Well, that’s a very nice surprise. Activision has revealed the final tunes on the Band Hero disc (and cart), and looking now at the whole lineup I can say that I’m officially excited. Sure, there’s a lot of syrupy pop, but a really good portion of the lineup is either excellently nostalgic or just plain excellent, pop or no.
I mean, come on: Everclear’s “Santa Monica” is one of those tunes that just worms its way into your brain and will not be dislodged without extreme measures. And I guarantee you that “Every Rose Has its Thorn” will be a hit at your next get-together of anyone who grew up in the ’80s. A drunken, sloppy, singalong hit. Mark my words.
The complete list of newly announced tracks is below, and you can go here for previously announced tunes.
| 3 Doors Down | When I’m Gone |   |
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| Angels & Airwaves | The Adventure |  |
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| Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals | Steal My Kisses |  |
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| Corinne Bailey Rae | Put Your Records On |  |
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| Culture Club | Do You Really Want To Hurt Me |  |
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| Duffy | Warwick Avenue |  |
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| Everclear | Santa Monica |  |
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| Filter | Take A Picture |  |
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| Finger Eleven | Paralyzer |  |
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| Hinder | Lips Of An Angel |  |
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| Joan Jett & The Blackhearts | Bad Reputation |  |
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| Joss Stone | You Had Me |  |
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| KT Tunstall | Black Horse and the Cherry Tree |  |
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| The Last Goodnight | Pictures Of You |  |
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| Nelly Furtado | Turn Off The Light |  |
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| N.E.R.D. | Rock Star |  |
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| No Doubt | Don’t Speak |  |
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| Papa Roach | Lifeline |  |
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| Parachute | Back Again |  |
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| Poison | Every Rose Has Its Thorn |  |
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| The Rolling Stones | Honky Tonk Women |  |
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| Santigold | L.E.S. Artistes |  |
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| Spice Girls | Wannabe |  |
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| The Turtles | Happy Together |  |
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Those are all for consoles — here are the new tracks for the DS version:
| Black Eyed Peas | Let’s Get It Started |  |
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| Duran Duran | Hungry Like The Wolf |  |
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| Eagles of Death Metal | Wannabe In L.A. |  |
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| Kings of Leon | Manhattan |  |
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| The Presidents of the United States of America | Lump |  |
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| Ugly Kid Joe | Everything About You |  |
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| Vampire Weekend | A-Punk |  |
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| Weezer | Troublemaker |  |
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Band Hero is due on November 3, and I honestly can’t wait. Does that mean I’ve officially traded in my indie cred? Oh darn.
Awesome? Really, Joe? I never took you for a 14-year-old girl…
Yeah, I kinda give this a giant thumbs down compared to the Lego Rock Band track list, personally. A few gems, for sure, but more often WTF than FTW.
I’ll still buy it because I buy everything (literally, I own every non-overlapping DLC track for GH5 and RB2), but it’s pretty clear to me that the marketing suits at Activision drive the song selections, and not anyone with actual musical taste.
@Brad — And there’s the comment I was waiting for. But it’s true. I am actually a 14-year-old girl. Deep down, in my dark heart.
@Jeff — Really? I’m seeing so many more tracks I can’t wait to play on this one. “Honky Tonk Women”? Bosstones, Styx, Big Country? Even “American Pie” should be fun as hell to play. I dunno, maybe it’s because my preferred way to play is singing and playing guitar at the same time — there’s a lot of tunes here that seem like they’ll be fun as hell for that.