After a long hiatus, GEB’s Rock Band DLC previews are back. The reason? I was too lazy to type those huge posts with tons of details for every song. The solution? Shorter posts! Let’s get right back into the action with next week’s content: Grateful Dead 02.

January 27, 2009 (360) / January 29, 2009 (PS3)

Grateful Dead Pack 02 ($10 / 800 MSP or $2 / 160 MSP each)

• Grateful Dead – Hell In a Bucket
• Grateful Dead – Don’t Ease Me In
• Grateful Dead – Cold Rain and Snow
• Grateful Dead – Doin’ That Rag
• Grateful Dead – Fire On the Mountain
• Grateful Dead – Uncle John’s Band

Videos and tier information after the break.

Everyone’s familiar with the Dead by now, especially after the inclusion of Alabama Getaway on-disc for RB2. This pack will put us up to 13 Dead songs, making them one of the most-represented bands in the Rock Band library. (AC/DC, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pixies, and The Who all have more songs.) The constant joke is that you have to be stoned off your ass to enjoy their songs, but as Grateful Dead 01 proved, that’s…only partially true. This pack should have at least one download for everyone, unless you’re one of the idiotic metalheads that spams DLC threads with useless drivel. But I digress.

Grateful Dead – Hell In a Bucket

Album: In the Dark (1987)
Full Band: Tier 4
Guitar: Tier 3
Drums: Tier 4
Vocals: Tier 6
Bass: Tier 3
Notes: Tier 6 vocals! Not really like any of our existing GD songs. Drum part sounds very fun.

Grateful Dead – Don’t Ease Me In

Album: Go to Heaven (1980)
Full Band: Tier 3
Guitar: Tier 3
Drums: Tier 3
Vocals: Tier 1
Bass: Tier 4
Notes: Vaguely like Truckin’. Hopefully its drum chart will be much better.

Grateful Dead – Cold Rain and Snow

Album: The Grateful Dead (1967)
Full Band: Tier 3
Guitar: Tier 2
Drums: Tier 3
Vocals: Tier 1
Bass: Tier 5
Notes: A very mellow song. Challenging bass part.

Grateful Dead – Doin’ That Rag

Album: Aoxomoxoa (1969)
Full Band: Tier 4
Guitar: Tier 2
Drums: Tier 3
Vocals: Tier 6
Bass: Tier 4
Notes: More T6 vocals! This one seems pretty drugged out, but solid. Guitar seems okay for a T2.

Grateful Dead – Fire on the Mountain

Album: Shakedown Street (1978)
Full Band: Tier 3
Guitar: Tier 2
Drums: Tier 4
Vocals: Tier 0
Bass: Tier 0
Notes: One of the more radio-friendly songs in this pack. Almost a reggae feel. Very mellow.

Grateful Dead – Uncle John’s Band

Album: Workingman’s Dead (1970)
Full Band: Tier 2
Guitar: Tier 2
Drums: Tier 3
Vocals: Tier 0
Bass: Tier 1
Notes: A lot of people won’t like this one. Kind of a Beatles sound, but not quite. Kind of a “meh” song overall.

Credit to IGN for all tier information. As usual, the Master Song List is available for reference. Check back next week for more DLC previews!