even the trademark ‘Talk-Box’ guitar solo is not the same as the version you’ve heard before.  It DOES have lots and lots of cowbell.  Many of the changes are subtle and forgivable, but it was enough to turn me off of the track.   “Killed by Death ‘08″ is similarly re-recorded and also has notable changes, but if you enjoyed their re-recording of “Ace of Spades” this is actually from the same recording session.

Next Week’s Prediction:   Les Claypool, H.I.M. and Smashing Pumpkins

Another DLC Tuesday is upon us! This week Harmonix is bringing us the 2nd Tom Petty Pack and the debut of two new artists, Phoenix and Silvertide.

• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Breakdown (Live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Woman in Love (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)”

This pack features six more tracks from Tom Petty’s recent live cd.  For me the essential cut is “Breakdown” which I was hoping to see contained in the first pack, but all of these songs feature Tom’s trademark ‘Dylan-esque’ vocals and wailing rock solos.  As I mentioned, these are all live versions, but the songs themselves should be very recognizable as each one was a minor hit on 80’s radio.

• Phoenix – “1901”
• Phoenix – “Lisztomania”
• Silvertide – “Blue Jeans”

This week’s brand new RB2 artists are Phoenix and (now defunct) Silvertide.  Phoenix are an alt-punk band from France and have acheived moderate success touring with some big name bands.  Silvertide are from good old Philadelphia, however their wikipedia entry states that they are on hiatus and all the members have joined new bands. “Blue Jeans” performed decently on the charts and features some unique sounds, but the obscurity of the band coupled with the fact that the band has moved on makes this track a real rarity in your DLC catalogue.  It’s hard to imagine that we’ll see more of them in the future.

I’ll end this update by mentioning that Harmonix have just announced the public launch of creators.rockband.com, the online marketplace that will feature music found only on the Rock Band Network.  There is still no public release date for RBN.  Tommy at RockBandAide has scoured the net for information once again and has dropped the following band names:  Evanescence, Creed, Billy Idol, All That Remains, The Stills, The Shins, Ministry, Flight of the Conchords, 25 Tracks from Sub-Pop, Steve Vai, Widespread Panic, Gov’t Mule, Rev. Horton Heat, Stroke 9 and Bif Naked!   The site update should be wrapped up by 5PM EST if you want to see it for yourself.

Next Week’s Predictions:   New tracks from Locksley, Motion City Soundtrack and the return of Rob Zombie.

Today Harmonix has announced that the second Alice in Chains pack will be available in the Rock Band Store: “Alice In Chains Pack 02” will be a 5-track setlist and features some fairly obscure and unknown music from Seattle’s legendary grunge band, however fans of the group will be delighted as these songs sound characteristically like core AIC.

• Alice In Chains – “Grind”
• Alice In Chains – “Heaven Beside You”
• Alice In Chains – “Last of My Kind”
• Alice In Chains – “We Die Young”
• Alice In Chains – “Your Decision”

“We Die Young” is the first song on their debut, Facelift, so for many of the fans this song is as essential to the band as any of their other hits.  “Heaven Beside You (Hell Within)” and “Grind” are both tracks from their later, self-titled album.  This was the last original album that Layne Staley would record with the group, the band went into hiatus shortly afterwards. The remaining tracks, “Last of My Kind” and “Your Decision” are from 2009’s Black Gives Way to Blue and feature William DuVall on vocals, the latter being the third single from the album.

All five of these tracks, while not necessarily recognizable on their own, create a well rounded setlist for AIC and RB fans.  It’s interesting that we have yet to experience any of the music from their quadruple-platinum album “Dirt”, but in my opinion this just increases the likelihood that we could see it as DLC in the future, possibly even the entire album. This pack will be available this coming Tuesday, January 12.

Next Week’s Prediction:  Indie Rock from Eels and OK Go.

Welcome back to My Gadget, Game and Gizmo Obsession!  I must apologize for missing the last few weeks of 2009- I confess I was enjoying the winter break, spending quality time with my wife, playing lots of Rock Band 2 ‘other’ games.   Can you believe I still have not aquired Lego Rock Band?  Frankly since I missed out on both of the deals this winter I’m waiting for another price drop.  Yes, the fanboy in me is frequently beat down by the thrifty gamer in me, the turmoil is at times like a bi-polar steel-cage match. It’s probably all the time I spend listening to Cheapy D.

