Nirvana's <i>Nevermind</i> in Rock Band?

Source: An article on the gaming blog Joystiq citing the latest issue of GamePro magazine, and a piece on British site Computer & Video Games citing unnamed "reports."

The official story: "We have previously announced that Rock Band will feature Nirvana's single 'In Bloom' on the game disc. To date, the only official announcement we have made regarding Rock Band full album downloads is The Who, "Who's Next." Look out for more Rock Band news soon."--A Harmonix representative. What we heard: It seems we can't go two straight days without some news on the marquee head-to-head matchup of the gaming year, Activision and RedOctane's Guitar Hero III versus MTV Games and Harmonix's Rock Band. That means no weekend breaks, so of course, Joystiq reported this weekend that the latest issue of GamePro features a wealth of information on Rock Band, including a November 6 release date and confirmation of the game's second downloadable album, Nirvana's Nevermind.

While most articles repeating the news through the blogosphere cited GamePro via Joystiq, CVG went with a more nebulous "according to reports" when they ran with the information, leaving readers to speculate as to whether or not all these reports stem from the same place or multiple sources. The only problem here is that Harmonix won't actually confirm either piece of news.

The Joystiq story was first updated with word from Harmonix denying the release date. According to the Rock Band developers, the official release date is still a vague "holiday 2007." And today, as stated above, a Harmonix representative refused to confirm the Nirvana news.

Nirvana's "Nevermind" is a natural choice for Rock Band. While Harmonix could certainly mine the classic-rock genre for years of full album downloads, variety is indeed the spice of life, and more modern offerings will have to be mixed in with the venerable classics. Now about 16 years old, Nevermind isn't quite what "the kids" are "into" these days, but it is a hit-packed album that shouldbe familiar to most members of the coveted 18 to 34-year-old demographic.

So the album would clearly be a good fit for Rock Band, leaving Harmonix's ability to secure the rights to it as the question mark. Harmonix has already nabbed one of the album's singles, "In Bloom," for the standard Rock Band setlist, so there's already a precedent set and a willingness on the part of the band to license its songs for the game. Given that Harmonix managed to bring the cagey Metallica into its stable of acts, there shouldn't be many--if any--groups considered "off limits" to the new franchise.

Bogus or not bogus?: Looking not bogus. Now let's see them get Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and the Beatles.