Category C3 Anniversary

Apr 10 2015

April 10, 2015 – Celebrate two years of C3 with more multitrack customs!

Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only. Video recording courtesy of Lowlander. This video contains a future C3 release that we ended up bumping to a later week. Enjoy your spoilers!

C3 releases for April 10, 2015:

New! C3 Anniversary Multitracks C02 5-pack

  • Britney Spears – “…Baby One More Time” M (Dash Riprock, EmotionalDaisy, and pksage)
  • Lady Gaga – “Marry the Night” M (GreenPanda12 and Arcanon)
  • Madonna – “Borderline” M (farottone)
  • Michael Jackson – “Rock With You” M (farottone)
  • Robbie Williams – “Let Me Entertain You” M (DVDSmith)

A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass charts, a blue M denotes full multitracks, a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals), and a rusty 2x denotes that a 2x Bass Pedal version is also available. FtV denotes a song previously released by a C3 author outside of C3.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since “The Rapture”, a small group of Rock Band nerds’ dream to get just one more week of DLC. Well, somehow one week turned into one hundred, and the 26 songs we released that day became over 1,000(!). If we were Harmonix and our first week was RB1, The Beatles: Rock Band would be brand new, and we’d be preparing to release the first Tom Petty pack. And now the real Harmonix is developing Rock Band 4! What a trip, man. We’re excited to be here, and to continue to provide weekly “DLC” until Harmonix starts back up.

It’s true — as farottone recently posted on our forums, we’ll be winding down later this year in deference to RB4 and the actual developers. We’ll continue to provide a platform for community customs, and all C3 customs will continue to be available, minus any that are released as official content. We’ll give you more info as RB4’s release draws closer, but that’s a long way off, so for now…it’s party time! Like our first anniversary, we’ve got a pack full of multitrack customs for your note-missing and karaoke-ing pleasure. If you’re a stickler for that genuine Rock Band feel, look no further! And remember, you can always filter our database to show only multitracked songs.

I know we do this next bit a lot, but I’d like to take a second to appreciate everyone that’s made C3 what it is today. TrojanNemo helped get us off the ground and coded almost all of our critical tools; the current accessibility of customs authoring is almost entirely thanks to him. Fellow admins Nyxyxylyth and espher have also been there from the start, wrangling our plans and our forums and all kinds of other stuff. Our crew of dedicated authors, many of which have ALSO also been there from close to the start, make our content possible. (Special shout-outs to our most prolific authors, including Nightmare Lyra, BearzUnlimited, Gigakoops, RyanHYK, Lowlander2, drummerockband, Arcanon, Ollie, and ws54. You all rock, even if you weren’t listed!) But everyone I’ve just mentioned would agree that farottone deserves the lion’s share of the praise, even if he really hates it when I do this. farottone has produced over 350 full songs, which accounts for a full 1/3rd of our post-Rapture content. Mostly, though, he’s kept the faith this entire time, continuing to plan packs, help our authors, post on the forums, and generally be way more active than most of us. The name says that C3 is a collective, and it is, but farottone is what keeps us together. You rock, man.

Authors’ comments for this week’s releases:

  • “…Baby One More Time” – Back in February, I promised DR that I’d pick this song up for the anniversary pack. farottone reminded me of that promise yesterday, and I decided to bust ass overnight to get it done in time. I’m writing this at 3 AM as a result, but it’s Britney O’Clock somewhere! This song is the perfect addition to Toxic, one of our most-downloaded tracks, and is liquid nostalgia if you grew up with it. But even beyond its catchy vocal hooks and overall party appeal, you’ve got a chunky bassline, actual guitar on Guitar, and a driving drum beat!
  • “Borderline” – farottone says, “MFX did an incredible job at remixing the raw stems so that the song in game now sounds even better than the original. If you’re enjoying the song in Rock Band 3 a ton of credit goes to him!”
  • “Let Me Entertain You” – DVDSmith says, “A massive hit from the UK’s biggest-selling solo artist, this song is a must-have for EVERY Rock Band player. Insanely enjoyable on all instruments. And if you don’t know who Robbie Williams is, check out this video and see why he’s considered one of the greatest British artists of the last 25 years.”

See you next Friday!

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Apr 11 2014

April 11, 2014 – C3’s one-year anniversary multitrack extravaganza!

Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only. The Led Zeppelin songs had a bad audio mix at the time of recording and Too Young to Fall in Love had a missing disco beat section.  Video recording courtesy of Lowlander.

http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x1ngk0n

C3 releases for April 11, 2014:

New! C3 Anniversary Multitrack 12-pack

  • Earth, Wind & Fire – “September” M (pksage)
  • Gotye – “Somebody That I Used to Know (ft. Kimbra)” M (MFX, TrojanNemo, and pksage)
  • Lavagoat – “The House” M (AddyMilldike) (incl. “radio edit” version)
  • Led Zeppelin – “Ramble On (Vault Edition)” M (farottone)
  • Led Zeppelin – “Whole Lotta Love (Vault Edition)” M (farottone) (incl. “radio edit” version)
  • Madonna – “Ray of Light” M (Gigakoops)
  • Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” M (farottone)
  • Mastodon – “Oblivion” M (BearzUnlimited)
  • Mötley Crüe – “Too Young to Fall in Love” M (clintilona)
  • Ministry – “Watch Yourself” M 2x (DeathThreatUK)
  • Norah Jones – “Don’t Know Why” M (drummerockband)
  • Radiohead – “Reckoner” M (Nyxyxylyth)

A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass charts, a blue M denotes full multitracks, a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals), and a rusty 2x denotes that a 2x Bass Pedal version is also available.

Wow, you guys. We’re finally here. This Wednesday was the official one-year anniversary of C3’s first custom song release, and today marks the final release in our celebration. Harmonix made a point to deliver the most authentic band experience it could, and individual stems for each instrument is a big part of that. If the instrument doesn’t cut out when you miss a note, some people say, then what’s the point? Aren’t you just pressing buttons to music? This week, we’ve got twelve fully multitracked songs to give those people (and everyone else) the most authentic Rock Band experience we can. With eleven artists in tons of different genres represented by almost a dozen different C3 authors, everyone will find something to love in this pack.

This week caps off our first full year, but hopefully not our last! We’ve got tons of great releases in the pipe, and we hope you’ll stick around as we bolster your Rock Band library with hundreds of the tracks that Harmonix wasn’t able to release. Your continued support is what keeps us going, and if you like this week — or any of our other weeks! — please consider checking out our forums to join our vibrant little community.

See you next Friday, space cowboy…

Week 1 (March 7): Great Covers C02
Week 2 (March 14): St. Patrick’s Day
Week 3 (March 21): FtV FTW!
Week 4 (March 28): C3 Retrospective C01
Week 5 (April 4): Conversions & Upgrades (GH 12-pack & RBHP mega-release)
The 1-Year Anniversary Week (April 11): Twelve fully multitracked songs!

Why should you download these songs?

  • “September” – A classic of R&B, and a desperately-needed brother to official DLC’s “Shining Star”. The bassline is amazingly varied and fun, and vocalists are encouraged to belt their hearts out.
  • “Somebody That I Used to Know” – This radio earworm is a bit minimalistic, but don’t let it deceive you! The tribal drums will keep you on your toes. A good party track.
  • “The House” – AddyMilldike says: If you feel that Rock Band doesn’t have enough Doom Metal, this song is for you! Originally planned to be released on the Rock Band Network through ThatAuthoringGroup, I’m proud to let fans of Rock Band and the Rock Band Network know that this originally scrapped song will be unscrapped and released through C3. This song combines low-tuned guitars with distortion and a fast solo to give you a pretty fun song to play. As long as you don’t care about mature lyrics that is. 😉 Enjoy!
  • “Ramble On (Vault Edition)” – LED FUCKING ZEPPELIN MULTITRACKS! Right?! We’ve labeled this one a “Vault Edition”, something Harmonix did once or twice, because the mix isn’t quite identical to the album version. Every effort has been made to make it as close as possible, though.
  • “Whole Lotta Love (Vault Edition)” – One of the other huge hits from Led Zeppelin II. This song needs no introduction. (The radio edit version of this song cuts out the freeform section, like the original radio edit, but does not fade out the ending.)
  • “Ray of Light” – Rock Band’s first Madonna track! And don’t think it’s a slouch just because it’s pop; check out those guitar and keys parts in-game for a nice challenge.
  • “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” – Welcome to having this song stuck in your head for the rest of the day. This song is one of the great classics of all time, and is the perfect duet.
  • “Oblivion” – Many people who discovered Mastodon through Rock Band have been pleasantly surprised with how it translates to plastic instruments, and this is no exception. Varied, challenging drums with lots of fills, a unique bass line, interesting guitar riffs/solo, and tricky time signature changes.
  • “Too Young to Fall in Love” – clintilona says: Some of the finest early guitar riffs and solo from Mick Mars in this one. Plus a very memorable and fun to sing chorus when playing with a group.
  • “Watch Yourself” – This track was Ministry’s swan song until their reformation in 2012. DeathThreatUK is determined to bring a whole host of industrial to C3 — even more than has already been released! — so watch this space!
  • “Don’t Know Why” – This song helps fill Rock Band’s distinct lack of jazz. This familiar lead single from Norah Jones’s debut album Come Away with Me, which has sold more than 26 million copies worldwide, “Don’t Know Why” lends even more welcome variety to this week’s plethora of tracks.
  • “Reckoner” – In Rainbows was famously self-released in 2007, letting fans pay whatever they wanted, which helped kick off today’s wave of Humble Bundles and Kickstarters and stuff. This is RB’s first song from that album, and you may recognize its signature guitar line.

