History Behind The Music
(Rock Band for Wii, on the other hand, was not released until June 2008, which was nearly 9 months after the PS3/X360 releases. It was crippled. No online play. No downloadable songs. No create-a-player mode. No earning money and fans. No compatibility with the Guitar Hero guitar. That turned out to be the wrong move, because Guitar Hero III for Wii went on to sell nearly 3 million copies in the U.S., whereas Rock Band for Wii barely managed to sell 1 million.)
Anyway, I purchased Guitar Hero III on Wii at Target for $89.99 on 10/28/2007. Immediately, I fell in love with the concept. It seemed like the perfect amalgam of games and music and of accessibility and complexity. Eventually, I decided that I played the game enough with others to purchase a second guitar for another $59.99 on 3/26/2008.
In January 2008, one of my friends who had a PS3 decided to get Rock Band, and we formed a three-person band. When I got together with those friends for happy hour, we would play Rock Band all evening long ("Run to the Hills"). When I played Wii with other people, then I would introduce them to Guitar Hero III. People of all ages and genders loved it. I continued to play a ton of these Guitar Hero/Rock Band music games throughout the spring and into the summer of 2008.
Unfortunately, one of the band members left (he literally moved away), so Rock Band was put on the shelf, but I still played Guitar Hero on Wii, continuing the momentum after Guitar Hero Aerosmith was released in June 2008. By the way, I thought the guitar parts on Guitar Hero III were more interesting and challenging than the original Rock Band.
With the release of Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour in October 2008, I decided that I would stick with the Guitar Hero franchise on Wii since I had already invested in two guitars. With Guitar Hero: World Tour having the full band experience and downloadable songs, I thought it made sense to stick with a known commodity on Wii. So I purchased it for $189.99 at Toys "R" Us on 10/26/2008.
Around the same time, my friend with the PS3 picked up Rock Band 2 (RB2). One of the cool new things that RB2 offered was the ability to play as a band via online play. That meant that my buddy who had moved could become part of our band again. We played online together from about October 2008 through April 2009.
My experience with Guitar Hero: World Tour (GH:WT), however, was not as satisfying as I expected. I found that RB2 was more slick and polished, seemed to be friendlier toward varied experience levels, and had more fun party songs. Also, some of the cool things about the Rock Band experience, such as individual "rock" meters, saving failed better members, and gaining/losing fans were not in GH:WT. The only advantage of GH:WT was a much better drum set for Wii, with elevated cymbals and Wiimote integration.
Eventually, I read the reviews about how the Wii port of Rock Band 2 -- which arrived two months late in December 2008 -- was actually great. It included all of the features from the PS3/X360 versions, such as online play and downloadable songs. By some miracle, Rock Band 2 Wii actually supported Guitar Hero Wii instruments, too, including the new World Tour drum set. It got me thinking.
Well, when the Circuit City chain of stores went out of business in early 2009, and I was able to get the Wii version of Rock Band 2 for 20% off (i.e., $39.99 instead of $49.99), I decided to pull the trigger on 2/2/2009. And I have never looked back.
I immediately stopped downloading songs for Guitar Hero: World Tour and essentially stopped playing it altogether. Instead, I became addicted to Rock Band 2 for Wii, because I substantially played the majority of the game in the solo band tour mode. That being said, I introduced the game to others whenever possible, and I hosted several Rock Band parties with non-gamers over the succeeding months. So I played a ton of RB2 on Wii throughout the rest of 2009, although I did not play it much on PS3 after April.
At the beginning of 2010, after I had previously switched jobs and got into a new happy hour routine, my friend and I ended up getting back into Rock Band 2 on PS3 again due to a lackluster lineup of new multi-player games. We basically played it throughout the year -- that is, until Rock Band 3 was released.
My buddy and I each worked a half-day on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 in order to pick up Rock Band 3 and play it all day and all night long. I had to wait until the next day to find the Wii version ($59.99 for the game) with the keyboard (purchased separately for $79.99) at GameStop, however.
