Soundtrack
The full set list for on-disc material was announced on July 14, 2008 during E3. All 84 tracks included with the Rock Band 2 game disc utilize the songs' master recordings; 75 of these are featured tracks in the main setlist, while the other 9 tracks are "bonus songs" by independent or lesser-known bands, as well as bands made up of Harmonix employees. Featured songs include "Ace of Spades" by Motörhead, "Any Way You Want It" by Journey, "Everlong" by Foo Fighters, "Let There Be Rock" by AC/DC, "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit, "Pinball Wizard" by The Who, "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads, "Spoonman" by Soundgarden, and "White Wedding" by Billy Idol. The song "Shackler's Revenge" from the long-delayed Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy is part of the soundtrack, and signalled the eventual release of the album, which occurred in November 2008. The full album was later released for the Rock Band series as downloadable content.
Additionally, 55 of the 58 songs from the original Rock Band game disc can be exported to the player's console hard drive and used within Rock Band 2. The disc export feature was made available on the Xbox 360 version of the original Rock Band via a title update on September 4, 2008, with a cost of 400 MS Points ($4.99 USD) required to purchase a transfer license. This feature is also available for PlayStation 3 owners, however, there are presently no plans for Wii owners to do the same. Three songs from Rock Band are not transferable: "Enter Sandman" by Metallica, "Run to the Hills" as made famous by Iron Maiden, and "Paranoid" as made famous by Black Sabbath are unavailable for transfer in all versions of Rock Band, and "Monsoon" by Tokio Hotel is non-transferable in the European release of Rock Band. Each Rock Band song had to be relicensed for use within Rock Band 2.
The majority of Rock Band 2 songs on-disc can be exported for use in Rock Band 3 for a nominal fee using a code on the back of the game's manual. Nine of the songs by bands fronted by Harmonix employees were not exportable; however, the songs were released as free DLC on January 4, 2011. Five other songs—"Let There Be Rock" by AC/DC, "Any Way You Want It" by Journey, "Battery" by Metallica, "Give It Away" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, and "Spoonman" by Soundgarden—are not exportable (however, "Spoonman" and "Give it Away" are included in the soundtrack for Rock Band Blitz, which also allows the music to be used in Rock Band 3; both songs were eventually released as individual downloads, along with the remainder of Blitz's setlist).
Read more about this topic: Rock Band 2