September 5, 2007
Join Super Group Line-up Coming to Rock Band™
Harmonix and MTV Games Partner with Rhino Entertainment
to bring 18 Classic
Grateful Dead Master Recordings to the Rock Band Videogame Platform
Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games,
MTV Games, a division of MTV Networks
within Viacom, and Rhino Entertainment, a
division of Warner Music Group, announced a deal that will bring the legendary
band Grateful Dead to the highly anticipated music videogame
Rock Band. The iconic
group is making 18 master recordings from its diverse catalog available as
digitally distributed game levels following
Rock Band’s release
this holiday season. Among the songs available will be the classic Dead tracks “Truckin’,”
“Uncle John’s Band,” “Touch of Grey,” “Sugar Magnolia,” and “Casey Jones.”
“Grateful Dead’s unique fusion of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, and jazz
challenged traditional musical boundaries and pushed the limits of creativity to
produce a signature sound that is undeniably their own,” stated Paul DeGooyer,
MTV’s Senior Vice President of Audio, Home Video and Electronic Games. “With an
enormous legion of fans all over the world, Rock Band will give players a chance
to interact with the music of these beloved rock pioneers and experience what
Grateful Dead did best – jam from the depths of their souls.”
Distributed by Electronic Arts,
Rock Band is an
all-new platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music like never
before. The game challenges players to put together a band and tour for fame and
fortune – all while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals. Built
on an unprecedented partnership with artists, record labels and music
publishers, the music featured in
Rock Band will span
the full range of rock music and include original master recordings from the
greatest songs and artists of all time.
“Grateful Dead, with their 30 year career and their timeless music, are the
perfect addition to Rock Band,” says Mark Pinkus, Rhino’s Senior Vice President
of Strategic Marketing, Custom Product & Sync Licensing. “It’s going to be a
blast playing along to songs ranging from the Dead’s earliest hit ‘Truckin’’ to
their final hit ‘Touch of Grey.’ I’m confident that Rock Band will be
instrumental in introducing kids to the magical music of Grateful Dead.”
Grateful Dead’s journey ignited in San Francisco’s Haight and Ashbury district
during the psychedelic ‘60s. The band, well known for constantly touring,
continued to spread their message of peace and love for another three decades
with a devoted community of fans known as Dead Heads, many of whom traveled the
country with them. Earlier this year, the Recording Academy awarded Grateful
Dead a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for its contribution to the evolution
of rock music.
Grateful Dead is the latest artist to join the vast musical downloadable
multi-track master offerings of Rock Band, joining the list of epic artists such
as Metallica and The Who’s iconic Who’s Next album, the first full album
scheduled for downloadable content, in addition to the dozens of on-disc tracks
spanning every genre of rock from alternative to classic to heavy metal.
Rock Band is slated
for release on Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and
PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system this Holiday 2007 in North America.
