The Beatles: Rock Band

I feel like it's been a reasonably long time since I did a proper video game post so I've chosen to ease readers in by combining gaming with one of history's most famous and highly regarded bands; The Beatles.

In 2009, to coincide with the entire Beatles back catalogue being remastered and subsequently rereleased, Harmonix (creators of the Rock Band franchise) took a colossal gamble and licensed 45 songs by one of the most expensive bands to license commercially to include on their own band-centric game. Previous band-centric games in the modern music game genre were Aerosmith and Metallica (both Guitar Hero) so it was a pretty significant step up for music fans.
For the next few months after the game's release, Harmonix released three of the band's albums as DLC (Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Rubber Soul...no Help!, sadly) and "All You Need Is Love" as a single. I won't be discussing the tracks included in those packs but I will be discussing the 45 on-disc songs (including two put together to make one playable track), giving my verdict as to whether they were a good choice for the game, just like I've done in the past with Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, Rock Band 4 and Guitar Hero 3: Legends Of Rock.
Before I discuss these songs, I'd like to say a few words about this game.
It's fucking fantastic.
The art, the gameplay, the use of previous unheard Beatles recordings to give the game a more natural feel in between songs, the new features introduced that would continue to be used in future RB games to come and the fact that it even exists when most companies wouldn't dare take the financial risk.
Even though there are songs I dislike and I may truly lay into some of them, I want to thank Harmonix for making this game. If you haven't played it and like The Beatles, I strongly recommend it even if you're new to the rhythm music game genre. Unfortunately, all the DLC for the game has since been removed but at least the soundtrack is awesome...right? Time to find out!

"A Hard Day's Night" - The Beatles
An exceptionally strong start! One of the band's most well known songs with a great guitar chart and a pretty fun little solo too. There was no way this song couldn't be in the game in one way or another but I'm glad it made the main tracklist instead of DLC. THUMBS UP!

"And Your Bird Can Sing" - The Beatles
One of many songs I hadn't heard before I played this game, although unlike some of the others in this list I can't say I'm too happy about that. It may have more guitar than some of the band's bigger known hits but it seems a little too short and dull to deserve a place on this soundtrack. I don't want to use this argument too much but with all the Beatles tracks absent from this game, songs like this making the cut make are even worse. THUMBS DOWN.

"Back In The U.S.S.R." - The Beatles
I knew how this song went but I'd never actually heard it before this game. Needless to say I was very happy with the end result, not just because it's a great Rock track but because it has a surprisingly fun guitar solo. I suppose this deserves a space on the tracklist just as much as the previous song, although at least this one has better guitar and the game does need some sort of difficulty curve. Seeing as how The Beatles weren't known for furious solos or complex riffs, finding tricky guitar songs that were enjoyable to listen to must've been fairly challenging. Luckily, this song ticks both boxes so it's a firm THUMBS UP!

"Birthday" - The Beatles
A solid tune with a take on the classic Blues chord progression on guitar. About halfway through, the song unknowingly inspires Cheap Trick's entire career so even if you're not a huge fan of the song or don't think it's fun on any instrument, it deserves points for that. For me personally, I give it a THUMBS UP just because it's not offensive to play or rubbish to listen to.

"Boys" - The Beatles
I suppose Harmonix wanted to include a selection of music from the key beats of The Beatles' career, including several songs from their Cavern Club days. I wouldn't call this an impressive choice or a fun song to play if you tire of the Blues chord progression easily so I'm afraid it's a THUMBS DOWN here.

"Can't Buy Me Love" - The Beatles
Another big hit that most casual listeners should know. If memory serves, this song was actually more challenging than I originally assumed. It might be that reason or it might be the fact that I really like this song that resulted in me having a blast whilst playing it so it's an easy THUMBS UP, although to be honest it deserved one just for being a big name song by the band.

"Come Together" - The Beatles
An unusual album opener for Abbey Road but a top notch song. It may not have a lot going on in the guitar department but as I mentioned earlier, the game needs a difficulty curve. As much as I'd personally love a game full of moderately challenging to insanely tricky tracks, easy songs are needed for new players and this track fits the bill perfectly. Plus, you gotta love that bass! THUMBS UP.

