Hello Rocksmith fans!

June brought us some interesting chunks. While it was a monthly drop as usual, it was fairly organized in a way that might be familiar to 2014 fans: We got a big Bill Withers (six on lead/nine on bass) pack, a live Roxy Music three pack, a The Script seven pack, and then of course the giant-sized variety pack that is the remainder of any given update.

Best of Bass

The Bill Withers additions deliver pretty well on bass, almost all of them are worth checking out. Do It Good is exceptional among them, but the live versions of Ain’t No Sunshine and Friend of Mine can be mentioned as a lot of fun and having great energy to them as well.

The  Roxy Music live songs all deliver on bass as well. Each has their lulls in there, but on the flipside deliver great fun as a whole. The Script meanwhile are just fine, they’ll be fun for fans but won’t convert anyone new. But don’t worry, there’s still a lot of great content to talk about.

Like jazz! I’ve Found a New Baby by Django Reinhardt is a traditional jazz bass with excellent movement and variation, and Mel Torme’s version of Cheek to Cheek kicks ass as much as others we have.

Blues are often hit or miss on bass, but this patch has a surprisingly large haul of hits. If I Had Possession of Judgment Day by Eric Clapton is a blast of a B Standard bass part, though I question the voicing of some of the bends. Highway 49 by Howlin’ Wolf is a delightful blues walk, and Soulshine by Gov’t Mule is slower tempo-wise but manages to stay engaging for its entire nine minute run. Both Feels Like Rain and Key to the Highway by Buddy Guy are pretty fun as well.

And reggae gets some good parts this update too. While the parts are a bit repetitive as one might expect of the genre, both Morenita by iNi Kamoze and Ghetto Defendent by the Clash have fun riffs.

Taiwanese indie rock band No Party for Cao Dong got added to the library with Wayfarer, which comes together really well. On the poppier side, CURSI by Cardellino has a fun slide-based riff – but a single riff it is, while Elvis Presley‘s version of For the Good Times is simple and slow but varied despite that.

Best of Lead

The Bill Withers songs vary wildly on how enjoyable they are on lead, but there are some worth noting. Grandma’s Hands is probably the best, it’s great for its runtime. Do It Good, Ain’t No Sunshine Live, and I’m Here Daddy are also pretty fun as well.

The Roxy Music live songs are also enjoyable with strong lead parts when they’re there, with Oh Yeah! feeling like the least fun at ‘fine’ due to having the least in that vein while My Only Love and Dance Away are enjoyable and varied throughout.

The Script additions are all at the least fine. They all share similar building blocks, but they’re arranged sufficiently different to still play a bit differently and inform one how to use everything they have at their disposal, including things they’ve used before. Science and Faith as well as Talk You Down stand out a bit more, but Give the Love Around is also notable for being fingerpicking practice.

But there’s still a plethora of hidden gems otherwise. Taco’s electronic-influenced version of Puttin’ on the Ritz is fun for all its variety, including a tap dance solo. Wild Once by Laura Marling is essentially just two riffs, but as fingerpicked arpeggios they’re fun and good practice I feel. Chavela Vargas’s Cruz de Olvidois as fun as the ones from last patch, which were very in my opinion.

And of course, jazz as always. Allan Holdsworth’s jazz fusion cover of How Deep is the Ocean is absolute jazz fusion wankery, but it’s fun to try to challenge if you’re not opposed to seeing miss indicators a lot. We see a surprise guest this month in Willie Nelson’s Let’s Face the Music and Dance, an enjoyable bossanova lead that’s dragged down by its chord sections some. In enjoyable alt-charts, we’ve got piano in Just Us Two by Lonnie Liston Smith, phenomenal sax alt-chart in Gerry Mulligan’s A Ballad, and glockenspiel(?) for Minuit Aux Champs-Elysees by Herbie Hancock.

Finally, can’t end this section without mentioning the special content drop of MOTHICA’s Glow in the Dark, which is a fun mix of simple indie rock riffs. First song we’ve had come out in Rocksmith+ near its release (before its release, in fact), ideally not the last.

Other Notable Releases and Wildcards

The cache of Bowling for Soup B-sides we have started getting official arrangements this patch, with Suckerpunch getting lead and bass while You and Me only got lead. They’re pop punk charts, which means they’re fine but not gonna win over any new fans.

The live version of Keep Away by Godsmack from Woodstock ‘99 got lead finally, it plays like nu-metal, so same as above, enjoyable if it’s your scene and it’s not gonna bring you in if not.

If you reside in or can ‘visit’ Mexico, Go Slow by HAIM got a lead arrangement which is fun when it’s there but unfortunately a bit sparse.

Sloan got bass and lead for Penpals, which sit right in the middle of indie rock charts.

The live version of One Hundred Years by the Cure from Bestival got bass and lead, which gets stuck in droning some as expected of a seven minute Cure song.

And finally, Rachel’s Lullaby by Tommy Emmanuel (feat. Jake Shimabukuro) joined Eric Clapton and Django Reinhardt as a guitar virtuoso getting a bass arrangement this update, but unlike the other this one wasn’t really a notable experience.