This morning I woke up to three Rock Band emails. Well actually six. For some reason I get a double dose of every email. To make things easier for reading, I’m going to combine all of them into one post.

First up is something that could affect your Black Friday shopping. At various Old Navy stores they will be hosting game kiosks where families can try out Lego Rock Band. Not any kiosk, six of these stores will have Rock Band equipped entertainment stages. Where they can really pretend to be a rock star. There are prizes to be won including $200 shopping spree and Rock Band songs.

“Rock Band offers families a wonderful activity to enjoy together and we’re excited to bring that experience to life in Old Navy stores this Holiday season,” said Christina Glorioso, Vice President of Marketing Sponsorships for MTV Games. “This will make shopping for the Holidays fun for everyone and give moms a great activity to keep kids (and dads) entertained.”

On Thanksgiving Thursday, consumers that buy Rock Band 2 software for the Xbox 360, Wii, or Playstation 3 will get a free Rock Band guitar. On Black Friday, the first consumers to purchase $20 or more of Old Navy merchandise will get a special free Rock Band gift for their Xbox 360, Playstation3 or Wii.

Wednesdays in December, Old Navy is the place to be where consumers that purchase $25 or more at Old Navy will get a free Rock Band track download code. Old Navy stores will also be carrying Rock Band branded t-shirts.

Harmonix also announced that they have more than 1000 songs from over 390 bands to choose from in their music store.

“When we launched Rock Band two years ago, we made a promise to create a music gaming experience that delivered on a weekly basis more songs and artists than ever imagined,” said Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and CEO of Harmonix Music Systems. “We’re extremely proud to pass this remarkable milestone of over 1,000 songs in Rock Band and will continue to innovate and bring more of the best music to Rock Band players all over the world.”

Part of those songs is the brand new three pack from Nirvana and Night Ranger.

Here are the songs:
Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Dec. 1) and PlayStation 3 system (Dec. 3):
· Nirvana – “Come As You Are (Live from MTV Unplugged)” +
· Nirvana – “Lithium (Live at Reading)”
· Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
· Night Ranger – “(You Can Still) Rock in America” +
· Night Ranger – “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” +
· Night Ranger – “You’re Gonna Hear It From Me” +

Kurt Cobain

Activision has responded to Courtney Love’s remarks with the claim that they received proper permission to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness in Guitar Hero 5.

Activision said: “Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero 5.”

Meanwhile, former Nirvana members, Novoselic and Grohl both support Courtney and have expressed their disapproval of Cobain’s in-game appearance.

According to Kotaku Novoselic and Grohl have released a joint statement calling for Activision to prevent the Cobain avatar from playing songs from other artists.

“We want people to know that we are dismayed and very disappointed in the way a facsimile of Kurt is used in the Guitar Hero game,” they said. “The name and likeness of Kurt Cobain are the sole property of his estate – we have no control whatsoever in that area.

“While we were aware of Kurt’s image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn’t know players have the ability to unlock the character. This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in ‘re-locking’ Kurt’s character so that this won’t continue in the future.

“It’s hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists’ music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better.”

Kurt Cobain

Possibly one of the most iconic artists in alternative rock, Kurt Cobain created songs that made a huge impact on the music industry. Activision has now made him one of the five exclusive in-game artists in Guitar Hero 5. Kurt Cobain will be featured as a playable character performing two songs from Nevermind: “Smells like Teen Spirit” and a previously unreleased live recording of “Lithium”.

“Kurt Cobain is one of the most recognizable frontmen in rock ‘n’ roll history and it’s an honor to have two of Nirvana’s masterpieces included in Guitar Hero 5,” said Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs for Activision. “This is the first time the original recording of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ has ever been licensed in an entertainment property and we’re thrilled to offer Guitar Hero® fans exclusive access to the unreleased live version of ‘Lithium.’”

Got to admit that the ability to play a previously unreleased live version of “Lithium” is pretty cool.