See you next Friday! (Again!)

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Apr 4 2014

April 4, 2014 – Celebrate half of our motto with 12 new GH ports and a huge RBHP release!

Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only. Video recording courtesy of Lowlander.

C3 releases for April 4, 2014:

New! I Can’t Believe It’s Not Guitar Hero C01 (now with fewer calories!)

  • Black Sabbath – “After Forever” M (clintilona)
    Converted from GH5 DLC
  • Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – “Her Strut” M (clintilona)
    Converted from GHWT DLC
  • Goo Goo Dolls – “Name” M (clintilona)
    Converted from GH:WoR DLC
  • GWAR – “Gor-Gor” M 2x (clintilona)
    Converted from GH5 DLC
  • John Mellencamp – “Hurts So Good” M (clintilona)
    Converted from GH5
  • Matchbox Twenty – “Real World” M (ws54)
    Converted from GH:WoR DLC
  • Mötley Crüe – “Looks That Kill” M (clintilona)
    Converted from GH5
  • Slayer – “Chemical Warfare” M 2x (clintilona)
    Converted from GH:WoR
  • Tesla – “Love Song” M (clintilona) (incl. karaoke version, see below)
    Converted from GH:WoR DLC
  • Tesla – “Modern Day Cowboy” M (clintilona)
    Converted from GH:WoR
  • Triumph – “Lay it on the Line” M (clintilona)
    Converted from GH5 DLC
  • Van Halen – “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” M (clintilona)
    Converted from GH:VH

A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass charts, a blue M denotes full multitracks, a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals), and a rusty 2x denotes that a 2x Bass Pedal version is also available.

It’s not necessarily our formal motto, but “Customs / Upgrades / Conversions / Fun” has always been C3’s mission statement. (Yes, I know it appears in a hell of a lot of places for an unofficial motto, shut up.) The “Customs” and “Fun” parts are hopefully self-explanatory, but we also deal in Rock Band upgrades — harmonies, keys, and Pro G/B — and converted songs from Guitar Hero. All of these things together are what keep the shambling corpse of the Rock Band franchise shuffling ever forward, and this week we celebrate upgrades and conversions with a huge Rock Band Harmonies Project release and twelve brand-new GH ports. Only one week of C3’s one-year anniversary extravaganza left, and it’s the actual anniversary! What’s it gonna be? What’s it gonna be?!

The Rock Band Harmonies Project is 100% the brainchild of C3 admin and all-around cool guy espher, who has poured a crazy amount of love and time into it. Back in the stone ages (2012), before an organized customs scene existed, C3 contributor PikminGuts92 posted a video of Anthrax’s “Madhouse” with harmony vocals applied via an upgrade file. This was huge at the time, and it inspired espher to start authoring harmony charts for other official RB songs. The debut RBHP release was on June 12, 2012, with ten songs from the RB1 disc, and those humble beginnings led to a truly epic undertaking. More contributors joined in (to eventually number over twenty people!), Wii upgrades were figured out courtesy of StackOverflow0x, and hundreds of charts were authored — with this week’s pack, over 500 RBHP harmony upgrades have been released! Throughout all of this, espher has been stoically producing videos, wrangling contributors, and generally doing the vast majority of the work. What a baller! espher estimates that there’s roughly 18 months left until all of the RB1 and RB2 content has been upgraded, and has two pieces of exciting news: first, that PS3 RBHP upgrades are coming soon thanks to PS3 guru TDCMark, and also that this release’s keys upgrades mark the start of a mini-project to bring keys to all RB1 and RB2 on-disc songs. If you appreciate the hard work espher has put into this project, give him a shout-out in the C3 forums! For a full list of the forty-six upgrades included in this release, including Weezer, ATR, Fleetwood Mac, Rancid, Rise Against, and Lady Gaga, check the end of this post. Visit the RBHP site link above to download them.

