The Day the Rock Band Music died...

Somehow, it feels kinda perfect that after 281 consecutive weeks of new music, and literally thousands of songs available (both from Harmonix as official DLC, and band sponsored efforts, through the Rock Band Network), the last scheduled song for Rock Band 3, and it's the classic "American Pie" by Don McLean.

When Rock Band was released in 2007, we all wondered how it would respond with the public. We knew that the public wanted guitar games, thanks to the popularity of the Guitar Hero series. We wanted more. More songs. More options. More difficulty.

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But we didn't know how to take a full band game. I mean, everyone wanted to be a guitar player... but how many people wanted to play drums? How many people wanted to sing? Heck, in later versions, who wanted to play keyboards?

But we loved it. Not only were there tons of Rock Band parties, the ability to play with your friends over Xbox Live, PSN, etcetera.. that was great. We were a nation of rockers.

But like all great rock star stories, it ended up being too much too soon.

There was a new Rock Band the next year, and then again in 2010 (with pro mode available, for those who decided that the equivalent of Through The Fire And The Flames wasn't hardcore enough) Activision flooded the market with band specific Guitar Hero games. The market was overloaded, and then with the recession hit , no one wanted to buy $75 peripherals anymore.

But truly, Rock Band has made a great run. Will we ever see another game like it? I don't know, but it didn't die with a whimper. It died with a huge explosion, with fans far and wide oohing and aahing at the pretty colors.

So, for the bands I've discovered through Rock Band, the Xbox Live group I regularly played with, and sung for (horribly over the past six or so years), we celebrate the end of the Rock Band series. And it's not a stuffy, solemn get together. It's as it should be, one heck of a rocking tribute to a game series that took music games to 11. Personally, I think it's a fitting tribute..

So bye, bye, Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the Levee was dry..

Them Good Ol'Boys were drinking Whiskey and Rye

Singin "this will be the day that I die....."