Hello Rocksmith fans.
Controversial subject today as we wait for the next DLC of February, 2016 to be revealed. Awhile back @pcgamingisted and I were talking about the lack of women artists in Rocksmith and decided to do a bit of exploring through the available songs to see just how much of the content varied from all dudes. We conducted the poring over data back in May, 2015. Fun fact, the lead vocal or duet data didn’t have a new addition until September because of Breaking Benjamin’s remix of Blow Me Away and then December with Skillet and Band of Merrymakers…
Forgot about The Subways, thanks George Carlinlives – ed
@toymachinesh @Rocksmithgame Aw 🙁 Need more girl bands, y’all
— Emily Gera (@twitgera) December 17, 2015
Bands that feature a woman in Rocksmith 1:
- Best Coast (Bethany Cosentino) “When I’m With You”
- Jenny O (Jennifer Anne Ogniben) “Well OK Honey”
- Pixies (Kim Deal) “Where Is My Mind?”
- Silversun Pickups (Nikki Monninger) “Panic Switch”
- Yellow Moon Band (Jo Bartlett) “Chimney”
- The xx (Romy Madley Croft) “Islands”
- The Dead Weather (Alison Mosshart) “I Can’t Hear You”
- The White Stripes “Icky Thump”
Bands that feature a woman in Rocksmith 1 DLC:
- Heart “Barracuda”
- Evanescence “Bring Me To Life”
- Pat Benetar “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”
- Grace Potter and The Nocturnals “Paris (Ooh La La)”
- Chic “Good Times”
- Pixies “Here Comes Your Man”
- Blondie “Call Me”
Bands that feature a woman in Rocksmith 2014:
- Earlyrise “Wasteland”
- Gold Motel “Brand New Kind of Blue”
- La Sera “Love That’s Gone”
- Magic Wands “Black Magic”
- Paramore “Now”
- Screaming Females “Rotten Apple”
- The Smashing Pumpkins “The Chimera” (Nicole Fiorentino)
- White Zombie “Thunder Kiss ’65” (Sean Yseult)
- Crimson “Don’t Stop”
- PAWS “Sore Tummy” (Alice Costelloe)
- Jack White “Sixteen Saltines” (Carla Azar and Brooke Waggoner)
Bands that feature a woman in Rocksmith 2014 DLC:
- The Lumineers “Ho Hey” (Neyla Pekarek)
- The Smashing Pumpkins [5 Song Pack]
- REM “Shiny Happy People” (Kate Pierson)
- Flyleaf “All Around Me”
- Heart “Crazy On You”
- Halestorm “Love Bites (So Do I)”
- A Day To Remember “If it Means A Lot To You” (Sierra Kay)
- Garbage [3 Song Pack]
- No Doubt [3 Song Pack]
- The White Stripes [5 Song Pack] (Meg White)
- Seether feat. Amy Lee “Broken”
- The Cranberries “Zombie”
- All That Remains [3 Song Pack] (Jeanne Sagan)
- The Subways
- Fleetwood Mac (Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie)
- Skillet [3 Song Pack]
- Band of Merrymakers [2 Songs]
- Breaking Benjamin [Blow Me Away]
Bands in Rocksmith that feature Lead vocals by a Woman:
- Best Coast (Bethany Cosentino) “When I’m With You”
- Jenny O (Jennifer Anne Ogniben) “Well OK Honey”
- Yellow Moon Band (Jo Bartlett) “Chimney”
- The xx (Romy Madley Croft) “Islands”
- The Dead Weather (Alison Mosshart) “I Can’t Hear You”
- Heart “Barracuda”
- Evanescence “Bring Me To Life”
- Pat Benetar “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”
- Grace Potter and The Nocturnals “Paris (Ooh La La)”
- Pixies “Here Comes Your Man”
- Blondie “Call Me”
- Earlyrise “Wasteland”
- Gold Motel “Brand New Kind of Blue”
- La Sera “Love That’s Gone”
- Magic Wands “Black Magic”
- Paramore “Now”
- PAWS “Sore Tummy”
- Screaming Females “Rotten Apple”
- Crimson “Don’t Stop”
- Flyleaf “All Around Me”
- Heart “Crazy On You”
- Halestorm “Love Bites (So Do I)”
- A Day To Remember “If it Means A Lot To You” (Sierra Kay)
- Garbage [3 Song Pack]
- No Doubt [3 Song Pack]
- Seether feat. Amy Lee “Broken”
- The Cranberries “Zombie”
- The Subways “Rock and Roll Queen”
- Skillet [3 Song Pack]
- Band of Merrymakers [2 Songs]
- Breaking Benjamin [Blow Me Away]
This leads us to the following conclusions
- Less than 8% of Rocksmith’s library (772 songs) contains bands that have members that are Women.
