Hello, Rocksmith fans!
When you wish upon the Request a Song Facebook App, the Ubisoft SF Team will take your requests very far… it’s finally time for @Earth, Wind & Fire to make their Rocksmith debut! This week brings us a three-pack filled with delightfully funky bass- and guitar-filled goodness.
From their 1975 soundtrack album That’s the Way of the World we get the funk-rocker Shining Star, complete with a short but oh-so-sweet shred-tastic guitar solo as epic as the bassline! From the album Gratitude released later that same year we get the delightfully uplifting Sing a Song. Finally, from their 1978 greatest hits album The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 we get their signature tune September to appropriately celebrate the arrival of this DLC on the first of said month.
If you own a bass guitar, I absolutely urge you to play these songs; Verdine White is known as one of the most skilled bass guitarists in all of funk music, and his delectably tasty basslines are on full display here. If you don’t own a bass guitar, I urge you to try these songs on emulated bass. Even then, the guitar arrangements here certainly have no shortage of fun, challenging rhythmic patterns, especially the guitar solo on Shining Star.
I’ve seen numerous comments on Facebook and on the forums asking for more old-fashioned funk put in the game, and EWF is one of the titans of the genre. I’ve personally been requesting numerous EWF songs for well over a year now, and it’s fantastic to see them finally receive some representation. The only problem now is just thinking about all the great EWF songs that unfortunately didn’t make the cut; Let’s Groove, Boogie Wonderland, After The Love Has Gone, That’s The way of the World, Magnetic, Love’s Holiday, Fantasy, and many, many more.
Earth, Wind & Fire Song Pack – 7.99 / Steam
Earth, Wind & Fire “September” – [XBL] / Steam
Earth, Wind & Fire “Shining Star” – [XBL] / Steam
Earth, Wind & Fire “Sing a Song” – [XBL] / Steam
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf3Sk9n_HKA | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaWPhwDrWiI |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jHexNdCbsM | |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa6ujjWR8LQ | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_S1HxOIFL4 |
Is this the sort of funk you’ve been waiting for? Will you be dancing and grooving to these songs this month, or has the love for EWF gone? Let us know in the comments, and have fun! Insert Heart/Captain Planet joke here.
I get that the name of the game is Rocksmith but outside of a clever marketing choice, why should ubisoft live in the same music silo as someone who doesn’t like anything but “rock”?
God forbid you challenge yourself from time to time and step outside of your box of limitations to appreciate different styles and techniques.
Or just do what I do when I see a DLC I’m not in love with, sit tight and wait for another week.
MY BOY SYMBOLIC KNOWS WHATS UP! COB would without a doubt make me the happiest. Some amon amarth would be br00tal af more br00tal than the Deathklok DLC actually.
Is ok. Would have preferred some RHCP. Funky Monks!
Cool Pack. I too could get down with some Jazzsmith.
Rocksmith hear our pleading from satan. Wonderful thing called METAL. Can we get s’more of that? AmIright guys? Lol
I agree! 🙂 Some Death would be great. Especially the Human album and after. Or maybe some Children of Bodom, and Amon Amarth. While all three bands aren’t the most popular metal bands out there (sadly Slipknot and Avenged Sevenfold are) I would still like to see some tunes from them. But still, I like Earth, Wind and Fire so I’m happy lol 🙂
Still waiting for Coheed & Cambria – we were already told they are coming, of course that was last year I think.
You are wrong.
Want a band (or more metal) on rocksmith? Use this link right here!
—–> bit.ly/rsrequests <—–
You know, back in grade three, we had “everybody bring your favourite record to school day” and my classmates brought crap like Raffi and Sharon Lois & Bram and my teacher broke out the Earth Wind and Fire, I was there to combat all of that shit with Van Halen I and Shout at The Devil. Not only was that “rock”, but it also blew away all the other kids’ fucking minds and scared the shit out of my teacher too. THAT is rock. So yeah, this one is a skip for me. Don’t get me wrong. I love me some good funk but EWF is disco and I don’t need a card to tell me that! (no offence Huff!)
Thought I’d repost this response to bluecharm’s comment. BTW–not dissing you BC, just thought it was a good time to state this. Curious if anyone else feels the same.
What Is Rock? (might be a good topic for Elliot and the guys to cover)
Curious. With nearly 2 years DLC containing alternative rock, classic rock, blues rock, metal, and pop rock, how is “rock music” in anyways becoming the minority on Rocksmith?
