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Rock Band 4 |OT| We're Putting The Rock Band Back Together

Well, I know I've stated a few times here that I'm content playing the songs I've been able to download while waiting for stuff to get fixed (not to mention exports), but I caved and bought everything that still had a price error on PSN-- a bunch of packs and several albums. I feel like an addict, coming back to Rock Band as an adult with a job instead of a kid out of high school.

I only left the stuff I knew I absolutely wouldn't touch and wouldn't be popular with friends. Knowing the songs were under a buck a pop was helpful in terms of stomaching stuff I usually wouldn't buy, and boosting my library by 100+ was worth the price.

Anyway, there's some good stuff still priced half off in the store-- easiest way for me to sift through was by the PSN's pricing options, but you could do the same in-game. Plenty of well-known artists and some instantly recognizable songs for those who might not have all-encompassing listening habits.
 
So tonight I just finished playing every song in the game! I've spent the entire time cataloging my thoughts and thinking long and hard about these rankings, and I think I have perfected my definitive first ranking of the Rock Band 4 setlist. I'll come back to it years from now to see how much my feelings on songs have changed!

Overall, I'm fairly pleased with the songs in the game, but it's easily the weakest setlist of any Rock Band game to date. There are no show stopping universe shattering songs here. There's a lot of stuff that I enjoyed but the radio static is so aggressively mediocre that it leaves a sour and fuzzy taste in my mouth. But without further ado... my Rock Band 4 Setlist Ranking! Ranked in order from best to worst and with a header of my rating of it out of 10!

10/10

9/10
"Still Into You" by Paramore
"You Make Loving Fun" by Fleetwood Mac
"Light Up The Night" by The Protomen
"Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
"Fever" by The Black Keys
"Centuries" by Fall Out Boy
"The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

8/10
"Feast and the Famine" by Foo Fighters
"Kick It Out" by Heart
"Panama" by Van Halen
"The Seeker" by The Who
"A Passage To Bangkok" by Rush
"Short Skirt/Long Jacket" by Cake
"Somebody Told Me" by The Killers
"Ain't Messin 'Round" by Gary Clark Jr.
"Friday I'm In Love" by The Cure
"Cold Clear Light" by Johnny Blazes and The Pretty Boys
"Birth In Reverse" by St. Vincent
"Little White Church" by Little Big Town
"Tongue Tied" by Grouplove
"Suspicious Mind" by Elvis Presley
"Metropolis - Part 1 'The Miracle and the Sleeper" by Dream Theater
"Caught Up In You" by .38 Special
"Superunknown" by Soundgarden
"Toys In The Attic" by Aerosmith
"Your Love" by The Outfield
"What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes

7/10
"Lazaretto" by Jack White
"A Night In Dreams" by White Denim
"Recession" by Jeff Allen ft. Noelle LeBlanc and Naoko Takamoto
"Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison
"My God Is The Sun" by Queens of the Stone Age
"I Miss The Misery" by Halestorm
"Violent Shiver" by Benjamin Booker

6/10
"Miracle Man" by Ozzy Osbourne
"Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" by Spin Doctors
"No One Like You" by Scorpions
"Milwaukee" by The Used
"Arabella" by Arctic Monkeys
"Hail To The King" by Avenged Sevenfold
"I Will Follow" by U2
"Cedarwood Road" by U2
"The Warrior" by Scandal
"Mainstream Kid" by Brandi Carlile
"I Bet My Life" by Imagine Dragons

5/10
"Spiders" by System of a Down
"Prayer" by Disturbed
"That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Halls of Valhalla" by Judas Priest
"The Wolf" by Mumford & Sons
"Dream Genie" by Lightning Bolt
"Pistol Whipped" by Tijuanaa Sweetheart
"Knock Em Down" by Duck & Cover
"Albert" by Eddie Japan
"Light the Fuse" by Slydigs
"Free Falling" by The Warning
"Turn It Around" by Lucius
"Follow You Down" by The Gin Blossoms

4/10
"Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" by Rick Derringer
"I Am Electric" by Heaven's Basement
"V-Bomb" by Dark Wheels
"Start A Band" by Brad Paisley ft. Keith Urban
"The One I Love" by R.E.M.

