This week’s Rock Band DLC isn’t that exciting: it’s a Bonnaroo pack with Ben Harper, Coheed and Cambria, TV on the Radio, etc. Not bad, but hardly stop-the-presses stuff. No, that’s coming June 9th with the release of a mega Iron Maiden pack tied in with the upcoming “Flight 666” documentary on VH1 (debuting June 6). Â Here’s the track list:
Aces High (live)
2 Minutes to Midnight
The Trooper
Wasted Years
The Number of the Beast
Run To The Hills
Can I Play With Madness
The Clarivoyant
Powerslave
Fear of the Dark (live)
Hallowed Be Thy Name (live)
Iron Maiden (live)
For the most part, this is over-the-top AWESOME. It’s arguably better than an album release, because it cherry-picks great tracks from several albums instead of just one. And not only does it include 8 master studio tracks, it also gets rid of several bad Maiden covers we’ve had in previous games (Run to the Hills, the Trooper, Number of the Beast). It’s arguably the best pack we’ve seen for Rock Band to date.
But I do have one small gripe (or disappointment or concern or whatever you want to call it) with the pack: Live versions of “Aces High” and, in particular, “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” I’ve long believed that HBTN could be an all-time classic Rock Band track, with fun, challenging parts across all four instruments. But if you look on YouTube or listen to Live After Death, you’ll notice that Bruce Dickinson has never been that great at singing the song live (and really, who wouldn’t?), and live tracks are always subject to some degree of wankery. Â
Maybe this is all premature and the live version will be spot-on, and I hope that’s the case: posting a sloppy version of “Hallowed Be Thy Name” would be like releasing a live version of “Stairway to Heaven” with a different, subpar arrangement. It’s a metal classic, a song that I’ve listened to in my car and imagined what it would be like playing in Rock Band, and I hope this live track lives up to the song’s lineage.
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