Hey Rocksmith fans!
As the leaves finally start to fall from the trees in the US, so too does the Rocksmith news change. Rocksmith 2014 has been delisted (thanks for everything!), and the piano beta for Rocksmith+ has started! But if you were thinking the piano update would cater solely to keys (like I kinda was), you’re in for a surprise! A full album of lead and bass for Death’s Symbolic album, as well as a ton of Fear Factory and Misfits which, while not as demanding, is certainly more guitar-leaning music. And that’s not all. There’s a lot, there’s so much, and I’ll do my best to quickly guide you to some quality stuff, well-known or not, that you might not have caught in the deluge.
BASS
Billy Joel songs tend to have pretty strong basslines, and the additional songs with the piano beta bring a few more. My Life and Piano Man notably have strong basslines as core parts of their sound, the former being octave jump heavy with a variation of techniques in playstyle that keep it top shelf. Just the Way You Are and Vienna are slower songs with slower basslines as well, but they throw in stuff to stay engaging with small flourishes.
The whole Symbolic album by Death is worth going through at least once, each song has a few dips into a bit of the death metal riffs that don’t keep me engaged, but they are dips because the other parts of the songs are fun, strong offerings. Misanthrope, Perennial Quest, Symbolic, and Without Judgement are the stand-outs among this quality offering, they all have small dips but are absolute blasts overall, with Perennial Quest having a fun proggy feel to it while Symbolic is very chuggy instead.
In poppier offerings Se Suponia by Espinoza Paz is a surprise darkhorse this patch, being a phenomenal slow bass with great variation and movement. Meanwhile, Television/So Far So Good by Rex Orange County brings some octave jumps in the journey throughout the song and HAIM’s The Wire’s return from 2014 brings a fairly simple part with some major breaks in it that is brought up by a repeating fill.
With the piano beta, there was a huge influx of Ubisoft soundtrack songs. None of these are anything I think most players were waiting for, but in addition to them all having great piano pieces to learn (we’ll cover that elsewhere), there’s certainly a few fun basslines in there. Ghost in the Keys by Halloween Thrills from Just Dance is a corny song, but it’s got a fun bass with a ton of techniques such as slides and harmonics as well as just very engaging in its movement. Fight Song from the Flower Planet by Gareth Coker is technically a song from a Nintendo game! And it’s got a fun orchestral bass part with some play around octaves in there. And finally, Rainbow Six Siege European League Theme by Toxic Avenger builds up to a very fun line built around jumping strings in its outro, though it certainly takes its time getting there.
Moving to more classic rock stuff, the two Outlaws songs that snuck in a few patches ago both got bass arrangements this patch and are quite fun, Hearin’ My Heart Talkin’ slightly moreso than Dirty City, but I recommend both. The Pretty Things songs that have been around in the library both also got authentic arrangements this patch, which play as you’d expect of 60s beat music, pretty fun for the short runtime. And the Mamas and Papas gets another authentic bassline with Straighter Shooter, a fun blues rock riff it stays just slightly too much in. Finally, Rock by Rick Derringer gets the bass arrangement it was missing for a time, and like any other from the artist, I’ll just say: Lotta fun, totally recommend.
Jazz gets noticeably less love as bigger artists as focused in the WMG deal, but of course there’s still tons of it to chart so we still get some. Ramsey Lewis’s Limelight is a great jazz bass that scales up and down the fretboard, while Au Privave (Live) by the Klazz Brothers and Cuba Percussion is a quite technical part that challenges the players with a bass solo. If those sound too intimidating, this patch also brings an authentic arrangement to Belle and Sebastian’s lounge jazz cover of the Primitives’ Crash, which also is also great fun but much lower energy and less likely to leave you cross-eyed from heavy moment than the other two mentioned.
Lotta punk this update, Misfits as well as Circle Jerks getting some more authentic arrangements. Most of the offerings are fun enough for punk fans, but there’s a few worth mentioning for folks less into the genre that want to check out some stuff that stands out. Helena and Scream by the Misfits are fun, the former using fun shapes in movement and the latter being Bad Religion-esque (positive) for people more familiar. Circle Jerks meanwhile have Behind the Door which has a little more activity than a lot of their stuff that mostly stays in root note boxes. Additionally, the Joneses’s cover of Crocodile Rock is a very punk sound with a rockabilly bassline, which means great energy and movement.
In Funk/R&B/Soul, Still Sound by Toro y Moi has a great funky bassline built around powerchord shapes, while Quik Groove V by DJ Quik is yet another nice groove with fun variations. Additionally, another Bobby McFerrin song gets a bass arrangement, and while it might be one of the weaker offerings, it’s still very good, most of the others are just incredible.
And then there’s a random handful in other genres. Anamanaguchi(!)’s song from the Scott Pilgrim game, Another Winter, has a fun slide in its main riff as well as a fun bridge, The Batman Theme by Danny Elfman(!) is a bit empty at times but enjoyable when it builds up. The Fool (Live) by Robert Gordon and Link Wray is a fun bouncy rockabilly bass, while Hangin’ ‘Round the Mistletoe by Brooks and Dunn is a… fun bouncy country bass.
LEAD
The entirety of Death’s Symbolic album is superkiller to play on lead, and explores a lot of techniques in death metal, including I think every song having a tapping practice section that tends to play different than others on the album. It’s a real treat, I recommend going through at least one time to see what you can get from it. Incredible addition that really shows off the strength of Rocksmith+’s set-up.
While the Ubisoft additions seem clearly added for piano, there’s a lot of fun riffs to pick up on guitar too. Fight Songs from the Flower Planet, Welcome to the Republic, and Live Goes to the Extreme (by Steve Ouimette who rhythm game veterans might recall from GH3’s arrangement of The Devil Went Down to Georgia) are all blasts – the first also being an orchestral alt-chart. Most of the other offerings are still good fun to go through, but I’ll mentioned Heart of the Hero for its vocal alt-charting and When the Morning Shines In for its mountain folk-esque riffs.
A few of classical pieces Ubisoft has added also have lead alt-charts. Brahms’ Lullaby, Minuet in G Major, and Ode to Joy are all short and simple but engaging and iconic parts. Additionally, Decomposing Composers by Monty Python finally gets an authentic lead arrangement, which is a goofy alt-charting through various classical riffs.
Speaking of alt-charts, jazz is chocked-full of ‘em this time. Donna Lee by Charlie Parker and Groovin’ High by Dizzy Gillepse are both blasts of horns alt-charts, while Au Privave (Live) by Klazz Brothers and Cuba Procession is a fantastically fun, rarely-seen piano alt-chart. Rain Man by Rex Orange County and Always by Kenny G are both sax alt-charts that are quite fun, though the former is pretty short and the latter is weaker than some of the other Kenny G alt-charts.
Alicia Keys got a number of new songs (and returning deactivated ones!) this patch, and Show Me Love (ft. Miguel) brings a nice acoustic part with sufficient variation. Meanwhile, King Harvest brings a fun alt-charting and lead in A Little Bit Like Magic. Going a little poppier on piano-driven songs, Television/So Far So Good by Rex Orange County is a fun pop epic while Somewhere Only We Know by Lily Allen has a surprisingly fun fingerpicking part when it finally comes in.
Some more Billy Joel added with piano which is always nice, but if you’re looking for something that might grab you on lead She’s Always a Woman is the most engaging I feel, with fun arpeggios though a bit too repetitive. Hearin’ My Heart Talkin’ by the Outlaws has a great southern rock solo, and Billy Ocean got a few new songs including a cover of No Woman No Cry(!) that has some fun reggae lead in it.
Getting into heavier sounds, Nirvana by MUCC has great lead parts and the solo is equally great practice to run through as a drill. Messages by Flock of Seagulls is on the punkier side of new wave, with a fun driving single note lead. Mouths of Ghosts by Dillinger Escape Plan has a good mix what you play, but silence and chord sections impact it a bit. And finally, like Linkin Park before them, Fear Factory brings some 00’s nu-metal sound that’s great for folks who love it, but Linchpin might be the only one that’s really tempting to folks less inclined, and even that’s difficult to play on a six-string.
Finally, a few songs of various genres scattered throughout the library as always. Llegasta a Mi Vida (Live) by Bobby Pulido has some great lead bits in there, and Oyeme Nena (Acoustic) by Los Amigos Invisibles is fun when it’s not stuck in its chord. In some of the surprising additions, Another Winter by Anamanguchi is an absolute blast throughout, while the Batman Theme by Danny Elfman also is surprisingly fun throughout.
And we haven’t even dug into the new hotness with piano just yet. What a patch, huh? Oh, and with recent promises of new artists before the end of the year, who knows we’ll see next. Tons of things from this patch I’d love to see followed up too, and I’m sure there’s a few secrets they’re still not letting us in on just yet. We’ll see how rockin’ into the new year goes!