Today I’ll fill you in on what you probably already know, and that is the last two Rock Band Tuesday’s track lists and some of my cherry-flavoured commentary.

Tracks available on December 29, 2009:

• Kenny Rogers – “The Gambler”
• Alan Jackson – “Good Time”
• Jason Aldean – “She’s Country”
• Cross Canadian Ragweed – “Cry Lonely”
• Keith Urban – “I Told You So”
• Martina McBride – “This One’s For the Girls”
• Shania Twain – “Any Man of Mine”

Straight up – this week’s lineup was not drafted for me.  This is approximately half of the exclusive tracks that were featured in last summer’s Rock Band Country Track Pack disc, where the other half is sitting currently is anyone’s guess.   I’m glad to see several Canadian country artists represented, we have a massive country scene up here centered in Alberta, but as I mentioned none of these songs really speak to my tastes.  I will pick up “Gambler” before my next RB Party and see if anyone is interested, but the charting doesn’t look terribly exciting.

Tracks available on January 5, 2010

• Blink-182 – “Adam’s Song”
• Blink-182 – “First Date”
• Blink-182 – “I Miss You”

Recently reformed alt-punkers Blink-182 are certainly a staple of DLC, evidenced by their 5th Tuesday release, and they also featured track in Lego:RB.   According to the awesome blog Rockbandaide, the band has a small handful of those songs in the top 100 song DLC, so there are plenty of Blink-182 fans out there to warrant another song pack.   This pack features some of Blink-182’s more somber hits from their later albums; “I Miss You” and “Adam’s Song” are noteworthy departures from their traditional, trademark humorous, upbeat and melodic sounds.   I think it’s a safe bet that this is but the first Blink-182 pack of 2010, as the band has already announced a new album for the summer.

• The Ramones – “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”

The Ramones first appeared in the original Rock Band 1 setlist, with their mega-hit  “Blitzkrieg Bop”, which was followed by an additional two tracks as DLC, neither of which were as popular as the first song.  This song is quite obscure for The Ramones, and frankly I’m surprised to see this track at all, the band had so many more great hits, not the least of which was titled “I Wanna Be Sedated”.     Over the years, the band has achieved recognition as pioneers of the american punk scene.  In 2002, Spin magazine declared that the Ramones were the 2nd greatest band of all time, right behind the Beatles.  Could you imagine yourself playing Rock Band: Ramones?  I can, and it will be the best 22 minutes of your life.  To put it another way, I once saw this band live in Toronto around 1995, they played non-stop for 30 minutes and played at least 25 songs.   This track has all of the signature Ramones hooks that you would expect to hear (meaning it’s short!), even if it is not a popular song, it is entirely representative of the band’s legendary sound.

• The Psychedelic Furs – “Love My Way”
• The Psychedelic Furs – “Sister Europe”

The Psychedelic Furs are an essential 80’s band, and these tracks are a follow up to their 2008 DLC single “Pretty in Pink”.  Both of these tracks achieved moderate success, the band themselves had a small string of number 1 hits, but to many the Furs will be always remembered as one-hit-wonders who got famous for a movie soundtrack.

• Paul McCartney – “Band on the Run (Live)”
• Paul McCartney – “Jet (Live)”
• Paul McCartney – “Sing the Changes (Live)”

JET! This is a very sweet surprise for DLC enthusiasts.  This is what Paul McCartney was up to in the 70’s and 80’s – the band was called Wings, and was the only permanent band that any of the Beatles were members of (other than the Beatles).  Wings released five consecutive gold-selling albums in the 70’s, and while they never achieved the notoriety of the former, they did manage to write some very interesting and challenging music.  These songs are all live recordings, so be aware that they will not sound exactly like the radio or studio versions you grew up listening to – particularly “Band on the Run” which has several dramatic and subtle differences from the original.  It’s worth noting that this is the first appearance of a Beatle in Rock Band 2 by name, even though George Harrison played guitar on a Tom Petty track, his name does not appear in the game.