3/10
"All Over You" by Live

2/10
"Dead Black (Heart Of Ice)" by Soul Remnants

1/10
 
I just got my Band in a Box, but I can't seem to get my guitar to sync to my Xbox, anyone have this issue?

edit: Solved!! Thanks Yaari!
 
I caved and bought everything that still had a price error on PSN-- a bunch of packs and several albums. I feel like an addict, coming back to Rock Band as an adult with a job instead of a kid out of high school.

I've been fighting the urge to do this myself. I want to play Under Pressure and Killer Queen, and my damn The Doors songs!
 
"At Night In Dreams" is easily my favourite track in the game on Guitar & Bass. With "Metropolis Pt 1" following shortly after it. The former is easily the best example of a song that's both fun and challenging. Unlike the frustrating repetitive piece of shit that's "Dream Genie".

Was fucking satisfying sightread FCing this song. Plus the solos are a blast!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrtecQhmlto

"Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo" is also fucking amazing to play
 
That Smell is probably one of the best guitar songs in the series, let alone the game.
I think it's kind of lame. Nothing about it stands out to me besides its name. Which is astounding because wow it's one of the worst names for a song by a big rock band I've seen in a long time. I sure as hell don't want to listen to a song called That Smell (song is okay though 5/10)
 

FyreWulff

Member
I think it's kind of lame. Nothing about it stands out to me besides its name. Which is astounding because wow it's one of the worst names for a song by a big rock band I've seen in a long time. I sure as hell don't want to listen to a song called That Smell (song is okay though 5/10)

It's referring to the smell of alcohol and drugs because they were in real deep with it and one of their band members barely survived a car accident after driving into a tree drunk.

Van Zant also wrote it because he felt there was death hovering around them... then the band died in a plane crash less than a week after the album came out with That Smell on it.
 

opoth

Banned
I think it's kind of lame. Nothing about it stands out to me besides its name. Which is astounding because wow it's one of the worst names for a song by a big rock band I've seen in a long time. I sure as hell don't want to listen to a song called That Smell (song is okay though 5/10)

Loves Paramore unconditionally and hates one of the best classic rock tracks of all time? smh
 
At Night in Dreams seems to be the secret best song in Rock Band 4. Almost everyone I've seen talk about RB4 names it as one of the most fun in the game.
 
I think it's kind of lame. Nothing about it stands out to me besides its name. Which is astounding because wow it's one of the worst names for a song by a big rock band I've seen in a long time. I sure as hell don't want to listen to a song called That Smell (song is okay though 5/10)

The song is about drug abuse.
 
I always have a stupid grin on my face when the main chorus kicks in...

"Ooooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you"

Makes me think somebody did a really nasty fart.
 
Is there a way to disable this garbage solo shit and just let me play the normal music instead?

Actually ruins my enjoyment of some songs when a favourite bit ius coming up then suddenly all this generated garbage comes up instead. And the weird charting and bottom frets crap breaks my streak guaranteed every time.
 
Is there a way to disable this garbage solo shit and just let me play the normal music instead?

Actually ruins my enjoyment of some songs when a favourite bit ius coming up then suddenly all this generated garbage comes up instead. And the weird charting and bottom frets crap breaks my streak guaranteed every time.
In the options after the song starts or just left on the d-pad on the guitar mid-song
 
Is there a way to disable this garbage solo shit and just let me play the normal music instead?

Actually ruins my enjoyment of some songs when a favourite bit ius coming up then suddenly all this generated garbage comes up instead. And the weird charting and bottom frets crap breaks my streak guaranteed every time.

Press left on the d-pad to switch them off on the fly, or pause the song, go to options and turn them off through there. Bam! Back to regular solos!
 
It's referring to the smell of alcohol and drugs because they were in real deep with it and one of their band members barely survived a car accident after driving into a tree drunk.

Van Zant also wrote it because he felt there was death hovering around them... then the band died in a plane crash less than a week after the album came out with That Smell on it.