But we always have new songs for you, and this week’s giant Guitar Hero conversion pack (courtesy of clintilona, with a guest appearance by ws54) delivers in spades. These long-overdue ports from various GH games cover a variety of genres and difficulties, and there’s sure to be something for everyone. We have hundreds of GH ports in our back catalog (thanks, GHtoRB3!), and we try hard to ensure that new GH releases are just as polished and awesome as our original customs. And, of course, all of them feature keys and harmonies when applicable!

Week 1 (March 7): Great Covers C02
Week 2 (March 14): St. Patrick’s Day
Week 3 (March 21): FtV FTW!
Week 4 (March 28): C3 Retrospective C01
Week 5 (April 4): Conversions & Upgrades (GH 12-pack & RBHP mega-release)
The 1-Year Anniversary Week (April 11): ???

Why should you download these songs? I’ll let clintilona (and ws54) speak for themselves:

  • “After Forever” – An all time classic bang your head type riff during the verses of this song should equal an instant download for all. The sweet bass lines and drum beats only sweeten the deal.
  • “Her Strut” – Very fun song to sing and has very simple, but catchy guitar riffs throughout.
  • “Name” –  A song that reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart… Not usually my thing, but there was always something about this song that connected with me. Go ahead and sing along… You know you want to. If not, there’s some pretty nifty and unusually tuned/composed guitar work to keep you busy.
  • “Gor-Gor” – It’s like Godzilla only heavier. Drums, bass and guitar riffs that will have you banging your head. Gor-Gor Big!
  • “Hurts So Good” – Hugely popular song from the 80’s with catchy guitar licks and vocals.
  • “Real World” – This song is a conversion from GH, but all instruments received a significant layer of polish to correct subtle omissions and errors with the GH charts, especially in the Guitar solo. And of course harmonies were added. No need to wish for the Real World to stop hassling you, just download and play this song like a Honcho.
  • “Looks That Kill” – Killer guitar riff alert! Voted #41 all time by Guitar World. Also contains yet another catchy sing-along Crüe chorus, which helped it become their first big video hit on MTV back when MTV actually played music videos.
  • “Chemical Warfare” – Challenging guitar riffs and solos along with some fast Dave Lombardo drumming that should give everyone some trouble. Thrash!
  • “Love Song” – Top 10 hit in the USA and a staple on radio & MTV that includes great guitar (both acoustic & electric), including two guitar solos and an irresistible sing along towards the end. The main version only has separated audio stems for guitar bass and drums, as keys and vocals are mixed together in our stems, but the otherwise-identical “karaoke version” will let you mute that stem (and has no keys part to compensate).
  • “Modern Day Cowboy” – Challenging guitar licks and solos with some creative drumming and an outstanding vocal track make this a winner for anyone’s RB collection. I recommend playing guitar and harmonizing the ‘Cowboy’ parts. Fun stuff.
  • “Lay it on the Line” – Awesome late 70’s hard rock from Canada that’s not Rush? Yep! Two sweet guitar solos, killer drum fills & soaring vocals/harmonies should keep everyone happy and playing this one over and over.
  • “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” – Solid Eddie Van Halen riffs/licks throughout and a solo so nice he plays it twice.

See you next Friday!

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Mar 28 2014

March 28, 2014 – Images and Words full album and five C3 retrospective songs!

Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only. Video recording courtesy of Lowlander.

C3 releases for March 28, 2014:

New! C3 Retrospective C01 5-pack

  • Aerosmith – “Woman of the World” (ws54)
  • Culture Club – “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” (farottone)
  • iwrestledabearonce – “The Cat’s Pajamas” (Gigakoops)
  • Rammstein – “Links 2-3-4” (RyanHYK)
  • Simple Plan – “Grow Up” (RyanHYK)

New! Images and Words (full album) (farottone)

  • Dream Theater – “Pull Me Under” M
    Converted from GHWT, kind of
  • Dream Theater – “Another Day” M
  • Dream Theater – “Take the Time” M
  • Dream Theater – “Surrounded” M
  • Dream Theater – “Metropolis—Part I: “The Miracle and the Sleeper”” M
  • Dream Theater – “Under a Glass Moon” M
  • Dream Theater – “Wait for Sleep” M
  • Dream Theater – “Learning to Live” M

A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass, a blue M denotes full multitracks, and a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals).