All of these tracks discussed today are currently available in the Rock Band Marketplace.  I’ll be back later with news of next Tuesday’s DLC.

Two things you can always be sure of: there will always be Rock Band DLC Tuesdays, and that when it comes to more Weezer, its not a question of if, but a question of when.  On Tuesday, December 22, Harmonix has announced the third Weezer pack, which includes two tracks off of their recent “Raditude” album, and one track from 2005’s “Make Believe”.

• Weezer – “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”
• Weezer – “Beverly Hills”
• Weezer – “Let It All Hang Out”

Great news for Weezer fans. I’ve picked up all of their DLC to date and I play it often, I find their music has quite an awesome hook and a lot more consistency, perhaps a “Rock Bandness” that other modern music doesn’t always have.  The drums are a lot of fun to play, on any difficulty.  I believe Weezer are the quintessential band for this game.

• Limp Bizkit – “Build a Bridge”
• The Offspring – “A Lot Like Me”
• Yellowcard – “Ocean Avenue”

Who knew that Limp Bizkit is still making records ? “Build a Bridge” is a track from their 2003 album “Results May Vary” which is about 5 years after I stopped caring about their music.  The song also features guitarist Brian Welch from KoRn, so that probably makes it twice as hard on expert right there.  Why Harmonix / Fred Durst chose this track and only this track to debut in the game, I cannot imagine.   I will pay good money for “Nookie”.   That sentence looks strange but I stand by it.

Yellowcard makes their debut this week with the title track to their 2003 album “Ocean Avenue”.   According to Wikipedia, this band features a few unconventional string instruments- so maybe we’ll get a ripping violin solo or some thrashy mandolin riffs.  Perhaps not.   I gave up after 30 seconds.  Finally we have The Offspring whom have had a small number of DLC releases over the years, but the song “A Lot Like Me” is an obscure song from their last record, and even fans of the band may think twice about dropping 160 points.   Since “Pretty Fly” is already out as DLC, it’s a slim chance that I’ll spend any more points on The Offspring… but anything could happen.

Next Week’s Prediction: Santa Claus, Spoon and Vampire Weekend!  Happy Holidays.

Late last week, Harmonix also let slip that on 12/15 they will be releasing the second Green Day pack for Rock Band.  The songs included are:

• Green Day - “Christian’s Inferno”
• Green Day – “Last of the American Girls”
• Green Day – “¡Viva La Gloria!”

Some of you will recognize that these tracks are all from their last album, “21st Century Breakdown” which was rated very highly by Shawn.

I really enjoyed the last three songs from Green Day 01, but I’m still wondering whatever happened to the rumors about having their own title?  Remember this little tidbit from an article on 1Up:

When a fan asked the band if they’d considered releasing tracks for Rock Band during yesterday’s Breakfast with Green Day on KROQ, vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong offered a surprisingly candid, “Yeah. We’re doing a whole Green Day Rock Band, uh,” before being cut off by the approving howls of the surrounding crowd.

There is more evidence – if we look back even further to May 17 when “RB Unplugged” was leaked, we have the following quote from Destructoid:

Now, the same people who simply couldn’t help themselves from getting all grabby-grabby on the unauthorized software have dug deep into the game’s files, finding a slew hints at Green Day songs…   …the files appear to make references to the following Green Day tracks: “Welcome to Paradise,” “She’s a Rebel,” “Nice Guys Finish Last,” “Longview,” “Minority,” “Letterbomb,” “American Idiot,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Jaded,” “Whatsername,” “Walking Contradiction,” “She,” “St. Jimmy,” “Holiday,” “Hitchin’ a Ride,” and “Brain Stew.”

It’s a shame that they have not made a formal announcement, because the band easily has enough material to warrant a release similar to the AC/DC Live disc from last year.  Would the band be satisfied with a game addon like that one?  Hard to say, especially after witnessing the glory that is The Beatles: Rock Band (or the misery that is Guitar Hero: Van Halen).  I’m certain we haven’t seen the last of this group in Rock Band.

One final question.. if the game developers and testers have produced those Green Day songs into playable tracks, even if only for their own amusement, how jealous are you right now?