- under 5% of Rocksmith’s library contain songs that feature lead vocals or a duet featuring a Woman, that’s 39 songs.
Rock music has always been a pre-dominantly male dominated space but there are many women artists that can be a welcome addition to the Rocksmith library! Let’s explore a few choices.
St. Vincent
You’ve probably heard a few songs from Annie Clark in passing, maybe you’ve heard her stuff because of her inclusion on Rock Band 4. I’m gonna tell you straight up, Annie Clark isn’t a good guitarist for a girl. She’s a good guitarist period, she rips.
Check out this interview for more regarding her rich musical background.
The Pretenders √
Chrissie Hynde’s distinct raw vocals compliment the catchy guitar riffs and bass lines of The Pretenders extremely well, and I mean they had a song on BandFuse so why not?
Sleater-Kinney √
Hey look it’s the girl from Portlandia, oh wait she’s an accomplished musician in addition to being hilarious. Sleater Kinney has about four songs across Rock Band DLC and Rock Band Network, so definitely not impossible to get them on Rocksmith.
Sheryl Crow √
I really just want this song, but I will also take Marissa’s cover of it.
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts √
This song is coming eventually right? It has to be… How can it not?
Alanis Morissette
Canadian and from the 1990’s. Jagged Little Pill sold a lot of copies for a reason, and once again her songs have appeared on other music games, most recently this one.
Against Me! √
Laura-Jane Grace is a complete bad ass, coming out as trans in 2012 and then releasing an album (Transgender Dysphoria Blues) to let others know that they are not alone in their journey, and it’s raw as hell anarcho-punk as well.
Featured on the newest Guitar Hero Live as well.
Roxette √
Chances are if you don’t think you’ve ever heard Roxette, you are wrong…
Janis Joplin
Besides having an incredibly distinctive voice Janice Joplin also had an extremely talented band behind her. Tons of hits to choose from as well.
Arch Enemy √
I miss Angela… Although, Alissa isn’t bad, and she’s Canadian also so I guess I have to support that!
Alabama Shakes √
So good, and they are only getting better.
Joni Mitchell √
Whatever you do, don’t call her music “folk:” Joni Mitchell is perhaps one of the most critically revered singer-songwriters in all of contemporary American music. With her signature use of unconventional custom open tunings, of which she has used as many as 50 through her career, she has made a massive name for herself in spite of her polio reducing the mobility of her fretting hand early in her life.
Are you surprised at the lack of gender representation in the Rocksmith library? Or do such things not concern you? What women artists would you like to see show up this year? Let us know!
As always, don’t forget to request!
😉
there’s a 100 percent chance you wrote this post so that a white girl with bangs and thick-framed glasses will give you a halfhearted handjob someday
Well if it’s that sure of a chance how can I argue otherwise?
Makes u wonder if anon is a white girl with bangs and thick-framed glasses huh? Lol
who
Well, good news is we’re getting a female led band in the form of Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer in the Valentine’s Day DLC. So, is that a victory?
Alanis please.
Omg… I just watched that video and requested that song (“come and get your love”) a few weeks ago. Redbone!!!!!!
Should have been a reply to Moar STP below. Lol
Heh. Well, good to know there’s at least two of us!
Not enough indigenous native tribal music. Huge injustice to consider gender inequality over cultural under representation. I want to bring up something irrelavant to substance, focused on being topically topical. 🙄
Redbone agrees.
(Yes, I’ve requested it. Yes, it is worth requesting.)
Also, if you haven’t heard of the Iron Maidens, check them out! 🙂
I usually like to read all the comments and then comment, but everyone is quite opinionated and wordy on this one haha
I’d love to see
Orianthi
Joan Jett
Jefferson Airplane
Alanis
(More) Heart
Lacuna Coil
And there are so many other great choices! We should have a month of all female dlc 🙂
Yes! I’m up for it. And I’m a guy. A lot of great bands are female fronted.
Against Me! As said before, Laura Jane Grace kicks ass. I’d love to see an AM! pack. (Talking Transgender Dysphoria Blues, Trash Unreal, I Was A Teenage Anarchist, Walking Is Still Honest, Osama Bin Laden As The Crucified Christ)
Alabama Shakes. They’re the closest thing to Sufjan we’ll ever get. But oh well, They’re still awesome. (Gemini, You Ain’t Alone, Sound & Color, Boys & Girls, Dunes)
Beach House. Along with The Xx, they’re an indie pop group. I’d guess they don’t float the boat of a lot of people here but they sure do mine. (Master Of None, Silver Soul, Wishes, Heart Of Chambers, Levitation)
Also can we talk about how much dadrock there is in here? I mean WOW people. Dadrock far outnumbers the other genres. Plus, about 27 of the most requested bands are Dadrock. And also, I see many people both here and on other sites that, once we get a hint of new music coming, they get all of their pitchforks and torches and burn the heretics who DARE to defy the Dadrock. I’d sure as hell LOVE to see weirder/more experimental music come to Rocksmith.