Loves Paramore unconditionally and hates one of the best classic rock tracks of all time? smh

The song is about drug abuse.
Yeah, I was told that on Twitter. That just makes the song feel even more alienating and gives me more reason to dislike it because I'm hardcore straight edge. And hell yeah I love Paramore unconditionally! And I don't hate the song, if you're referring to That Smell. It says 5/10 right there! That's a "mediocre" or a "meh". Not good, not bad!

I always have a stupid grin on my face when the main chorus kicks in...

"Ooooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you"

Makes me think somebody did a really nasty fart.
That's exactly what comes to mind and I think it's gross. The truth isn't much better either, imo

At Night in Dreams seems to be the secret best song in Rock Band 4. Almost everyone I've seen talk about RB4 names it as one of the most fun in the game.
Oh yeah it's super fun on Guitar. I think Suspicious Minds is more fun though, possibly the best Guitar song in the game. Maybe.
 
Finally got the game, set up the drum set, and downloaded the patch. Three things I've noticed so far:

1) I'm so paranoid about noise complaints that it's made me super tentative on the drums, which is probably making me a lot worse.

2) Controlling the game using the drumset is AWFUL. It's like pulling teeth. (Caveat: I'm using Rock Band 2 drums, dunno if that makes a difference.) First, when you first start the game, you're logged in as Guest. It took a while to figure out how to switch to my PSN profile, but in the meantime the game was telling me I needed to be logged in to buy/download DLC songs, which confused the hell out of me. Once I got that squared away, it was time to create a band and a character, which requires you to name the characters. Using the keyboard with only the crappy drumset d-pad available to you is awful. And before you ask: nope, turning on a Dualshock 4 and logging in as a vocalist doesn't automatically give you control of the keyboard.

But those are things you only have to do once or twice (though it was surprisingly easy to switch back to a Guest profile without meaning to, so that's great fun). The worst part is that the drum pads no longer appear to control anything at all. You can't select things with the green pad or cancel out of menus with the red pad, and you sure as hell can't use the blue pad or yellow pad to move up and down a menu. My god. I wish I'd known the interface would be this bad if I stuck with PS3 drums. I hope the PS4 drumset experience is better, because this feels like such a step back.

3) I have to make room around my current TV setup for Rock Band again, because in the middle of the second song the leg of the drumset hit the power button of my receiver, shutting down the TV and music for several seconds. Despite hitting Start on the drumset, the song just kept trucking and I failed the second song with no option to restart except to do the whole set again. What a way to end my first Rock Band 4 session.

So yeah, game seems kind of rough, and I'm wondering if it might actually be quieter to buy a Roland electronic set with mesh heads and foot pedal isolation pads. Guess we'll see how things go with RB4 being a platform and all.
 
Thanks guys.

Also, does the character creator unlock more features or something? Because there's like 3 hair styles for both genders or some crap. Am I doing something wrong?
 

ViciousDS

Banned
dead black a 2/10?

It's one of the best songs on the disc! It's also the only death/black metal song I have ever liked, it has such a good guitar part!
 

jboss

Neo Member
But those are things you only have to do once or twice (though it was surprisingly easy to switch back to a Guest profile without meaning to, so that's great fun). The worst part is that the drum pads no longer appear to control anything at all. You can't select things with the green pad or cancel out of menus with the red pad, and you sure as hell can't use the blue pad or yellow pad to move up and down a menu. My god. I wish I'd known the interface would be this bad if I stuck with PS3 drums. I hope the PS4 drumset experience is better, because this feels like such a step back.

The RB4 drums work the same for navigation BUT... there's an option in the Options menu that enables Drum Navigation (I think that's what it's called) so you can use the drums themselves to go through menus like in the previous games. That option should work for any connected drums.
 
The RB4 drums work the same for navigation BUT... there's an option in the Options menu that enables Drum Navigation (I think that's what it's called) so you can use the drums themselves to go through menus like in the previous games. That option should work for any connected drums.

I'll give that a shot. Why on earth would they make that the default, I wonder? Completely baffling, especially given the poor quality of the drumset controller bits.
 
I've been fighting the urge to do this myself. I want to play Under Pressure and Killer Queen, and my damn The Doors songs!