"Day Tripper" - The Beatles
One of the first Beatles songs I can remember listening to and falling in love with. It may have a pretty flimsy solo but that epic riff is enough to carry the whole song. Plus, I know Ringo gets a lot of shit for being a mediocre drummer but I love his work on this track. The song is great to listen to and it's even better to play, so here's a well earned THUMBS UP.

"Dear Prudence" - The Beatles
For a softer more psychedelic song, this track has a damn fine guitar chart. I discovered this song thanks to this game and even if it's not likely to be featured on any Greatest Hits compilations, it deserves a spot in the game for sounding different and being fun. THUMBS UP.

"Dig A Pony" - The Beatles
One of the songs that appears at the end of The Beatles' career just as they were starting to get back into Rock again. Another song that casual listeners will probably be introduced to thanks to this game that has a pretty fun guitar chart. Definitely a THUMBS UP, even if I still have little to no fucking idea what the song's about.

"Do You Want To Know A Secret" - The Beatles
Ooo boy, this song is pretty shit, huh. If it's not clear from what I've written so far, I'm not a huge fan of the early work from The Beatles. To me, the greatest albums were released in 1964 and 1965 and whilst I understand the need to get a collection from each significant musical style, this song feels a little too short and pointless to deserve a spot. THUMBS DOWN.

"Don't Let Me Down" - The Beatles
From early Beatles to late Beatles now. I can't remember much about the chart (so I'm assuming it was unimpressive) and after listening to the song again, I'm not overflowing with love for it. THUMBS DOWN.

"Drive My Car" - The Beatles
Album opener off Rubber Soul and a fairly solid song with a typical Beatles sound and a neat little solo. Of all the songs off Rubber Soul, I'd argue that "Nowhere Man" deserved a place over this track due to its inclusion in the Yellow Submarine film and the fact that Harmonix planned to release the rest of Rubber Soul in its entirety as DLC, meaning this song still would've been playable. However, I'm not annoyed about its inclusion. It's OK, I guess, and I don't feel robbed of a better track since I've played the rest of Rubber Soul too. THUMBS UP.

"Eight Days A Week" - The Beatles
Not the best song to play on guitar but a decent track overall. I'm torn between whether this or "I'm A Loser" would've been a better choice, as "I'm A Loser" sounds like it'd be more fun to play on each instrument whereas "Eight Days A Week" is the more well known song. Both tracks would've been great inclusions anyway so THUMBS UP.

"Get Back" - The Beatles
Possibly the most famous track from the end of The Beatles' career so it definitely deserved a place in this game. The fact that it has some sweet guitar sections only add to it being a great choice so it's an easy THUMBS UP.

"Getting Better" - The Beatles
Meh, not an impressive song or chart but probably chosen to be an easy track for beginners. I'd argue that there are enough songs from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the game (especially since the rest of the album was also released as DLC) but if I had to swap a song out from the same album, I'd choose "When I'm Sixty Four" for the same reasons as "Nowhere Man" but unlike that previous example, I'm giving this song a THUMBS DOWN.

"Good Morning Good Morning" - The Beatles
Despite being a different song to the last one, my verdict is identical. No idea why it was included when album DLC was planned and the relatively unimpressive chart makes it easily forgettable. THUMBS DOWN.

"Hello, Goodbye" - The Beatles
This is a fantastic example of an easy but well known Beatles song that deserves to be in the game. I love the track, even if I'm not fond of playing it on Expert, and if I was learning to play the game then I'd be happy to start off with this one. THUMBS UP.

"Helter Skelter" - The Beatles
This was probably about as heavy as The Beatles got so it earns an inclusion on the on-disc tracklist just for being a fairly well known and unique song in the band's back catalogue. As for the guitar, I can't remember too much about it but I'm pretty sure it was quite fun to play. It's definitely fun to listen to so THUMBS UP.