One of our driving goals at C3 is to author popular songs, even if they’re not necessarily our favorites, but our authors also have free rein to author whatever they like. Many of us have released packs by our favorite artists or sought out our all-time favorite singles, and there’s still plenty to go. (Can YOU imagine authoring every one of your favorite songs?) This week we revisit some of our authors’ previous “personal releases” by adding another song by each of those artists to our catalog. ws54 brings Aerosmith’s “Woman of the World” to follow his June 28 release of “Seasons of Wither” (and TrojanNemo’s 3-pack a few months later); farottone chose Culture Club’s “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” to beef up his previous 4-pack and two single releases; Gigakoops authored “The Cat’s Pajamas” as a sequel to October’s iwrestledabearonce 3-pack; and RyanHYK revives two artists, with “Links 2-3-4” for the collaboration-authored Rammstein song “Amerika” and “Grow Up” for his Simple Plan 3-pack from August.

This week’s bonus content is a real bonus. How does the phrase “the first ever fully multitracked full album of Rock Band customs” sound to you? Does it sound good? Is it the audible equivalent of a foot massage? Then check out Images and Words, Dream Theater’s second album, in its entirety. Dream Theater is pretty big in the RB community, and this multitrack release is simply colossal.

Week 1 (March 7): Great Covers C02
Week 2 (March 14): St. Patrick’s Day
Week 3 (March 21): FtV FTW!
Week 4 (March 28): C3 Retrospective C01
Week 5 (April 4): ???
The 1-Year Anniversary Week (April 11): ???

Why should you download these songs?

  • Images and Words – I’ll let farottone handle this one:

    Images & Words is a watershed album for metal and progressive music. It redefined two genres at once: heavy metal and progressive music. There’s a before I&W and an after, and boy am I glad I was smack in the middle of it. I caught Dream Theater 5 times in the Images & Words and in the Awake tour because I HAD to see how good they were. And man, did that leave an impression on a young farottone. Images & Words is perfect: you have the best prog-metal line up ever (with Kevin Moore, that is), you have a mindboggling influx of genres (funk, pop, soul, heavy metal, hard rock, pure progressive), you have flawless execution… I feel incredibly proud and honoured that I could deliver this album in all its multitrack glory and I sincerely hope I did it justice. Some notes..

    – All songs are multitracks from the same source. Pull Me Under has GHtoRB3 charts for the most part but completely new audio. (The original GHtoRB3 release has been removed from our database; this is effectively an upgrade.)
    – All songs that originally had a fadeout have been graciously remixed *with original material only* to have a proper ending. This means you’re gonna hear an original ending for Take the Time and Learning to Live that was never released before.
    – I want to thank a few people. First of all narutostarwars123456, whose charts provided a very convenient starting point for more than a few songs in the album. Then, Dorkmaster Flek, whose tempo map for Wait for Sleep I took and tweaked. Sageamagoo, who reviewed and fixed most of my pro keys charts with great knowledge. Finally, there was a point this week when I thought I had to delay the release because of reductions. TrojanNemo stepped in to help me like the badass that he is and here we are.  And, toops, yeah, we finally made it, the album is out. 🙂

  • “Woman of the World” – From Aerosmith’s second album that also gave us the earlier C3 release “Seasons of Wither”, and therefore a little harder rock than some of their later stuff. ws54 says that at this rate he’ll have the album done  in six years.
  • “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” – Another catchy, poppy, new-wave-y Culture Club song to flesh out your songlist. Fun bass line and straightforward vocals.
  • “The Cat’s Pajamas” – From this unique band’s first album (which also gave us the C3 release “Danger in the Manger” and RBN releases “You Ain’t No Family” and “Tastes Like Kevin Bacon”), this is just the song for Keys and Vocals players. Did you feel shafted on those releases? Have fun on this one!
  • “Links 2-3-4” – If “Amerika” wasn’t enough Rammstein for you, and you desperately need an injection of Neue Deutsche Härte, this song will satisfy your urges. For a few weeks, at least. Let this riff-driven song carry you away on a gruff German trip, but watch out for the solo.
  • “Grow Up” – RyanHYK +1’s his Simple Plan 3-pack with this hidden track from their debut album, a perfect song for warming up and dropping names.

Recent fixes to previous C3 releases:

  • Crosby, Stills & Nash – “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”: Corrected broken Spanish lyrics in the outro.
  • The Cranberries – “Zombie”: Switched vocalist gender to female and some small guitar tweaks.

See you next Friday!

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Mar 21 2014

March 21, 2014 – From the Vault FTW! Eighteen FtV tracks and three new ones!

Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only. Video recording courtesy of Lowlander.

