Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only.

 
New! 90 Degrees of Pop 3-pack

• Edwyn Collins – “A Girl Like You” (farottone)
• Hanson – “MMMBop” (drummerockband)
• The Presidents of the United States of America – “Video Killed the Radio Star” (farottone)

New! Single

• Godsmack – “Whatever” (RyanHYK)

From the Vault: Singles

• Buckethead & Friends – “We Are One” (Nightmare Lyre and TrojanNemo)
• Maroon 5 – “Harder to Breathe” M (TrojanNemo)
  Converted from Guitar Hero 5 DLC
  
• Maroon 5 – “She Will Be Loved” M (TrojanNemo)
  Converted from Band Hero
  

A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass, a blue M denotes full multitracks, and a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals).

Another special news bulletin! As of today, all C3 customs will also be available for Phase Shift! It might take us a few days to convert the entire back catalog, but yeah, everything we release will now work on your favorite Rock Band PC clone. TrojanNemo has been hard at work to make this possible, and an updated version of his custom song utility will be out soon to let you convert your own non-C3 customs to Phase Shift. Super cool!

Ah, the ’90s. A magical time. The Internet! Nirvana! The end of the Cold War (mostly)! But way more important than any of these things, obviously, is pop music. This week, farottone and drummerockband help us explore this wonderland. The pack includes Edwyn Collins’s “A Girl Like You” (1994), PotUS’s cover of “Video Killed the Radio Star” (1997), and Hanson’s iconic “MMMBop” (1997). Yep! You read that right. Bust it out at your next bar night and record it for us.

Continuing the ’90s theme (but definitely not the pop), RyanHYK also hooks us up with Godsmack’s “Whatever”. This song is the first single from the band’s 1998 debut album, which has since gone 4x Platinum. “Whatever” joins “I Stand Alone” as two well-known Godsmack songs in the RB library.

Two of this week’s FtV offerings also shore up a band’s RB presence. Maroon 5 has been in Rock Band since 2009, and with this week’s additions of “Harder to Breathe” and “She Will Be Loved”, we have pretty much all of their greatest hits. If you’re not sick of Adam Levine’s voice in every freaking song on the radio right now, these GH ports by TrojanNemo are the songs for you! If you prefer to break off a few fingers when you play, though, check out “We Are One”, authored by Nightmare Lyre and TrojanNemo. Buckethead is, well, Buckethead, and this song delivers what you would expect it to. And it has Serj Tankian!

Updates to these From the Vault songs vs. their original custom releases:

• “Harder to Breathe” – New stems (w/ keys), added keys/PK charts, many drum fixes, many vocals fixes, new venue, new OD/fills/etc.
• “She Will Be Loved” – New stems (w/ crowd audio), added keys/PK charts, added harmonies, many drum fixes, new venue, new OD/fills/etc.
• “We Are One” – Changes to guitar and bass, new count-in, other small changes

Finally, we’ve also got a Rock Band Harmonies Project release today, from espher, MarsPhoenix, thomeval, and GreenPanda12! Upgraded songs include Metallica 01 and all of the European songs from that one week in 2008. This week even includes some Keys upgrades! Fancy! Check the bottom of this post for a full list of upgrades.

Upset that this ’90s pack didn’t include your favorite one-hit wonder? Author them yourself! Check out our authoring support forum for some resources to get you started.

See you next Friday!

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Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61EF2XcCkzg]

 
New! Singles

• Breaking Benjamin – “Lights Out” K (Polish Weener and Jdcow45)
• KoRn – “Y’all Want a Single” (Nightmare Lyre and TrojanNemo)
• Robin Thicke – “Blurred Lines (feat. T.I. and Pharrell)” K (RyanHYK, titiln, and Nightmare Lyre)

From the Vault: Don’t Break Her Heart 3-pack (TrojanNemo)

• Taylor Swift – “Love Story (Pop Mix)” M
  Converted from Band Hero
• Taylor Swift – “Our Song” M
  Converted from Guitar Hero 5 DLC
• Taylor Swift – “Picture to Burn” M
  Converted from Band Hero

A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass, a blue M denotes full multitracks, and a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals).

We’ve got a special announcement today! I (pksage) will be hosting a live-streamed “Let’s Author” workshop this Sunday, September 22, at 5:00 PM EDT (UTC-4). Is the custom-making process intimidating? Not sure where to start? Tune in and watch the process LIVE! I’ll be fielding questions as I go and explaining everything as carefully as I can. The entire thing will be available on-demand if you can’t catch it live, but you can follow me on Twitch to be notified on Sunday. Hope to see you there!

Rock Band 3’s fanbase has a well-documented taste for nu-metal songs, and this week C3 puts two of them directly into your I.V. First up are Polish Weener and Jdcow45 with “Lights Out”, the fourth single from Breaking Benjamin’s latest (and possibly final?) album Dear Agony. “Lights Out” joins six other Breaking Benjamin songs in Rock Band 3, including “I Will Not Bow” from the same album. If nu-metal, alt-metal, and post-grunge are your jams, look no further than this song.

We’ve also got KoRn’s “Y’all Want a Single” courtesy of Nightmare Lyre and TrojanNemo, and it’s possibly the most M-rated thing we’ve released to date. Y’all want a family-friendly song? Fuck that (fuck that)! Fuck you! Fuck you a second, different time! And fuck your mom! Phew. Sorry, I don’t know what came over me. Like Breaking Benjamin, Korn has a decent Rock Band presence — this song joins “Freak on a Leash”, “Falling Away from Me”, and their cover of “Word Up!” from DLC, DLC,  and LEGO RB, respectively.

Our final new song this week is also, for many reasons, the easiest to write copy about.

