As a musician, when I first learned about the popularity of games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band I was a little suspicious. I was curious, of course, but skeptical enough that I hadn't gone out of my way to give this new craze a shot. But the day of reckoning came, and I must say that I was shocked by how much I really love Rock Band.

I'll leave the philosophical discussions for another time, but the bottom line is that whether someone plays an instrument already or not, Rock Band is genuinely fun. Guitar Hero is nice too, but the ability to play with three friends, the inclusion of drums (my instrument of choice), and vocals really puts this one head and shoulders above anything else out there.

For the skeptics: believe me I never thought I would say this; Rock Band is worth the money. It's got replay value all over the place from increasing difficulty to trying other instruments to downloading new tracks to play. It's got solo and multiplayer capabilities that make it one of the best single player, online multiplayer and party games out there. Yes, the cost of the kit is high, but the potential value delivered is amazing.

I had heard that musicians love Rock Band, but I couldn't imagine why until I played it. It brings a whole new aspect to familiar songs, and it actually does help people learn and enhance key traits like limb independence and timing. Because you can't stop playing, it also hits on one of the major aspects of music from a performance perspective – no matter how much you screw up you have got to keep playing. I know quite a few musicians who are inclined to drop out or want to start over if they screw up, and this will kill a show faster than actually playing Freebird.

As a drummer, knowing how to play a song is both a good and a bad thing. It's difficult because if the arrangement you've learned and played for years is different than the original, you could have a tough time adjusting. It is just as hard not playing something you hear as it is playing something you haven't included in your personal arrangement. At the same time, knowing that something like STP's Vaseline is essentially based around a paradiddle between the kick and snare really helps beat the learning curve.

But, my experience aside, there are millions of copies of Rock Band out there. We whole heartedly recommend that anyone who enjoys music and video games take the plunge on this one. The game is big, and its content is expanding every week. New songs are added every Tuesday, and we will be starting a weekly series exploring these new additions. Along the way we will also try to dive deeper into the experience that is Rock Band, but in the meantime, this is the place to come in order to find out if the new songs released each week are worth downloading.

This Week's New Music

Not the most exciting week in Rock Band downloadable content, we did have a good time play testing these new tracks. Well, two out of three isn't bad… 

These are the new songs. It can be fun to play songs you don't like, but when you are paying for the privilege it is a good idea to at least make sure you can stand listening to the song before buying it. See if you can go find a preview of these songs to get an idea of what we are working with.

We are rating these games based on difficulty and how fun they are. Personal opinion on the song itself will vary greatly between individuals, so we will focus on the gameplay experience.
 

B-52s :: Roam (Moderate Songs)

Difficulty: This one can be a bit tricky to get at first, but once you grab on to the overall pattern the repetition will carry you through. There aren't any singly difficult parts for drums or guitar.

Experience: Playing this one is satisfying: it's not boring but it does feel a tiny bit long towards the end. It is really unexpectedly fun and easy to recommend to anyone. This one is our pick for the week. 

Rank: 1

Faith No More :: We Care a Lot (Apprentice Songs)

 Difficulty: This is an incredibly easy song even on Expert. There really is no difficulty here; this is one of the most straight forward songs we've played.

Experience: The drums are incredibly boring mostly involving the use of one arm and one leg even on Expert. There are short bursts of interest, but not enough to justify unless this is a personal favorite song. Guitar is a bit less boring than the drums offering occasional fun, but still not one we'll be playing often. 

Rank: 3 (a distant third)

KISS :: Calling Dr. Love (Moderate Songs) 

Difficulty: This one was the hardest song released today. This one is more technical and took more time to really master the rhythm. The guitar also offers a good challenge.

Experience: While we would say that the B-52s song was more simply "fun", this song offers more technical challenge and those who like to think a bit more while they play might prefer this one. Certainly a good addition to anyone's set list unless you just can't stand KISS. 

Rank: 2 (a close second)

Last Week's Additions

As opposed to this week's offering, the songs released on January 29^th were much more difficult. Here's our take on these songs.

Coheed and Cambria :: Ten Speed (Skilled Songs) 

Difficulty: This one is not trivial but also not incredibly frustrating. We did have to try it a couple times to get through it on hard. There is a nicely syncopated drum section near the end that is just as difficult when playing on hard as it is when playing on expert. The guitar on this one requires a lot of dexterity and reaching to pull off. 

Experience: This is a fun song to play and offers a lot of good complexity. We feel that the Coheed song that comes with Rock Band (Welcome Home) is more fun to play, but this is a nice complement. This is our pick of the week for this group.

Rank: 1

Rush :: Working Man (Challenging Songs) 

Difficulty: It's Rush. Nuf said? Ok, I could not do this on expert and had a difficult time on hard. I'm not afraid to admit it. There are plenty of complex fills and rolls on the drums. It is not only technically tough, but requires a bit of endurance as it's not a short song (7 minutes).

Experience: This song is long and hard. Certainly it is satisfying to complete this, and it could be more fun once mastered a bit better. Not one you would just jump into and hit the ground running on. 

Rank: 2

Smashing Pumpkins :: Siva (Skilled Songs) 

Difficulty: On expert this one is all over the place. It was difficult to get a hold of the rhythm on either guitar or drums, and we had to drop the difficulty in order to get through it even after multiple tries.

Experience: This one was more frustrating than fun, and playing it on lower difficulty wasn't really satisfying because of how different the song was from what we were given to play. 

Rank: 3