No disrespect to The Outlaws, but I absolutely despise their song “Green Grass and High Tides.” For me, the ten-minute southern rock monster stands as a blemish on the track listing of Harmonix’s first Rock Band game. And it’s not just because I can’t get through the song on Expert guitar, and probably never will be able to. The song itself makes me gag a little bit; it’s simply not my “thing.”
So I was both elated and upset when I heard that you’d be able to export Rock Band 1 tracks to the upcoming Rock Band 2 for a small licensing fee (reportedly less than $5). Would this mean that I would still have to fear “Green Grass and High Tides” appearing in a mystery set list? So I asked: could I not import the offending track into my Rock Band 2 library?
“You could port it over and delete it from your memory,” Harmonix’s John Drake told me, “like you manage every other song from downloadable content.”
He was quick to point out that this wouldn’t be done in-game, and would be managed entirely through your console, on the back end. But let me repeat the import part for you guys: I can delete “Green Grass and High Tides” from Rock Band. This is key, folks, and should apply to any Rock Band 1 song you’re not particularly fond of.
It should also be noted that you won’t be able to port over all of the original game’s songs to Rock Band 2; licensing issues may not allow for it. While Harmonix aren’t willing to commit and say what songs will carry over, Drake did promise it would be a good handful, saying it would be “more than 50.”
One of them had better be “Green Grass and High Tides,” because I’m already working on the maniacal laugh I’m going belt out when I delete the bastard from my hard drive this September.