I thought Rock Band 3 (RB3) was fantastic. It was backwards compatible with the songs downloaded via RB2, and it even allowed you to export 95% of the songs from the RB2 game disc to RB3 -- yes, even the Wii version. The gameplay took the best of Rock Band 2, and it was even more polished and streamlined: Lots more emphasis on awards/trophies and scores. The "band" component was pervasive through the game. Even if you played as single-player or multi-player, the game kept track of individual scores. Great party features were included, too, such as changing difficulty or instruments during the middle of a song -- on-the-fly and without restarting -- and rewinding a song by a few seconds if someone pauses. I would be remiss if I did not mention the new Keyboard (aka "keytar"), which was very cool. I should have played that instrument more.
Rock Band 3 was definitely my game of choice on both Wii and PS3 for the remainder of 2010, throughout ALL of 2011, and into 2012. My friend who had left the area in spring 2008 ended up coming back in spring 2011, so he was even able to rejoin the RB3 band!
Overall, I hope this story illustrates why Rock Band 3 (incl. RB2) is my favorite game of all time. I can't tell you how many thousands of hours I spent playing this series since 2008 -- with my gaming friends, by myself, with family, and even with non-gamers. It provided me with so many fond memories, and it even introduced me to a ton of old and new music. I love it.
Anyway, I purchased Guitar Hero III on Wii at Target for $89.99 on 10/28/2007. Immediately, I fell in love with the concept. It seemed like the perfect amalgam of games and music and of accessibility and complexity. Eventually, I decided that I played the game enough with others to purchase a second guitar for another $59.99 on 3/26/2008.
In January 2008, one of my friends who had a PS3 decided to get Rock Band, and we formed a three-person band. When I got together with those friends for happy hour, we would play Rock Band all evening long ("Run to the Hills"). When I played Wii with other people, then I would introduce them to Guitar Hero III. People of all ages and genders loved it. I continued to play a ton of these Guitar Hero/Rock Band music games throughout the spring and into the summer of 2008.
Unfortunately, one of the band members left (he literally moved away), so Rock Band was put on the shelf, but I still played Guitar Hero on Wii, continuing the momentum after Guitar Hero Aerosmith was released in June 2008. By the way, I thought the guitar parts on Guitar Hero III were more interesting and challenging than the original Rock Band.
With the release of Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour in October 2008, I decided that I would stick with the Guitar Hero franchise on Wii since I had already invested in two guitars. With Guitar Hero: World Tour having the full band experience and downloadable songs, I thought it made sense to stick with a known commodity on Wii. So I purchased it for $189.99 at Toys "R" Us on 10/26/2008.
Around the same time, my friend with the PS3 picked up Rock Band 2 (RB2). One of the cool new things that RB2 offered was the ability to play as a band via online play. That meant that my buddy who had moved could become part of our band again. We played online together from about October 2008 through April 2009.
My experience with Guitar Hero: World Tour (GH:WT), however, was not as satisfying as I expected. I found that RB2 was more slick and polished, seemed to be friendlier toward varied experience levels, and had more fun party songs. Also, some of the cool things about the Rock Band experience, such as individual "rock" meters, saving failed better members, and gaining/losing fans were not in GH:WT. The only advantage of GH:WT was a much better drum set for Wii, with elevated cymbals and Wiimote integration.
Eventually, I read the reviews about how the Wii port of Rock Band 2 -- which arrived two months late in December 2008 -- was actually great. It included all of the features from the PS3/X360 versions, such as online play and downloadable songs. By some miracle, Rock Band 2 Wii actually supported Guitar Hero Wii instruments, too, including the new World Tour drum set. It got me thinking.
Well, when the Circuit City chain of stores went out of business in early 2009, and I was able to get the Wii version of Rock Band 2 for 20% off (i.e., $39.99 instead of $49.99), I decided to pull the trigger on 2/2/2009. And I have never looked back.
I immediately stopped downloading songs for Guitar Hero: World Tour and essentially stopped playing it altogether. Instead, I became addicted to Rock Band 2 for Wii, because I substantially played the majority of the game in the solo band tour mode. That being said, I introduced the game to others whenever possible, and I hosted several Rock Band parties with non-gamers over the succeeding months. So I played a ton of RB2 on Wii throughout the rest of 2009, although I did not play it much on PS3 after April.
At the beginning of 2010, after I had previously switched jobs and got into a new happy hour routine, my friend and I ended up getting back into Rock Band 2 on PS3 again due to a lackluster lineup of new multi-player games. We basically played it throughout the year -- that is, until Rock Band 3 was released.
My buddy and I each worked a half-day on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 in order to pick up Rock Band 3 and play it all day and all night long. I had to wait until the next day to find the Wii version ($59.99 for the game) with the keyboard (purchased separately for $79.99) at GameStop, however.
I thought Rock Band 3 (RB3) was fantastic. It was backwards compatible with the songs downloaded via RB2, and it even allowed you to export 95% of the songs from the RB2 game disc to RB3 -- yes, even the Wii version. The gameplay took the best of Rock Band 2, and it was even more polished and streamlined: Lots more emphasis on awards/trophies and scores. The "band" component was pervasive through the game. Even if you played as single-player or multi-player, the game kept track of individual scores. Great party features were included, too, such as changing difficulty or instruments during the middle of a song -- on-the-fly and without restarting -- and rewinding a song by a few seconds if someone pauses. I would be remiss if I did not mention the new Keyboard (aka "keytar"), which was very cool. I should have played that instrument more.
Rock Band 3 was definitely my game of choice on both Wii and PS3 for the remainder of 2010, throughout ALL of 2011, and into 2012. My friend who had left the area in spring 2008 ended up coming back in spring 2011, so he was even able to rejoin the RB3 band!
Overall, I hope this story illustrates why Rock Band 3 (incl. RB2) is my favorite game of all time. I can't tell you how many thousands of hours I spent playing this series since 2008 -- with my gaming friends, by myself, with family, and even with non-gamers. It provided me with so many fond memories, and it even introduced me to a ton of old and new music. I love it.
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- Song A
- Song B
- Song C
- Song D
- Song E
- Song F
- Song G
- Song H
- Song I
- Song J
The following bulleted points are some random notes and thoughts about Rock Band. In the list, you will find information that I could not place anywhere else.
- 1
- 2
- 3
It begins with Guitar Hero, and it ends with Rock Band. As a Nintendo devotee, I never had the pleasure of experiencing Guitar Hero until 2007, but I had heard that the series was quite good. After the rocket start of the Wii, Activision made a wise decision to release Guitar Hero III on the Wii in 2007 alongside with the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Xbox 360 (X360) versions.
- Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
- Hillbilly Deluxe - Brooks & Dunn
- Hot Blooded - Foreigner
- Jesse's Girl - Rick Springfield
- Life in the Fast Lane - The Eagles
- Me and My Gang - Rascal Flatts
- No Rain - Blind Melon
- One of These Nights - The Eagles
- Rock and Roll Band - Boston
- What's My Age Again? - Blink-182
If you read my story, then you know that I purchased Guitar Hero: World Tour for Wii before getting into Rock Band 2. Therefore, I actually downloaded these songs for Guitar Hero. Since I made the decision to go with Rock Band, however, I have re-downloaded some of these same songs for Rock Band.
As you probably know, all of the downloadable content (DLC) from Rock Band 2 is compatible with Rock Band 3. On the Wii, you will want to have an SD card in your system to store the songs. RB2 is compatible with a 2GB (or smaller) regular SD card. RB3, however, will work with an SDHC card up to 32GB -- that is, assuming your Wii system is v4.0 or later, which can be checked in the system options.
If you look at the list of songs below that I have purchased, you will notice that it is quite a diverse set list. That's because I downloaded some songs specifically for Rock Band "parties" that I thought friends and family would enjoy. Personally, I love '80s metal/hair bands and 2000s nu metal, emo, and post-grunge -- less so on classic rock from the '70s or alternative/grunge from the '90s.
Within my Rock Band music downloads, I purchased approximately 115 songs for Rock Band 2 from February 2009 until October 2010. The remaining songs were purchased via Rock Band 3.
If you look at the list of songs below that I have purchased, you will notice that it is quite a diverse set list. That's because I downloaded some songs specifically for Rock Band "parties" that I thought friends and family would enjoy. Personally, I love '80s metal/hair bands and 2000s nu metal, emo, and post-grunge -- less so on classic rock from the '70s or alternative/grunge from the '90s.
Within my Rock Band music downloads, I purchased approximately 115 songs for Rock Band 2 from February 2009 until October 2010. The remaining songs were purchased via Rock Band 3.
- 2 Minutes To Midnight - Iron Maiden
- 867-5309/Jenny - Tommy Tutone
- ABC - The Jackson 5
- Aerials - System of a Down
- Afterlife - Avenged Sevenfold
- All Right Now - Free
- All the Small Things - Blink-182
- Among the Living - Anthrax
- Another Way to Die - Disturbed
- Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz
- Baba O'Riley - The Who
- Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
- Bad To The Bone - George Thorogood
- Bat Country - Avenged Sevenfold
- Bicycle Race - Queen
- Blackened - Metallica
- Blurry - Puddle of Mudd
- Boom - P.O.D.
- Breath - Breaking Benjamin
- Breed - Nirvana
- Bring Me To Life - Evanescence
- Buddy Holly - Weezer
- Burden in My Hand - Soundgarden
- Burn It to the Ground - Nickelback
- Burning Down the House - Talking Heads
- Bye Bye Love - The Cars
- Crazy Babies - Ozzy Osbourne
- Critical Acclaim - Avenged Sevenfold
- Devour - Shinedown
- The Diary of Jane - Breaking Benjamin
- Dirty Little Secret - All-American Rejects
- Don't Stop Believing - Journey
- Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
- Don't Tell Me You Love Me - Night Ranger
- The Dope Show - Marilyn Manson
- Down on the Corner - Creedence Clearwater
- Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
- Dragula - Rob Zombie
- Electric Crown - Testament
- Even Flow - Pearl Jam
- Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen
- Feels Like The First Time - Foreigner
- Figured You Out - Nickelback
- Flying High Again - Ozzy Osbourne
- Forever - Papa Roach
- Freeze-Frame - The J. Geils Band
- From Out of Nowhere - Faith No More
- Girl U Want - Devo
- Gives You Hell - All-American Rejects
- Hair of the Dog - Nazareth
- Head Like A Hole - Nine Inch Nails
- Hella Good - No Doubt
- Help is on the Way - Rise Against
- Here Without You - 3 Doors Down
- Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar
- Holy Diver - Dio
- Hot Blooded - Foreigner
- How You Remind Me - Nickelback
- I Alone - Live
- I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness
- I Want It All - Queen
- I Will Not Bow - Breaking Benjamin
- I Write Sins Not Tragedies - Panic at the Disco!
- I'll Be There For You - Bon Jovi
- I'm Eighteen (Live) - Alice Cooper
- I'm Not Okay (I Promise) - My Chemical Romance
- I'm the Man - Anthrax
- In the End - Linkin Park
- Indians - Anthrax
- Inside Out - Eve 6
- Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
- It's My Life - Bon Jovi
- It's Not My Time - 3 Doors Down
- Jeremy - Pearl Jam
- Just A Girl - No Doubt
- Kickstart My Heart - Motley Crue
- The Kill - 30 Seconds to Mars
- Killed by Death '08 - Motorhead
- King of Rock - Run-DMC
- Kool Thing - Sonic Youth
- Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down
- Last Resort - Papa Roach
- Let Me Hear You Scream - Ozzy Osbourne
- Lifeline - Papa Roach
- Light My Fire - The Doors
- Lightning Crashes - Live
- Live Forever - Oasis
- Livin' on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
- Losing My Religion - R.E.M.
