Note: Videos may contain authoring issues that have been fixed, and are for preview purposes only. Video recording courtesy of Lowlander.

C3 releases for March 21, 2014:
From the Vault: Cracked Rear View (full album) (farottone)

• Hootie and the Blowfish – “Hannah Jane”
• Hootie and the Blowfish – “Hold My Hand”
• Hootie and the Blowfish – “Let Her Cry”
• Hootie and the Blowfish – “Only Wanna Be with You”
• Hootie and the Blowfish – “Running from an Angel” (+drummerockband)
• Hootie and the Blowfish – “I’m Goin’ Home” (+drummerockband)
• Hootie and the Blowfish – “Drowning”
• Hootie and the Blowfish – “Time”
• Hootie and the Blowfish – “Look Away”
• Hootie and the Blowfish – “Not Even the Trees”
• Hootie and the Blowfish – “Goodbye”
• Hootie and the Blowfish – “Sometimes I Feel”

From the Vault: Singles

• Adele – “Rolling in the Deep” (espher)
• Daniel Ingram – “Winter Wrap Up” (Nightmare Lyra and TrotPilgrim)
• Martin Solveig – “Hello (ft. Dragonette)” (espher)
• Muse – “New Born” (BearzUnlimited)
• My Chemical Romance – “Dead!” G* (pksage and TrojanNemo)
• SpongeBob SquarePants – “Electric Zoo” M (Lowlander2)

* Partial multitrack (guitar + everything else)
New! Singles

• Modest Mouse – “Dashboard” (pksage)
• Modest Mouse – “Trailer Trash” (Ollie)
• OK Go – “Get Over It” M (Neversoft and pksage)
  Converted from GH5 DLC

A red X denotes Pro Guitar/Pro Bass, a blue M denotes full multitracks, and a blue K denotes a “karaoke” multitrack (separated vocals).

This week is the halfway point of our C3 Anniversary special, and we’ve got twenty-one songs to celebrate it! This week we recognize our From the Vault feature, which debuted as part of our second week with “Stairway to Heaven” (an excellent way to debut anything). Custom songs have existed longer than C3 has, and C3 authors aren’t the only people working hard on UGC. Whenever one of our authors wants to polish up and re-release an older song, or when a new author joins the fold and wants to bring in their back catalog, it’s FtV time. Normally we have just a handful of FtV tracks in a given release, but this week you get a full album and six singles! And hey, the usual rule applies — if you haven’t downloaded them before, they’re new to you. (And speaking of new songs, we’re not breaking our Harmonix-until-August-2012 tradition of at least three never-before-seen tracks every week, even with the FtV focus. Check out the three new songs this week too!)
Cracked Rear View is a special bonus C3 tie-in, as we’ve released several full albums in the past. If you missed them, check out Queensrÿche’s Promised Land and The Warning, Ministry’s Psalm 69, and Alanis’s Jagged Little Pill, and select the album header in-game to play them in track order. Look, I don’t want to hear it, you no-good playlist makers and Shuffle users. Album track order for life. You will listen to those B-sides and you will like it.
Week 1 (March 7): Great Covers C02
Week 2 (March 14): St. Patrick’s Day
Week 3 (March 21): FtV FTW!
Week 4 (March 28): ???
Week 5 (April 4): ???
The 1-Year Anniversary Week (April 11): ???

Why should you download these songs?

• Cracked Rear View – Where to begin? “Let Her Cry”, “Only Wanna Be with You”, and “Hold My Hand” are all huge ’90s radio hits. Frontman Darius Rucker has one of the most distinctive voices in rock music, and one of his solo country songs (“Alright”) is also available as official DLC, a connection that I had somehow never made until today. This album doesn’t have any insane guitar licks or leg-crushing blast beats, but it’s custom-made for singing, and especially for guitar + vocals, if that’s your thing. Bust out some of these tracks at your next RB party, or play through the whole thing on the instrument of your choice for 43 minutes of legendary music. (FtV changes: Heavy changes to guitar, bass, and vocals across the board, new Pro Keys for a few songs, and some drums animation fixes.)
• “Rolling in the Deep” – One of the most recognizable songs from modern soul star Adele, also known as “I hope you like hearing these songs during bar karaoke because they’re basically the new Hotel California”. Another huge win for vocalists, who will have to work hard to keep up with Adele’s powerful singing.  (FtV changes: Cleaned up vocals and keys.)
• “Winter Wrap Up” – A My Little Pony song, but if MLP‘s not your thing, this song should be your one take-away. Show composer Daniel Ingram knocks it out of the park with a song that achieves new levels of catchiness with its vocal line, but has fun drums and keys, too. And it’s seasonally appropriate, since winter wrapped up just a few days ago! (FtV changes: New vocals chart, medium-sized changes to all instruments, improved reductions, and a new venue.)
• “Hello” – Another perfect song for parties. High energy, very familiar, stupidly catchy…ideal for an upbeat pop playlist. (FtV changes: Cleaned up vocals.)
• “New Born” – MOAR MUSE! Like several other songs this week, “New Born” has a good vocals line, but it’s got plenty going on in the bassline, too, and the other instruments aren’t slacking off either. (FtV changes: Vocals fixes, drums fixes, removed a strum lane from guitar.)
• “Dead!” – Arguably the most rocking song in MCR’s discography returns from GH2, kind of. We’re not labeling this one as a GH@ conversion because almost nothing remains of the original, but every effort has been made to pay homage to that classic chart (including the GBO chords!) while fixing up its problems. Super fun on guitar! (FtV changes: New drum chart, many changes to guitar and bass, tube placement and pitch fixes on vocals, added Keys/PK.)
• “Electric Zoo” – Before you protest about SpongeBob vocals, know that this song is only keys and drums! “Electric Zoo” is an instrumental from the cartoon that plays over Mr. Krabs’s amazing robot dance. Beep boop. This may be pushing the limits of what qualifies as a “song” for Rock Band purposes, but we’re not going to let that stop us. (FtV changes: Multitrack stems, the addition of reductions, and more accurate Pro Keys.)

• “Dashboard” – The biggest single from Modest Mouse’s 2007 album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. This song’s amazing guitar hooks by Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr have been begging for the plastic guitar treatment for years — GH: On Tour doesn’t count — and it’s every bit as satisfying as you can imagine. The bass hook is super satisfying, too, and the drums are fast-paced and varied.
• “Trailer Trash” – With “Float On” capturing the middle of Modest Mouse’s career and “Dashboard” covering their more recent releases, “Trailer Trash” steps in to represent their early work. This melancholy song from their second album is a fan favorite for its intertwined guitars and strange drum beat (reflected quite well by its RB chart). You can hear the band talk about this song in a Pitchfork interview about The Lonesome Crowded West.
• “Get Over It” – Hey! OK Go is a textbook example of rock band evolution, going from pop hits like this one to entrepreneurial indie rock like “White Knuckles” (available on RBN) or “This Too Shall Pass”. Their first album, though, remains one of the best pop-rock records of all time, and “Get Over It” is a shining example. Best for vocalists, but fun and simple without being boring on the instrument parts.

See you next Friday!

FtV: Cracked Rear View (full album)

Additional authoring credits: Expert Bass by drummerockband

Additional authoring credits: Expert Bass by drummerockband

FtV: Singles

New! Singles