If you are planning on picking up Band Hero because it contains some of your favorite songs, be warned that some of the tunes have been butchered edited beyond enjoyment.
I picked up the game for the 360 the other day so my girlfriend and I could play through "Angels of the Silences" from Counting Crows, but there were several other tracks that caught my attention. For instance, I secretly enjoy Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Goin Down," despite the fact that everyone else I know despises it. Fair enough. I start playing - alone - only to discover that some of the more colorful lyrics have been cut. For example:
Original Lyric: "I'm just a notch in your bedpost, but you're just a line in a song"
Band Hero Lyric: "I'm just a notch...but you're just a line in a song"
No bed post reference. Got it. Later on in the song I encountered this:
Original Lyric: "Oh don't mind me I'm watching you two from the closet, wishing to be the friction in your jeans"
Band Hero Lyric: "Oh don't mind me I'm watching you two from the closet, wishing to be the friction"
Jeans are also bad.
It isn't just that song. I encountered several more edits, including this one my girlfriend pointed out from OK Go' s "A Million Ways."
Original Lyric: "one last eighty proof, slouchin' in the corner booth"
Band Hero Lyric: "slouchin' in the corner booth"
That song also removes a line about "another couple klonapin," which given the previous edits is understandable. Perhaps this is why the game wasn't called Band Heroine.
The point here is, when Activision says the game is family-friendly, they mean family-friendly. This is the price you pay for putting popular contemporary bands in a game and then aim for an E for Everyone rating. The silliest thing of all, is these are songs that everyone has heard on the radio in their original form, so the edits are simply a disappointment for fans of all ages.
Performing the songs is still enjoyable, mind you. Especially when you imagine singing the missing lyrics loudly in the face of the game producer who thought editing our favorite tunes was a good idea.