You’re a goooood girrrrrrlllll! Yes you are!
Wait. What do you mean, “not that kind of good girl”?

Robin Thicke’s collaboration with T.I. and Pharrell has been met by a collaboration between RyanHYK, titiln, and Nightmare Lyre. “Blurred Lines” has been taking the radio and the Internet by storm, not least because of its music video. The video features hashtags — lots of them — and also lots of boobs, if you watch the unrated version. The song itself blurs the lines between 2013 and the disco-influenced R&B of the ’70s, and possibly a bit of the Red Hot Chili Peppers? That might be a stretch. Regardless, the three-part harmonies are perfect for your next Rock Band night. Just don’t take your top off (unless you really want to).

Finally, TrojanNemo has updated three of his FtV Guitar Hero ports for you cunt…ry music lovin’ people. Taylor Swift is a disgustingly perfect example of the music success story, having recorded her first album when she was, like…16? I’m crazy jealous. Not as crazy or as jealous as she gets in the lyrics to her songs, though! Hey-ohhh! “Our Song” and “Picture to Burn” are both from that super-successful debut album, which has been certified 5x platinum. The songs are ported from GH5 DLC and Band Hero, respectively. “Love Story” is also from Band Hero, filling out a pack of three multi-tracked pop/country hits that are a must-have for any Rock Band party. If you like these, make sure to check out “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “You Belong with Me”, both customs previously released by C3.

Updates to these From the Vault songs vs. their original custom releases:

• “Love Story” has new stems, including crowd audio, newly added harmonies, and lots of fixes on guitar, bass, drums, and solo vocals
• “Our Song” has new stems, newly added Keys/PK, a new venue, re-done harmonies, lots of drums changes, minor fixes to guitar and bass
• “Picture to Burn” has new stems, including crowd audio, re-done harmonies, and lots of fixes on all instruments

See you next Friday!

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Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only.

 
New! Powerful Female Voices 3-pack (farottone)

• Alanis Morissette – “Perfect”
• Nina Simone – “My Baby Just Cares for Me”
• Portishead – “Glory Box”

From the Vault: Singles

• Johnny Cash – “Hurt” K X (TrojanNemo)
• Nine Inch Nails – “Hurt” K (Nightmare Lyre and TrojanNemo)
• Soundgarden – “Black Rain” M (TrojanNemo)
  Converted from Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
  
• Sum 41 – “Motivation” M (TrojanNemo)
  Converted from Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
  
• Vanilla Ice – “Ice Ice Baby” M (RyanHYK and TrojanNemo)

A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass, a blue M denotes full multitracks, and a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals).

It’s party time at C3 HQ! The fact that there is no C3 HQ just makes the party that much better.

Harmonix tried to give Rock Band as many awesome female singers as they could. It makes sense, after all — plenty of ladies don’t want to sing dude songs. farottone continues this excellent tradition with three songs by women with powerful, unique voices. Alanis Morissette, whose song “Right Through You” was released last week, continues her reign with “Perfect”. This song from Jagged Little Pill was done in a single take by Morissette and her guitarist, and the entire thing was written and recorded in 20 minutes. Alanis may have an iconic rock voice, but what about women in other genres? farottone next explores the hallowed halls of jazz with Nina Simone’s version of “My Baby Just Cares for Me”. Her deep, sultry voice is an excellent counterpart to this week’s other songs, and non-vocalists will enjoy the stand-up bass, jazzy keys part, and the drums’ brush beats. Finally, we hit another very different genre. Trip hop experts Portishead make their debut on Rock Band with “Glory Box”, the final song from their 1994 debut album. The contralto stylings of lead singer Beth Gibbons helped make that album, Dummy, a critically acclaimed hit of the mid-90s that almost singlehandedly launched trip hop into the mainstream.

We’ve also got a slew of multitracked From the Vault releases! TrojanNemo and Nightmare Lyre start us off with one of the most well-known master vs. cover relationships in all of music. Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” was released in a very NIN style on The Downward Spiral in 1994, and was famously covered 8 years later by Johnny Cash in…well…a very Cash style. The songs are wildly different but still very much the same, and people will variously claim that either one of them is the better version. After Cash’s version was released, Trent Reznor is noted for saying “that song isn’t mine anymore”. We recommend you download both versions and play them back-to-back for maximum sadness. (Cash’s version now has improved guitar/keys/vocals charts. NIN’s version now has slightly improved guitar and bass charts. Both versions now feature karaoke stems.)

TrojanNemo also brings us two songs from GH:WoR. Soundgarden famously promoted the game with their compilation album Telephantasm. The album was included in many shipments of WoR, the entire thing was available as DLC, and its new single “Black Rain” was featured on-disc. Now Rock Band gets it too! Sum 41’s “Motivation” was also on-disc, and helps flesh out our All Killer, No Filler track list. Now we just need “Nothing on My Back”! And “Rhythms”. And “Pain for Pleasure”… (“Black Rain” and “Motivation” both feature harmonies and revamped drums/guitar/bass charts from their initial web releases.)

RyanHYK closes us out with one more FtV release of TrojanNemo‘s old songs. If you can’t find Ice Cube, you may find yourself settling for Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby”. This song, which totally uses a different bass line than “Under Pressure”, is one of the most famous white-boy hip hop songs of all time, and certainly of the early ’90s. Too cold, too cold. (“Ice Ice Baby” features small revamps on every instrument.)

It’s important to know your flow. Charts. (credit: xkcd)

 
We’ve also got a Rock Band Harmonies Project release this week, with upgrades from espher, thomeval, GreenPanda12, MarsPhoenix, and DVDSmith! QotSA 01, Locksley 01, and the Styx/REO pack all received harmonies, along with several other upgrades. Check the end of this post for a full list of this week’s RBHP releases.

See you next Friday!

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