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Rock Band song library hits 1,000

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpotPosted Nov 25, 2009 12:04 pm PT

Harmonix and MTV Games reach milestone between on-disc, downloadable tracks for rhythm franchise.

When Rock Band was first announced in April 2007, Harmonix founder Alex Rigopoulos laid out his ambition for the project, saying the developer had "very big plans for building out a huge library of online expansion content." That ambition has been soundly realized, as this week the Rock Band platform reached a new milestone, with 1,000 songs available on disc or as downloadable content.

Rock Band will never sport a true "never-ending setlist," but it gets a little closer every week.

That tally spans songs from Rock Band, Rock Band 2, Lego Rock Band, the PSP adaptation Rock Band Unplugged, and hundreds of downloadable songs that can be played across multiple games. It also includes the retail-exclusive AC/DC track pack's 18 songs, but omits The Beatles: Rock Band, as that game and its downloadable content are not compatible with the rest of the Rock Band series. A full list of Rock Band's 1,000 songs is available on the game's official Web site.

Rock Band's catalog has even surpassed that of its main competition (and Harmonix's previous project), Guitar Hero. Activision's official Guitar Hero music catalog lists roughly 830 songs available across the five main installments of the series, spin-offs like Band Hero and Guitar Hero Rocks the '80s, the Guitar Hero On Tour DS games, band-specific titles for Aerosmith and Metallica, and downloadable offerings. The Activision catalog page includes neither DJ Hero nor Guitar Hero: Van Halen, which includes 44 tracks and will be released in stores December 22. (The game was also sent out early to purchasers of Guitar Hero 5 as part of a since-expired promotion.)

Since Rock Band debuted November 20, 2007, Harmonix has supported the game with 105 consecutive weeks of new downloadable content. The offerings run the gamut from full album downloads like Judas Priests' Screaming for Vengeance to novelty freebies like Stephen & the Colberts' faux '80s stalker anthem "Charlene (I'm Right Behind You)."

At the moment, Pearl Jam is the best represented band in the series, with 25 songs available for download, and a 26th track, "Alive," available on the Rock Band 2 setlist. The Foo Fighters are close behind with 25 songs (22 downloadable and one on-disc track for each console installment of the series). That gap is likely to expand, as Pearl Jam in May invited fans to vote on their favorite versions of more than 40 different songs for inclusion in an unspecified "Rock Band project" to be released in 2010.

The Seattle rockers won't be the only ones seeing a surge in the Rock Band game's downloadable catalog. Harmonix and MTV Games have announced a do-it-yourself way for bands to get their music into the game with the Rock Band Network Music Store. When that project does launch (it's currently slated as "coming soon"), the companies said it will "exponentially increase the number of songs available."

For more on the latest addition to the Rock Band line, check out GameSpot's review of Lego Rock Band.

145 Comments

  • norabbitnofun

    Posted Dec 4, 2009 2:31 pm PT

    We don't really get 1000 songs available no matter the game we choose, because roughly 25% of these songs are on disc only. With the Lego, Beatles and Unplugged games unable to export to one another, this means you get fewer songs.
    Really, why not just make everything mixable and DLC-able in any way we want? It just means more revenue for these guys. I would gladly buy Ghostbusters, but not at the cost of a full-fledged game. No way.

    PS: For people wondering why people can prefer Guitar Hero, I have to hypotheses to offer.
    1 - Rock Band is really less of a great experience outisde of the USA, because of the lack of proper instruments for years.
    2 - You start that thing called plastic guitar playing with a virtual friend called Guitar Hero, you get accustomed to the name, you like it. Then someone else comes and does something close to it (better at the time), then your Guitar Hero catches up. You keep your usual names and favourites, that's all. Sometimes beyond rationale. But I would say it is your choice (not mine).

