Rock Band is for Boys
November 3, 2007 27 Comments
One of my favorite aspects of video games is the ability to completely immerse myself into a game. Whether I am breeding pinatas and caring for a garden, or fighting the Covenant while trying to save Earth, or building theme parks and cleaning up vomit, I am those characters. Playing make believe is fun.
Rock Band is an amazing concept because the fantasy of being an idolized rock star is a very common one. To hear the deafening roar of a crowd insisting on an encore must be the ultimate experience. We will all have a shot at living that dream, or at least pretending to live that dream, on November 20th. Unfortunately the female’s experience won’t be quite as fulfilling as the male’s.
Rock Band recently released their complete licensed track list. Of those songs, three of them feature a female lead singer. How am I supposed to immerse myself in this game when the 42 of the 45 official songs are sung by a male? I understand the need to prioritize quality songs before anything else, but variety is the spice of life. Having options is important and there are not many in this game.
This is Rock Band’s complete track list. The songs with female lead singers are highlighted. Don’t blink, otherwise you will completely miss them.
1960s
- Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter” – Mick Jagger (male)
1970s
- Aerosmith “Train Kept a Rollin’”* – Steven Tyler (male)
- The Who “Won’t Get Fooled Again” – Roger Daltrey (male)
- Boston “Foreplay/Long Time” – Brad Delp (male)
- Mountain “Mississippi Queen” (cover) – Leslie West (male)
- The Police “Next to You” – Gordon Sumner (male)
- David Bowie “Suffragette City” – David Bowie (male)
- Black Sabbath “Paranoid” (cover) – Ozzy Osbourne (male)
- Blue Oyster Cult “Don’t Fear the Reaper” – Donald Roeser (male)
- The Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” – Joey Ramone (male)
- Deep Purple “Highway Star” – Ian Gillan (male)
- KISS “Detroit Rock City” – Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss (male)
- Molly Hatchet “Flirtin’ With Disaster” – Danny Joe Brown (male)
- The Outlaws “Green Grass & High Tides” (cover) – Hughie Thomasson (male)
- Sweet “Ballroom Blitz” (cover) – Brian Connolly (male)
1980s
- Rush “Tom Sawyer”* – Geddy Lee (male)
- Bon Jovi “Wanted Dead or Alive” – Jon Bon Jovi (male)
- The Clash “Should I Stay or Should I Go” – Mick Jones (male)
- Faith No More “Epic” – Mike Patton (male)
- Pixies “Wave of Mutilation” – Frank Black (male)
- R.E.M. “Orange Crush” – Michael Stipe (male)
- Iron Maiden “Run to the Hills” (cover) – Bruce Dickinson (male)
1990s
- Foo Fighters “Learn to Fly” – Dave Grohl (male)
- Metallica “Enter Sandman” – James Hetfield (male)
- Nirvana “In Bloom” – Kurt Cobain (male)
- Stone Temple Pilots “Vasoline” – Scott Weiland (male)
- Weezer “Say It Ain’t So” – Rivers Cuomo (male)
- Smashing Pumpkins “Cherub Rock” – Billy Corgan (male)
- Radiohead “Creep” – Thom Yorke (male)
- Beastie Boys “Sabotage” – Michael Diamond, Adam Yauch, Adam Horovitz (males)
- Hole “Celebrity Skin” – Courtney Love (female)
- Garbage “I Think I’m Paranoid” – Shirley Manson (female)
- Soundgarden “Black Hole Sun” – Chris Cornell (male)
2000s
- The Hives “Main Offender” – Pelle Almqvist (male)
- Queens of the Stone Age “Go With the Flow” – Josh Homme (male)
- The Strokes “Reptilia” – Julian Casablancas (male)
- Jet “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” – Nic Cester (male)
- OK Go “Here It Goes Again” – Damian Kulash (male)
- Nine Inch Nails “The Hand That Feeds” – Trent Reznor (male)
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps” – Karen O (female)
- Red Hot Chili Peppers “Dani California” – Anthony Kiedis (male)
- Coheed & Cambria “Welcome Home” – Claudio Sanchez (male)
- Fallout Boy “Dead on Arrival” – Patrick Stump (male)
- The Killers “When You Were Young” – Brandon Flowers (male)
- New Pornographers “Electric Version” – Carl Newman (male)
Track List [ign.com]
Rock Band has also released information about some of the downloadable songs which will be available after the title comes out. Included in that is “the entire Who’s Album “Who’s Next,” Metallica’s “One,” and eighteen songs by The Grateful Dead“. Hhhmmm, … don’t see any females there either.
I don’t think games need to be tailored to females. I do think however that someone should have looked over the track list at some point and noticed the glaring omission of female singers. I already wasn’t thrilled that the only option will be the complete bundle with all the instruments until an unspecified date in 2008. Add to that the USB hub that will be powered by an AC adapter in order to plug in all of the instruments. And on top of that? The fact that John Riccitiello has already said Rock Band will be in short supply at least until March 2008.
