This week we are proud to announce the most ridiculously diverse double bill in the history of Rock Band, if not popular music itself. In this corner, nu metal. In that corner, Parrothead rock. In this corner, a diet of darkness and violence. In that corner, a diet of cheeseburgers. In this corner, getting down with the sickness. In that corner, blowing out your flip-flop.
Yes, through a strange quirk of scheduling (and maybe our perverse desire to throw you a left curve), we’re making Disturbed and Jimmy Buffett three-packs available on the same day. Put them together and you’ll be drinking margaritas in hell.
The Disturbed Pack
Hey, we hear you saying, I’m a Disturbed fan and I don’t recognize any of those songs. That’s because they’re an exclusive—Three songs from the brand-new album Indestructible, which only hit the stores this week. This is intentionally not faint-hearted stuff, as the band went through its own version of hell in the past few years: Singer David Draiman got his heart broken a few times. Then he had a motorcycle accident. Then his garage burned down. Then he ate some bad clams. (Okay, we made that last one up). No wonder he contemplates packing it all in on “Inside the Fire,” though we’re glad to say he gets saved by the power of rock. The title track keeps the album’s tough-comeback mood, paying tribute to soldiers in Iraq, people who survive their life crises and of course, people who kick ass at music video games.
The Jimmy Buffett Pack
Hey, we hear you saying, I’m a Jimmy Buffett fan and I don’t recognize any of these versions. That’s because they’re an exclusive too: Three spiffy new recordings of the man’s greatest hits, done exclusively for Rock Band: You can even hear him namecheck us at the end of “Volcano”! The original versions of all three songs were of course recorded in the ‘70s, back when Buffett was a humble troubadour whose fans still wore street clothes. “Margaritaville” put him in the Top Ten and “Cheeseburger in Paradise” took him back, though the Parrothead phenomenon didn’t take root until the mid-'80s, after the hit singles had dried up. So he had the hits during the summer of punk. Then became a superstar during the heyday of MTV? Just goes to show that some people can get away with ignoring fashion altogether.
“I Want My, I Want My DLC!”
The songs in Rock Band are only the beginning. Each week we’ll be rolling out more downloadable songs, essential tracks (and sometimes whole albums) from every era of rock history. Check the Rock Band website to find out what’s new.
Tracks will usually sell for $1.99 each; with three-pack specials costing $5.49. (On the Xbox 360, that’s 160 Microsoft Points per track and 440 per three-pack). Occasional special or discounted tracks may cost a dollar more or less.
Downloadable content for the Xbox 360 is available through the XBOX LIVE marketplace. Downloads for the PLAYSTATION 3 version of Rock Band are available through the PLAYSTATION Network Store. In each case, the songs are downloaded onto your hard drive.
If you’re playing solo, you can start rocking right away. For head-to-head or multi-player online, all players will need to download the song.