  • Gkeller14

    Posted Nov 30, 2009 3:16 pm PT

    I don't understand how the note charts can be an issue. Unless the notes are just completely random, its all the same. If it is really that huge of an issue to you, but some sheet music and a guitar and play it that way. And if that's not possible for you, then you should just stop playing. There's a few understandable problems with condensing a song that possibly spanned as many as 24 frets down to 5 buttons

  • RE4WiiGirl

    Posted Nov 30, 2009 7:22 am PT

    Im dying for RB2, and meanwhile im still waiting to buy the ****ing game here in Australia. GET INTO GEAR HARMONIX geez!!!!

  • Ma6660t

    Posted Nov 30, 2009 7:05 am PT

    I love Rock Band over GH, FYI...

  • Ma6660t

    Posted Nov 30, 2009 7:03 am PT

    Just give me some Slipknot and I'll be happy for life...

  • gobbo00

    Posted Nov 30, 2009 3:53 am PT

    And with all this content for this game alone microsoft still offer only a 120gig hard drive to buy seperately.

  • herbertfkj

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 7:59 pm PT

    @ SocialAnXieTy "Back on subject though, this is why I love Rock Band over Guitar Hero. GH charts are always dumbed down and simplified, not to mention the engine isn't that great on any of the instruments.. especially drums."

    GH charts are not always simplified. Sometimes, it can be even more challenging! I tried to figure out how exactly to sing 'The Rock Show' on GH5, which I only got 3 stars and for Rock Band 2 DLC I could get 100%. It's so challenging to try and sing in a tune other than what the original singer is doing, and the deviation is not just a few notes but entire sections of phrases. I realised that if you are a large game publishing company, you have to hire non-tone-deaf people to chart your tunes.

  • DJSAV_101

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 7:09 pm PT

    Activision should learn from Harmonix and put out good DLC every week not another mediocre GH game every 6 months.

  • ruines131

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 6:29 pm PT

    Its just too bad nobody cares about music games anymore. Most people don't even know what a DJ hero is anyways. Everybody right now is too busy trying to unlock the model 1887 in modern warfare 2 either way lol.

  • Linkman0714

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 5:34 pm PT

    Holy Crap

  • reece590

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 4:00 pm PT

    Thats a lot of music!

  • CCGR_Pheonix

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 3:28 pm PT

    @Glade_Gnarr

    When Rockband 2 came out and the exporting from Rockband to Rockband 2 became possible Harmonix had already lost their licenses to those three songs. Thus you couldn't export them to Rockband 2. Answer your question?

  • Kleeyook

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 9:02 am PT

    I wish RB Unplugged on PSP will get 1,000 DLCs soon! I can't stand the songs they release. I love a few of them, a few. Why don't they bring Linkin Park to RB PSP?

  • gotNITRO

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 3:15 am PT

    The only problem I have with RB is the songs they have been coming out with for DLC.

  • MuRRaY-

    Posted Nov 28, 2009 11:27 pm PT

    Let's just say you'll never run out of songs to "play" at a party now Following a Rock Band Bar night presented by Dualshockers.com recently, I found out the importance of DLC as there were so many songs available for play that were new to even myself (veteran RB2 player)

  • xXvenom5150Xx

    Posted Nov 28, 2009 10:34 pm PT

    I guess some people here don't realize that not everyone has access to DLC. Also 60 bucks for 80 some songs versus the 1-2 dollars per song times 80 (you can do the math) is cheaper, which helps some of us out. I do like Rock Band, don't get me wrong.

  • Glade_Gnarr

    Posted Nov 28, 2009 10:17 pm PT

    I still wanna know what the hell happened to run to the hills, paranoid and enter sandman when rock band 2 came out.

  • Byaku524

    Posted Nov 28, 2009 10:12 pm PT

    1000 songs is amazing. But I'm surprised that they don't have Yellowcard yet. Do that and I'll be a happy man.

  • Mr_arizona

    Posted Nov 28, 2009 6:54 pm PT

    Rock band-1000 songs available on one disc. Guitar hero-874 songs across 10 disc.

  • Dynamo11

    Posted Nov 28, 2009 4:55 pm PT

    Guitar Hero's downfall was the lack of constant DLC. I say keep it up Rock Band and let's hope Activision gets some kickass DLC tunes soon!

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