There's Noel in DLC

This week in Rock Band, we celebrate the holidays with a festive 3-pack of songs. Two Christmas tracks are joined by one Chanukah song (or Hanukkah, as it's also known). On top of these we also get another selection from the Foo Fighters, but it's just a 3-pack, not a whole album this time. The Foo Fighters pack goes for the usual 440 MSP ($5.50) or 160 MSP ($2) per song, but the holiday tracks are only 80 MSP ($1) each.
Here's this week's selection:

By Foo Fighters:
DOA
Times Like These
This is a Call

Barenaked Ladies - Hannukah Blessings
Billy Squier - Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You
The Pretenders - Blue Christmas
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

So when the holiday tracks were announced, I was sure they would end up on my hard drive before too long. After all, my girlfriend loves Christmas music and loves the Barenaked Ladies so I was positive that she would insist I purchase them. However, with all the hectic holiday planning this week we never had the chance, and now it seems a little silly. She pointed out to me that releasing Christmas songs only 2 days before Christmas is a bit weird; it would make a lot more sense to have them come out a couple of weeks before, the same way that holiday movies are released around November. Now that the festivities are all over I'm not sure I want to re-live them, but that Barenaked ladies song will probably still end up being purchased when my girlfriend and I have a day off together. I'll give my opinions of it when that day comes. Oh, and in case you were wondering, no, I didn't buy any of the Foo Fighters tracks either. Maybe when I'm done with all my new games I'll play a little catch-up.

In other Rock Band news, Harmonix have confirmed that DLC will be making it's way to the recently-released Wii version of the game, but not until early 2009. The first things to be released will be the 20 free bonus songs, along with 30 songs from the existing DLC catalog. While it's nice that Wii players can finally experience Rock Band for real (as the DLC is what makes this game so great), it's a shame that they have to wait for the library to be slowly released. So for all the aspiring Rock Band drummers out there, here are 5 songs that I would highly recommend you purchase:

Wolfmother - Joker & the Thief
Smashing Pumpkins - Siva
Rush - Limelight (The cover version is actually more fun)
The Police - Truth Hits Everybody
The Who - Sea and Sand

These are five of my favorite songs in the game, and I hate to think that Wii players have been denied them for this long. They are all fun to play and fairly tricky (Limelight is the easiest; Siva is the hardest), but I abstained from recommending any of the super-tough ones (like The Perfect Drug or YYZ) as I don't imagine casual Wii players will be able to handle them. Wait! I'm only joking! The real reason I didn't recommend them because they're hard as hell, and it would be a lot better to get some practice in before you attempt anything so tough. I don't know when these tracks will actually become available, but you had better get your fill of the songs that shipped on the Rock band 2 disc now, because you won't be playing them much once the DLC hits.