Go ask Alice for new DLC

This week in Rock Band (yeah, I know - it's last week at this point), we get a nice Gorillaz 3-pack. That's not all, though. We also receive a handful of classic songs, and for once, they really are classics. Okay, there's a track by The Band that I'm not all that familiar with, by I sure as hell know Janis Joplin's Piece of My Heart, Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit, and The Who's Magic Bus. I can't believe all this great stuff came out in the same week, and don't want to imagine how much I would have spent on DLC if every week were this packed! All tracks are the usual price - 440 MSP/$5.50 for the 3-pack, or 160 MSP/$2 per track.
Here's what's on offer:

Gorillaz Pack
Clint Eastwood
Feel Good Inc.
Re-Hash

Janis Joplin - Piece of My Heart
Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
The Band - Chest Fever (Live)
The Who - Magic Bus (Live at Leeds)
Note: Click on any song for expert band videos.

So how could I resist? I didn't buy Chest Fever, but I picked up all the others the minute they became available. Harmonix seem to go through phases with their DLC - a few weeks of stuff I couldn't care less about, and a few weeks of stuff I'd happily spend my money on. So how are the latest songs to grace my library?

Well, as far as the Gorillaz tracks go, there really isn't much challenge. Clint Eastwood is the easiest of the three (it's in drum tier 2), with a really simple beat that barely changes throughout the song. Okay, I suppose it actually cycles between two beats, but they're both super easy. Re-Hash (drum tier 3) is slightly trickier, but nothing that veterans will have any problem with. It's actually quite a similar beat to Dani California (as well as plenty of other tracks), and doesn't change too much throughout. I found Feel Good Inc. (drum tier 3) to be the most fun out of the pack, with a steady beat that has a nice amount of movement around the pads. Again, not too difficult, but still decent.

White Rabbit (drum tier 3) is next, and anyone who's heard this song should have an idea of what to expect: You've got those constant, short rolls on the red pad with some sporadic kick drum thrown in. Although it's fairly easy and doesn't have a lot of variety, it's still interesting. Oh, and as a side note, I unlocked the "Flawless Singing" achievement when I decided to give the mic a go. I'm sure I could have unlocked it before if I'd wanted, but I never really tried.....

Now we come to Piece of My Heart (drum tier 3). This song has a nice bit of variety to it. You never keep repeating the same beat for too long, and although none of the sections are especially difficult, there are some tricky parts towards the end. Not great, but not bad either.

Finally we come to Magic Bus, which is all the way up in drum tier 6. I'm not quite sure what to say about this track, except I kind of wish it wasn't the Live at Leeds version. You see, for the first few minutes it's just a simple beat on the yellow pad (and only the yellow pad), but as soon as the song begins for real, it just goes crazy. It's not like it's a fun, tricky beat, though; it's a bunch of really hard to follow drum solos played back to back. Things start to get tough about half-way through when there's a section with constant kick drum (that's constant, fast kick drum), but after this there's no steady beat to become accustomed to - it's just one crazy section after another, any of which could result in failure, even by a decent drummer. Oh, and it's 8 minutes long. So if you couldn't tell, I didn't enjoy this track; not in the slightest.

Okay, so despite the fact that I was really excited about all of these songs, I can't really recommend any of them if you're looking for a decent drumming challenge (except for Magic Bus). However, that's not always the reason for buying new tracks, and anyone who just wants some classic songs to play with their friends can't go wrong with White Rabbit and Piece of My Heart. They may not be too tough, but they're such good songs that they're worth picking up anyway. Just don't be surprised if you master them fairly quickly.