Hello Rocksmith fans!
Welcome back to the 1970s, we have three brand new artists to add to Rocksmith today!
Over the weekend we learned that Funkadelic’s epic 10:23 guitar epic Maggot Brain (1971) would make it’s first music game appearance! We also learned via social media that @The_Hollies would also be appearing in the 70s Mix V pack with their swamp rock single, Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress (Distant Light – 1972). Today we can confirm (via Xbox NZ) that the third song is none other than The Commodores Brick House (Self-Titled – 1977).
- Commodores “Brick House”|Lead/Rhythm/Bass [E Standard] – [XBL] / Steam
- Funkadelic “Maggot Brain”|Lead/Rhythm [E Standard] – [XBL] / Steam
- The Hollies “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)”|Lead/Alt. Lead/Rhythm/Bass [E Standard] – [XBL] / Steam
Yup, it’s happening again for the first time since Jimi Hendrix…. We have a NO BASS song.
We should probably let @UbisoftStudioSF explain this decision later today, but in the meantime- let’s hear it from the Father of Funk himself…
George Clinton, in his 2014 memoir Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard On You?, recalled the recording session clearly, saying, “Eddie and I were in the studio, tripping like crazy but also trying to focus our emotions.” He continues, “I told him to play like his mother had died, to picture that day, what he would feel, how he would make sense of his life, how he would take a measure of everything that was inside him and let it out thought his guitar.
“I knew immediately that he understood what I meant,” Clinton wrote. “I could see the guitar notes stretching out like a silver web. When he played the solo back, I knew that it was good beyond good, not only a virtuoso display of musicianship but also an almost unprecedented moment of emotion in pop music.”
But the recording process was just the first step of the song’s evolution.
While Hazel was deep into fuzz and wah effects and experimented with phasers and flangers, most of the trippy delay and other effects threaded through his solo on “Maggot Brain” were added by Clinton in the mixdown. “When Eddie played originally it was over a more traditional slow band jam,” Clinton recalls. “I took all the other instruments off the track and then I Echoplexed it back on itself three or four times. That gave the whole thing an eerie feel, both in the playing and in the sound effects. There’s a noise at the beginning of the song that’s a chattering or chewing, and people something ask if it’s the sound of maggots feasting on the brain. I can’t say that it was. I was just trying for something fucked-up and novel.”
On the bright side we do have one of the greatest Bass lines of all time in this pack to make up for the absence of one.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Cg57iTyUQ&t=0s | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXVhmy9Z5l8 |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rywT4TcnboE&t=0s | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk40JYgRl3M |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKhqFf_5ThM&t=0s | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4anIAum9Fjc |
So what do you think? Is this the best 70s Mix yet? Or is the lack of a bass arrangement on 1/3 songs soured you completely? Let us know!
This probably is not the place to ask. I was wondering if someone could recommend any other songs that are soulful and emotally stirring like maggot bran? Really like the raw emotion of that and was hoping that there may be more in the rocksmith library. Discovered crobot and Alabama shakes threw rocksmith are there anymore hidden gems out there?
https://theriffrepeater.com/rocksmith-2014-dlc-610-70s-hits-05/
“Sweet Dreams” by Roy Buchanan
Thanks for the recommendation put the pack in my cart along with the gretta van fleet one. Funk #49 is right in my wheelhouse fun song with a great groove. Another one of those songs on the radio I love but never heard the title of.
Have you checked out Grace by Jeff Buckley?
Thanks for the tip. So many great artist out there that I never got the chance to hear.
Gary Moore, The loner / The Prophet / Still got the blues / Parisienne walkways. You’ll need to request them unfortunately one of the greatest guitar players OAT didn’t get much recognition in the states and hasn’t made it to Rocksmith yet.
I’m thinking that, and also maybe just picking it up in a Steam sale. Would have preferred CCR rather than The Hollies, but can’t really argue. I think for me, Brick House is going to be one of those songs that I wouldn’t necessarily like to listen to, but instead like to play and as for Maggot Brain? Normally this would be the kind of genre I’d go for, despite my liking of Cissy Strut for example, but Maggot Brain isn’t grabbing my attention. It’s certainly different (which is a yay from me) and some of you here are hyped for it and that can only be a good thing. 🙂 So double yay! =]
With getting The Hollies I’d like to imagine there’s a good chance we’ll get Mott The Hoople and Status Quo (and yes I’ve put in my requests 😀 ). Indeed I’d personally love to see one of the brave Rocksmith team playing Rick Parfitt’s (RIP) rhythm secion from a live version of Quo’s Caroline (or failing that, the as-live re-recording from the “Riffs” album as opposed to the slightly slower original recording on the “Hello!”). And with that? Imma stop my nerdage for the time being. XD
I originally meant this a reply and then thought it better as a separate post and didn’t remember to change the opening paragraph. Le sigh!
