Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

Harmonix developed Guitar Hero 1 and 2 but then went off to go make Rock Band with MTV games as the Publisher. From Guitar Hero III and onward Neversoft developed the game and Activision joined RedOctane to publish it. Essentially Rock Band was the first game of the new rivalry to introduce the vocal and drum aspect to the game. Guitar Hero: World Tour (4th official entry) followed suit so both of the series now have the full band effect. Band Hero, like I said, is essentially the more "poppy" version of the game, so I think it'll be the best one for your needs.