Guitar Hero 5 is due out in September. Here is a video of virtual Kurt Cobain:

Guitar Hero 5

The Guitar Hero complete setlist has been released today. 85 songs are in Guitar Hero 5 including classics like Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” TV On The Radio’s “Wolf Like Me,” Muse’s “Plug In Baby,” Stevie Wonder’s classic “Superstition” and Nirvana’s multi-award winning, chart-topping “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” There is a new gameplay mode called Party Play mode. This allows players to jump in or out of gameplay without interrupting the playing of rock.

Here is the incredibly long list of tracks. Guitar Hero 5 ships on September 1.

3 Doors Down – “Kryptonite”
· Arctic Monkeys – “Brianstorm”
· Blink-182 – “The Rock Show”
· Dire Straits – “Sultans Of Swing”
· Jimmy Eat World – “Bleed American”
· Johnny Cash – “Ring Of Fire”
· Megadeth – “Sweating Bullets”
· Mötley Crüe – “Looks That Kill”
· Muse – “Plug In Baby”
· Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
· Queen & David Bowie – “Under Pressure”
· Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”
· The Killers – “All The Pretty Faces”
· The Raconteurs – “Steady As She Goes”
· TV On The Radio – “Wolf Like Me”

Previously announced tracks include:

· A Perfect Circle – “Judith”
· AFI – “Medicate”
· Attack! Attack! UK – “You And Me”
· Band Of Horses – “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands”
· Beastie Boys – “Gratitude”
· Beck – “Gamma Ray”
· Billy Idol – “Dancing With Myself”
· Billy Squier – “Lonely Is The Night”
· Blur – “Song 2”
· Bob Dylan – “All Along The Watchtower”
· Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name”
· Brand New – “Sowing Season (Yeah)”
· The Bronx – “Six Days A Week”
· Bush – “Comedown”
· Children Of Bodom – “Done With Everything, Die For Nothing”
· Coldplay – “In My Place”
· Darker My Love – “Blue Day”
· Darkest Hour – “Demon(s)”
· David Bowie – “Fame”
· Deep Purple – “Woman From Tokyo (’99 Remix)”
· The Derek Trucks Band – “Younk Funk”
· The Duke Spirit – “Send A Little Love Token”
· Duran Duran – “Hungry Like The Wolf”
· Eagles Of Death Metal – “Wannabe In L.A.”
· Elliott Smith – “L.A.”
· Elton John – “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)”
· Face To Face – “Disconnected”
· Garbage – “Only Happy When It Rains”
· Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”
· Gov’t Mule – “Streamline Woman”
· Grand Funk Railroad – “We’re An American Band”
· Iggy Pop – “Lust For Life (Live)”
· Iron Maiden – “2 Minutes To Midnight”
· Jeff Beck – “Scatterbrain (Live)”
· John Mellencamp – “Hurts So Good”
· Kaiser Chiefs – “Never Miss A Beat”
· King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man”
· Kings Of Leon – “Sex On Fire”
· Kiss – “Shout It Out Loud”
· Love and Rockets – “Mirror People”
· My Morning Jacket – “One Big Holiday”
· Nirvana – “Lithium (Live)”
· No Doubt – “Ex-Girlfriend”
· Peter Frampton – “Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)”
· The Police – “So Lonely”
· Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde – “Bring the Noise 20XX”
· Queens Of The Stone Age – “Make It Wit Chu”
· Rammstein – “Du Hast”
· The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil”
· Rose Hill Drive – “Sneak Out”
· Rush – “The Spirit Of Radio (Live)”
· Santana – “No One To Depend On (Live)”
· Scars On Broadway – “They Say”
· Screaming Trees – “Nearly Lost You”
· Smashing Pumpkins – “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”
· Sonic Youth – “Incinerate”
· Spacehog – “In The Meantime”
· Sublime – “What I Got”
· Sunny Day Real Estate – “Seven”
· T. Rex – “20th Century Boy”
· The Sword – “Maiden, Mother & Crone”
· Thin Lizzy – “Jailbreak”
· Thrice – “Deadbolt”
· Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
· Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl”
· Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”
· Weezer – “Why Bother?”
· The White Stripes – “Blue Orchid”
· Wild Cherry – “Play That Funky Music”
· Wolfmother – “Back Round”

Here’s a trailer from SDCC: