Rock Band [PS3]

Every legendary rock band has, at some point in its career, delivered an overblown, overstuffed and initially underappreciated magnum opus. Led Zeppelin drew its grandest stroke with Physical Graffiti. The Who blew ears, minds and decibel counters with Quadrophenia. For the Beatles, it was The White Album.

And for game developer Harmonix, it's Rock Band. This is a sprawling, ambitious project from the undisputed masters of the genre, a musical love letter that reinvents the rhythm-game wheel only to roll it over your face in the name of rock. Like any great concept album, it's a major, groundbreaking success, marred by just a few bad notes.

Rock Band is a music rhythm game built very much in the vein of Harmonix's own Guitar Hero series -- play along with the music by hitting colored buttons to match on screen notes -- but where that tune ends, this one is just reaching the second verse. With Rock Band's innovative trio of peripherals, you'll go beyond the thin strings to pluck bass lines, scream choruses, and pound on the drums like a wannabe Ringo.

The instruments truly are the stars of this show. Modeled after the Fender Stratocaster, the guitar is a more realistic step up from older guitar controllers with bigger fret buttons that don't awkwardly pop out of the neck. Guitarists and bassists will find it easier to slide from fret to fret, a fact that comes in handy when you reach the higher difficulty levels. Another set of frets at the top of the neck let you hammer your way through solos like Eddie Van Halen, but it's definitely a case of style over substance; most players will likely stick with the regular strumming. Interestingly, Rock Band's guitar and bass parts are far easier than what you'll find in Guitar Hero III. Vets of that series might be a bit disappointed that the challenge isn't as tough.

On the other hand, that's only one bar of Rock Band's addictive song. For the first time ever, a video game simulates playing an entire drum kit by essentially dropping the thing in the middle of your living room: four sturdy pads and a kick pedal let you pound the skins like a real drummer. That's not an exaggeration; unlike tapping the unrealistic guitar fret buttons, playing the drums on Hard or Expert means you're pretty much playing the drums for real. Given, only those with a background in drumming will start anywhere past Easy, and it can be a long, slow road to Medium and Hard for novices. But stick with the drums and you'll be doing much more than playing a video game - you'll literally be learning a new instrument.

You'll also learn a lot about your atonality by screeching into the included microphone. Vocals are handled much like in Karaoke Revolution, as Rock Band accurately identifies pitch and, to a lesser degree, consonants. The ability to lower the volume of the mic's input lets the shier singers do their part without going all red in the face, a nice touch,

Amazingly, the game manages to get all this onscreen effortlessly. It's got a much cleaner look than Guitar Hero and includes nifty touches like avatars who accurately lip-synch, strum and drum. Crank up the surround sound and let her rip, too, because the audio is, unsurprisingly, pitch perfect.

The song list shows some cracks, though. Rock Band's initial set covers nearly 60 songs spanning four generations of rock. Our hats off to the decision to go so eclectic, but you'll inevitably come across songs that you either don't know at all or can't stand to begin with. Sure, they're all technically rock bands, but not a lot of folks equally dig Boston, Fall Out Boy, and Metallica.