Exactly the same situation here. The fan in me just wants to purchase the Queen and Doors stuff again, but I can't justify the cost when I know it's eventually getting fixed.

Not having LA Woman is driving me fucking crazy, though.
 
dead black a 2/10?

It's one of the best songs on the disc! It's also the only death/black metal song I have ever liked, it has such a good guitar part!
The only death metal song I've ever liked was "Nemesis" by Arch Enemy, which I kind of think is pretty damn amazing.

My problem with Dead Black is that not only I think the shouting isn't good, but I don't think it matches the music and lyrics well? It feels angsty and introspective which personally speaking completely and harshly conflicts with the shouting. A lot of my hatred for Opeth stems from here, too. I also don't like the guitar part after the vocals kick in.

Then again, I'm very inexperienced with death metal and not only that it's a genre I'm not crazy about. So feel free to disregard everything I say! I just like talking to people!
 

jond76

Banned
I'll give that a shot. Why on earth would they make that the default, I wonder? Completely baffling, especially given the poor quality of the drumset controller bits.

Anecdotally, in previous games we would be looking for the next song and the person waiting on drums would do what drummers do: Start hitting shit.

Next thing you know you've chosen some shit the singer doesn't know and you gotta back out and everyone yells at the drummer, etc...
 
Anecdotally, in previous games we would be looking for the next song and the person waiting on drums would do what drummers do: Start hitting shit.

Next thing you know you've chosen some shit the singer doesn't know and you gotta back out and everyone yells at the drummer, etc...

Oh god, it's been so long since I've played in a group that I completely forgot about that. Okay, fair enough. Thank goodness it's a setting, at least--turned it back on and it made the UI about 100x better.
 
Anecdotally, in previous games we would be looking for the next song and the person waiting on drums would do what drummers do: Start hitting shit.

Next thing you know you've chosen some shit the singer doesn't know and you gotta back out and everyone yells at the drummer, etc...

There are three things that are certain in life: death, taxes and the drummer being an idiot.
 
Supposedly everything will make it over... Eventually. They've said plainly "if you previously bought it, it will be playable in RB4"

Which is awesome

I've got My Iron Lung, Monkeywrench, Don't Look Back in Anger and Live Forever working perfectly on PS4. I had this issue with 1901 for a few days and then I was able to actually download it.

I was able to download these tracks to my PS4-

Charlene
Live Forever
Don't Look Back in Anger
Baba O'Riley
Just A Girl
Spiderwebs
Don't Speak
Underneath It All
My Iron Lung
Monkey Wrench

Not able to download-
Snow
Under the Bridge
Don't Stop Believing


Edit- I should stop reading this thread in reverse

Thanks for the responses guys. I'll keep trying.

Really curious on these:
edit: PS user, What are considered the best guitars for RB4? Looks like from the OP I have a lot to choose from. Any to avoid?

Also, If I have a dongle, will any RB guitar work for it? AKA, if I do buy a used guitar do I need that specific dongle for it?
 

JMizzlin

Member
Finally had the game released in Australia and picked up my band box yesterday. Jumped straight into a rock band party last night and had a good time.

My adapter import didn't rock up in time so two mics a guitar and drum kit had to do. All worked pretty flawlessly so pleased with the purchase overall

The 1,2,Lego and Blitz exports would definitely tip this game from good to brilliant so bring on December

So...why wasn't this game just released in December again?

Gotta beta test for the Christmas crowd.
 
I think it's kind of lame. Nothing about it stands out to me besides its name. Which is astounding because wow it's one of the worst names for a song by a big rock band I've seen in a long time. I sure as hell don't want to listen to a song called That Smell (song is okay though 5/10)

Surely this is a poor attempt at trolling
 
Do you have any other mics / headsets / ps camera hooked up?

Maybe it's getting confused, if so.
I don't have other mics plugged in. I have the gold headset but I disconnect the dongle and they're not on.

Any other ideas??? Lol
I'm desperate. I'm supposed to have a RB party tomorrow but can't get the mic to work.
 
Surely this is a poor attempt at trolling

I imagine the entire list was. If not, well, that's perfectly acceptable as one's opinion, though I hope we don't see pages of lists with negligible reasoning or substance.

