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If you like nit-picking, you’re in for a treat. What we have hear is my incomplete list of the historical inaccuracies in The Beatles: Rock Band. I know that there was nothing the developers could’ve done about some of the things in this game – you couldn’t have Paul McCartney playing drums and bass on the same song, but I’m gonna go ahead and point out as many mistakes as I can find anyway. Note: I haven’t played this game yet, and I most likely never will. I am making a few assumptions with this list, mainly that every song will by default feature Harrison on lead guitar, Lennon on rhythm guitar, McCartney on bass, and Starr on drums seeing as how that’s how all of the promotional videos have it. If, after I get a better look at the game through YouTube and Wikipedia, any of the below claims prove to be wrong, I’ll update this post. Also, I’m assuming that Wikipedia’s credits of Beatles songs are accurate.
- “And Your Bird Can Sing”: The in-game venue is the Budokan, where the Beatles performed in June and July 1966. The song wasn’t released until August of ‘66; the Beatles wouldn’t have, and, for the record, didn’t play the song live before it was released.
- “Back in the U. S. S. R.”: Ringo Starr does not play drums on this track; Paul McCartney does.
- “Birthday”: John Lennon plays lead guitar, George Harrison plays bass and McCartney plays piano. To their credit, the music video for this song does have a weird psychedelic interlude that shows McCartney playing piano.
- “Dear Prudence”: See “Back in the U. S. S. R.”; the same applies for this song.
- “Drive My Car”: Paul McCartney (always the overachieving workaholic) plays both lead guitar and bass on this song, while Harrison plays rhythm and Lennon is confined to “vocals and cowbell.”
- “Get Back”: Harrison plays the rhythm part on this song, while Lennon plays lead guitar. It’s a shame that the game reversed this because this is some of Lennon’s tightest guitar work ever.
- “Good Morning Good Morning”: The “classic” instrument-Beatle configuration applies through most of the song, except during the brief but incredible guitar solo which McCartney, not Harrison, plays.
- “Here Comes the Sun”: Lennon doesn’t play anything on this track, and yet the game shows him playing rhythm guitar.
- “Hey Bulldog”: Lennon plays lead guitar; Harrison plays rhythm guitar.
- “I Am the Walrus”: This is one of my favorite Beatles songs so I’m especially sad about what they’ve done with this one; it’s a great song, but not for a Rock Band game. Lennon plays no type of guitar on this song; he plays piano.
- “I Me Mine”: 1) The in-game venue for this song is the Apple Corps. Rooftop; the Beatles did not play this song at their rooftop concert – personally, I think “One After 909″ would’ve been a better choice all-around instead of this song, but, you can’t win ‘em all. 2) John Lennon does not appear on this track; Harrison plays rhythm and lead guitar. (Lennon was too busy waltzing with Yoko Ono.)
- “I’m Looking Through You”: The credits on this song are a little muddled – It’s possible George Harrison doesn’t even play on this song, and it’s possible that McCartney played bass and lead and rhythm guitars, but there’s only four guys that would know for sure…
- “Revolution”: Lennon plays the bulk of the lead guitar here, but the game would have you believe that it’s played mostly by Harrison.
- “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”: McCartney plays lead guitar on this track, not Harrison.
- “Something”: Lennon doesn’t play anything on this track (except for some piano); Harrison plays lead and rhythm guitar.
- “Taxman”: See “And Your Bird Can Sing.” The same applies for this song.
- “Ticket to Ride”: Paul McCartney plays bass and some of the lead guitar here.
- “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”: When I first heard this game announced, I was sure they’d put this song in, and I hoped to see a virtual Eric Clapton, but the game neglects him completely, and as a result, it’s all thrown off. In truth, Lennon plays bass, McCartney plays piano and Harrison plays rhythm guitar.
- “Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows”: They’ve combined these two songs, but Lennon gets lost in the combination. Harrison’s sitar and vocals are coupled with McCartney’s bass and Starr’s drums, which leaves out Lennon (except for his spoken into).
Songs I have no beef with: “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Boys,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Come Together,” “Day Tripper,” “Dig A Pony,” “Do You Want to Know a Secret,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” “Eight Days A Week,” “Getting Better,” “Hello Goodbye,” “Helter Skelter,” “I Feel Fine,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” “I Wanna Be Your Man,” “If I Needed Someone,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “Octopus’s Garden,” “Paperback Writer,” “With a Little Help from My Friends,” “The End,” “Twist and Shout,” and “Yellow Submarine.”

