Rock Band 2 will be out in a couple of months, and it looks like the track listing has been finalized. Thereâs a lot of stuff there, a lot of good stuff, (although the B-52âs song âGood Stuffâ is not in there), and also a lot of crappy samey âif only the WB were still on the air and we could get our song played on Smallvilleâ stuff.
One thing I realized about Rock Band is, if youâre playing with four people, one person has to know the song, and also be comfortable singing. So while there are a lot of fun songs on this track listing, thereâs also a lot of stuff youâll have to set your mic part to âeasyâ and just mutter through.
| Songs sung by dudes | Songs sung by chicks |
|---|---|
| AC/DC – âLet There Be Rockâ AFI – âGirlâs Gone Greyâ Alice in Chains – âMan in the Boxâ Allman Brothers – âRamblinâ Manâ Anarchy Club – âGet Cleanâ Avenged Sevenfold – âAlmost Easyâ Bad Company – âShooting Starâ Bang Camaro – âNight Liesâ Beastie Boys – âSo Watcha Wantâ Beck – âE-proâ Billy Idol – âWhite Wedding Pt. I â Bob Dylan – âTangled Up in Blueâ Bon Jovi – âLivinâ on a Prayerâ Breaking Wheel – âShoulder to the Plowâ Cheap Trick – âHello Thereâ Devo – âUncontrollable Urgeâ Dinosaur Jr. – âFeel the Painâ Disturbed – âDown with the Sicknessâ Dream Theater – âPanic Attack â Duran Duran – âHungry Like the Wolfâ Elvis Costello – âPump it Upâ Fleetwood Mac – âGo Your Own Wayâ (?) Foo Fighters – âEverlongâ Guns Nâ Roses – âShacklerâs Revengeâ Interpol – âPDAâ Janeâs Addiction – âMountain Songâ Jethro Tull – âAqualungâ Jimmy Eat World – âThe Middleâ Journey – âAnyway You Want Itâ Judas Priest – âPainkillerâ Kansas – âCarry On Wayward Sonâ Libyans – âNeighborhoodâ Linkin Park – âOne Step Closerâ Lit – âMy Own Worst Enemyâ Mastodon – âColony of Birchmenâ Megadeth – âPeace Sellsâ Metallica – âBatteryâ Mighty Mighty Bosstones – âWhereâd You Goâ Modest Mouse – âFloat Onâ Motorhead – âAce of Spades â Nirvana – âDrain Youâ Norman Greenbaum – âSpirit in the Sky â Panic at the Disco – âNine in the Afternoonâ Pearl Jam – âAliveâ Presidents of the United States of America – âLumpâ Rage Against the Machine – âTestifyâ Ratt – âRound & Roundâ Red Hot Chili Peppers – âGive it Away â Rise Against – âGive it Allâ Rush – âThe Treesâ Silversun Pickups – âLazy Eyeâ Smashing Pumpkins – âTodayâ Social Distortion – âI Was Wrongâ Sonic Youth – âTeenage Riotâ Soundgarden – âSpoonmanâ Speck – âConventional Loverâ Squeeze – âCool for Catsâ Steely Dan – âBodhitsattvaâ Steve Miller Band – âRockân Meâ Survivor – âEye of the Tigerâ System of a Down – âChop Suey â Talking Heads – âPsycho Killerâ Tenacious D – âMaster Exploderâ Testament – âSouls of Blackâ That Handsome Devil – âRob the Prez-o-Dentâ The Grateful Dead – âAlabama Getawayâ The Guess Who – âAmerican Womanâ The Main Drag – âA Jagged Gorgeous Winterâ The Offspring – âCome Out & Playâ The Replacements – âAlex Chiltonâ The Sterns – âSupreme Girlâ The Who – âPinball Wizard â |
Abnormality – âVisionsâ Alanis Morissette – âYou Oughta Knowâ Bikini Kill – âRebel Girlâ Blondie – âOne Way or Anotherâ Joan Jett – âBad Reputationâ L7 – âPretend Weâre Deadâ Lacuna Coil – âOur Truthâ Lush – âDe-Luxeâ Paramore – âThatâs What You Getâ The Donnas – âNew Kid in Schoolâ The Go-Goâs – âWe Got the Beatâ The Muffs – âKids in America â |
Again, if weâre going to accept the stereotype that women are more comfortable singing karaoke then men are (no one ever talks about what a manly game Sing Star is, after all), then youâd think that youâd try to offer a better balance of male and female vocal parts.* The Original Rock Bandâs initial track lineup was 50 male vocalist songs, and 7 female vocalist songs, so women only accounted for about 12% of the singable parts. For Rock Band 2, the list creeps up to 13% female vocal parts, at about 12 songs sung by women to the seventy-one songs sung by men. And while I admit, itâs hard to stay angry for putting an L7 song in, and plenty of the âmaleâ songs are in an octave that women would still be comfortable in (Bless your heart, Billy Corgan!), I really donât know if I want to pay $190 for a game that will only give me about 15 songs that I could comfortably sing along to.
*Although awesome on them for putting an Abnormality song in there.