Come on Rock Band, give me a reason to buy you because you are still not on my must have list.
I’m not much of a rock person, but I don’t really know many female singers of the rock genre. I know Kelly Clarkson is into rock now though.. they could have used some of her songs…
Do you know any female singers/bands of the rock variety?
Personally, I wish they would have other genres besides rock. I want pop. I want techno!
Furthermore, does Guitar Hero have many female songs? Nope.
They should add more female songs in that game as well.
I understand that you have to use a microphone in rock band, and since its called “rock band”, there should be more songs for the ladies out there, so they can feel like a real rock band, singing and playing songs that are more comfortable for them.
But maybe there could have been a licensing issue in trying to acquire some female songs.. that could be an excuse..
but either way, I personally don’t know many woman rock singers/bands- do i think they should have catered more to the women audience? Absolutely- I agree with you 100 percent.
Add to that a frustrating mega-bundle, and a peculiar way of set-up, and what you got is many people avoiding it. Rock Band is one of those games that gets so much hype and attention for, but when it is released, it BOMBS.
I myself will never buy this game.
I may give it a try, but as I said before, I’m not a huge fan on rock.
I like Blitzkreig Pop and I Wanna Be Sedated (The Ramones)
Far Away (Nickelback) Dance Dance (Fallout Boy) and Chasing Cars (Soul Patrol) {these are rock songs, right??}
and of course a few others.. especially that remix of Lips of an Angel on DDR Hottest Party for the Wii!
I can not stand is heavy metal rock at ALL. It makes me cringe.
Either way, I’m getting DDR Universe 2… and DDR Hottest Party..which is already out! Theres a song called Love Shine that is translated from japanese to english,and its so cool! : )
I LOVE LOVE SHINE!! XD
Yay DDR!! ^_^
The goddess has spoken! No one buys Rock Band!
LOL …
Silver, Guitar Hero does have a spattering of songs sung by females, but it is different because you are the guitarist. In Guitar Hero you get to choose your character, and they have (I think) four females to choose from. So it is much easier to immerse yourself in that regard. My favorite songs are still the ones that are sung by females though. Hit Me with Your Best Shot is a blast to play! And I like all the ones by Heart in all the different series as well.
I’m just really disappointed in their lack of female lead singers in this game. *sigh
There’s a lack of female singers in the rock industry compared to the guys anyway. Female singers are found more so in other genres, I’m not saying they couldn’t have found a few more songs compared to 3, but I don’t think it was a “No, that’s a girl singer” issue.
I think they actually didn’t even consider the gender of the band members when picking songs and picked them solely on the “Rock out” factor.
I do think a little bit of No Doubt and some of The Donnas would have been a good addition to the later years, I don’t know too many female singers from the 70′s and 80′s though. Of course, we don’t know the licensing issues they faced in getting these songs.
I believe I heard you say that you won’t be using the microphone because you don’t like singing (in front of others) if that is the case, I don’t see why female singers should be an issue in comparison to Guitar Hero since you can be just the Guitarist, Bassist, or Drummer. Song choice is tougher for the Rock Band crew because they have to make sure that all 4 parts have something worth playing.
Excellent points. I still think they probably had room to include females a bit more than they did though.
If I got the game (which I don’t plan on doing), I would play all four of the sections. I am not going to fork over almost $200 and just play the guitar. Do I want to sing all male songs though? No. Just one of the many reasons why I don’t think I will be getting this title.
Thanks Angel for calling them out for NOT THINKING about us! As I recall there were more than one or two female rock bands in the 70′s and 80′s (some more pop than rock) but off the top of my head, Heart, Bangles, Go-gos and a slew of female lead singers.
I’ll stick with cleaning vomit up before going out to get Rock Band.
Sigh….I’d like to do more than serve drinks, bake cakes or schlep around town opening beauty salons in a female form!
Well maybe if there were more female songs Angel would be more inclined to sing. I can sing songs that guys sing but it’s weird because you have to usually sing an octave up when it’s too low and then sing in the regular octave when they sing higher. And it just is a little weird. I know there are a ton more guy rock singers but 45 songs? I’m sure we could find a lot more songs by women. I know way more females who enjoy singing more than the guys I know. It would be much cooler if there were a few more females thrown in there.
I know one that could have put in. Blondie’s Heart of Glass was a favorite of mine in high school. We did a cover of it and it’s a song that really is a lot of fun to play.
I’m not sure how having only three female singers is going to change the game experience for anyone, Rock Band is a game, for both genders, and all the female rockers I know don’t care if the singers female or not. Rock band is realy just to be enjoyed, I’m sure the gender of the singer won’t realy effect how awesome the game is.
Well, at least 3/4 of those songs are absolute shit.
BS, may I introduce you (and your readers!) to The Gossip?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5VmjEyV2tNQ
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yiRHcA6nPUE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=poBPu8quCkk
I would LOVE to see “Standing in the Way of Control” as DLC. I’m still getting rock band… we’ve already got our band named and everything! lol
They need to break out some of the girl fronted punk-rock. Bring out some Spitboys, Bikini Kill, Ashes, etc.