Okay, Elliot’s used it, you and a few others have used it. I guess I’m the key “dadrock” demographic. Help me out, young bloods.
So… what, we should burn the masters of anything that was released earlier than last week? You want me to apologize for the foundation and predecessors of modern music? You think we should ignore the decades where electric guitar became the prominent musical instrument and the driving force for both sales and cultural identity? The various bands that inspired following generations to pick up a guitar and play it, even if it was to play something different than what they had ever heard before?
Call it cheesy if you wish, but there are some fine gems, some good talent, and more melody, harmony and riffs buried in those tracks than you probably are aware of or care to admit. I won’t deny that somewhere along the way the marketing department got in front of what they decided to call music, but don’t try to pack it all into a “dadrock” container and handwave it away.
Please, help me understand what’s in your “dadrock” category. Blues? Jazz? Folk? Oldies? Roots music? Rockabilly? Classic rock (in all its forms)? Prog rock? Fusion? Punk? Hard rock? Metal? Alternative rock? Power pop? Grunge? Industrial rock? What’s your cutoff year when music’s too old to listen to and has no value — educational, cultural or otherwise?
Well, I’ll try to help you. My take on Dadrock is, well, the oldies. Usually from the 60’s – 80’s. You know. Famed classic rock/metal. The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, etc. and etc. But because a band is pre-90’s doesn’t mean it’s dadrock. Swans released their first album in 1983 and they’re FAR from Dadrock. There is nothing wrong with liking Dadrock. Dadrock is good in small doses. I like some dadrock myself (Pink Floyd is my favorite band and Beatles is in my top 10). However, Dadrock gets annoying when it’s in excess (RS’s case). There’s also Dadrockers, who can’t just like dadrock. They must be opposed to the idea of good new music and often wish they were born in the 60’s – 80’s and claim that they were “born in the wrong generation”. And let’s not forget there are a few here that fit this category. No, I do not oppose old music because it is old (again, Pink Floyd is my favorite band). No I don’t want you to apologize for the predecessors of modern music. No I don’t think we should ignore the decades where the guitar was front and center. And for fuck’s sake no, I do not want to ignore the various bands that serve as influence to other people to go pick up an instrument. Where did you get that? Do you think I’m not aware of the talent in Dadrock? Of course I am aware. And you can call me the tumblrina of music because I hate classifing music. But it is easy to refer to said things by using labels. What’s in my Dadrock category? Mostly Classic Rock, popular Blues, Glam Metal, Hair Metal and popular Jazz. There’s no cutoff year on music. If I… Read more »
Thanks — fair enough, and I appreciate the content and breadth of your response. It wasn’t just your post that drew me out, but I will say that if (for you) 27 of the top requested bands fall into dadrock, and dadrock is undesirable… that cuts out a lot of popular history, influence, etc. (driving my reaction of “well, then, what’s left?”). But I think I get where you’re coming from: we need more balance and variety, instead of (for example) “generic 80’s hair metal pack #7″… and for Dadrockers to stop greeting everything that’s not dadrock with “this sucks — when is generic hair metal pack #8 coming out?” I’d imagine Ubi is stuck with the normal industry problems with mass appeal: “too many of the top 40 most-requested bands are dad-rock”… but for them they’re “safe bets” based on the evidence: it’s on that list for a reason (people like it, they’ve requested it, big pool of inherently guitar-driven material that was originally created for mass appeal, if released it’s almost guaranteed to make Ubi money). I guess the other problem might be that the “dad rock” bucket is loosely defined and has expanded to the point of being a catch-all for “anything older that I don’t want to listen to”, but everybody’s list is different. Not calling you out specifically, but it sure seems that people will say “Blech, dadrock. It sucks. Well, except for [band they like], and [band they like], and [band they like]. Those guys are cool.” Or I’m just noticing the ones setting themselves up as a counter to Dadrockers, so “[myband] is good; dadrock is simply unlistenable.” I can appreciate “If I like it, I like it,” and am on board with Beach House (PPP, maybe?) and the Alabama Shakes (go Brittany!)… Read more »
This… is not the response I was expecting. I was expecting you’d go a bit aggro on me. But you didn’t. You took it calmly. And plus, you said everything I wanted to say about TRR’s reaction to the few experiments with newer music. And also, you made understand some things I didn’t before. Congrats. You’re awesome.