C3 releases for March 21, 2014:

From the Vault: Cracked Rear View (full album) (farottone)

  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “Hannah Jane”
  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “Hold My Hand”
  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “Let Her Cry”
  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “Only Wanna Be with You”
  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “Running from an Angel” (+drummerockband)
  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “I’m Goin’ Home” (+drummerockband)
  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “Drowning”
  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “Time”
  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “Look Away”
  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “Not Even the Trees”
  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “Goodbye”
  • Hootie and the Blowfish – “Sometimes I Feel”

From the Vault: Singles

  • Adele – “Rolling in the Deep” (espher)
  • Daniel Ingram – “Winter Wrap Up” (Nightmare Lyra and TrotPilgrim)
  • Martin Solveig – “Hello (ft. Dragonette)” (espher)
  • Muse – “New Born” (BearzUnlimited)
  • My Chemical Romance – “Dead!” G* (pksage and TrojanNemo)
  • SpongeBob SquarePants – “Electric Zoo” M (Lowlander2)

* Partial multitrack (guitar + everything else)

New! Singles

  • Modest Mouse – “Dashboard” (pksage)
  • Modest Mouse – “Trailer Trash” (Ollie)
  • OK Go – “Get Over It” M (Neversoft and pksage)
    Converted from GH5 DLC

A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass, a blue M denotes full multitracks, and a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals).

This week is the halfway point of our C3 Anniversary special, and we’ve got twenty-one songs to celebrate it! This week we recognize our From the Vault feature, which debuted as part of our second week with “Stairway to Heaven” (an excellent way to debut anything). Custom songs have existed longer than C3 has, and C3 authors aren’t the only people working hard on UGC. Whenever one of our authors wants to polish up and re-release an older song, or when a new author joins the fold and wants to bring in their back catalog, it’s FtV time. Normally we have just a handful of FtV tracks in a given release, but this week you get a full album and six singles! And hey, the usual rule applies — if you haven’t downloaded them before, they’re new to you. (And speaking of new songs, we’re not breaking our Harmonix-until-August-2012 tradition of at least three never-before-seen tracks every week, even with the FtV focus. Check out the three new songs this week too!)

Cracked Rear View is a special bonus C3 tie-in, as we’ve released several full albums in the past. If you missed them, check out Queensrÿche’s Promised Land and The Warning, Ministry’s Psalm 69, and Alanis’s Jagged Little Pill, and select the album header in-game to play them in track order. Look, I don’t want to hear it, you no-good playlist makers and Shuffle users. Album track order for life. You will listen to those B-sides and you will like it.

Week 1 (March 7): Great Covers C02
Week 2 (March 14): St. Patrick’s Day
Week 3 (March 21): FtV FTW!
Week 4 (March 28): ???
Week 5 (April 4): ???
The 1-Year Anniversary Week (April 11): ???

Why should you download these songs?

  • Cracked Rear View – Where to begin? “Let Her Cry”, “Only Wanna Be with You”, and “Hold My Hand” are all huge ’90s radio hits. Frontman Darius Rucker has one of the most distinctive voices in rock music, and one of his solo country songs (“Alright”) is also available as official DLC, a connection that I had somehow never made until today. This album doesn’t have any insane guitar licks or leg-crushing blast beats, but it’s custom-made for singing, and especially for guitar + vocals, if that’s your thing. Bust out some of these tracks at your next RB party, or play through the whole thing on the instrument of your choice for 43 minutes of legendary music. (FtV changes: Heavy changes to guitar, bass, and vocals across the board, new Pro Keys for a few songs, and some drums animation fixes.)
  • “Rolling in the Deep” – One of the most recognizable songs from modern soul star Adele, also known as “I hope you like hearing these songs during bar karaoke because they’re basically the new Hotel California”. Another huge win for vocalists, who will have to work hard to keep up with Adele’s powerful singing.  (FtV changes: Cleaned up vocals and keys.)
  • “Winter Wrap Up” – A My Little Pony song, but if MLP‘s not your thing, this song should be your one take-away. Show composer Daniel Ingram knocks it out of the park with a song that achieves new levels of catchiness with its vocal line, but has fun drums and keys, too. And it’s seasonally appropriate, since winter wrapped up just a few days ago! (FtV changes: New vocals chart, medium-sized changes to all instruments, improved reductions, and a new venue.)
  • “Hello” – Another perfect song for parties. High energy, very familiar, stupidly catchy…ideal for an upbeat pop playlist. (FtV changes: Cleaned up vocals.)
  • “New Born” – MOAR MUSE! Like several other songs this week, “New Born” has a good vocals line, but it’s got plenty going on in the bassline, too, and the other instruments aren’t slacking off either. (FtV changes: Vocals fixes, drums fixes, removed a strum lane from guitar.)
  • “Dead!” – Arguably the most rocking song in MCR’s discography returns from GH2, kind of. We’re not labeling this one as a GH@ conversion because almost nothing remains of the original, but every effort has been made to pay homage to that classic chart (including the GBO chords!) while fixing up its problems. Super fun on guitar! (FtV changes: New drum chart, many changes to guitar and bass, tube placement and pitch fixes on vocals, added Keys/PK.)
  • “Electric Zoo” – Before you protest about SpongeBob vocals, know that this song is only keys and drums! “Electric Zoo” is an instrumental from the cartoon that plays over Mr. Krabs’s amazing robot dance. Beep boop. This may be pushing the limits of what qualifies as a “song” for Rock Band purposes, but we’re not going to let that stop us. (FtV changes: Multitrack stems, the addition of reductions, and more accurate Pro Keys.)
  • “Dashboard” – The biggest single from Modest Mouse’s 2007 album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. This song’s amazing guitar hooks by Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr have been begging for the plastic guitar treatment for years — GH: On Tour doesn’t count — and it’s every bit as satisfying as you can imagine. The bass hook is super satisfying, too, and the drums are fast-paced and varied.
  • “Trailer Trash” – With “Float On” capturing the middle of Modest Mouse’s career and “Dashboard” covering their more recent releases, “Trailer Trash” steps in to represent their early work. This melancholy song from their second album is a fan favorite for its intertwined guitars and strange drum beat (reflected quite well by its RB chart). You can hear the band talk about this song in a Pitchfork interview about The Lonesome Crowded West.
  • “Get Over It” – Hey! OK Go is a textbook example of rock band evolution, going from pop hits like this one to entrepreneurial indie rock like “White Knuckles” (available on RBN) or “This Too Shall Pass”. Their first album, though, remains one of the best pop-rock records of all time, and “Get Over It” is a shining example. Best for vocalists, but fun and simple without being boring on the instrument parts.