Here’s a better live video of it:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_bVXcGNOreY
Yeah, that’s her singing Nirvana at the beginning. Beth Ditto is awesome.
Killing Heidi
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DMwNi6pUiSk
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vlaRx0ZbzjY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GQ8zmDelZyE
Magnapop (Come On is good, too, but Lay It Down is better… but I can’t find a vid of it.)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XyC3nKi3YpI
Save Ferris
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1F5Ye-g9i2U
Letters to Cleo
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xFDYKO_OWjg
http://youtube.com/watch?v=f2VhGk31Zi8
Veruca Salt
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8AI95BVkiW0
http://youtube.com/watch?v=O0HjzD_GiaQ
There’s a lot of GREAT chickrock out there. If they didn’t find any, it’s because they weren’t looking for it.
I saw this and thought it was a good read. Maybe it’ll explain a bit of what the Rock Band producers were thinking when they were selecting their songs.
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2007/11/02/rock-band-audio-director-on-selecting-songs-pissing-off-co-workers-part-1-of-2/
Well it all makes perfect sense now. Of course no females could meet the stringent Rock Band requirements. They must have let those three songs sneak by somehow.
/sarcasm
Thanks for posting those Talli. I’m gonna check them out later tonight!
Awww come on! Where is the Chefs “Salty Balls?!” LOL I don’t need a female voice to rock out with the drums in rock band! Although space restrictions don’t allow for the purchase of this game I am still intrigued by it.
Chef”s Chocolate Balls, Cayote? lol!
Perhaps if Rock Band Bombs, the company will get an idea of what works and what does not.. so Rock Band 2 will be much better ^_^
I’m surprised they didn’t throw some Evanescence or No Doubt or Avril Lavigne on there… Emily Haines (Broken Social Scene/Metric) would be a nice selection. Stevie Nicks would’ve been a fine choice too.
The bottom line is that you have to search harder because there’s simply less female vocalists out there in rock music.
I think that list needs more Janis Joplin =P
Or sonic youth >_>
Thank you for that list. I’m now going to force my friends to get Rock Band (sadly lacking both Xbox and time for Xbox). Curious mix of songs, I think. I love the recent things, but the earlier stuff seems a little too much towards the GHII era metal stuff, you know? I’m not a hardcore player, but I have a lot of the songs from it, and I just can see myself massacring the notes. Honestly, I could go without seeing my friends doing David Bowie or KISS. (Ballroom Blitz would be hilarious, I’ll admit.)
Perhaps it’s less the industry’s fault that there are few female singers, rather the other industry’s fault (the music industry.) It’s just so hard to make a career, you know? All these female rock singers just up in the mainstream flow doing pop and crap like that.
Oh well.
Let’s face it, Rock Band isn’t going to bomb. I was bummed that the songs were nearly all male songs as well, but after I downloaded all the songs to check ‘em out, almost all of the songs, whether they’re male or female sung, are good for any voice range. They picked songs that were sung high enough for girls to sing as well, for after all, the person that was in charge of picking out the songs for this game is in fact, female. So although this selection of songs is seriously lacking some ‘Heart’ (lol) I still think will game will be extremely fun and I can’t wait to get it in a few days :)
You’ll have to come back and let me know what you think of it after spending some time on it! Have fun. :)
Okay, so there’s ONE more female song, woohoo! I’m still majorly upset with the lack of female vocals on that puppy, but if I really wanted to sing that badly I’d just get sing star and belt it out xD. But the other female song is “I’m so sick” by Flyleaf. Good band, good song, and hearing people trying to hit some of the screamer notes is hilarious! I’d say drums are the most fun thing to play on Rock Band, but just being with all your friends and taking turns on the vocals is hysterical, especially at 2 in the morning. I’d say buy it just to have a great time with your friends :)
Perhaps one day I will. That one song you mentioned sounds awesome fun!
After playing for a few days, I have to say that I’m disappointed in the lack of female leads. I can sing a lot of the more atonal stuff (Ozzy), but songs like Creep are in too low a range for me, and I have to totally switch keys mid-song (which sounds like crap) to hit half this stuff.
Boo!
I still dig the game, but am definitely disappointed with the lack of Blondie, Pat Benatar, Heart, The Gossip, or even Melissa Etheridge (while not my cup of tea, she’s undoubtedly heartland rock). Where are Annie Lennox, Concrete Blonde, Stevie Nicks, The Cranberries, Liz Phair, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Throwing Muses, and No Doubt?
You have to remember in a game like this the song not only has to be somewhat good for the vocalist but also for the bassist, guitarist and drummer…some of the songs that have been mentioned above for female vocalists do not have that.
And for the fact that there are people that think that Rockband should have pop etc, there is a reason it is called ROCK band…not music band. Personally, 99% of the reason I like it is because when I am playing I dont feel like I am in a club. If you want to listen/play with that music play dance dance revolution, they have those types of songs. And on that play list there are several more women vocalists…