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Last week we attended a rather drinky preview event for Green Day Rock Band, where Harmonix revealed five of the 47 tracks that would be included on the game disc. Confirmed are "Hitchin a Ride," "Brain Stew / Jaded"and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "American Idiot."
The latter confirmed a creeping suspicion of ours, that the game would be censored to fit Rock Band's "T" rating. Needless to say, singing "Maybe I'mthe ------ America" and "When --------'s lost its fun you're ------- lazy" doesn't have the same impact as screaming the actual lines. As a band with some of the cussiest songs out there, we imagine thiscould diminish the vibe of the whole game.
Above:Green Day will bewell represented, but censored
That night we also heard "Welcome to Paradise" playing over the house speakers, one of the band's most popular tracks from their breakout album Dookie.Thisgot us wondering... where the hell were all the Dookie songs? It's unquestionably the band's most popular album with 15 million copies sold. Is Harmonix planning on a Beatles-style bait and switch with Green Day Rock Band, where they sell us a $60 gamepacked with several filler tracks? We'd like to think not, but if you were going to reveal fivein-game songs to a crowd for the first time, you would choose at least one from Dookie to make the room explode.
Above: Better be amajor part of the disc-based tracks
The game's set to ship on June 8 for PS3, 360 and Wii, happily with no bundled instruments. There is however a $70 version that comes with "special packaging" and the six existing Green Day DLC songs, plus the ability to export the entire setlist to Rock Band 2 without the additional $10fee found in the regular edition. This all sounds fine and dandy... provided the included songs dip intoDookieand other songs we've selected from Green Day's earlier works.
"I Was There"
From: 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours (1991)
"I Was There" embodies everything that could make Green Day Rock Band so damn fun. You've got harmonizing vocals so two can sing, plus plenty of work for both guitarists (the bass, man!) and the drummer's going to go nucking futs. Unlike Beatles Rock Band, the singer won't be the only one having a great time. Plus, we love this song's lyrics, a positive message about knowing yourself andtaking stock of your life when most music aimed at stage diving teens is about resisting anything that doesn't agree with you or "oh the pain of it all."
From: 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours (1991)
Similar to "I Was There" in terms of playability and message. It's just as active in the guitar, drum and bass areas and the lyrics tell the story of a guy who needs to retreat into himself and figure some shit out. Simplistic, perhaps, but the music would undoubtedly be tons of fun to play.
