Franz Ferdinand, Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band among new rock tracks to hit the Wii Rock Band music store

Cambridge, Mass. – May 18, 2009 - Harmonix and MTV Games today announced an onslaught of rock coming this week to the Rock Band® Music Store catalogue of downloadable content for Wii™ system, with 25 new tracks, including six songs from the eclectic and legendary Grateful Dead. This week’s music update also includes songs from The Knack, Coheed & Cambria, the B-52s, Buzzcocks, The Runaways, T-Rex, At the Gates, Evile and The Haunted. Wii Rock Band 2 owners will also gain access to tracks recently released to other gaming consoles, including Franz Ferdinand, The Allman Brothers Band, The Distillers, Prong, Luscious Jackson and Alien Ant Farm.

Wii fans can expect a rollout of previously released downloadable Rock Band content until the entire back catalogue of more than 670 songs is available.

Release Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009
** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change **

Tracks:

Franz Ferdinand “Take Me Out”
Franz Ferdinand “Do You Want To”
Franz Ferdinand “Lucid Dreams”
Alien Ant Farm “Smooth Criminal”
The Allman Brothers Band “Blue Sky”
The Allman Brothers Band “Midnight Rider”
The Distillers “Drain the Blood”
Luscious Jackson “Naked Eye”
Prong “Idealistic Types”
Prong “The Banishment”
The Knack “My Sharona”*
Coheed & Cambria “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood & Burial)”*
The B-52s “Roam”
Buzzcocks “Ever Fallen in Love”*
The Runaways “Cherry Bomb”*
T-Rex “Bang a Gong”*
Grateful Dead “Casey Jones”
Grateful Dead “China Cat Sunflower”
Grateful Dead “Franklin’s Tower”
Grateful Dead “I Need A Miracle”
Grateful Dead “Sugar Magnolia”
Grateful Dead “Truckin’”
At the Gates “Blinded by Fear”
Evile “Thraser”
The Haunted “D.O.A.”

(*Denotes a cover track)

Price: $2.00 (200 Wii Points) per track

Location: In-game Rock Band 2 Music Store (Wii Points must be purchased through the Wii™ Shop Channel)

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change **
San Francisco-based Grateful Dead, one of the defining classic rock outfits of the late 60s, delivers six songs, including “China Cat Sunflower” from 1969’s Aoxomoxoa, “Two Weeks” from 1970’s Workingman’s Dead, “Truckin’” from 1970’s classic American Beauty, “Sugar Magnolia” from 1972’s Europe ’72, “Franklin’s Tower” from 1975’s Blues for Allah and “I Need a Miracle” from 1978’s Shakedown Street.

Scottish band Franz Ferdinand will release three tracks to the Wii Rock Band Music Store this week, including the band’s signature song “Take Me Out,” from their self-titled 2004 album; “Do You Want To” from You Could Have It So Much Better (2005) and “Lucid Dreams,” featured on the album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (2009).

This week’s content update features southern rock from The Allman Brothers Band with “Midnight Rider,” featured on 1970’s Idlewild South, and “Blue Sky,” featured on the band’s 1972 classic album Eat a Peach. The Allman Brothers Band made its Rock Band debut with “Ramblin’ Man” on the Rock Band 2 soundtrack.

New York City metal band Prong will add “The Banishment” and “Idealistic Types” to the Rock Band Music Store. Both tracks are featured on Prong’s latest album, Power of the Damager (2007). In addition, Wii Rock Band fans will gain access to The Distillers’ “Drain the Blood,” from Coral Fang (2003), “Smooth Criminal” from Alien Ant Farm’s ANThology (2001) and Luscious Jackson’s “Naked Eye” from Fever In Fever Out (1996).

Rock Band 2 is available now for Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and Playstation®2 systems and the Wii System. The Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 system and Wii versions support downloadable content.

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