From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rock Band is a 2007 music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. The game is available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Wii game consoles. Rock Band is based on Harmonix' previous success with the Guitar Hero series of video games in which players used a guitar-shaped controller to simulate playing rock music. Rock Band expands on the concept by adding a drum and microphone peripheral, allowing up to four players to participate in the game, playing lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals. The gameplay in Rock Band is comparable to that in Guitar Hero along with elements from Harmonix' Karaoke Revolution.

Rock Band for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 and 3 shipped with 58 songs on disk, while the Wii version, released at a later date, contained 5 additional songs that were released as downloadable content for the game. The European version of the game of the game also includes 9 additional songs that have since been released as downloadable content for other regions. The player can expand their music library on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions by purchasing new songs offered on a weekly basis through the consoles' respective store systems. A full list of downloadable songs is available. For the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of Rock Band, Harmonix has created Rock Band Track Packs that contain a selection of the downloadable content already offered.

With Rock Band 2, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players with the North American release of the game can export all but three songs from the Rock Band soundtrack to their console's storage device for use in Rock Band 2 by purchasing a "transfer license" for $4.99 (400 MSP).^[1][2] One of the nine additional songs in the European release is not available for export along side the three from the North American release.

Main setlist

Players can play Rock Band alone through a Career mode for lead guitar, drums, and vocals, earning in-game money for their character to purchase new outfits and instruments. Each of the 45 songs^[3][4] has a different difficulty ranking for each instrument part, as well as a total band difficulty. There are a total of nine difficulties, or tiers. In career mode each song in a tier must be successfully completed to move onto the next and unlock the songs in that tier. This tier system is also used for rating the difficulty of the song (the "Band" tier) and its separate instrumental parts for downloadable content even though the songs are not used to unlock new songs in career mode. Once songs are unlocked, they may be played in any mode, including Quickplay, and multiplayer (competitive and co-operative modes) off- or online. Each instrument part in each song can be played at one of four difficulty levels, which include Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert.

Song titles listed in bold utilize master recordings.

^aThis song cannot be exported for use in Rock Band 2

Bonus songs

A total of 13 bonus songs can also be unlocked through the game's Career mode.^[4][5] The bonus setlist consists of bands formed by Harmonix employees as well as local bands from near Harmonix's headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts or from Boston. The exceptions are Flyleaf, Crooked X, and Mother Hips. "Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld" comes from the titular fictional band featured in the comedy show South Park.

Song title   Artist   Decade   Genre  

"29 Fingers"	KonksThe Konks	2000s	Rock
"Blood Doll"	Anarchy Club	2000s	Rock
"Brainpower"	Freezepop	2000s	Rock
"Can't Let Go"	Death of the Cool	2000s	Rock
"Day Late, Dollar Short"	Acro-BratsThe Acro-Brats	2000s	Rock
"I Get By"	Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives	2000s	Rock
"I'm So Sick"	Flyleaf	2000s	Alternative
"Nightmare"	Crooked X	2000s	Metal
"Outside"	Tribe	1990s	Rock
"Pleasure (Pleasure)"	Bang Camaro	2000s	Rock
"Seven"	Vagiant	2000s	Rock
"Time We Had"	Mother HipsThe Mother Hips	2000s	Rock
"Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld"	Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld	2000s	Rock

Wii version

The Wii version of Rock Band features 5 additional songs originally released as downloadable content on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.^[6]

Song title   Artist   Decade   Genre  

"Dirty Little Secret"	All American RejectsThe All American Rejects	2000s	Emo
"Don't Look Back In Anger"	Oasis	1990s	Rock
"Roam"	B-52'sThe B-52's	1980s	Pop/Rock
"Rockaway Beach"	Ramones	1970s	Punk
"Roxanne"	PoliceThe Police	1970s	Pop/Rock

European version

The European version of Rock Band features 9 additional songs not available on the North American disc. These bonus songs include English, German, and French vocals.^[7] These songs were released as downloadable content in the North American market on May 20, 2008.^[8]

Song title   Artist   Language   Decade   Genre  

"Beetlebum"	Blur	English	1990s	Alternative
"Countdown to Insanity"	H-Blockx	English	2000s	Rock
"Hier Kommt Alex"	Die Toten Hosen	German	1980s	Punk
"Hysteria"	Muse	English	2000s	Alternative
"Manu Chao"	Les Wampas	French	2000s	Punk
"Monsoon"a	Tokio Hotel	English	2000s	Glam
"New Wave"	Pleymo	French	2000s	Metal
"Perfekte Welle"	Juli	German	2000s	Rock
"Rock 'n' Roll Star"	Oasis	English	1990s	Rock