The 20 “free” songs that are bundled with every new* copy of Rock Band 2 were finally revelaled. YouTube links (if available) when clicked:

• The 88 – “Sons and Daughters”
• Authority Zero – “No Regrets”
• Between the Buried and Me – “Prequel To The Sequel”
• The Cab – “Bounce”
• The Chevelles – “Get It On”
• The Cocktail Slippers – “Give It To Me”
• Dealership – “Database Corrupted”
• Endeverafter – “I Wanna Be Your Man”
• The Ghost Hounds – “Ashes To Fire”
• Hollywood Undead – “Young”
• Kutless – “The Feeling”
• The Len Price 3 – “If I Ain’t Got You”
• Lesley Roy – “I’m Gone, I’m Going”
• Opiate for the Masses – “Burn You Down”
• Semi-Precious Weapons – “Magnetic Baby”
• Shaimus – “Like a Fool”
• Thenewno2 – “Crazy Tuesday”
• Tickle Me Pink – “The Time Is Wrong”
• Underoath – “Desperate Times, Desperate Measures”
• X Japan – “I.V.”

There was disappointment in some quarters. Expectactions were high; some thought Harmonix might include some well known tracks in the list to steal thunder from the Guitar Hero: World Tour launch which is this Sunday.

I, on the other hand, expected the songs to be exactly what we got: hopefully fun songs to play from relatively unknown bands. It always seemed obvious to me that if the songs were really desirable, they’d be sold as DLC, not given away for free. However, I was a little worried it would be a lot of Harmonix internal bands. Not that Harmonix bands don’t make good bonus tracks, but I think I’ll have an epileptic seizure if I have to hear that Honest Bob and The Factory to Dealer Incentives song I Get By one more time.

Sure, I would have been psyched to see them release twenty Beatles tracks, or twenty Led Zeppelin tracks — but on the other hand, at least it’s not twenty remixes of Visions. And remember — they’re free! So if you own Rock Band 2, head on over to the registration page with the code printed on the slip inside the game box, and claim your bounty the first week of November.

* this is part of a new initiative by game companies to stem the growth of the used game market. Used games are over 50% of EBGames/GameStop revenue now, and note that not one penny of that used game sale revenue ever goes to the game developers. Including “one time only” codes in the game package means a used copy should be worth less, since the code will have already been redeemed for subsequent buyers. However, I’m unconvinced this will work — twenty bonus tracks from unknown artists, or a few free downloadable maps, isn’t that big of a deal in the overall scheme of things. If they really want this to work, they need to include major chunks of the game with those one-time redemption codes.