It is amazing how so many people (especially with this particular EWF DLC) come off calling the music garbage, crap or whatever. For many folks on here, if your preferred musical style got bashed on the Riff Repeater, you’d quickly stand tall and defend it as the greatest thing on earth. This artform–Music–is ment to be enjoyed by all. (BTW I’m also saying this as an apology on my comments about Volbeat) If it isn’t to your liking, no problem. State that and move on. To waste time continually bashing something you aren’t into or in most cases fail to admit you simply don’t understand, serves no pupose. We all have our tastes. State that and press on. For me, EWF is my parents’ music, but I can still learn from them. Even like many of their songs.
And besides, most of what you may consider “Rock”, came from blues, gospel, and country. (key word most) In fact those three combinations gave us Chuck Berry, James Brown, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Elvis, and Ray Charles–the gateway through which many of our beloved bands passed.
It’s through a combination of styles that we have these well known artists. For example, where would Rage Against the Machine be without Led Zeppelin and Public Enemy? Where would the Red Hot Chili Peppers be without Coltrain, Miles Davis, George Clinton/Bootsy Collins and James Brown. And most of the singers in rock would not have the voice or stage presence they currently have without Howlin Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, or 90% of the artist who came out of Motown–yes including a certain 9 year old and his brothers.
So when you talk about Rock, what exactly are you talking abou? When you say it is the minority, whatever it is you’re talking about, where did that originate? The rock era began in the late 40s so there’s a lot to cover, and so much of it still remains untouched in Rocksmith’s DLC.
….and yes I’m getting my speech ready. I know if we ever see reggae, gospel, hip-hop, classical, more country, or jazz on here, folks are going to lose their minds.
I certainly know that neither Elliott nor I are afraid to shy away from at least admitting (I wouldn’t necessarily say “bashing”) the kind of music we just don’t like, like with Elliott in the Linkin Park Speculation article or myself in my recent Pantera Legacy DLC review.
You make a really interesting point with all of this; perhaps the “Rock” in “Rocksmith” really should only be a loose symbol at best; as music of an incredible array of genres can be learned from and intrinsically has artistic value. So long as it has interesting guitar/bass parts (or an instrument that can translate well to a guitar chart), what value comes from excluding it?
As a side note, am I the only one who thinks Jazz is a criminally underrated genre next to Reggae in Rocksmith (because at least we have Sublime)? The songs/artists that most closely resemble jazz in Rocksmith are mostly Sir Duke, The Police, and Lovely Day. George Benson is probably third to Gary Moore and Earth Wind and Fire for my personally most requested artists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14pitnJlcv4
Speaking of jazz guitar, to repeat my suggestion from the Notable Holes thread, how about a Jazzsmith DLC similar to the Bachsmith DLC?
Something like
* Feels So Good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNRdcsJleHI
* Take the A-Train
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV3ELc6NCEc
* The Girl From Impanema
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51r27dMRhQY
* In the Mood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiKR1HdxOSw
* Moonlight Serenade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BEmFQw5-s8
(Readers may not recognize these by name, since the songs have few or no words, but will likely recognize them all by ear.)
Dan Amrich once said in a stream that if viewers would like to request songs for either a future Bachsmith or Jazzsmith, you should fill out the request-a-song form with the title of the piece and the composer (not necessarily the artist performing it).
For instance, if I wanted to request “Take Five” (made famous by the Dave Brubeck Quartet) for a possible future Jazzsmith, I would list the title of the piece followed by its composer, Paul Desmond, rather than the most famous recording by Dave Brubeck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs
Incidentally, George Benson made an amazing cover of the song as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhSBK8VaLss
Thanks 🙂
I recently discovered that I really enjoy jazz-funk. I really don’t know anything about jazz but I’d be happy to see it in rocksmith. If so I would prefer to see songs that were recorded with an electric bass instead of a double.
Thank you all for the responses. Glad to see it all fell on understanding ears. For most of the early part of 2015 I wasn’t interested in the DLC Ubisoft put out. Some of the songs were songs I like to hear but don’t want to play, others were groups that I had absolutely no interest in. I’m not in to music with a whole lot of yelling and screaming. (probably why I’m not much into Opera). I wouldn’t go off and say it’s all crap though. Those guys (minus the opera) picked up a guitar and learned it one note at a time just like Hubert Sumlin, Eddie Hazel, Jimmie Vaughan, Saul Hudson, and Henry Garza (C’mon y’all should know at least 2 of those names) and us.
Disagree with the music, fine. Don’t trash it. In fact something that got heavily trashed almost 30 years ago has led to an amazingly good movie that’s held on to the #1 spot in the US box office for the past 3 weeks.
Oh and you are right, Jazz is amazingly absent from the DLC we’ve seen. I’ve requested a lot too. Absolutely love Breezin’ (one of the songs I requested) as well as On Broadway.