I mean, if everyone in this thread was forced to spend some of their time concocting a list based off of how much they like each song on-disc (not how fun/boring they were to play, how enjoyable the charts were on whatever instrument, and so forth, mind you), the thread would be full of lists that were entirely different, and none of them would be the least bit interesting to read.

Offering an opinion on any given song typically leads to a couple people agreeing, and maybe a few criticising, but most of the thread ignores it. Throwing in justification for why you have your opinion is what encourages discussion; see parentheses above for some simple examples.

Saying "song A" is better than "song B" is entirely different-- you'll have plenty of people criticizing your arbitrary ranking system as well as your taste, for better or worse. There's certainly nothing wrong with writing up a list such as this, of course, but it's hard to understand the purpose and "my favorite bands are at the top," "Rock Band introduced me to this song and I LOVE it," "my personal opinions caused this song to drop in ranking," and so on isn't particularly intriguing either way.

I'd be an imbecile to claim that our music taste isn't crucial to the enjoyment of Rock Band (and I understand some people never touching most of the setlist or only play casually for relaxation), but I'll be damned if I don't have a few dozen songs in my DLC library that I'd otherwise never listen to thanks to how fucking awesome their charts are. There are bands I wouldn't be caught dead listening to in daily life that just happen to make for unbelievably fun gameplay, and while I'll always enjoy being enraptured in my favorite songs while mechanically playing away, there's something exhilarating about a brilliant, difficult chart (regardless of instrument) that allows me to say a song is enjoyable in the context of the game despite not caring for it otherwise.
Sure, some songs become grating or may be too outside your tastes, but there's plenty to choose from that fits this criteria even so

Ended up going off on a tangent there, so my apologies. Just to be clear, this obviously references a post in this thread, but it's absolutely not a direct criticism, rather my general perspective on the game and soundtrack discussion overall (old man yells at cloud?). Feel free to tell me to keep that perspective to myself-- maybe I need some reminders to not go off foolishly on rants.

Is there any word on a [Insert Band Here] pack coming?

Not that we know of. A quick Google search will usually confirm/refute any rumors if you've heard one.

Not to mention Muse was likely one of the most requested bands for a DLC pack for the entirety of the previous Rock Band lifespan-- them getting a pack would make waves all over the internet, I imagine.

They've got quite the selection in Rocksmith, if I remember correctly; maybe that's a good sign in terms of licensing.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Yeah, I was told that on Twitter. That just makes the song feel even more alienating and gives me more reason to dislike it because I'm hardcore straight edge.

It's an anti-drinking and drugging song.

Lynyrd Skynyrd also did an anti-gun song.

They were pretty interesting for a southern rock band.
 

evanmisha

Member
Thanks for the responses guys. I'll keep trying.

Really curious on these:
edit: PS user, What are considered the best guitars for RB4? Looks like from the OP I have a lot to choose from. Any to avoid?

Also, If I have a dongle, will any RB guitar work for it? AKA, if I do buy a used guitar do I need that specific dongle for it?

The common favorites are:
GH Warriors of Rock
GH Les Paul
RB4

I personally loved the Beatles bundle bass. Haven't heard any impressions of the 2 other Beatles guitars but they go for an arm and a leg now

And no, dongles are not one size fits all. Sadly. Dunno specifically if RB 1 and 2 guitars are cross dongle compatible but a quick Google search should answer that. I'd err on the side of no if every other dongle situation is any indication. Also make sure you don't end up with a 360 dongle (or ps3 dongle if you're using a 360 guitar)
 
The common favorites are:
GH Warriors of Rock
GH Les Paul
RB4

I personally loved the Beatles bundle bass. Haven't heard any impressions of the 2 other Beatles guitars but they go for an arm and a leg now

And no, dongles are not one size fits all. Sadly. Dunno specifically if RB 1 and 2 guitars are cross dongle compatible but a quick Google search should answer that. I'd err on the side of no if every other dongle situation is any indication. Also make sure you don't end up with a 360 dongle (or ps3 dongle if you're using a 360 guitar)

Thanks for the input.
 
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