When Rock Band 4's setlist was released, it was met with a shorus of "meh." At least it was by me and all the people I knew who saw it. There was just a lack of memorable songs. Of course music taste is subjective, but this is what I thought. Though it did have some high profile artists like System of a Down, Queens of the Stoneage, Fallout Boy, and Rush, they had weird decisions for songs.
So while my opinion of it all isn't the best, it'd be silly to say it was devoid of anything good. It does have a few killer songs in there that I was glad to see. Metropolis Pt. 1, Short Skirt, Long Jacket, and Still Into You were all songs that I was real happy to see and play in this game. And it inspired a love for songs like Friday I'm In Love and Your Love that I never knew I had.
And just like any other music game, it introduced me to plenty of songs I had never heard of. And even more impressively, it turned me onto songs I didn't anticipate myself to enjoy at the level that I do. So here, I'm gonna count down the top 5 sleeper hit songs of Rock Band 4.
#5. This one is a bit of a gimme, because I actually like ska music. Well, mostly 3rd wave ska, cause I've never taken the time to listen to that mid 20th century reggae ska, nor do I have any intentions to. My tastes lie within Streetlight Manifesto, Reel Big Phish, and Goldfinger. And so I was shocked to discover just how much I enjoyed The Impression That I Get, by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
Now the main reason this one was a shocker is cause the only other 'Stones song I had heard was Where'd You Go? cause it was on Rock Band 2. I didn't much care for it then cause it wasn't that interesting to play or listen to. And I think I still agree on that. It doesn't have any punch, ya know? And that's what I like in my ska. Fast, upbeat. Poppy. This one's full of long, slow tones. It feels like they wrote a song about how uneventful Tuesdays are. It picks up in a couple parts, but then returns to the slump.
But I'm not talking about that song, I'm talking about The Impression That I get. It's like twice as fast and has shouting in the chorus. That's the kind of shit I want in my rock band game. And I also totally identify with the message in the song which is basically "some people have been through tough times and had to knock on wood to get through. I haven't, and I'm glad I haven't because it looks awful."
And the fact that it's a joke in Bojack Horseman scores it some points too.
#4. As I said before, I like my music to have punch. And sometimes I just like shit real loud and frantic. Whether it's clean like Venetian Snares or Mars Volta or rough like Fall of Troy or Anthrax, I like my noise.
But, I mean, there's a limit. I don't like Visions in Rock Band 2. That one's a bit too far into the noise end. But Dream Genie by Lightning Bolt is right in the spot of interesting, loud, and frantic.
Yeah, I get that not many people like this one, but I think comparing it to Visions is a bit unfair. This one I initially had some issues with, but I got over it and quite like it. Admittedly, I find it a lot more fun to listen to than play along to, especially since they haven't implemented a practice mode yet, and the vocals are completely incoherent, but I like it more and more with every listen.
#3. Rock Band has always been a bit hit and miss with it's indie/electronic stuff. Though most of the main setlists have avoided relying on disco-beat songs, the indie end of the spectrum isn't the most consistent. They can be fun and up beat, like Tongue-Tied, or they can be kinda meh, like Combat Baby, or Something Bigger, Something Brighter.
But the standout song in this was Birth in Reverse, by St. Vincent.
I was completely unaware of St. Vincent, but a friend of mine was very excited to hear it. I was a bit skeptic cause of the indie-ness, and the pop-dance-ness of it, but this is a blast to play, and a fun listen. I often relied on this one when going through the awfully restrictive career mode for a fun on-disk guitar song to fill a setlist.
I love the the upbeat feel of it, and I don't even mind the disco drum charting of it, though a 7-tier? Maybe a bit of a stretch.
#2. Remember what I said for indie stuff? I was about to say the same about pop-rock, but it turns out I actually like a lot of songs that Rock Band classifies as pop-rock. Your Love, The Middle, and anything by Duran Duran can never go wrong. I think the thing I hate is the toothless, easy listening stuff. Slower, gentler. When I play my music games, I wanna rock out! Let's get some songs I can scream to, yeah!
And then sometimes songs like Milwaukee show up and I just can't really describe it.
Music's a weird thing. Songs are so short and can be so similar to each other, but I can love one and hate the other. What does Milwaukee have to offer? It's not fast, but it's upbeat. It's not loud, but it's confident. The duo of The Both sing in a comfortable range, and they perform with a lovely harmony. It sounds like they enjoyed recording and singing this song. It's just... A really happy song that feels good, ya know?
I hesitate to say that it's got "soul," because that's such a copout description, as well as really difficult to actually attribute. But it's the reason I like this song over the U2 songs. The U2 songs just feel lifeless, while this one is full of it. It's not there to prove a point, it's just happy to exist.
#1. This'll be an easy one to guess based on the preface: I don't like country music. I don't identify with it. I don't really care about the things that most country artists sing about. And it deeefinitely doesn't help that all the country I'm exposed to nowadays is either the identical mass of wishy-washy "bro-country" songs or are completely boring. Rock Band 4 has 2 country songs. It has Little White Church, which sucks, and it has Start a Band, which is wonderful.
How to begin with this one! I was skeptical of it when I first scrolled past it through the setlist. Devil-tier on guitar? There's no way! Brad Paisley and Keith Urban? Those are two people whose names I've heard a lot and whose music I've never heard. Unless you count the embaaarassingly bad "Accidental Racist" Paisley collab with LL Cool J. But I eventually got down to it, and played it for the sake of some Playstation trophies. And surprise it's one of the most fun guitar songs on the whole damn disk.
It's kind of difficult to describe. I mean, it has all those country tropes that I don't really like: moderate tempo, slide guitar, twang... I dunno, it just feels so happy. Sounds like they're both genuinely happy about it all. It works for a lot of reasons the Milwaukee works. I'm not familiar with a lot of country, but I enjoy it cause it seems like it doesn't have to be something else, even if it does jokingly play riffs of other well known rock songs.
The dueling guitars are super fun to play along to with the many solos, and it's a great fun song to sing along with. Though it's not one that anybody'll be shouting to, it's just an all around real enjoyable song.
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So while Rock Band 4 didn't have the most exciting setlist for most people, it sure had some hidden gems for me. And I enjoy that! It's fun looking back at the songs I feel in love with that the games have introduced me to, and I'm glad to know that I can always be surprised by artists and genres that I had previously written off. Cause subverted expectations are fun!
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