I Won't Back Down: GS No 33

I missed this being a perfect 100% FC by one note I think in the middle. Not a difficult song, but this was achieved on a sight reading, the first time I played it. So I'm pretty happy with that. FC will come soon, I'm sure.

You Got It: GS No 32

Another classic. Again not overly difficult, but it's a fun song. To be honest, I'd rather play songs I like than play for the difficulty. It's more about the music than the video game for me.

Losing My Religion: GS No 31

And the Rolands are on a roll now! Not the hardest song in the world, but hey they all count!

Clint Eastwood: GS No 30!

At last! It's been a while. As you may or may not know, I have moved to Abu Dhabi now, which interrupted my drumming career for a while. This is my first new Gold Star (I've repeated some of the ones I have already obtained in the past) on my new drumkit, a Roland TD-12 set. This is one awesome drum set! Silent compared with my Alesis, accurate, and absolutely no wrist pain with great rebound. A great investment that should help the 4 years here pass in no time.

Eminence Front: GS No 29

Last one for today. This is probably the only Who song I will ever ever evr GS!!!

El Scorcho: GS No 28

And another one. I move to Abu Dhabi next week so my "playtime" is severely limited at the moment. I'd like to have got through every song so I know exactly what i can and can't do on Expert, but there is no way I'll manage that in a week. Oh well, gives me something to do over there when it's too hot to go out!

Dirty Little Secret: GS No 27

This is one of those songs that I was always close to Gold Starring, but something would stop me. Just don't wuite know why, but I'd lose the rhythm or one of the "mini-rolls" would get away from me. But I got it at last. On the last note! And it's a song I really enjoy playing as well.

Dani California: GS No 26

I love this song. Another one I used to struggle with and first play today gave me Gold. All that practice does actually pay off then. Who'd have thought it?

Countdown To Insanity: FC No 8

One that I'd previously GSed, but here is the FC version of Countdown to Insanity.

Quarter Century! Buddy Holly: GS No 25

It's weird when you go back to song that you haven't played in ages. Really shows you how much you've improved. I used to struggle with the red/green pad section (especially the off-beat bass hits), but GS'ed this on the first attempt today, and was only a couple of notes off an FC. Sometimes you feel like you're not really progressing, but moments like this really show you that you are.

Bang A Gong: GS No 24

Or "Get It On" as it was called over here originally! My score would have been much higher had I not dropped a drumstick about two thirds of the way through the song, but it's still another GS anyway. Thought I'd ruined it when that stick went flying! I'll be coming back to this one as I think I can FC it.

Apache Rose Peacock: GS No 23

I've decided to work my way through the songs alphabetically so I can post my best score for each one at www.rockheroesonline.com to keep track of my Gold Stars and which songs I need to improve on. It's become pretty evident that Harmonix are in no hurry to supply a patch to display your stars, so this seems the best (and only) way to keep track of them.

Seeing In The New Year: Endless Setlist 2 Completed!!!

And this is what I got up to yesterday! I swore I'd never do it, but in the end my desire for Trophies got the better of me! I only did it on Hard, because of Visions and Battery, but secretly I think
I prefer the gold icon to the platinum one anyway! I was actually a little bit upset, as I was going for the Bladder of Steel Trophy. I got to song 82 of 84 without stopping (yes, that would
be Visions!)
and then promptly failed. AAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHH! But at least I got my two "Artist" Trophies and of course my Gold Icon and Legendary status. Some day I will come back to conquer that Bladder of Steel Trophy. It will be mine, oh yes.....

It's My Life: GS No 22

Well, there's been a gap to say the least! This GS was actually scored just before Christmas, but it's been a hectic time and I didn't get a chance to post this. Really loving the drums now I've got used to the cymbals. Much better than the RB set!

My Own Worst Enemy: GS No 21

Been a bit of a gap there, but finally made it to 21! I don't know why but this took a lot of attempts. It's fairly simple, but I kept missing the odd beat here and there, and almost always when I was in Overdrive which stopped my getting the GS. But the good old Robert Bruce spirit kept me going!

Nine In The Afternoon - FC No 7/GS No 20

Another fairly simple song, but it's quite a nice sounding song and quite nice to play. Kind of like this one, and 20 feels like a milestone somehow! It's been a long and quite broken career so far, what with accidents and life getting in the way of fun! Oh yes, this performance also earned me my "Flawless Drumming" trophy. I'm glad they've included Trophy support in RB2.

And the First RB2 GS! GS No 19 In My "Career"...

Eye of the Tiger is not exactly the hardest song on the planet but it's fun and it's start! I hope they patch the game soon to show your stars in the song list as it's hard to see what needs improving.

Rock Band 2 Came!!!

It finally arrived! Only a week after launch, which isn't bad considering it had to get from Canada to the UK, but it's here. There are some great new features, but I have to say the on disc songs just aren't generally as much fun as the on disc songs in Rock Band 1. Seems to be more emphasis on insane speed rather than interesting beats and rhythms. It's early days though. There are still some great songs on there, and of course, all the wonderful DLC I have! Happy happy joy joy!

24th October 2008: Something In The Way - FC No 6/GS No 18!

Been a frantic few weeks, outside of "Rock Band". I was shocked to discover there is a life outside of Rock Band! But apparently there is. Sadly this has meant limited practice time, but this was an FC/GS on sight read. First time I have ever managed that!

At Last! Tier 6 Completed!!!

God that felt like a lifetime! I finally managed to complete Tier 6 drums on Expert. Crap scores, but I'm glad to have done it. The only downside to that is that it brings me to tier 7!

My DM5 Pros In Action!

I thought it might be fun to post a video of the DM5 Pro drums being used in the game. I made a few mistakes near the start, and my fills weren't my best. I think I was a bit self-conscious of the camera! But it's such a great experience playing with real drums.

5th October 2008: Simple Man - FC No 5/GS No 17!

It's been a good day for Gold Stars! Simple Man now added to my list. I know this should be a fairly easy song, but I have struggled to GS this one for ages. It used to be impossible (pre-patch), or maybe just possible with perfect squeezing (a practice that I really can't be bothered to learn). But the patch obviously made it possible. However, I just couldn't get a streak. I'd drop notes. Sometimes maybe it was the drums (see my previous post about setting them up), but also because I would kind of lose the rhythm slightly in the middle for no good reason and hit a few bum notes. But this time, not only did I GS it, but it was a perfect FC as well! Happy man, simple man.

5th October 2008: She Sells Sanctuary - GS No 16

God I love that song! I'm so glad I GSed it, because this is one I love to play. I just need to get my girlfriend to pluck up the courage to try Expert vocals and we should get a band GS on this! She lacks confidence and just won't try Expert at all. She's really good (regular 99-100% scores on Hard), but she just won't accept that she's that good. Luckily she loves the song too, so fingers crossed!

5th October 2008: Monsoon - GS No 15

This was a tough one, mainly because I learned that my kit still isn't perfectly set up. The section with rapid crash/snare/bass patterns was dropping loads of notes. Even on this run I dropped a few, but I've almost got it set up perfectly now. It's just my "small" crash cymbal which had the crosstalk set too high. I had to turn down the crosstalk and turn up the "Noise" setting. Still needs tweaking as I say, but it's nearly perfect now. I'll try this song again in a minute after tweaking the Noise setting up a bit, and see if that gets it perfect.

5th October 2008: Gimme Three Steps - GS No 14!

And number 14. Glad to get above 13 to be honest. I'm not superstitious, but, well...