"Here Comes The Sun" - The Beatles
Fun fact: I always thought this was a solo George Harrison song before this game. Now that the fun's over, let's talk about this track. The guitar chart is surprisingly awesome and the song is all kinds of brilliant so I can tell you right now that it gets a THUMBS UP. One factor I haven't really discussed is the background that plays during the song, as the Abbey Road Studio recordings all contain weird and wonderful animations, often themed around the song like some kind of trippy music video. If you're good enough to play the chart and pay attention to other things on screen, you're in for a real treat with this particular track.

"Hey Bulldog" - The Beatles
OK, I'm definitely biased on this one but I was so fucking hyped when this song was announced. Easily my favourite track in Yellow Submarine and one of my favourite Beatles riffs. The chart is quite challenging for the inexperienced player so even though it's not a hugely iconic Beatles track, I say it deserves a THUMBS UP...but again, that could be my personal taste talking here.

"I Am The Walrus" - The Beatles
From what I recall, there's not a lot of guitar in this track but it's still a fairly active chart. However, it's arguably the poster child of the psychedelic phase of The Beatles' career, along with "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" although it's more fun to quote this song. I don't particularly care for it myself but I still believe it's a solid inclusion. THUMBS UP.

"I Feel Fine" - The Beatles
Brilliant guitar-centric chart with a nifty little solo and plenty of HOPOs. As for the song itself, I bloody love it. Great work from each band member, good song structure and right in the middle of the popularity scale, meaning some casual listeners will probably be introduced to it thanks to this game. THUMBS UP.

"I Me Mine" - The Beatles
...yeeaahhhhh not sure why this was included. It may pick up a bit after that dull intro but if the best parts of your song are a take on the Blues chord progression, it's probably not worth shouting about. I would've personally preferred "Let It Be" or maybe "Hey Jude", even though it was a single released around this album, but I guess most players wouldn't be down with a seven minute song featuring very little guitar or even challenging piano. Still, even with that in mind, doesn't change my verdict of a THUMBS DOWN.

"I Saw Her Standing There" - The Beatles
Probably the best early Beatles song and their most well known along with "Twist And Shout". It's not a song I would willingly seek out but I usually enjoy listening to it. I can't remember too much about the chart but it sounds like it's not too dull. Even if it was, this track still gets a THUMBS UP for previously mentioned reasons.

"I Wanna Be Your Man" - The Beatles
There's something about this song that makes it sound like a hastily written B-side so I'm not entirely sure why this was considered a worthy song to include. Maybe it's because they needed another song from the With The Beatles album but if Help! only got one song on-disc, this album could've done too. THUMBS DOWN.

"I Want To Hold Your Hand" - The Beatles
Not a fan of this song but I can't deny it's a well known non-album single. If personal taste was more important, I'd probably choose a song like "Love Me Do" or "She Loves You", as those are just as well known and probably equally as fun to play (at least the latter one, anyway). Yeah, gonna give this a THUMBS DOWN as it definitely belongs on game based around The Beatles' music, although not if it's at the cost of better songs that were arguably more deserving of a space.

"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" - The Beatles
THUMBS DOWN. Hey, look at that! I got my point across without pissing about for a tediously long period of time.

"If I Needed Someone" - The Beatles
Looks like we're into the dregs now. Nothing remarkable about this track from Rubber Soul and definitely more of a DLC song than an on-disc one. Shame. THUMBS DOWN.

"I'm Looking Through You" - The Beatles
One of my favourite Beatles songs and my number one favourite track to play on-disc. Very fun guitar chart and a great sound. I'm surprised I only heard it first on this game, as it deserves to be more well known than other Beatles tracks by far. THUMBS UP, finally!

"I've Got A Feeling" - The Beatles
Quite a good song, even if it's not an instant classic. You can hear traces of this song peppered throughout early 70s American Rock so I suppose it earns a place for inspiring better songs. Truth be told, I can't remember too much about the chart but as evidenced by this blog post, there are worse songs on the Let It Be album that made it on-disc. THUMBS UP.

"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" - The Beatles
I've never liked this song or understood the reason for it being popular outside of naming it as some sort of reference. The guitar chart is pretty dull too BUT along with "I Am The Walrus", it's an iconic Psychedelic Rock track so THUMBS UP purely on whether it deserves to be in the game.

