Next week's Rock Band Weekly brings the announced three-pack from Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown album. The tracks are apparently the first offerings from an "exclusive partnership" between Harmonix and Warner Music to bring the band's songs to the platform. Green Day isn't even the angriest band this week ...

Green Day Pack (440 / $5.50/ 200 Wii Points apiece)

• "21 Guns" (160 / $2)
• "East Jesus Nowhere" (160 / $2)
• "Know Your Enemy" (160 / $2)

Mayhem Pack (1080 / $13.50/ 200 Wii Points apiece)

• "Conquer All" -- Behemoth (160 / $2)
• "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse" -- Black Dahlia Murder (160 / $2)
• "Hammer Smashed Face" -- Cannibal Corpse (160 / $2)
• "Empire of the Gun" -- God Forbid (160 / $2)
• "Embedded" -- Job for a Cowboy (160 / $2)
• "Disposable Teens" -- Marilyn Manson (160 / $2)
• "Black Magic" -- Slayer (160 / $2)
• "This Is Exile" -- Whitechapel (160 / $2)

All tracks are original masters and are available for download next Tuesday on Xbox 360 and Wii. They make their way over to PS3 on Thursday.

Rock Band Wiikly's tap has flowed with massive quantities of tracks for weeks now. Sure, the releases aren't exactly synced with Rock Band Weekly, but the back catalog of Rock Band DLC is certainly being filled in. Our concern that it would take until mid-2010 for the full catalog sync is slowly dissipating. This week's update of 16 tracks to the Wii music store includes the Pearl Jam tracks from a couple weeks back, along with a whole mess of other stuff. Find the full list after the break.

You may not know this, but April is actually the biggest month of the year for banjo sales in the US. You see, the annual Jugband Jamboree takes place in April each year, across various states in the country, but nobody attended this year thanks to those darn Guitar Heroes, Rock Bands, and Singstars.

A new report (via GI.biz) came up with the data, based on research done by firm Interpret. In fact, aside from the staggering 25 million US gamers that got down with one music game or another, data showed that these gamers purchased 67% more CDs than those who didn't enjoy rhythm-based games. In addition, 29% of these wannabe rockers actually downloaded or streamed a music video in the past three months (compared to the 15% that partook overall), and 45% listened to music via a social network (versus 32% overall). So, as much as celebrities like to bash these kinds of games, it's helping more folks get into music, which, to us, is a good thing.

As part of its sponsorship of the Vans Warped Tour, Harmonix will be giving attendees a chance to play Rock Band with the actual bands performing. The strange thing about Harmonix's post about this promotion is that the developer gives the name of the bands you'll have the opportunity to play with, but not the location of the tour at that time. So, take a look at the list of bands after the break and compare them to the tour stops in your area.

It looks like Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison have more to do with The Beatles: Rock Band than thrilling journalists at Microsoft's E3 media briefing. In an interview with Crispy Gamer, the game's lead designer, Chris Foster, intimated that the former Beatles, along with Ono and Harrison, have shared quite a bit of input with the team at Harmonix.

Foster calls the group "the shareholders," and states that they helped put together the song list, its venues and gave input as to whether the game's "dreamscapes" adequately supported the songs. "They looked over all the characters, the animations ... they really kept us honest on whether we were capturing the spirit of the band as they were performing, which was a huge challenge for us," says Foster, noting that it's necessary to capture the joy that The Beatles expressed when playing.

According to Foster, seeing the former Beatles and their widows at Microsoft's E3 briefing "is about as validating as everything." He adds, "They don't get together for almost anything ... it has to be something important, something they believe in."

Rock Band Wiikly's main attractions this week are the geeks who became chic and the manorexic musical visionary-turned-slice-of-beefcake. Weezer, Nine Inch Nails and many other bands are added in this week's update of 16 tracks to the Wii music store. Find the full list after the break.

Individual songs (200 Wii points apiece)

• "One of THOSE Nights" -- The Cab
  
• "Hands Down" -- Dashboard Confessional
  
• "California Über Alles" -- Dead Kennedys
  
• "Holiday in Cambodia" -- Dead Kennedys
• "Police Truck" -- Dead Kennedys
• "All Right Now" -- Free
• "Burn" -- Nine Inch Nails
• "Capital G" -- Nine Inch Nails
• "Last" -- Nine Inch Nails
• "They Say" -- Scars on Broadway
• "This is it" -- Stained
• "Electric Crown" -- Testament
• "Yomp" -- thenewno2
• "Dreamin'" -- Weezer
• "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" -- Weezer
• "Troublemaker" -- Weezer

All tracks are masters and will be downloadable tomorrow, June 23.

In addition to this week's Rock Band Weekly featuring Maroon 5 and artists from the Warped Tour, those pranksters at Harmonix snuck in some Pearl Jam tracks. The three tracks were bundled with the re-release of Pearl Jam's Ten album earlier this year.

Pearl Jam Ten Bonus Pack (440 / $5.50)

• "Brother" (160 / $2)
• "Alive (Live: Drop in the Park)" (160 / $2)
• "State of Love and Trust (Live: Drop in the Park)" (160 / $2)

These master recording will be available tomorrow and Thursday on Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.

Next week's Rock Band Weekly brings artists from the Warped Tour, an extreme-sports-meets-music thang. There are also three tracks from the Grammy Award-winning (2005 Best New Artist) Maroon 5. However, the tracks for next week are from the band's album It Won't Be Soon Before Long, which won a Grammy for "Makes Me Wonder."

