Last year, Rock Band was the only music game that enabled users to play as a full-fledged band. Things are different this year with Konami’s Rock Revolution and, more dauntingly, Guitar Hero World Tour. Ultimately, no amount of features or new equipment is going to matter. The real winner will be whichever game has the best track list. Harmonix and MTV must be fully aware of this fact, because today, the two released the full 84-song set list. Judging by the impressive list, Konami and Activision have reason to worry. This is easily the greatest assemblage of music in a game to date.

The big jaw-to-the-floor announcement is that Guns N’ Roses is set to debut a new song from the long-awaited album Chinese Democracy. It’s not just that Rock Band 2 has GNR -- it has new GNR and effectively announces the imminent arrival of the band’s oft-delayed album. Guns N’ Roses’ "Shackler’s Revenge" is just the tip of the iceberg for a track list that features far more greats (Bob effin’ Dylan!) than stinkers (Linkin effin’ Park?!).

Joining GNR and Dylan are such surprises as Tenacious D, Pearl Jam, Beck, Talking Heads, and The Replacements. The list isn’t so focused on spreading across decades as it is spanning genres. There’s a lot more heavy metal this time around and the music from the ’60s is better focused (and lacking the horror that is Green Tides and High Grass). Perhaps the only head scratcher is the inclusion of Norman Greenbaum’s "Spirit in the Sky," which most will recognize as an overused sports anthem.

Ah, but as great as this list may be, you love your old RB1 tracks and just don’t want to give them up. Fear not. All downloadable content will work with Rock Band 2 and gamers can export tracks from Rock Band 1 to RB2. That’s right -- from day one you can bring all RB1 tracks into RB2 to compliment your DLC as long as you own a PS3 or an Xbox 360 with a hard drive.

And there’s more. Harmonix actually wanted to toss in 100 tracks total for the disk, but couldn’t get them all in one time to ship for Xbox 360 by September. So this fall, MTV is releasing an additional 20 downloadable master tracks... for free. By year’s end this will mean RB fans will have access to more than 500 songs.

That is the sound of Activision gulping.

Check out the full list of tracks. Note that all tracks on RB2 are master recordings. There are 75 tracks from famous artists, plus nine bonus tracks from various bands that feature members of Harmonix.

Master Tracks

#    Artists    Song Title    Decade

1.     AC/DC    Let There Be Rock    1970s
2.     AFI    Girl’s Gone Grey    2000s
3.     Alanis Morissette    You Oughta Know    1990s
4.     Alice in Chains    Man in the Box    1990s
5.     Allman Brothers    Ramblin’ Man    1970s
6.     Avenged Sevenfold    Almost Easy    2000s
7.     Bad Company    Shooting Star    1970s
8.     Beastie Boys    So Whatcha Want    1990s
9.     Beck    E-Pro    2000s
10.     Bikini Kill    Rebel Girl    1990s
11.     Billy Idol    White Wedding Pt. I    1980s
12.     Blondie    One Way or Another    1970s
13.     Bob Dylan    Tangled Up in Blue    1970s
14.     Bon Jovi    Livin’ on a Prayer    1980s
15.     Cheap Trick    Hello There    1970s
16.     Devo    Uncontrollable Urge    1980s
17.     Dinosaur Jr.     Feel the Pain    1990s
18.     Disturbed    Down with the Sickness    2000s
19.     Dream Theater    Panic Attack    2000s
20.     Duran Duran    Hungry Like the Wolf    1980s
21.     Elvis Costello    Pump It Up    1970s
22.     Fleetwood Mac    Go Your Own Way    1970s
23.     Foo Fighters    Everlong    1990s
24.     Guns N’ Roses    Shackler’s Revenge    2000s
25.     Interpol    PDA    2000s
26.     Jane’s Addiction    Mountain Song    1980s
27.     Jethro Tull    Aqualung    1970s
28.     Jimmy Eat World    The Middle    2000s
29.     Joan Jett    Bad Reputation    1980s
30.     Journey    Anyway You Want It    1970s
31.     Judas Priest    Painkiller    1990s
32.     Kansas    Carry On Wayward Son    1970s
33.     L7    Pretend We’re Dead    1990s
34.     Lacuna Coil    Our Truth    2000s
35.     Linkin Park    One Step Closer    2000s
36.     Lit    My Own Worst Enemy    1990s
37.     Lush    De-Luxe    1990s
38.     Mastodon    Colony of Birchmen    2000s
39.     Megadeth    Peace Sells    1980s
40.     Metallica    Battery    1980s
41.     Mighty Mighty Bosstones    Where’d You Go    1990s
42.     Modest Mouse    Float On    2000s
43.     Motorhead    Ace of Spades    1980s
44.     Nirvana    Drain You    1990s
45.     Norman Greenbaum    Spirit in the Sky    1960s
46.     Panic at the Disco    Nine in the Afternoon    2000s
47.     Paramore    That’s What You Get    2000s
48.     Pearl Jam    Alive    1990s
49.     Presidents of the USA    Lump    1990s
50.     Rage Against the Machine    Testify    1990s
51.     Ratt    Round & Round    1980s
52.     Red Hot Chili Peppers    Give it Away    1990s
53.     Rise Against    Give it All    2000s
54.     Rush    The Trees    1970s
55.     Silversun Pickups    Lazy Eye    2000s
56.     Smashing Pumpkins    Today    1990s
57.     Social Distortion    I Was Wrong    1990s
58.     Sonic Youth    Teenage Riot    1980s
59.     Soundgarden    Spoonman    1990s
60.     Squeeze    Cool for Cats    1970s
61.     Steely Dan    Bodhitsattya    1970s
62.     Steve Miller Band    Rock’n Me    1970s
63.     Survivor    Eye of the Tiger    1980s
64.     System of a Down    Chop Suey    2000s
65.     Talking Heads    Psycho Killer    1970s
66.     Tenacious D    Master Exploder    2000s
67.     Testament    Souls of Black    1990s
68.     The Donnas    New Kid in School    2000s
69.     The Go-Go’s    We Got the Beat    1980s
70.     The Grateful Dead    Alabama Getaway    1980s
71.     The Guess Who    American Woman    1970s
72.     The Muffs    Kids in America    1990s
73.     The Offspring    Come Out & Play (Keep ’em Separated)    1990s
74.     The Replacements    Alex Chilton    1980s
75.     The Who    Pinball Wizard    1960s

Bonus Tracks

76.     Abnormality    Visions    2000s
77.     Anarchy Club    Get Clean    2000s
78.     Bang Camaro    Night Lies    2000s
79.     Breaking Wheel    Shoulder to the Plow    2000s
80.     The Libyans    Neighborhood    2000s
81.     The Main Drag    A Jagged Gorgeous Winter    2000s
82.     Speck    Conventional Lover    2000s
83.     The Sterns    Supreme Girl    2000s
84.     That Handsome Devil    Rob the Prez-O-Dent    2000s

Rock Band 2 hits Xbox 360 for a short exclusive window in September and then broadens with a holiday release on PS3, PS2, and Wii. It’s unknown if any cross-game functionality will exists for PS2 or Wii versions.