I’d also like to see the Hollies’ Bus Stop, King Midas in Reverse. and on a Carousel, hell, throw in Carrie Anne and make it a 4 Pack
SO happy maggot brain is in…now all I need is Gun – Race with the devil and all my 70s deep cuts are in the game (oh wait, Gun- race with the devil is from 68!!?!?!? Thats crazy!)
Waow, very nice to see Brick house in the pack ! <3
Hey TurdFerguson, you’re no real Rocksmither. Go fuck off to a retirement home.
This no bass stuff is bullshit. All Rocksmith playing, dedicated bass players should join together and fart in Ubisofts general direction tomorrow at 12:00 EST. Lol.
Will snag The Hollies but that’s about it.
This pack is so awesome that I think I’m going to buy it full price on both Xbox and Steam.
I still can’t believe we’re getting Maggot Brain tomorrow.
“Mr. Wiggles”…”your DJ for the Affair”
First off, thank you to Elliot for leading the “Bring Maggot Brain to Rocksmith Coalition”. Happy we’ve finally reached the mountaintop. This Eddie Hazel masterpiece is most definitely “one of the best guitar solos of all time.” It has been honored and covered by so many artist, to include Carlos Santana, Pearl Jam, Prince, Gov’t Mule, John Frusciante, Warren Hayes, (unfortunately Flee), Derek Trucks, Vernon Reid, Buckethead, and Prince. On Youtube, there are even a couple of violinists, and pianists covering it. The song’s got reach, and has touched a lot of people.
In accordance with the emotion Dr. Funkenstein tried to pull out of Eddie Hazel, the key moment in the song is, for me that is, at 7:27 into it. Have you ever (as an adult or child) cried so hard and long about something where, due only to muscle reaction, your body forced you to take a breath? In that breath, there’s still a sound as you inhale. That moment is what you hear at 7:27 in this song. Eddie’s guitar cries from the gut for a full 10 seconds. I often tell people, put on good quality headphones, sit in a dark room, and play this song with the volume up. That section of the song, specifically, lets all listeners know what it sounds like to express unrestrained human emotion through a guitar.
So with that, Ubisoft and Rocksmith just hit a peak for me that will be extremely difficult to surpass. (I’m still listening though)
As a fan, thank you Ubisoft for the hard work getting this song. Some folks, I’ve read, have been waiting much longer than me for it, going back to 2011. I’m sure it took a lot of work and frequent phone calls to come through on this one. Also, got to admit, that was an amazingly classy move to have it revealed in this room.
Not to be discredited, the rest of this pack is very good as well. The CCR speculation on Friday wasn’t far off. That sound is there, with the Hollies. My parents were huge Commodores fans so I grew up still hearing their music well into Lionel’s solo career. Like both additional songs.
2019 is starting off as an amazing year.
“May We Funk You?”
So, after years of waiting, I finally get Brick House and you finally get Maggot Brain except it’s not the live version with bass and they went back to not giving bass players charts to play along to for songs without bass in the original recording. Now, instead of being super excited for this pack, I’m bummed out. I remember the two of us talking about this problem years ago. I think I was saltly that they released a song by Fleetwood Mac without bass in it but at least they gave us a bass chart to play for the song. That they wouldn’t do the same for Funkadelic is an outrage in my book.
Yeah I remember that conversation too. I think somewhere in the midst of it we referenced some songs by Prince.
For Maggot Brain, I’m kind of in the middle on this one. I actually would have been disappointed if they’d used the live version, in the same way I was disappointed when they didn’t use the live version of No Woman No Cry. The live version of No Woman No Cry and track 1 off the Maggot Brain album are the definitive versions of those 2 songs. As such those are the versions we should get.
More specifically, I believe the live version of Maggot Brain that you spoke of, in another post, is actually the version off one of those special edition releases of the One Nation Under A Groove album. In that version Michael “Kidd Funkadelic” Hampton is playing the song, as by that time Eddie Hazel was so messed up on drugs, he wasn’t fully with the band. (Imagine that. He was so strung out in the 70s, George Clinton didn’t want him there.) Anyway, side note here, I read that there was a point were Kidd Funkadelic actually played Eddie’s own song, better than Eddie could. Anyway, the main thing is, Eddie Hazel is known primarily for this song. It would be wrong to give us a version that isn’t focused on him. So for those reasons, I’m glad they did not include the live version. (Kidd Funkadelic, does an amazing job with it, btw). Where I can meet you is, they could have had someone play the live bass part, or a version of, along with the version we received as DLC. I’ve heard it and it is actually a nice addition to the song without taking any of the emotion away.
I’m usually not a fan of “no bass” songs but I like this one. We can have a no bass song every week and if they pair it with 2 songs by funk bands I’ll buy it. Seriously, great pack. l requested “Brick House” years ago. Thank you Rocksmith! 🙂
Umm…maybe I spoke to soon. I thought that, like other songs without bass in the original recording, we would be given some kind of bass chart to play along to. If we’re going back to the bad old days of “no soup for bassists” than I very much have a problem with this (going back to not buying the whole pack again). This is Funkadelic. There is a live version of Maggot Brain that has bass. Can someone please explain to me why we would be given a made up bass chart for “Never going back again” but nothing at all for this?
Can’t explain FWM, but I see and can meet you half-way on Funkadelic.
…and then he named it “Maggot Brain”. Has to be the worst song name ever. Clinton took way too many drugs in the 70’s. lol
Thats so strange that the bass line would be excluded for Maggot Brain but I could see how the rhythm guitar just probably plays the same pattern behind the lead so in the end its not really a big deal . Still a good pack and commodores makes up in the bass department
You 3 must work for Rocksmith, trying to work up support so they will buy your garage, hows Kelly Clarkston coming along? Turds!
You won’t see me next week, I’ve upgraded, no more waiting on you.
Kelly Clarkson was a long time ago
https://media.giphy.com/media/l3vRgXsgEhVf5I44E/giphy.gif
It’s like I say about the Detroit lions, you keep buying, they will keep putting crap out there.
Yeah hopefully they win their next soccer game, see you next week
Some of us requested these songs, one man’s turd is another’s man’s gold nugget.
Crap is often what’s fertilizing your food.
You can thumb up and down all week long, you sheep keep throwing your cash on crap, that trailer rent will get paid for some how. Garbage songs.
It’s been almost five years since we got any new songs from the band Garbage.
I’d totally but the track why do you love me, if that got added though.
I’d really like to get #1 Crush one of these days
Oh, since you mentioned that it reminds me, I saw that the list of songs used in captain marvel had 4 figures on charts and downloads and whatever else. Some of the tracks me have but r.e.m.’s crush with eyeliner and no doubt’s just a girl we’re on there. Maybe like Gaurdians o.t.G., we’ll get a pack from there as well since I’d buy both of those tracks.
It should say had jumped or gone up 4 figures. Not sure if I did that or if that was one of those fun quirks of my spell check, which sometimes deletes more than half a sentence. Great idea, works horribly. Oh well.
I’d really like a whole No Doubt II Pack
Ditto
I wouldn’t say no. I might change my mind at some point but I just skipped, don’t speak, last time. The other two are fun to play.
Could of at least been atomic dog, keep teasing with good bands like bob seger, Mott the hoople, and ccr, then slip in night ranger, pretty tricky. I’m still not buying, I use to buy just about everything, the last year or two it been very slim pickens. Find it hard to believe people are requesting some of these crap songs
Should be “could have” or “could’ve”, never “could of”.
3/3, ???pack.
Thanks for another week of crap. Crap is not the word I wanted to use.
If you had made this rant last year after the Clarkson and Ubi packs, I might have agreed with you (at least in spirit, not with your lack of style) but, in my opinion, the DLC has been much better since then. Thank you for sharing the fact that you are indeed a Turd with the rest of us though, lol (seriously, best crazy troll job since pj-10, ?).
LOL! Oh, yeah, I remember that turd.
FINALLY MAGOT BRAIN YES !