Re: The Rock Band Thread II - August in full + New DLC Season Pass [PS4/X1/Rift]
Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 9:13 pm
GRcade...nobody gave them half a damn...but together, we are getting to the top. The TOP!
Buffalo wrote:GRcade...nobody gave them half a damn...but together, we are getting to the top. The TOP!
twitter.com/RockBand/status/895725127031238656
Frank wrote:Just had a second legacy adapter turn up
At least I've got a spare now!
Haven't tried it with the full kit yet but it works when I plug the Ion kit controller/brain into it. Excited to actually try it out properly! Need to rearrange the room first, though.
One of the best parts of music is discovering new stuff. Whether it be your parents’ records, the first CD(or cassette?) you ever bought, the complete 180 you did in high school, or opening acts from concerts, your taste has grown and changed since your first exposure. No point in stopping now, so we’d like to show you a couple bands from our friends that we think are pretty good.
Parks brings us “Sweater Weather”. A highly infectious pop-rock song, it comes complete with appropriately catchy vocals(that are a tad tricky to get down). The harmonies mostly sing their own lines, staying independent of the lead. Within a couple listens, you’re bound to hum along with the harmonies. Drums open the song with a tom beat, maintaining the tom focus through the whole song. They’ve even got a roll near the end that slowly melts into an electronic-sounding snare. The guitar keeps up a chordy riff reminiscent of your favorite classic, staying nice and high among the lower sounds of the other instruments. The bass has as many moments in the spotlight as everything else, having a bunch of quick riffs that are lifted high in the mix. Though don’t think of it as highs within lows, as it maintains a groovy bassline the whole song. You can check out their music on their BandCamp.
Steve’s Take:
Steve Pardo, Audio Lead
“Melody is the essence of music. I compare a good melodist to a fine racer, and counterpointists to hack post-horses; therefore be advised, let well alone and remember the old Italian proverb: Chi sa più, meno sa—Who knows most, knows least.” - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Parks’ hit “Sweater Weather” is immediate, confident, and unashamedly poppy. And if you’ve seen them live, you’d know that their catalogue is rich with bubbly guitar punches, driving floor tom rock beats, and tight cluster vocal harmonies. But if there is one thing you need to know about these guys, it’s that they are masters of the hook. And the craft of the perfect singable melody is on full display here. No opportunity to weave the song’s contour is left to the birds.
Of course, Parks’s influences are clear, with a chord progression and bridge that rival the best of the early Beatles. Yet, surprisingly, they manage to transcend these echoes and deliver a message, through song, straight to the heart: “Beautiful you are.”
Spirit Kid’s “To My Romeo” is in much the same vein. Emeen Zarookian heads up songwriting with instrument support from members of local Boston bands Babydriver and Bent Shapes. “To My Romeo” is another great summer jam, with a rising guitar riff at the beginning and a guitar solo near the end that drops down into a sparse bit before the whole band comes back in. Another strong bassline appears in this song, rarely sticking on the same note and preferring to travel the whole song. The vocals swing high regularly and the harmonies lift it further, making for a perfect sing-along song. Drums keep at a clapping beat, and as we all know, the double-clap is the best musical tool ever crafted. Head over to Spirit Kid’s BandCamp to hear more of their work.
Spirit Kid Band Bio, from Emeen Zarookian
Spirit Kid is the musical moniker of Los Angeles-based songwriter Emeen Zarookian.
When not busy writing music for TV/video games or performing with bands such as Badfinger, Bebopalula, or Tampa, Emeen holes up in his home studio to create music influenced by the classic song craft of artists like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Kinks, blended with modern day production techniques. The result is the psych/pop/garage/indie blend known as Spirit Kid.
“To My Romeo” evokes the swagger of T. Rex topped off with a healthy dose of ear candy, wrapped up in a tidy, love song bow.
Both songs are free exclusively to Rivals owners. Users without Rivals cannot download these tracks.
- Parks - "Sweater Weather"
- Spirit Kid - "To My Romeo"
Buffalo wrote:The new blood seems to be pretty handy! Friendly enough too. I wonder where he saw us.
Looking forward to this restarting. I'm assuming that because we're back in the low tiers that we don't need to score particularly highly to get promoted?
Corazon de Leon wrote:It should be pants for the first few weeks buff, then when we hit diamond tier it will jump up in difficulty.
Guys I'm trying to get the locked in and stage presents achievements, but can't actually figure out what game mode you get the stage presence awards in and it's doing my box in.
Corazon de Leon wrote:Last question on the locked in achievement - how do you get a full streak award? I thought it was just for getting 100% in an instrument but that doesn't appear to be the case.
EDIT: Oh both instruments appear to need a long streak. That's... going to be difficult.
Additions
- Songs I Don't Own Filter
- FC Laurels where appropriate
- Song Scores in the list
- Overall number of songs
Fixes
- Rivals progress bar updated to remove threat of demotion
- You can now remove purchased songs from the Wishlist in the app
- Switching to Harmonies now properly displays song lists
- Songs with no part now correctly show No Part in song details
- Band names no longer clip in song details
- Filtering by solos now working as expected
- Junk text no longer saves to clipboard
- Changing instruments in the list tab now working as expected
- Search clear button can no longer be obscured
- Filtering by challenge songs now includes the three Spotlight songs
- 'Buy It' button in Spotlight screen no longer points to incorrect store pages
- Back button on Android now working as expected
- Weekly challenge icon is now an R to align with Rock Band 4
- Activity feed correctly updates
You’ve been asking for more ‘90s music and we’ve been listening! This week we’re featuring music from iconic artists whose careers blossomed during the rise of alt-rock: Garbage and Sugar Ray. Both have songs coming to Rock Band 4 this week, alongside the start of the Rock Band Rivals Season 2 Spotlight Pass.
“Stupid Girl” marks the long-awaited return of Garbage songs to the Rock Band platform. The success of “Stupid Girl”, especially in the US, pushed Garbage’s self-titled album to the top 20 of the Billboard 200, and top 10 on the UK Albums Chart. The music video is just as famous, iconic for deliberately having its film damaged and scuffed for effect. “Stupid Girl” even re-entered the UK charts in 2007 when it was featured on the Absolute Garbage compilation! In Rock Band, both drums and bass follow consistent, but fun, patterns through the whole song. They’re the frame in which the rest of the song was built up. Shirley Manson’s unique singing is always a joy to emulate, and the guitar also recalls the ‘90s, with plenty of effects-laden playing.
“Every Morning” is the long-awaited debut for Sugar Ray songs in Rock Band. As the lead single off the band’s third album 14:59, it became one of their most popular singles, hitting the top of several charts, including Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, Billboard Top 40 Mainstream, and Canada Top Singles, along with reaching #3 on the Hot 100. 14:59 was a marked change from earlier albums, being filled with acoustic guitars and reggae twinges. You’ll play everything from the earworm guitar riff to the vocal highlights (scattered across multiple vocal lines). The bass is always on the move, while the drums have a nice beat to bring the song forward.
Songs can be purchased individually for £1.59 each. The Rock Band Rivals Season 2 Spotlight Pass can be purchased for $13.49 (£10.79 in the UK I think).
- Garbage - "Stupid Girl" (Part of the Rock Band Rivals Season 2 Spotlight Pass)
- Sugar Ray - "Every Morning"