The Beatles: Rock Band

Unveiled at Microsoft’s E3 press conference, the game represents the first time fans will be able to experience The Beatles’ musical career for themselves. From the early touring days in 1963 Liverpool to the immortal, final performance on the Apple Corps rooftop, fans can follow in the band’s footsteps as they traverse the globe during the height of Beatlemania. Adding to the experience is the introduction of three-part vocal harmonies to game play, allowing gamers to revel in the unparalleled vocal stylings of the Fab Four. Beatles fans will also be thrilled to hear previously unreleased authentic voice recordings from John, Paul, George and Ringo chatting between takes during studio sessions recorded at Abbey Road more than four decades ago.

Of The Beatles’ epic catalogue, 45 songs will be available on-disc. Giles Martin, co-producer of The Beatles innovative LOVE album project and Music Supervisor / Creative Producer for The Beatles: Rock Band, unveiled the first ten songs that will be available on the game-disc: “I Saw Her Standing There,” “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “I Feel Fine,” “Taxman,” “Day Tripper,” Back In The USSR,” “I Am The Walrus,” “Octopus’s Garden,” “Here Comes The Sun,” and “Get Back.” Additional songs will be announced at a later date. Along with these 45 songs, the entire Abbey Road album will be available for future download purchase, as will additional music from The Beatles’ catalogue.

It was also announced today that “All You Need Is Love,” will be released exclusively on Xbox 360®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft as a downloadable song for The Beatles: Rock Band through Xbox LIVE on September 9, 2009 with all Apple Corps Ltd, MTV Games and Microsoft proceeds benefitting Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, personally selected the international emergency medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971 as the beneficiary of the proceeds from the sales of “All You Need Is Love” for The Beatles: Rock Band. Doctors Without Borders provides aid in more than 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people caught in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation.

The Beatles: Rock Band story mode will take fans on an interactive, experiential journey through The Beatles career. Along the way, venues, set lists, clothing and instruments will relive the band’s rise to fame, represented in The Beatles’ touring period from 1963 to1966 and their studio days from 1966 to 1969.

The game begins during the band’s earliest days at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, England. Gamers will then travel across the Atlantic to experience the band’s unforgettable 1964 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the sold-out concert at New York’s Shea Stadium in 1965, and conclude at The Beatles’ memorable concert at Budokan in Tokyo, Japan in 1966. The Beatles’ studio years will come to life in legendary Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios. Highlighting the studio years are inspired artistic visual expressions known as Dreamscapes, intended to transport players to imaginative environments that capture the essence of The Beatles’ genre-busting musical and fashion transformations during their later years. The game follows The Beatles to 1969 where story mode culminates with their final performance on the rooftop of the Apple Corps Headquarters. The Beatles: Rock Band will be displayed during the 2009 E3 Media & Business Summit in the MTV Games booth in the South Hall # 2023.

As previously announced, The Beatles: Rock Band will offer a new set of hardware representing the instruments made famous by John, Paul, George and Ringo. Featured in the set are the Rickenbacker 325 and Gretsch Duo Jet guitars—hailed as two of the celebrated, signature instruments played by John Lennon and George Harrison throughout their careers. Also included is a Höfner bass controller—a large-scale version of the bass famously used by Sir Paul McCartney. Rounding out the set is a Ringo Starr inspired, Ludwig-branded Rock Band 2 drum set with a classic pearl finish and vintage remake of a Beatles kick drum head.

The Beatles: Rock Band will be available simultaneously worldwide in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other territories for the Xbox®360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system from Sony, and the Wii™ home videogame console from Nintendo on September 9, 2009. The game will be compatible with all Rock Band™ instrument controllers, as well as most Guitar Hero® and other third party music video game peripherals and microphone.

The Beatles: Rock Band marks the first time that Apple Corps, along with EMI Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Harrisongs Ltd and Startling Music Ltd has agreed to present The Beatles music in an interactive video game format. The Beatles: Rock Band will be published by MTV Games and developed by Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game company and creators of the best-selling Rock Band. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) will serve as distribution partner for the game. In addition, Giles Martin, co-producer of The Beatles innovative LOVE album project, is providing his expertise and serving as Music Producer for this groundbreaking Beatles project.

To access b-roll footage, including:

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono Lennon, and Olivia Harrison

30 seconds The Beatles: Rock Band on-stage demo performance

Alex Rigopulos CEO And Co-Founder of Harmonix Music Systems

Van Toffler, President of MTV Networks Music Group

Giles Martin, Music Supervisor and Creative Producer for The Beatles: Rock Band

The release of these downloadable tracks coincides with the U.S. release of Flight 666 on Blu-ray and DVD as well as a double-CD soundtrack album and limited edition double-vinyl picture disc. Flight 666 documents the first leg of Maiden’s legendary SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME WORLD TOUR, which took them 50,000 miles around the planet, playing 23 concerts on five continents in just 45 days. One of the stars of the movie is the band’s customized Boeing 757, Ed Force One, which carried the band, all their crew and 12 tons of stage equipment and was piloted by Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, a fully qualified and active Airline Captain with Astraeus Airlines.

Live recordings of “Aces High,” “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” “Fear of the Dark” and “Iron Maiden,” featured on Flight 666, are among those available for download in the Rock Band Music Store June 9. The other eight songs were amongst those featured on the band’s Somewhere Back in Time World Tour during the first leg of which Flight 666 was filmed. This will mark the first time master recordings from Iron Maiden have been made available on Rock Band games.

“Metal fans have wanted this one for a long time, and we’ve answered them with some of the greatest Maiden songs, both live and recorded,” said Paul DeGooyer, Senior Vice President of Electronic Games & Music for MTV. “Iron Maiden is one of the most successful and widely recognized metal bands of all time, with more than 75 million albums sold, and counting. We’re very excited to offer these tracks, and we know fans will be thrilled.”

“Fans have been asking us to do something with Rock Band for some time and this seemed to be a perfect opportunity,” said Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood. “Our recent Somewhere Back in Time tour was perhaps the most enjoyable one we have ever undertaken, and certainly the most successful with almost two million people catching the shows round the World. So it just seemed a good idea to make some of the songs we played available now so fans can play along with the band on the tour. Then we shall see if they can keep up with the band!”

Flight 666, directed by Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen with the award-winning Banger Productions team (“Metal; A Headbanger’s Journey” and “Global Metal”) contains some of the most spectacular live footage yet seen of the band, taking you on a visual global tour from Mumbai to Sydney, Tokyo to L.A., Mexico City to Costa Rica, Bogota to Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Santiago to New York and Toronto and places in-between. Filmed in stunning Hi Def, the thunderous 5.1 soundtrack was specially mixed by Iron Maiden producer Kevin Shirley to complement the picture quality as an ultimate attack on the senses. Flight 666 was recently awarded this year’s 24 Beats per Second prize for Best Music Documentary at the SXSW Film and Music Festival.

(All tracks are original master recordings)
Track Album
Aces High (live) Flight 666 (2009)
2 Minutes to Midnight Powerslave (1984)
The Trooper Piece of Mind (1983)
Wasted Years Somewhere in Time (1986)
The Number of the Beast The Number of the Beast (1982)
Run to the Hills The Number of the Beast (1982)
Can I Play With Madness Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
The Clairvoyant Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
Powerslave Powerslave (1984)
Fear of the Dark (live) Flight 666 (2009)
Hallowed Be Thy Name (live) Flight 666 (2009)
Iron Maiden (live) Flight 666 (2009)

The Iron Maiden tracks will be available for purchase as part of the “Iron Maiden Pack” or as individual tracks for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system. These tracks will be available for purchase as individual tracks only for Wii.

As previously announced, Wii Rock Band 2 owners will gain access this week to three tracks from Ministry, two classics from The Zombies and a single from The Cranberries. Additionally, 19 back-catalog tracks will be released for Wii in the Rock Band Music Store.

English rockers The Police have three tracks coming to the Wii Rock Band Music Store this week. “Can’t Stand Losing You” and “Roxanne” from the 1978 album, Outlandos d’Amour, and “Synchronicity II,” from The Police’s last studio album, Synchronicity, released in 1983.

Also this week, back-catalog tracks from Airbourne, Devil Driver, Dream Theater, Killswitch Engage, Machine Head, Hinder, Bad Religion, The Cult and GLaDOS will be released, as well as cover tracks as made famous by The Monkees, David Bowie and Sweet. Wii music fans can also download tracks from Harmonix’s own Bang Camaro, Count Zero and Freezepop.

The tracks from Ministry, The Zombies and The Cranberries will be released simultaneously with the weekly content update for other consoles. The remainder of the tracks comes from the back catalog of Rock Band music already released to owners of Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system. Wii fans can expect a rollout of previously released downloadable Rock Band content until the entire back catalog of more than 680 songs is available. With the addition of these tracks, there are now 169 tracks in the Wii Rock Band Music Store.

Release Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2009

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change **
Tracks:

Airbourne “Runnin’ Wild”
Bad Religion “Sorrow”
Bang Camaro “Rock Rebellion”
David Bowie “Heroes” *
David Bowie “Queen Bitch” *
Count Zero “Shake”
The Cult “She Sells Sanctuary”
DevilDriver “Clouds Over California”
Dream Theater “Constant Motion”
Freezepop “Sprode”
GLaDOS “Still Alive”
Hinder “Use Me”
Killswitch Engage “My Curse”
Machine Head “Aesthetics of Hate”
The Monkees “Last Train to Clarksville” *
The Police “Can’t Stand Losing You”
The Police “Roxanne”
The Police “Synchronicity II”
Sweet “Action” *

(* Denotes cover track)

Toby Keith

The “Toby Keith 6-Pack” features a compilation of Keith’s most popular songs spanning his entire career including his first number one hit “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” from his 1993 self-titled album. The 6-pack also includes the title track “How Do You Like Me Now” from Keith’s 1999 album, “Beer For My Horses” and “Who’s Your Daddy” featured on Unleashed (2002), “I Love This Bar” from Shock n’ Y’all (2003) and the title track “She’s a Hottie” from Keith’s 2008 platinum album 35 Biggest Hits.

As his fans well know, Keith is one of the most successful performers of his era — with record album sales, scores of peer and critical awards, two successful and celebrated feature film performances and untold millions of concert tickets; he has formed the basis for an entertainment empire that includes movies, restaurants, a record label and more.

All six tracks featured in the “Toby Keith 6-Pack” can also be purchased individually.

Tracks:

Toby Keith “Beer for My Horses”

Toby Keith “I Love This Bar”

Toby Keith “She’s a Hottie”

Toby Keith “Should’ve Been a Cowboy”

Toby Keith “Who’s Your Daddy?”

Toby Keith “How Do You Like Me Now”

Pearl Jam

Premiering on Saturday, March 21st at 2:30pm ET/PT on VH1 Classic, “Pearl Jam Ten Revisited” takes you on a half-hour look back at Pearl Jam’s seminal debut album, Ten that brought alternative rock to the mainstream by showcasing videos for “Even Flow,” “Alive,” “Porch” (from the band’s Unplugged performance), and the television premiere of the uncensored version of “Jeremy.” With the help of archival footage and interviews from the band the viewer will be taken back to the early 90’s to reflect on the album’s importance to alternative music. VH1 will air the special “Pearl Jam Ten Revisited” on March 25th at 11:00am ET/PT.

Pearl Jam fans also won’t want to miss MTV2’s “Rock the Deuce” beginning on Monday, March 16th through Thursday, March 19th at 8pm ET/PT and on Saturday, March 21st at 1am ET/PT when the network airs cover performances of Pearl Jam classics by artists including:

* Aaron Lewis of Staind – “Black”
* William Beckett of The Academy Is… – “Jeremy”
* Hoobastank – “Evenflow,” “Alive” and “Oceans”
* P.O.S. – “Why Go”

In addition, MTV, VH1 and VH1 Classic will celebrate Pearl Jam through the end of the month by airing blocks of other Pearl Jam music videos and feature videos and editorial on MTV.com, MTV2.com and VH1.com, as well as VH1 Classic. VH1.com and VH1Classic.com will also be celebrating the re-release of Ten by streaming the full album the week of release.

As previously announced, Ten, the debut album that sold 12 million copies and introduced the world to Pearl Jam (http://www.pearljam.com) in 1991, will also be offered for download in the Rock Band Music Store day-and-date with the re-issue of the album in stores on March 24, 2009. Ten, on Epic/Legacy Recordings, will be reissued in four new and expanded editions and will serve as the launch of a planned two-year catalogue re-release campaign leading up to the band’s 20th anniversary in 2011. Fans can preorder the re-issue of Ten now at www.PearlJam.com.

In addition, Rock Band partner Microsoft will be hosting Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron for a Game with Fame session on Friday, March 27th at 7pm ET. Fans with an Xbox LIVE® Gold membership can play Rock Band 2 with Matt Cameron by sending a friend request to Gamertag “Pearl Jam GWF” and be online half an hour before at 6:30pm ET.

Pearl Jam released Ten on August 27, 1991. The album reached #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, sold over 12 million copies and became one of the cultural touchstones of the 1990s. Songs such as “Alive,” “Black,” “Even Flow” and “Jeremy” became staples of rock radio, and still make frequent appearances on the band’s ever-changing concert set lists.