- Makes Me Wonder - Maroon 5
- Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul McCartney
- Miss Murder - AFI
- Monster - Skillet
- Mony Mony - Billy Idol
- More Human Than Human - White Zombie
- More Than a Feeling - Boston
- Move Along - All-American Rejects
- Mr. Brightside - The Killers
- Mr. Crowley - Ozzy Osbourne
- My Old School - Steely Dan
- My Way - Limp Bizkit
- Never Again - Nickelback
- Nightmare - Avenged Sevenfold
- No Excuses - Alice in Chains
- No More Tears - Ozzy Osbourne
- Nookie - Limp Bizkit
- Nothin' But a Good Time - Poison
- Numb - Linkin Park
- The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
- Operation Ground and Pound - Dragonforce
- Otherside - Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Out of Line - Buckcherry
- Outshinded - Soundgarden
- Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes
- Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meatloaf
- Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode
- Photograph - Def Leppard
- Poison - Alice Cooper
- Pour Some Sugar on Me (Live) - Def Leppard
- The Pretender - Foo Fighters
- Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) - Offspring
- Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
- Renegade - Styx
- Rescue Me - Buckcherry
- Ride the Lightning - Metallica
- Riders on the Storm - The Doors
- Rio - Duran Duran
- Rock and Roll All Nite (Live) - KISS
- Rock and Roll Band - Boston
- Rock of Ages - Def Leppard
- Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden
- Savior - Rise Against
- Say You'll Haunt Me - Stone Sour
- Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Scream - Avenged Sevenfold
- Seize the Day - Avenged Sevenfold
- Sex Type Thing - Stone Temple Pilots
- Shadows of the Night - Pat Benatar
- She Hates Me - Puddle of Mudd
- She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
- Shining Star - Earth, Wind & Fire
- Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
- Smokin' - Boston
- So Cold - Breaking Benjamin
- Somebody To Love - Queen
- Somewhere I Belong - Linkin Park
- Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
- Stupify - Distrubed
- Subdivisions - Rush
- Suck My Kiss - Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Sweet Home Alabama (Live) - Lynyrd Skynard
- Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
- Talk Dirty to Me - Poison
- This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms... - Fall Out Boy
- This Love - Maroon 5
- Through Glass - Stone Sour
- Through the Fire and Flames - Dragonforce
- Tom Sawyer - Rush
- Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
- Touch Me - The Doors
- Toxicity - System of a Down
- Tragedy - Bee Gees
- Train in Vain (Stand by Me) - The Clash
- Tribute - Tenacious D
- Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart - STP
- Tubthumping - Chumbawamba
- Unbelievable - EMF
- Unholy Confessions - Avenged Sevenfold
- Until the End - Breaking Benjamin
- Use Me - Hinder
- Wake Up Dead - Megadeth
- Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi
- Wasted Years - Iron Maiden
- We Built This City - Starship
- We Care A Lot - Faith No More
- We Will Rock You - Queen
- Welcome to the Family - Avenged Sevenfold
- What's My Age Again? - Blink-182
- When I'm Gone - 3 Doors Down
- Who Am I (What's My Name?) - Snoop Dogg
- Working for the Weekend - Loverboy
- Would? - Alice in Chains
- You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi
- You've Got Another Thing Coming - Judas Priest
- Young - Hollywood Undead
- Youth of the Nation - P.O.D.
- Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
- Song A
- Song B
- Song C
- Song D
- Song E
- Song F
- Song G
- Song H
- Song I
- Song J
Copyright © Scott McCall. All Rights Reserved. ™ and © for all products, characters, and indicia related thereto which are contained herein are owned by the companies who market or license those products.
Click this link below to go to a Google Docs spreadsheet that shows all of the songs (RB3 on-disc, RB2 export, and DLC) that are playable in Scott McCall's Rock Band 3 Music Library on Wii:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApM2bTx9upDadDRKUm5rQkl2Rlh0MUUxRHlCSlBrWGc
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApM2bTx9upDadDRKUm5rQkl2Rlh0MUUxRHlCSlBrWGc