Rock Band is lauded (and justifiably so) for its massive catalog of downloadable tracks — up to almost 1,000 songs at the time I write this.

But for those people who don’t have online access to downloadable content for their PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii consoles, Harmonix also offers a series of retail “Track Packs”, which include 20 new songs on each disc. These track packs can be played (surprisingly) as standalone games for the specific on-disc tracks, and for the PS3 and Xbox 360, can be imported into Rock Band 2 via a code printed on the back of the manual.

The first pack, Track Pack Volume 1, was only offered for the Wii and Playstation 2. This was in the Rock Band 1 era, before the Wii had access to DLC, so it was a form of catch-up for the platforms that didn’t have any other way to obtain downloadable tracks.

1. “All the Small Things” – Blink-182
2. “Buddy Holly” – Weezer
3. “Calling Dr. Love” – Kiss
4. “Crushcrushcrush” – Paramore
5. “Die, All Right!” – The Hives
6. “Gimme Three Steps” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
7. “Interstate Love Song” – Stone Temple Pilots
8. “Joker & the Thief” – Wolfmother
9. “Little Sister” – Queens of the Stone Age
10. “Live Forever” – Oasis
11. “March of the Pigs” – Nine Inch Nails
12. “Moonage Daydream” – David Bowie
13. “More Than a Feeling” – Boston
14. “Move Along” - All-American Rejects
15. “Siva” – Smashing Pumpkins
16. “Synchronicity II” – The Police
17. “Teenage Lobotomy” – Ramones
18. “The Kill” – 30 Seconds to Mars
19. “Truckin’” – Grateful Dead
20. “We Care a Lot” – Faith No More

Next up was the first band-specific track pack, AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack. This was also the first track pack to allow importing into Rock Band 2 (on PS3 and Xbox 360) via a special code printed in the back of the manual, a precedent that would thankfully be followed for every subsequent Harmonix release, with the obvious exception of The Beatles: Rock Band.

Track Pack: AC/DC Achievements

1. “Back in Black” (Live)
2. “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” (Live)
3. “Fire Your Guns” (Live)
4. “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” (Live)
5. “Heatseeker” (Live)
6. “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be” (Live)
7. “Hells Bells” (Live)
8. “High Voltage” (Live)
9. “Highway to Hell” (Live)
10. “Jailbreak” (Live)
11. “Let There Be Rock” (Live)
12. “Moneytalks” (Live)
13. “Shoot to Thrill” (Live)
14. “T.N.T.” (Live)
15. “The Jack” (Live)
16. “Thunderstruck” (Live)
17. “Whole Lotta Rosie” (Live)
18. “You Shook Me All Night Long” (Live)

This was quickly followed by Track Pack: Volume 2, but this time it was available on all platforms.

Track Pack: Volume 2 Achievements

1. “Afterlife” – Avenged Sevenfold
2. “Call Me” – Blondie
3. “El Scorcho” – Weezer
4. “Girl U Want” – Devo
5. “Girls Who Play Guitars” – Maxïmo Park
6. “Indestructible” – Disturbed
7. “It Hurts” – Angels & Airwaves
8. “Just What I Needed” – The Cars
9. “Message in a Bottle” – The Police
10. “Monkey Gone to Heaven” – Pixies
11. “Rio” – Duran Duran
12. “Saints of Los Angeles” – Mötley Crüe
13. “Simple Man” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
14. “Snow ((Hey Oh))” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
15. “The Perfect Drug” – Nine Inch Nails
16. “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” – Fall Out Boy
17. “Time Is Running Out” – Papa Roach
18. “Why Do You Love Me?” – Garbage
19. “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” – Judas Priest
20. “Zero” – Smashing Pumpkins

The next release, Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock was the first to have a distinct musical theme rather than being a semi-random collection of tracks thrown together from the DLC selections as we saw in Volume 1 and Volume 2. (although I do wonder how the Dead Kennedys could be considered classic rock, per se..)

Track Pack: Classic Rock Achievements

1. “All Right Now” – Free
2. “Baba O’Riley” – Who
3. “Bad to the Bone” – George Thorogood & the Destroyers
4. “Behind Blue Eyes” – Who
5. “California Über Alles” – Dead Kennedys
6. “Can’t Stand Losing You” – Police
7. “Closer to the Heart” – Rush
8. “Funk #49″ – James Gang
9. “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” – Pat Benatar
10. “Holiday in Cambodia” – Dead Kennedys
11. “Hymn 43″ – Jethro Tull
12. “Kiss Them for Me” – Siouxsie & the Banshees
13. “Let Love Rule” – Lenny Kravitz
14. “Love Spreads” – Stone Roses
15. “Peace of Mind” – Boston
16. “Red Barchetta” – Rush
17. “Rock and Roll Band” – Boston
18. “Take the Money and Run” – Steve Miller Band
19. “The Joker” – Steve Miller Band
20. “Truth Hits Everybody” – Police

And now for something completely different: Rock Band Country Track Pack. Well, not completely different, as there had been a set of country tracks released to the music store a month or two before this. But for a game titled Rock Band, some took umbrage at the inclusion of country.

Track Pack: Country Achievements

Supposedly it’s been one of the more popular Track Pack releases to date, but I kind of suspect that has to do with the new concept of “exclusive tracks” — 15 of the tracks (those marked with an asterisk, below) are unique and exclusive to this Track Pack for a certain period of time! So if you want those songs, you must buy the Track Pack. Or wait a few months until they’re trickled out to the downloadable content stores on each respective platform.

Did I buy this whole pack just to get Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler”? Why, yes. Yes I did. And it was totally worth it, too!

1. “3 Dimes Down” – Drive
2. “Any Man of Mine” – Shania Twain*
3. “Can’t Let Go” – Lucinda Williams
4. “Cry Lonely” – Cross Canadian Ragweed*
5. “Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)” – Dierks Bentley
6. “Gone” – Montgomery Gentry*
7. “Good Time” – Alan Jackson*
8. “Gunpowder & Lead” – Miranda Lambert*
9. “Hillbilly Deluxe” – Brooks & Dunn
10. “I Told You So” – Keith Urban*
11. “Me and My Gang” – Rascal Flatts*
12. “Mud on the Tires” – Brad Paisley
13. “On the Road Again” – Willie Nelson*
14. “Satellite Radio” – Steve Earle
15. “She’s Country” – Jason Aldean*
16. “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” – Kenny Chesney*
17. “Sin Wagon” – Dixie Chicks*
18. “Swing” – Trace Adkins*
19. “Suds in the Bucket” – Sara Evans*
20. “The Gambler” – Kenny Rogers*
21. “This One’s for the Girls” – Martina McBride*

Finally, we have the Rock Band Metal Track Pack, which continues both the themed (first seen with classic rock pack) and on-disc exclusives (first seen with country pack) trends.

Track Pack: Metal Achievements

It also has on-disc exclusives (although “only” 6 tracks this time). This approach must work — it definitely changed my attitude towards the packs. They went from “who cares, I’ll just buy the DLC” to “must have it on release day!”. What can I tell you, I have an insatiable appetite for new songs!

1. “3’s and 7’s” – Queens of the Stone Age
2. “Are You Dead Yet?” – Children of Bodom
3. “Blinded by Fear” – At the Gates
4. “Bulls on Parade” – Rage Against the Machine*
5. “Closer” – Lacuna Coil
6. “D.O.A.” – Haunted
7. “Forever” – In This Moment
8. “Hair of the Dog” – Nazareth*
9. “I Stand Alone” – Godsmack
10. “Killed by Death ‘08″ – Motörhead*
11. “Laid to Rest” – Lamb of God
12. “Levitate” – I Mother Earth*
13. “Master of the Universe” – Hawkwind*
14. “Red Devil” – Yngwie Malmsteen
15. “Screaming for Vengeance” – Judas Priest
16. “Shockwave” – Black Tide
17. “Thrasher” – Evile
18. “Transmaniacon MC” – Blue Öyster Cult*
19. “Two Weeks” – All That Remains
20. “Waking the Demon” – Bullet For My Valentine

The track packs are definitely the only game in town for getting new songs in Rock Band if you have no access to downloadable content on your platform.

Even if you do, they can be a reasonably good deal if you pick them up cheap; the per-song price might be lower than what you’d pay in the store at roughly $1.99 per track. Just depends how many of the tracks appeal to you!

No information has been released on any future Track Pack releases. But if history is any indication, we can probably expect more themed packs, and more limited time on-disc exclusive tracks.