Rock Band 2 includes more songs on its list than any other rhythm game to date, and it also includes a code for a pack of 20 additional songs. With so many songs, parents may not have time to sort through all of them before playing the game with their kids (yeah, we encourage that), so below we include a list of songs we consider suitable for all ages, with notes following. Note that we will not include all of the subsequent downloadable songs you can buy separately, since that list is ever growing. Just google the song lyrics before you buy it.

• "A Jagged Gorgeous Winter" by The Main Drag (One word possibly offensive)
• "Ace of Spades '08" by Motörhead (Gambling metaphor)
• "Alabama Getaway" by Grateful Dead (Violence and alcohol reference)
• "Alex Chilton" by The Replacements (One word possibly offensive)
• "Alive" by Pearl Jam
• "Almost Easy" by Avenged Sevenfold
• "American Woman" by The Guess Who
• "Any Way You Want It" by Journey (Possible innuendo)
• "Aqualung" by Jethro Tull (Possibly questionable imagery)
• "Battery" by Metallica (Somewhat violent imagery)
• "Bodhisattva" by Steely Dan
• "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas
• "Chop Suey" by System of a Down
• "Colony of Birchmen" by Mastodon
• "Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Separated)" by The Offspring (Violent imagery, but positive anti-gang message)
• "Drain You" by Nirvana (Some questionable imagery)
• "E-Pro" by Beck (Possibly violent metaphor)
• "Everlong" by Foo Fighters
• "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor
• "Feel the Pain" by Dinosaur Jr. (One word possibly offensive)
• "Float On" by Modest Mouse
• "Girl's Not Grey" by AFI
• "Give It All" by Rise Against
• "Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac
• "Hello There" by Cheap Trick
• "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran
• "I Was Wrong" by Social Distortion
• "Kids in America" by The Muffs
• "Lazy Eye" by Silversun Pickups
• "Let There Be Rock" by AC/DC
• "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi
• "Lump" by Presidents of the United States of America (Subtle imagery)
• "Mountain Song" by Jane's Addiction
• "Night Lies" by Bang Camaro (Possible innuendo)
• "Nine in the Afternoon" by Panic at the Disco
• "One Step Closer" by Linkin Park
• "One Way or Another" by Blondie
• "Our Truth" by Lacuna Coil
• "Painkiller" by Judas Priest
• "Panic Attack" by Dream Theater
• "Peace Sells" by Megadeth
• "Pinball Wizard" by The Who
• "Pretend We're Dead" by L7
• "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads
• "Pump It Up" by Elvis Costello
• "Ramblin' Man" by The Allman Brothers Band
• "Rock'n Me" by Steve Miller Band
• "Round and Round" by Ratt
• "Shooting Star" by Bad Company (Alcohol & drug reference)
• "Shoulder to the Plow" by Breaking Wheel
• "Souls of Black" by Testament
• "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum
• "Spoonman" by Soundgarden
• "Supreme Girl" by The Sterns
• "Teen Age Riot" by Sonic Youth (Alcohol reference)
• "Testify" by Rage Against the Machine (Alcohol & gun references)
• "That's What You Get" by Paramore
• "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World
• "The Trees" (Vault Edition) by Rush
• "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins
• "Uncontrollable Urge" by Devo
• "Visions" by Abnormality
• "We Got the Beat" by The Go-Go's
• "Welcome to the Neighborhood" by Libyans
• "Where'd You Go?"  by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (Alcohol reference)
• "White Wedding (Part 1)" by Billy Idol

When you purchase Rock Band 2, you get a code to download an additional 20 songs from independent artists, so since that's more or less included in the game, we found these to be suitable:

• "Sons and Daughters" by The 88 (Alcohol reference)
• "Prequel To The Sequel" by Between the Buried and Me
• "Bounce" by The Cab (Some innuendo)
• "Get It On" by The Chevelles
• "Give It To Me" by The Cocktail Slippers (Possible innuendo)
• "Database Corrupted" by Dealership
• "Ashes To Fire" by The Ghost Hounds
• "The Feeling" by Kutless
• "If I Ain't Got You" by The Len Price 3
• "I'm Gone, I'm Going" by Lesley Roy
• "Like a Fool" by Shaimus
• "Crazy Tuesday" by Thenewno2
• "The Time Is Wrong" by Tickle Me Pink (One word possibly offensive)
• "Desperate Times, Desperate Measures" by Underoath

As always, parents know what their kids can and can't handle and what they consider appropriate for their homes. We found that a lot of the above songs have fairly depressing lyrics, and some that didn't make the list had no offensive language, but strong references to adult themes that seemed too blatant for kids. Also note that at least one song uses "God" in a way that may offend families of certain religious persuasions, but we left it in because it was possibly ambiguous.

What do you think? Do you disagree with some of our decisions to list or cut certain songs? Leave a comment below!