Warped Tour Pack (680 / $8.50)

• "The Downfall of Us All" -- A Day to Remember (160 / $2)
• "21st Century Digital Boy" -- Bad Religion (160 / $2)
  
• "I Didn't Say I Was Powerful, I Said I Was a Wizard" -- Chiodos (160 / $2)
• "The Flood" -- Escape the Fate (160 / $2)
• "Reinventing Your Exit" -- Underoath (160 / $2)

Maroon 5 Pack (440 / $5.50)

• "Little of Your Time" (160 / $2)
• "Makes Me Wonder" (160 / $2)
• "Wake Up Call" (160 / $2)

All tracks are masters and will be available for download next Tuesday and Thursday on Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.

During an interview with Gamasutra, The Beatles: Rock Band project lead Josh Randall revealed a great anecdote about a playtesting session. "I'm not that great, but the first time I sat in on a playtest session and saw three people singing in harmony together for "Here Comes the Sun," I swear I saw people tearing up at the end," he said. People crying while playing his game? What is this, Shadow of the Colossus?

He also points to another occasion where he saw people "hold hands -- total strangers holding hands, singing in harmony." Randall thinks the game has a lot of heart, and will evoke a lot of emotion from those who play. While we can't comment on that yet, we will say the game's opening cartoon did give us butterflies in our stomach!

The Rock Band track packs have been rather unexciting for the many of us that have internet access (read: you). The previous packs compiled already-available DLC onto a single disc at a slightly discounted price making it attractive exclusively to those that -- for one reason or another -- can't buy songs from the in-game music store.

Looks like things will change for the upcoming country music Track Pack. Available July 21st on every platform, the Track Pack will offer exclusive songs that are new for the Rock Band franchise. In fact, 13 songs will be brand new, making the Track Pack a much more exciting purchase for country music-lovin' Rock Band aficionados.

The $29.99 disc will feature 21 songs from the Dixie Chicks, Keith Urban, Kenny Rogers, Shania Twain, Willie Nelson and more. You can read the entire track listing after the break.

It reads like so many rhythm/music game releases in the past -- the ubiquitous track list leak. The Beatles: Rock Band is still a few months off from its September 9 release date but Ripten has gotten its hands on a leaked list of the possible tracks from the game (found after the break).

The list does include the three tracks we checked out in our hands-on with the game at E3, though it also looks an awful lot like a list of Beatles singles across their career. Ripten notes that the ten tracks found in the glorious opening to the game are all included in its leaked list -- and it is approximately the same amount of tracks we know the game will be shipping with -- though we've yet to receive any official confirmation or denial from MTV Games, Harmonix, or EA.

Update: A Harmonix spokesperson has confirmed to us that this leaked list of songs is definitely not the track list for The Beatles: Rock Band, saying, "The rumored 'leaked' list is not the disc track listing for The Beatles: Rock Band. We'll be announcing more tracks throughout the summer. Stay tuned to thebeatlesrockband.com for the most up to date information about disc songs and downloadable content!"

Spinal Tap lands on Rock Band next week and will be ready to turn it up to 11. Just remember to keep an eye on your drummer -- Spinal Tap and drummers don't mix well. Next week's Rock Band Weekly also adds Evanescence. Male vocalists shouldn't even bother. Seriously, it's one thing to sing "Bring Me to Life" with the windows rolled up in your car, but it's a little different trying to do it with others around.

Spinal Tap Pack (560 / $7)

• "Back from the Dead" (160 / $2)
• "Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare" (160 / $2)
  
• "Saucy Jack" (160 / $2)
• "Warmer Than Hell" (160 / $2)

Evanescence Pack (440 / $5.50)

• "Bring Me to Life" (160 / $2)
• "Call Me When You're Sober" (160 / $2)
• "Weight of the World" (160 / $2)

All tracks are masters and will be available for download next Tuesday and Thursday on Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.

Harmonix has been hinting around this, but now we have some official word: Green Day is bringing tracks to Rock Band via DLC in three-song packs. The first will arrive on July 7 and will include ... why, their new stuff, of course! Just like you were hoping! Specifically, you can look for "21 Guns," "Know Your Enemy" and "East Jesus Nowhere" from the band's new 21st Century Breakdown.

Before you lose your mind, take heart! More (hopefully earlier) material from the band is coming on an unannounced date. Can we request "All By Myself"?

Should you mosey on down to your local GameStop and drop a sawbuck on any version of The Beatles: Rock Band,
you're going to get more than just the usual slip of paper. GameStop is giving everyone that pre-orders the game three exclusive tracks, as well as a code for an in-game photo album.

We already know that the Xbox 360 version of the game is getting the exclusive 'All You Need is Love,' and that Abbey Road will be DLC down the line, so these tracks likely won't come from that album. Also, it should be mentioned that Wii fans won't be left out in the cold, as they'll also get these three free tracks, as well as one additional item: a 2gb SD card.

[Via VG247]

If you're one of the few people left on this planet whose living room, den and foyer aren't littered with fake plastic instruments, it's time for your induction. EB Games is doing a huge online sale right now for slightly "worn" copies of nearly every peripheral-centric rhythm title to come out of Activision and Harmonix. Act quickly, and you can pick up the PS3 or 360 version of the Rock Band 2 SE Bundle or the PS3 or PS2 version of the Guitar Hero World Tour Band Kit plus free 3-day shipping for just $94.99.

You could also pick up the other discounted items -- the original Rock Band bundle, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero Aerosmith -- but the resulting necessary architectural extension of your gaming den might strip the deal of its cost efficiency.