The Old Man Band (Players Over 30)

[DADDIO54]

Yeah Subdivisions is probably the best RB3 DLC. "Piano Man" by Billy Joel is a close 2nd. I was shocked that the guitar/mandolin and drum parts are actually quite entertaining, making it good for the entire band.

Oh there are some EPIC Queen tracks too -- Under Pressure & Somebody to Love are perfect for keys & harmonies.

Bon Jovi is popular and has some good tracks too.

^This for me as well. Billy Joel is more challenging on drums than I thought, but that's what makes it fun.

Queen and Bon Jovi are great full band songs as well.

[ChubChubb]

not only do i love Rush (which i will be seeing from the floor at the KFC yum center on april 5 here in Louisville!!!).

Jealous as hell over here. Haha.

[Rigour6]

A few of the real surprise pleasures of playing RB for me:

1) The drums. My whole family (except me) makes their living as musicians. I actually play the bass, but not well, or often, but I do get dragged into family jam sessions. So I don't play the bass on RB, I made a decision to try something that would be challenging. For me the drums is definitely it. I try to avoid playing guitar or bass because for now they don't feel real to me. I know the solution to that problem and I am hoping next Christmas Santa will take care of it. Anyway, for now it's the drums. My appreciation of drummers has gone from "fairly low" (pretty ballsy for a bass player to say, I know) to "rather high".

2) Appreciation of a couple of new groups. Rush is probably top of that list. I know, as a Canadian I am required as my patriotic duty to like Rush. I always thought they were super nice guys and I liked them as a band OK. Now I have to say I can see what they're doing. It's clever and fun. Rush songs are among the msot interesting to play I have to say.
The other one is The Who. Again, sacrilege I know, but I was a casual Who fan at best. I now recognize Keith Moon as some kind of bizarre genius.

3) Discovery of some new groups. As an old fart, I don't keep up with the whippersnappers and their new music. I sort of stumble across stuff and say hey, that's pretty good. RB has exposed me a number of groups I am sure I would never have heard of otherwise.


On the question of what DLC to get, my advice is
a) start with the free stuff if you haven't got it already. Maybe you'll keep it and maybe you'll delete it, but at that price you can't go wrong.
b) just choose songs you like. I have to say that there's a couple of types of songs in RB, there's a group of songs where I'm meh about the song but really enjoy playing it because the patterns are so challenging, and then there are songs I actually like. The most fun I ever have playing RB is when the two happen to coincide, and I think that's a matter of individual taste.

[Rigour6]

@Dress2Kill and Chubb: Kind of you guys. I have to say I experienced a moment of facepalm when I tried H and proceeded to completely flame out at the start of that one song, I just could not get the pattern, and I'd never played it at hard before. After one of the two of you saved me, I was like "uhoh, that's one strike and this song isn't even a quarter done, I am totally gonna sink this ship". Lots of wide-eye desperate bashing later, and it was completed. Hey, 87% is pretty good, isn't it?

Usual experience at end of RB set:

Rigour6 (lathered in sweat): holy crap, I got through that. Hey, 96% on Medium, pretty good, old chum! (brief glance to the left and right) 97% on Hard?! 99% on Expert?! What the ...? And what are those gold starry thingies under those guy's scores? (shrink down into chair, hoping other two players don't notice my embarrassing abilities and kick me).

[fragbert66]

As an old fart, I don't keep up with the whippersnappers and their new music. I sort of stumble across stuff and say hey, that's pretty good. RB has exposed me a number of groups I am sure I would never have heard of otherwise.

I am SO with you on this. My friends love to tease me because after I got RB2 in 2009, I kept saying how good these Pearl Jam guys were. *snicker*

I found SO many good new artists through RB2 (Silversun Pickups, for example) that when I got RB3, I made sure to keep an open mind. And between "Portions For Foxes" and "In The Meantime", I am enjoying a lot of the content.

But nothing beats belting out Billy Joel's "The Entertainer" on expert vocals and getting 5 gold stars. OLD MEN ROCK.

[Rigour6]

Funny you should mention "In the meantime". Played it for the first time last night. As it started, I was like, "Hey, I've heard this song before." Finished it up, rated it 5 stars for preference so I'll be seeing a lot more in future, and moved on. Serendipity.

[Rigour6]

Funny you should mention "In the meantime". Played it for the first time last night. As it started, I was like, "Hey, I've heard this song before.*" Finished it up, rated it 5 stars for preference so I'll be seeing a lot more in future, and moved on. Serendipity.



* Turns out what I had heard and remembered was not the song per se, but the opening sample from a Penguin Cafe Orchestra song. Man, I loved them.

[jammmer]

On the question of what DLC to get, my advice is
a) start with the free stuff if you haven't got it already. Maybe you'll keep it and maybe you'll delete it, but at that price you can't go wrong.
b) just choose songs you like. I have to say that there's a couple of types of songs in RB, there's a group of songs where I'm meh about the song but really enjoy playing it because the patterns are so challenging, and then there are songs I actually like. The most fun I ever have playing RB is when the two happen to coincide, and I think that's a matter of individual taste.

I usually just choose the stuff I really like but I think that's a double-edged sword.Whenever I play it by myself,I always end up with some kind of PearlJam,Hendrix,Who,Alice In Chains super set.Then I'll go online and play with someone,and tank on some popular song they pick..like Smokin'. I know I own it ,and like it but I can count on one hand how many times I've actually practiced it.

Lately,I've just been randoming my whole catalog and playing whatever comes up no matter what it is.Just to get some practice on lesser played songs,but there is some garbage on the RB3 disc that I can't even stand for a minute and I have a feeling most of the free stuff falls into that category.

I've been leaning towards The Doors.One of my all-time favorite bands and even if the guitar ends up not being so great,I'm thinking of the late-night drunken karaoke!!

[Rigour6]

Perhaps because I am still early days, I have more variety.
I typically play a session by myself with this pattern:
1) Play the lowest-tier song you've never played. On Easy.
2) Go up a tier from that and try another one. Easy.
3) Drop down a tier and try another easy one.
4) Go to the lowest tier song which is still showing an Easy result, and do it on Medium.
5) Do one leg of whatever Road challenge you are currently doing on Medium.
6) Come back and play something you like on Medium or Hard.
7) Download one song you want and try it on whatever level.
8) Finish with a couple of classics which you are really trying to master. On Hard.

That gives me a solid 45 minutes or so and keeps me feeling like I'm progressing but trying new stuff.

Note that in the 1,2, and 3 stages, if I get to the end of a song and really didn't like it, I can rate it low or in a number of cases even delete it. There's also songs I've got the end of and it's not so much that I hated them as I just felt like man that was a very counter-intuitive pattern on Easy and I can't see that song getting more interesting as I go up levels, so away it goes. This customizable feature is one of my favourites of RB. I am a former punk fan but not a huge fan of, what was it someone called it, "chainsaw music"? To each his own - I listened to Skinny Puppy back in the day - but Marilyn Manson is just not what I am looking for to wind down at the end of a day at work.

[alfredc]

Also I haven't bought any dlc for RB3 so I'm wondering what everybody's top three dlc picks would be since it was released.

Ever since I got the keyboard, I've tried to get DLCs that have keys support that are also middle to upper tiers on the other instruments... this way other members won't get bored when I'm on keys...