I’m a bit glad you and I could see both sides of the coin. It’s honestly the first time I’ve seen this happen in TRR. Keep on being awesome, Moar STP.
Hey, thanks — glad I could subvert your expectations!
What can I say… Music can be so personal, and individual. It can cut to the core and get heated quickly. I don’t have to like the music someone else does the way they do, but I feel I should strive to understand and respect it. I might even get back more than that.
Keep seeking out the things you connect with, and share what you will. Hopefully everybody will get a chance to play something they enjoy.
Thanks for the exchange. Have a good journey.
just hope they re not gonna sign under the radar or high star female band for a month cause that s gonna blow dog for quarter , really , i think good ppl or good musicien or guitarist that ( yes bassist too or drummer that learn guitar or bass or even co dg of pampers ..) just want music not stats about being fair for era’s , genre , gender or any stupid word that classify or divide ppl into group. I want music or guitar because that game is about it , whoever does it .
one thing that could be fun each month a 3 pack or instrumental song that you can heard by someone playing in the street , metro ,anywhere in the world ( ps : it can be female or male ,even children and old farts)
Please NO, NO, NO 👿
Just try to release the most requested bands you can sign, if they are all female bands, I’m ok with it. But don’t start with the quota madness, it is a never ending and pointless witch hunt (next what? Ethnicity, language?)
But since you asked, I would love the following female bands:
L7
Hole
4 Non Blondes
Drain STH
Guano Apes (just the singer is a woman, ok)
Veruca Salt
i don’t care aslong as i like the vocals apart from that i can’t hear the difference anyway.
the thing is i like certain genres of music that do have quite a few girls in the band mostly singers or bassist but those band’s would never get into rocksmith.
if you’d like sth to look up:
relentless
sahara surfers
electric wizard
witch mountain
blood ceremony
fuzz manta
black moth
blues pills
i guess i could find 10 more but i’m feeling like crap today
and before anyone even tells me to “just request them”…yeah right…
btw…that last video was meant as a joke right? to me that isn’t music.
now you CAN go ahead and be all awesome “it is music to ME” yeah i don’t care i clearly said “to me”
btw i have yet to meet someone in my life who likes rotten apples on rs it’s just so unpleasent to the ears for me…
i’ll listen to sahra surfers now 🙁
Haha that bassist in the video is John Paul Jones, you know… From Led Zeppelin. I was definitely forcing my taste on you though
Make no mistake, even nails on a chalkboard is awesome when John Paul Jones is laying down a groove to it. xD
I think that the following are fun to play and accessible
The Pretty Reckless
Joan Jett
Scandal
I would also hazzard a guess that the ratio of women to men that play this game is a lot lower than the ratio of female bands in the game
You sound like an annoying troll based on some of the comments I read. Are you a 12 year old?
There should be more left handed red headed rock bands from the Netherlands… Is this really an issue? It’s a God damn music game not a fucking political engine for socio economic and gender equality game. I think we need more good music, how about pooring over the data of bands that haven’t released an album in 20 years and or are 3 chord wonders?
Also, how conservative are you?
he s a bit right , this is a game , whatever the artist if this is good ill take it , but the wowan artist they choose over 85 % to 95% to me is pure bullshit and really poor band that makes a poor very poor result , but , theres Pat Benatar Vixen Joan Jett ( and the Blackheart ) The Scnadal Lita Ford Warlock Paramore ( a good one not a radio friendly giligili one..but shes just a voice not a band or a guitar band ) i might know 5 to 10 more that escape me right now. I can talk about bands i want in a genre i want that are surely under 10 % in the game and i dont cry by creating a topic about it . I’d really love when im looking at this forum and see that next week artist gonna be a guitar centered band or a good guitarist , a band that brings energy while they play or power ballad , not some slow stuff that my counscience dies at 11 sec . if this Alanis Morissette Tina Turner The Donnas Janis Joplin Sheryl Crow Alabama Shakes Florence & The Machine Aretha Franklin Pink Bonnie Raitt Cher Shania Twain The pussycat Dolls ( i might not be surprised , but this games goes to hell if this happen ) Beyonce Rihanna Barbara Streisand anyway even listing the whole world female band list or band with one female , i don’t fucking as long as there music guitar centered band not just one persone with a voice that makes the band but because she sells a millions or more RS or UBI are gonna let them because they will bring money , poor guitar tab …anything from female before… Read more »
Tracy Chapman would be sweet
The more hardcore girl bands I can think of are The Runaways, Plasmatics, L7 and Kittie. Just to name a few
There should be more Australian bands with women vocalists in the game as well. Saw the Jezabels live they were phenomenal.
so which progressive girl on twitter are you hoping will notice you because of this blog post
Leigh Alexander obviously
Be gone you filthy GamerGater.