See you next Friday!

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Mar 14 2014

March 14, 2014 – Daft Punk 6-pack and St. Patrick’s Day tracks!

Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only. Video recording courtesy of Lowlander.

C3 releases for March 14, 2014:

New! St. Patrick’s Day 2014 3-pack

  • Ash – “Orpheus” (BearzUnlimited)
  • The Cranberries – “Zombie” (Ollie)
  • Therapy? – “Nowhere” (farottone) (incl. rhythm guitar version)

New!* Daft Punk C02 6-pack (Nightmare Lyra)

  • Daft Punk – “Aerodynamic” X
  • Daft Punk – “Around the World”
  • Daft Punk – “Da Funk / Daftendirekt (Live)”
  • Daft Punk – “Digital Love”
  • Daft Punk – “Face to Face”
  • Daft Punk – “Something About Us” (FtV) (+MiltoniusPrime)

A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass, a blue M denotes full multitracks, and a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals).

It’s week two of our C3 anniversary extravaganza! Next Monday (Mar 17) is St. Patrick’s Day, and this week’s 3-pack celebrates three Irish rock bands and C3’s history of recognizing holidays in general. Even if your friends’ interest in Rock Band is waning, holiday parties with holiday songs are a great way to get them engaged! In the past year, we’ve done a Valentine’s Day pack (and an Anti-Valentine’s pack), a New Year’s Eve dance party pack, two Christmas packs, three Halloween packs, a Fourth of July pack, and even a St. Andrew’s Day pack. Wow! Much holiday. Very celebrate. Amaze.

Today’s special bonus prize is a huge Daft Punk pack, which is itself another nod to the C3 legacy — Daft Punk C01, also by Nightmare Lyra, was released in December.

Week 1 (March 7): Great Covers C02
Week 2 (March 14): St. Patrick’s Day
Week 3 (March 21): ???
Week 4 (March 28): ???
Week 5 (April 4): ???
The 1-Year Anniversary Week (April 11): ???

Why should you download these songs?

