Rocking out with Rock Band: 2/12/08 DLC Review
by Derek Wilson on February 12, 2008 9:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Software
This Week's New Music
The apparent theme of this week's releases was a sort of pseudo punk mix. All of these songs are quick paced and catchy. These songs aren't so punk that you have to be a fan to like them. In fact, even if you don't like punk you might find yourself enjoying a couple of these tunes. But check out the break down to get a better idea.
The Clash :: Complete Control (Skilled Songs)
Difficulty: This is a tough song, but Anand and I were able to make through the first time we played it with 3 stars (having not heard the song before). Our first try is always me on expert drums and Anand on hard guitar. We could certainly nail this one if we played it a few more times, but it did have its tricky spots with interesting transitions. Over all it's just a few spots that will trip you up.
Experience: This song is definitely fun with lots of hammers on the guitar and a drum line that just "feels" right for the song. Even if you aren't a fan of the song this is fun to play. It is definitely and added bonus for fans of The Clash, as you can really get into the groove on this one.
Rank: 2 (a close second)
The Police :: Truth Hits Everybody (Challenging Song)
Difficulty: This one is hard. I had to drop down to hard from expert to finish it, and it would have taken me a while to get on expert. The first time I tried it, having never heard the song before, I dropped out in seconds. Guitar is tough too, and Anand switched over to bass (his favored instrument) for this one to help me get through it.
Experience: For people who don't get frustrated by a challenge, this is a great song. It's fairly straight forward in structure, but it really throws some curve balls out in the details. While I do think this was the most fun song of the week, I'm a huge Stewart Copeland fan and that could bias me a bit. Anand did confirm that this one is a fun song as well, so I know it wasn't all in my head.
Rank: 1
The Ramones :: Teenage Lobotomy (Solid Songs)
Difficulty: This one isn't so much hard as it is fast. It's quite repetitive and not that complex, so the speed really doesn't make it a particularly difficult song.
Experience: The first thing that comes to mind is that it is a repetitive song. The guitar on this one is like the base line on The Killers' When You Were Young, but that's where the comparison ends in my mind. While there were a few fun spots, this is probably more of a song for fans of The Ramones.
Rank: 3 (unless you like The Ramones)
I do think it is worth mentioning that while playing The Police song on hard, I had a very difficult time not playing the bass line that really should have been there. This gave me the thought that it would be terrific if it were possible to mix difficulty on hands and feet for drummers. For instance, I think I would have nailed Truth Hits Everybody if I could have picked expert on the kick and hard for everything else. Anand doesn't seem all that stoked by the idea, but let's hear from the other drummers out there. Is this a good idea?
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Southpaws - Friday, February 15, 2008 - link
"Not many these days take the time to learn how to read drum music these days"Every now and then there's an article or a story on the news where a senior person states that kids today just ain't doing things properly like they used to do in the old days, the underlying theme always being that our society is gradually but surely degrading.
I for one am not overly worried that Rock Band will breed a generation of musicians that don't know how to read music or play with correct technique.
yyrkoon - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
"Of course, Rock Band's short comings have forced us to pose an interesting question. What would we want from a game that could also potentially be used as a real teaching device for instruments? Answering that for guitar is difficult short of making the controller into something more like an actual instrument. But since the drums are already so close, we can easily tackle that one."I do not really know how you could combine a PC with a guitar as a 'proper' learning tool. Just a quick thought, maybe 'we' could borrow from remote debugging applications, and implement some form of computerized guitar that somehow networked with a desktop, with software that analyzed your playing technique ? *shrug* The idea would obviously be very complex. Drums are easy, except for perhaps cymbals as you mentioned elsewhere in your article.
"The bottom line is that what we have today in Rock Band is a game and not a teaching tool. It certainly can get more people into music who might have stayed out of it, but there could be problems with learning poor technique and causing frustration in future musicians. Unlearning something is much harder than learning it right the first time."
Key words 'Bad Habits'. Someone in the comments section of your last article argued against this point that I made, but it is obvious he/she never played the guitar, or other instrument well, while trying to break a bad habit . . . I never played really well myself, and I definitely attribute part of that to picking up bad habits early in my learning stage. Fingering chords, and picking technique are very easily done wrong, and once you've started, it can be a PITA to correct.
EODetroit - Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - link
One thing to point out is that this is the first Rock Band game. You can be sure that there will be a second and probably a third, and they'll certainly try to improve some things with the controllers on them. Whether they change what we want, who knows, but they'll make "improvements" of some sort in order to sell more, for sure.slashbinslashbash - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
On the subject of using these games as instrument tutors, it would be totally easy (easier than any other instrument) to have a piano-based game. It could cover classical stuff as well as pop music. There are even enough songs with keyboard/piano to do an add-in with the full band in Rock Band.A cheapie keyboard could be included with the game, or you could hook up any MIDI keyboard (including expensive weighted-key digital pianos) and basically cover every aspect of piano playing. I don't know why Harmonix hasn't done this yet, but I have to think that it's on the "to do" list somewhere.
yyrkoon - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
Oh . . . oops, sorry, I got completely off topic here. Music tutors for the piano/keyboard already exist on the PC.slashbinslashbash - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
Yes, but they're tutors, not games. There's a big difference. They all look boring and feel like work.Are there any piano tutors that play like Guitar Hero or Rock Band? That is:
1) Make you play through a whole song at the right tempo, no matter what notes you miss, unless you miss so many that you 'lose' the song;
2) Have progressive difficulty levels for the same song, so that you hear every note even when you're not playing every note, so that you can get used to the tempo and overall flow of the song without having to play every last note;
3) Have little built-in rewards and challenges at various parts of the song;
4) Let you compete and/or play along with another person;
5) Look awesome while doing all of the above?
yyrkoon - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
I would suspect that It would have to do with the instruments popularity. I am sure many people out there into music(specifically rock) have dreamed about playing guitar at one point in their life(or another). This gives those people a chance to pretend being a guitarist, whilst having a bit of fun.JarredWalton - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
Just saw him in concert a few months back, with the reunited Police. Awesome show! I can't believe you've never heard Truth Hits Everybody before... but then I haven't heard either of the other two songs. Too bad I don't have a console so I can tackle the singing! I can wail like a banshee when called on.... ;)DerekWilson - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
yeah, i know ... i'm a copeland fan and i really do love the police, but i'm that lame guy that isn't familiar with as much as i should be for how much i like em.i went the oysterhead route and i really enjoyed his theme songs / soundtracks.
speaking of which, the Dead Like Me theme freaking rocks. deal with it :-)