You know, I don’t really get involved with the whole GamerGate thing, because I’m no sure what it is. But I’ve never seen such brutal harassment as I’ve seen against people in that movement. Yeah, I’m sure GamerGaters have said some nasty things to, but I see no records of nearly as many threats of violence and harassment as I’ve seen against them.
Both sides of GamerGate are annoying TBH.
As far as the “need more women” thing goes, most rock music (and especially the harder stuff) is produced by men. That’s neither good or bad, it just is. It’s a nice op-ed piece though, I always enjoy these side articles that get me thinking differently.
Now, if you want my votes for more girl powered rock, look no further than Nightwish, Orianthi, and just for giggles, Babymetal.
Melissa Etheridge!
The Runaways, Sonic Youth, Pat Benatar, more Heart, Alanis, Jewel, Tina Turner, Joan Jett, more No Doubt, The Donnas, Janis Joplin, Sheryl Crow, Alabama Shakes, Florence & The Machine, Aretha Franklin, Hole, The Go-Go’s, Pink, more Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks solo, more Blondie, Patti Smith, Paramore, Bonnie Raitt, Mamas & The Papas, 60s-80s Cher, Pretenders, Dixie Chicks, B-52’s, Supremes.
A 60’s girl group pack could be fun.
Yes. Good stuff.
I wish we could get pack of women bass players like Kim deal, Kim gordon , Jeanette Napolitano, Julianna Hatfield and girl from superchunk
I’ve been putting in requests for pixies songs. A pack would be great. “Debaser”!
Honestly who the F*#@ cares if a song or band is mostly women or men. If it’s good quality music it should make the cut not just cause of gender. That’s just bullsh!*
:+1: I agree. I like male bands. I like female bands. I like bands with both sexes. Why should this even be an issue? I don’t hear a man or a woman playing that riff, just an awesome guitarist. Why does it matter their sex? I think it is fashionable to project sexual politics onto the video game industry. This is just someone trying to get a rise out of men to be able to quote a bunch of hate speech. You wouldn’t write a throwaway comment like “Need more girl bands” without suggesting bands that they like unless they are accusing the game of sexism. If they had said, “Need more girl bands like….” then its no longer just a troll comment. No longer an accusation. This and the fact that there are very few all female bands in the first place, makes me think that this is no more than troll-bait, and we are falling for it, just like we always do. The comment also dismisses mixed sex bands as not promoting the female agenda. That The Breeders, because Jim Macpherson is a member, dismisses the fact that Kim Deal is an absolute Rock God, as good a musician as anybody in the industry today. If a band once had a male member, but doesn’t in its current composition, disqualify it from holding “Girl Band” status or vice versa? It’s the same in the Science and IT communities. “We need more women in your Lab!” Never “We need more women in your lab, here is a list of 10 qualified candidates for the job.” I’d be more than happy to employ women in my industry, they just don’t exist in large numbers. Discussion about sexism in any area of society should be welcomed, but this seems to be… Read more »
So, Elliott is a troll to you then?
I could joke and say yes, but no I believe that Elliot has always been fair and rational in his posts. He asks for rational, reasoned, discourse always.
I think however that the question is loaded. That the answer to “Are there enough women in Rocksmith content?” has a simple answer.
You don’t listen to men or women, you listen to music. Strip away the lyrics and you have no way of knowing the sex of the musician. When men and women play music together it is not mixed gender music. It does not matter the gender of those playing to the listener.
The music *industry* may be sexist. If you want to argue from that point of view, fair enough. Do men in the music business get paid more than women might be something to discuss, but not this.
My final point would be that I believe that we need good content, regardless of who made it.
Do you have any comment as to the other points I made Mike or do you just take umbrage at my portrayal of Elliot as a feeder of gamer gate internet trolls?
I can agree to some of your points. I wasn’t really focused on your post since I was typing before I hit the sack.
I’ve requested Lita Ford songs before. Arguably the best female rock guitarist of the 80s definitely the most talented member of the runaways. I’d love to play the solo at the end of kiss me deadly
That’s a great song, I actually first heard and experienced it (at my age) because it was a cover in a less popular music video game
I would love for there to be more female musicians, especially singers, represented in Rocksmith. I like and have requested several bands that feature females.