  • “Orpheus” – This song (by Northern Irish band Ash) has fast, energetic drums and some fairly challenging guitar riffs. You may know it from the soundtrack of Burnout 3: Takedown.
  • “Zombie” – One of the most Irish-y famous rock songs of all time (even if it’s not actually about the IRA) shouldn’t require any persuasion. How did this song go this long without being in RB?
  • “Nowhere” – Hard rock? Yes. Awesome hard rock guitar riffs? Yes. More great ’90s in this pack? Another band from Northern Ireland? Aye, lad, you better believe it!
  • “Aerodynamic” – Plenty of tracks from Discovery, Daft Punk’s best album (I WILL FIGHT YOU ABOUT THIS), this week! This one is famous for its blistering guitar riff that lasts almost the entire song. Can you handle it on five buttons? How about on Pro Guitar, courtesy of AddyMilldike?
  • “Around the World” – , around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world. Around the world, around the world.
  • “Da Funk / Daftendirekt (Live)” – From the now-famous Alive 2007 live album. If one Daft Punk song per song isn’t enough for you, how about at least two and half songs per song, counting all of the samples?
  • “Digital Love” – One of the happiest songs of all time, and the perfect score to use while saving your favorite blue-skinned band from a dimensional rift. Also one of the most “Rock-Band-y” songs of the pack, with actual verses and a really hard guitar solo and everything!
  • “Face to Face” – The third of our four Discovery tracks. Good on everything, but especially on vocals, where it rivals “Digital Love” for singability.
  • “Something About Us” – This down-tempo track, the only From the Vault release this week, closes out the pack. Compared to its pre-C3 release, this song now has OD, a custom venue, reductions, and other areas of general polish.

See you next Friday!

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Mar 7 2014

March 7, 2014 – Six cover songs by big-name bands, and the start of C3’s anniversary celebration!

Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only. Video recording courtesy of Lowlander. Maneater is not included in the video below, but you can check it out in full here.

http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x1f8h31

C3 releases for March 7, 2014:

New! Great Covers C02 6-pack

  • All Time Low – “Umbrella” (Rihanna) (Nightmare Lyra)
  • The Blues Brothers – “Theme from Rawhide” X K (clintilona)
  • The Byrds – “Mr. Tambourine Man” (Bob Dylan) (farottone)
  • Electric Six – “Maneater” (Hall & Oates) (pksage)
  • Huey Lewis and the News – “Heart and Soul” (Exile) (RyanHYK)
  • Metallica – “Die, Die My Darling” (Misfits) (Nightmare Lyra)

A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass, a blue M denotes full multitracks, and a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals).

Can you believe it’s almost been a year since we got started? It seems like only yesterday we were wee babbies, screaming for our metaphorical Cheerios. Our anniversary is the second full week of April, and we’re celebrating by releasing special themed packs all throughout March, with a big surprise ending on the final week that we know you’ll love. These themed weeks will explore individual aspects of what makes C3…C3, and will recall many of our past releases. (Don’t worry, though — many of these weeks have other songs on top of the special theme.)

Week 1 (March 7): Great Covers C02
Week 2 (March 14): ???
Week 3 (March 21): ???
Week 4 (March 28): ???
Week 5 (April 4): ???
The 1-Year Anniversary Week (April 11): ???

One thing we strive to do at C3 is engage you guys with cool themed packs, and Great Covers C01 (released May 24, 2013) was cooler than cool. You might say it was…ice cold? This week we revisit that theme with six cover songs by six very different bands, from Metallica to The Byrds and everything in between.

Why should you download these songs?

  • “Umbrella”: Everyone knows this one — thanks, pop radio! All Time Low’s version is super energetic and fun, and will be a big hit at parties, arties, arties, ey, ey, ey.
  • “Theme from Rawhide”: If you’ve never seen the show, you might know this one as “Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin'”. The show is awesome, the Blues Brothers are awesome, and this song is awesome to sing.
  • “Mr. Tambourine Man”: This version is arguably more famous than Dylan’s, and was very influential in early folk rock. Has some surprisingly fun guitar hooks!
  • “Maneater”: Story time! This song was commissioned as part of an Electric Six Kickstarter by a certain someone who happens to be a long-standing member of the Rock Band community. “Released” just two weeks ago, this song is the catchiest effing thing you have ever heard, and is fun on almost everything (sorry, Keys). And it has a <Dick Valentine voice> so-loooo.
  • “Heart and Soul”: This song is a Huey Lewis institution in its own right. If you need persuading to download a track by Huey Lewis and the News, I can’t help you.
  • “Die, Die My Darling”: Sorry we don’t have any Misfits yet, but this is the next best thing! From the Metallica covers album that brought you “Turn the Page” and “Whiskey in the Jar”, this song’s engaging vocals and fairly easy chord patterns make it an excellent choice for “voxtar” (guitar + vocals).

Fixes uploaded in the last week to previous C3 releases include:

  • Bullet for My Valentine – “Hand of Blood”: Fixed some broken talkies.
  • Keane C01 3-pack: All three songs have higher-quality album art, “Is It Any Wonder?” has an improved mix, and a stem assignment issue was fixed in “Everybody’s Changing”.
  • Shania Twain – “That Don’t Impress Me Much”: Added some missing snare hits and practice sections.

See you next Friday!

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