"Octopus's Garden" - The Beatles
What the fuck is this song? Aside from a moderately fun guitar chart, which is almost certainly the reason it was included, the track is just silly. It sounds like something off Yellow Submarine but was actually part of Abbey Road. I'd never heard of it until playing this game, which is probably for the best. There are definitely other Beatles tracks that have fun guitar and were missing from the game so it's a THUMBS DOWN unfortunately. Poor Ringo.

"Paperback Writer" - The Beatles
If I had to pick a number one favourite Beatles song, this would probably be it. Epic riff, great lyrics, short but concrete structure, a superb mix throughout and musically speaking more than likely helped inspire Stewart Copeland when he was composing music for the first three Spyro The Dragon games, but I can't prove that. It may not be the most fun chart but after some of the previous songs, it shows The Beatles had the power to fucking Rock on occasion. Oh yeah, and it's a pretty well known tune. 100% THUMBS UP!

"Revolution" - The Beatles
That crunching guitar intro is probably the main reason this song is in the game, even though the rest of the song is mediocre at best. I think I can remember it having a decent guitar chart and it's definitely better known than some of the random album tracks that were chosen for this game. Fuck it, I'm feeling generous. THUMBS UP.

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With A Little Help From My Friends" - The Beatles
As if I even need to list reasons why this should be in the game. It's not a favourite of mine but it's classic Beatles and adding "With A Little Help From My Friends" makes it a much better chart than splitting it into two mediocre tracks. THUMBS UP.

"Something" - The Beatles
Another track that I thought was just a solo George Harrison one before this game. Since Abbey Road was the first album DLC for this game released, this track easily could've been cut for that. Then again, the section change in the middle is quite fun and it's hardly an obscure Beatles song. I'm going to go with my gut on this one and it's saying THUMBS DOWN in favour of better tracks that didn't make the cut.

"Taxman" - The Beatles
You can usually tell the tracks penned by George Harrison for their heavy use of guitar and this is no exception. Maybe the solo could've done more work before they recorded it but the guitar and bass combination throughout works well. Yeah, I like playing this track. THUMBS UP.

"The End" - The Beatles
The only unlockable song in the game and a damn fine track to end on. Short but packed with fun guitar, plus it's the most appropriate track they could've picked to end the game on. I'm glad they included this instead of only releasing it in the album DLC so it's a hearty THUMBS UP from me.

"Ticket To Ride" - The Beatles
Have I mentioned how fucking outraged I am that this is the only song from Help! in the entire game? This isn't even the best song they could've picked. Sure, it's a serviceable guitar chart but why the hell did they neglect to put the title track in? The guitar chart alone sounds awesome and I'd argue that it's more well known than this song. I wish the entire album could've been DLC for this game, as "The Night Before" and "Another Girl" would've been really fun too. Ah well, THUMBS UP for some Help! love, even if it's a minuscule amount.

"Twist And Shout" - The Beatles
Bleh, can't stand this song. Too similar to 50s music for me and John Lennon's raspy vocals just don't do it for me here. However, it's arguably their most famous song and it's certainly their most famous cover version so it belongs on The Beatles: Rock Band. It's a reluctant THUMBS UP.

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - The Beatles
I can imagine Eric Clapton listening to this and thinking "Wow, I want to be just as dreary and dull as this!". Well that man worked hard and now his music is perhaps the most boring in Rock history, but enough about Eric Interesting Clapton. This might be a fairly well known track but I wouldn't have lost any sleep if it was missing and, to be honest, I doubt many others would either. THUMBS DOWN.

"Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows" - The Beatles
O...OK, I guess an unnecessary modern remix of two Beatles songs can make the cut over a bunch of original classics. Do I even need to say THUMBS DOWN?

"Yellow Submarine" - The Beatles
Well, this needed to be in the game. No, it's not their best song by any stretch but you can't have The Beatles without this tune. Guitar chart isn't much to marvel at but that's not the point; it's the song everyone associates with the band. THUMBS UP.


By my count, that's 29 Thumbs Up to 15 Thumbs Down, making the setlist a clear winner.
Next week, it'll be non-video game posts again!