Here’s another George Benson gem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imYJpr09IgQ
Big fan of El Farol as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvRumkRr6Nc
In my capacity as D.R.E.A.D. Member 395012, I declare this DLC to be Funk and not Disco.
D.R.E.A.D. (Detroit Rockers Engaged in the Abolition of Disco) I got my card in ~1980. I still have it.
D.R.E.A.D. Code of Conduct
I will never wear platform shoes.
I will never wear zodiac jewelry.
I will never listen to disco records and/or disco stations.
Silk dresses and three piece suits are extremely suspect.
A violation of any of these conditions is punishable by ‘THE CHAIR’.”
Yep, now we’re getting somewhere.
Boogie would have made a great 4 pack.
Awesome. But we need another Earth, Wind, and Fire DLC w/ Fantasy included 🙂
And Magnetic, and Boogie Wonderland, and After the Love Has Gone, and Love’s Holiday…
And Shining Star should be followed w/ a staccato guitar DLC
*Groove Line (Heatwave)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bu-S1Tpkg8
*Be Yourself (Cameo)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68mY784mhtU
*I Wanna Be Your Lover (Prince)
How could I forget
*Brick House (Commodores)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5EmnQp3V48
There is a reason disco died…. No place in my ROCKsmith catalog for this dlc!
Disco never died it was just in hibernation mode waiting for rocksmith to awaken
#DiscoSmith
Yeah! They should limit the ROCKsmith catalog to bands in the ROCK &Roll Hall of Fame! Oh, wait…
We also need this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-2eaRD9aTc
This gives me a little bit more hope for the Sly and the Family Stone songs I’ve requested…”In Time” and “If you want me to stay” would be fantastic.
Even a little Michael Jackson – Billie Jean would be fun
I practice it every day in preparation for the coming of MJ
Yes, i have requested a bunch of Sly and the Family Stone tracks myself. And a load of Parliament and Funkadelic.
(imo) As much as I like metal/rock/stoner, funk and blues is always much more fun and rewarding to play on Bass.
Awesome pack. Can’t wait to try these on bass
Got to be honest, I hate disco and aside from Shining star, it’s disco. Yes they have good basslines, but I’m not going to bother. I’ll get shining star though, that’s a great funky song.
I am beggining to dread tuesdays! I am also confused why its called rocksmith? not just guitarsmith. rock music beggining to become the minority of the genre.
What Is Rock? (might be a good topic for Elliot and the guys to cover)
Curious. With nearly 2 years DLC containing alternative rock, classic rock, blues rock, metal, and pop rock, how is “rock music” in anyways becoming the minority?
It is amazing how so many people (especially with this particular EWF DLC) come off calling the music garbage, crap or whatever. For may folks on here, if your preferred musical style got bashed on the Riff Repeater, you’d quickly stand tall and defend it as the greatest thing on earth. This artform–Music–is ment to be enjoyed by all. (BTW I’m also saying this as an apoligy on my coments about Volbeat) If it isn’t to your liking, no problem. State that and move on. To waste time continually bashing something you aren’t into or in most cases simply don’t understand serves no pupose. We all have our tastes. State that and press on. For me, EWF is my parents music, but I can still learn from it. Even like many of their songs.
And besides, most of what you may consider Rock, came from blues, gospel, and country. (key word most) In fact those three combinations gave us Chuck Berry, James Brown, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Elvis, and Ray Charles–the gateway through which many of our beloved bands passed.
It’s through a combination of styles that we have these well known artists. For example, where would Rage Against the Machine be without Led Zeppelin and Public Enemy? Where would the Red Hot Chili Peppers be without Coltrain, Miles Davis, George Clinton/Bootsy Collins and James Brown. And most of the singers in rock would not have the voice or stage presence they currently have without Howlin Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, or 90% of the artist who came out of Motown–yes including a certain 9 year old and his brothers.
So when you talk about Rock, what exactly are you talking abou? When you say it is the minority, whatever it is you’re talking about, where did that originate? The rock era began in the late 40s so there’s a lot to cover, and so much of it still remains untouched in Rocksmith’s DLC.
….and yes I’m getting my speach ready. I know if we ever see reggae, gospel, hip hop, or jazz on here, folk are going to lose their minds.
Proper Rock – The Cult – pleeeeeeeeaaase
I’ve requested sweet soul sister and so should you!
She sell sanctuary , fire wowan , love removal machine , rain cant remember on love album it its Phoenix or love maybe both are good for guitar part
OMGYESSSSSSSSSS
Now can we have more Living Colour, Stevie Wonder and maybe a little James Brown?
+111111111111111……………………
In for this. Keep up the good work folks, much appreciated.
Shining Star and September FTW!
No guitarist worth his salt disses funk guitar!
Garbage
We’ve already had Garbage.
really looking forward to this pack!