Rock Band covers many genres of rock: alternative, classic, emo, glam, metal, pop, progressive, punk, southern and pure rock. The on-disc music is an impressive collection from the late 60s to today. Featured tracks include The Rolling Stone's "Gimme Shelter," Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop," Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper," Nirvana's "In Bloom," Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl," Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive," and The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."
Building on the great list of bonus tracks in Guitar Hero II, this set of songs is just as good, if not better. Standouts include "Time We Had" by The Mother Hips, "Seven" by VAGIANT, and "Can't Let Go" by Death of the Cool. The game also has "Timmy & the Lords of the Underworld" from South Park.
Band World Tour
Band World Tour is the heart and soul of this game. You must have at least two players to play Band World Tour (alternatively you can play and sing at the same time, if you are that coordinated). You start out in your hometown, playing small venues. The better you do earns fans, and stars (just like in Solo Tour, every song is worth five stars). The more fans you gain, the bigger gigs you can play. Eventually you will get a manager, roadies, and transportation such as a van, bus, and later a jet. Your globetrotting will bring you back to the same cities to play bigger shows.
Of course risk comes with reward. If you blow a gig in a huge arena, you will lose more fans. With mystery set lists, it is not hard to lose fans here and there. Your end goal is to gain enough fans to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. There is also an Endless Setlist that you unlock.
Some setlists allow you to pick the songs you want, others include Local Legends Showcase and Showstoppers Set. The variety in the different set lists is great. But the repetition in the song gets old quick. This, along with the offline-only Band World Tour mode, is my biggest gripe with the game. But considering the progression and playing songs is different from Solo Tour, repetition is going to set in no matter how many songs you have.
The way to fix this is to buy more music of course. The DLC has been set at 440 MSP for a three-song pack, and the single songs so far are listed at 160 MSP. Some songs will be cheaper, 80 MSP, and some will cost more.
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