Music, Nintendo The Beatles, The Beatles: Rock Band

I was randomly searching Wikipedia, as I often do, when I noticed that more tracks had been officially announced for The Beatles: Rock Band, so I thought that I’d look back on my suggested track listing from way-back-when to see how many I got right. An asterisk (*) denotes the songs I accurately predicted/assumed would be in the game. This list comes complete with my smart-alleck opinions about certain songs!
1. A Hard Day’s Night*
2. Boys*
3. Come Together – I didn’t put this on my original list because it’s mainly a bass and an electric piano.
4. Dear Prudence* – Bonus Track Suggestions: the Phish version of this song.
5. Don’t Let Me Down – A long time ago, there were rumors that this game would be the first in the Rock Band series to include a piano controller. It sounds like a bad idea, but, come to think of it, a lot of Beatles feature a piano.
6. Drive My Car
7. Getting Better*
8. Good Morning Good Morning* – I was hoping this song would be in the game because it features one of the best Beatle guitar solos. However… the solo is played by Paul McCartney, and I’ll bet the game shows virtual George Harrison playing it.
9. Hello Goodbye
10. Helter Skelter* – Now, this is a good Rock Band song.
11. Hey Bulldog
12. I Me Mine – I hope we get to see a virtual Yoko Ono dancing to this song.
13. I Want You (She’s So Heavy)* – This is currently the longest song in the game. I glad they didn’t leave it out because of its length.
14. I Wanna Be Your Man
15. If I Needed Someone
16. I’m Looking Through You – This 2:27 song features about a total of 25 seconds of lead guitar part.
17. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
18. Something
19. Ticket To Ride*
20. While My Guitar Gently Weeps* – After all my complaining about the wrong Beatle playing the wrong instrument, I will let the game redeem itself by including virtual Eric Clapton on this song. If there is no virtual Clapton this game is a lost cause. UPDATE: 8-21-09; I just watched the third gameplay trailer and it showed the four Beatles playing this song on top of a windy hill. No Eric Clapton in sight… are they even trying to be accurate? I have decided that I won’t buy this game, because I would find too much wrong with it and it would be unplayable for me.

Nintendo The Beatles: Rock Band

Last night Harmonix released an updated list of the track listing for the Beatles: Rock Band, which gives me another opportunity to look back at my suggested list for the game way back in March when the game was announced to see how many I’ve gotten right. Here’s the full updated list. I add my smart-alleck comments after most of them explaining why it should or shouldn’t be there. An asterisk (*) indicates a song I “called” (i. e. predicted it would be in the game).
1. I Saw Her Standing There* – The same problem applies for this song as with a lot of their early songs: aside from the guitar solo the lead guitar basically plays the exact same thing as the rhythm guitar.
2. Twist and Shout* – A great song, but I predict that it’ll seem very repetitive in a Rock Band format.
3. Do You Want to Know a Secret – I didn’t think of it before, but this song might actually be pretty good in the game.
4. I Want to Hold Your Hand* – This is actually one of my least favorite Beatles songs. A good song, but it doesn’t have much of a guitar part. They probably threw it in because it would appeal to the people who know the words who can sing along without looking at the screen.
5. Can’t Buy Me Love* – They should use the Anthology 1 version because it much more prominently features the guitar and has super-cool backing vocals.
6. I Wanna Be Your Man
7. I Feel Fine*
8. Eight Days a Week – I didn’t include this on my list because I didn’t think they’d include a song that has both a fade-in and a fade-out.
9. Day Tripper*
10. Paperback Writer
11. Taxman – I predict that this will be one of the harder songs in the game – crazy guitar solo. I wonder how the avatars will work this out because McCartney plays bass and lead… virtual double guitar?…
12. And Your Bird Can Sing*
13. Yellow Submarine – Really? How are they gonna manage this. It has no lead guitar.
14. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band*
15. With a Little Help from My Friends – While they were making sure that they had plenty of songs that utilized the three microphones they had to neglect the lead guitar in several places… like here.
16. Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows – Probably the best song in the game at this point. I suggested that “Within You Without You” should be in the game here, but I didn’t choose the remix that includes “Tomorrow Never Knows” because I wanted to see virtual Ringo playing a virtual tabla.
17. I Am the Walrus
18. Back in the U. S. S. R.* – How will the virtual Beatles work this out?: McCartney plays bass and drums on this one. This game is going to have to be historically inaccurate just so that it makes sense… which in itself doesn’t make sense.
19. Octopus’s Garden*
20. Birthday
21. Revolution* – I’m not sure how I feel about this one being in. On one hand, it’s probably one of their best guitar songs, but on the other hand it doesn’t seem right to try to make money off of Lennon’s major political statement (like Nike did that one time in the ’80s when they got sued).
22. Here Comes the Sun* – This could potentially be the hardest song in the game because the lead guitar part is fairly elaborate. They’ll probably simplify it greatly.
23. Dig a Pony*
24. Get Back* – The drum part in “Get Back” is to The Beatles: Rock Band as the drum part in “Eye of the Tiger” is to Guitar Hero World Tour.
25. I’ve Got a Feeling*
And more…* – I knew it!
My score is 15/25 guessed correctly. If only three more of my predictions could be included in the next announcement of the track listing they’d be: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (Eric Clapton avatar included), “Helter Skelter,” and “Norwegian Wood.”

Nintendo The Beatles, The Beatles: Rock Band