Setlist Sunday: Rock Band (2007)

Shortly after Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, a brand new rhythm game franchise would come on the horizon. Once RedOctane was acquired by Activision Harmonix fulfilled their contract with Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80’s and then proceeded to create a new franchise (with MTV Games) that expanded on the original Guitar Hero concept by adding the vocals mechanic from their previous Karaoke Revolution games, and a drum kit. With that in place, on November 20, 2007, the world would be introduced to Rock Band!

The addition of vocals shaped the setlist tremendously. While Guitar Hero games placed more of an emphasis on guitar-centric songs, even if those were less known tracks from the band’s catalogue, Rock Band knew it was a party game and that in order for it to succeed, it needed to have the big hits.

Because Rock Band was released so closely to Guitar Hero III, there was a small amount of crossover between the two setlists. They shared the following six songs:

Beastie Boys – Sabotage
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
The Killers – When You Were Young
Mountain – Mississippi Queen
The Smashing Pumpkins – Cherub Rock
The Strokes – Reptillia

The setlist was decent sized with a total of 58 songs. While Guitar Hero III placed an emphasis on metal and difficulty, Rock Band placed an emphasis on party songs. Of the 58 song setlist, 29 are currently available in Rocksmith for a total of 50%., massively clearing the previous highest percentage of 38%.

Artist	Song	Date in Rocksmith
The Acro-Brats	Day Late, Dollar Short	N/A
Aerosmith	Train Kept A-Rollin' *	12/17/2019
Anarchy Club	Blood Doll	N/A
Bang Camaro	Pleasure (Pleasure)	N/A
Beastie Boys	Sabotage	02/21/2017
Black Sabbath	Paranoid *	N/A
Blue Öyster Cult	(Don't Fear) The Reaper	01/17/2012
Bon Jovi	Wanted Dead or Alive	12/02/2014
Boston	Foreplay/Long Time	03/04/2014
The Clash	Should I Stay or Should I Go	02/11/2013
Coheed and Cambria	Welcome Home	N/A
Crooked X	Nightmare	N/A
David Bowie	Suffragette City	12/06/2016
Death of the Cool	Can't Let Go	N/A
Deep Purple	Highway Star	09/09/2014
Faith No More	Epic	07/28/2015
Fall Out Boy	Dead on Arival	N/A
Flyleaf	I'm So Sick	03/08/2016
Foo Fighters	Learn to Fly	11/18/2014
Freezepop	Brainpower	N/A
Garbage	I Think I'm Paranoid	04/15/2014
The Hives	Main Offender	N/A
Hole	Celebrity Skin	03/08/2016
Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives	I Get By	N/A
Iron Maiden	Run to the Hills *	11/03/2013
Jet	Are You Gonna Be My Girl	08/18/2015
The Killers	When You Were Young	10/28/2014
KISS	Detroit Rock City	02/11/2014
The Konks	29 Fingers	N/A
Metallica	Enter Sandman	N/A
Molly Hatchet	Flirtin' with Disaster	N/A
The Mother Hips	Time We Had	N/A
Mountain	Mississippi Queen *	09/04/2012
The New Pornographers	Electric Version	N/A
Nine Inch Nails	The Hand That Feeds	N/A
Nirvana	In Bloom	10/18/2011
OK Go	Here It Goes Again	N/A
The Outlaws	Green Grass and High Tides *	10/09/2018
Pixies	Wave of Mutilation	07/26/2016
The Police	Next to You	N/A
Queens of the Stone Age	Go with the Flow	10/18/2011
R.E.M.	Orange Crush	N/A
Radiohead	Creep	11/22/2013
Ramones	Blitzkreig Bop	10/22/2013
Red Hot Chili Peppers	Dani California	N/A
The Rolling Stones	Gimme Shelter	12/18/2018
Rush	Tom Sawyer *	11/13/2012
Smashing Pumpkins	Cherub Rock	10/22/2013
Soundgarden	Black Hole Sun	01/13/2015
Stone Temple Pilots	Vasoline	10/18/2011
The Strokes	Reptillia	01/22/2013
Sweet	Ballroom Blitz *	04/02/2013
Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld	Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld	N/A
Tribe	Outside	N/A
VAGIANT	Seven	N/A
Weezer	Say It Ain't So	10/22/2013
The Who	Won't Get Fooled Again	N/A
Yeah Yeah Yeahs	Maps	N/A

* Denotes a cover version of the track.

In my opinion, the original Rock Band had one of the best setlists ever in a rhythm game. Narrowing it down to 10 songs I’d like to see was a nearly impossible task. But let’s give it a go anyway, shall we? Also, as a side note, if I’ve touched on a song in a previous Setlist Sunday, I’m not going to mention it here simply because it would be redundant. Assume that if I’ve mentioned something before, I still want it in Rocksmith!

Aerosmith – Train Kept a-Rollin’

Maybe the fact that it’s a cover complicated things a bit? Either way we need this song in Rocksmith in the inevitable Aerosmith II Pack… YA KA KA KA KA

Nine Inch Nails – The Hand That Feeds

It’s no secret that @toymachinesh is a big NIN fan, but also acknowledges they aren’t the most guitar driven band… Unless they put in live cuts like this one. Either way any Nine Inch Nails would be appreciated folks.

The Outlaws – Green Grass and High Tides

If you put this song in I will never complain about the Free Bird chart again.

The Police – Next to You

Gotta love The Police.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California

This song is full of tasty licks on Guitar and Bass, the whole end of the song is a big crescendo of awesomeness. Hopefully we can get some more RHCP eventually.

The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter