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More Guitar Hero 80s Tracks Announced

Posted by Zonk on Tue Jun 12, 2007 05:29 PM
from the rock-it-with-big-hair dept.
Entertainment Games
Activision has released information on eight more tracks from the upcoming Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. In addition the previously announced songs, the company has now confirmed that the following glam and metal ballads will be available: "'Hold On Loosely' (as made famous by .38 Special), 'No One Like You' (as made famous by Scorpions), 'Only a Lad' (as made famous by Oingo Boingo), 'Radar Love' (as made famous by White Lion), 'Ballroom Blitz' (as made famous by Krokus), 'The Warrior' (by Scandal), 'What I Like About You' (as made famous by The Romantics), and 'Wrath Child' (as made famous by Iron Maiden)." Would have liked "Dead Man's Party" or "Weird Science" better from Boingo, but you can't have everything.
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[+] Guitar Hero III, 80s Tracks Announced 109 comments
claudia martinez writes "The Guitar Hero franchise is spreading its wings today with the announcement of Guitar Hero III, due to released across four platforms. This time around the title will feature boss battles and a new online multiplayer mode with world-wide leaderboards. Wireless controllers based on the Gibson guitar should be available for all platforms, and some of the titles already slated for the game have been announced. Tracks will include: "Paint It Black" (by The Rolling Stones), "Cherub Rock" (by Smashing Pumpkins), "The Metal" (by Tenacious D), "My Name is Jonas" (by Weezer), "Rock And Roll All Nite" (as made famous by Kiss), "School's Out" (as made famous by Alice Cooper), "Slow Ride" (as made famous by Fog Hat), and "Cult of Personality" (by Living Colour). More tracks from the 80s version of the title have also been announced with Poison, Skid Row, and Billy Squier rounding out the already impressive set list."
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  • 'Radar Love' (as made famous by White Lion), 'Ballroom Blitz' (as made famous by Krokus)

    That's an odd choice of 'as made famous by's, although I confess I can't remember who Ballroom Blitz was actually made famous by. And where's Sister Christian?!?!? And Photograph?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by deftcoder (1090261)
      Could they have picked a worse Iron Maiden song?

      Number of the Beast? Wasted Years? THE EVIL THAT MEN DO?

      C'mon, seriously.
      • There's a lot of songs... a LOT of Iron Maiden songs that are easier than Wrathchild. Granted, it's not the hardest song either, but it's guitar-heavy and has a lot of interesting rhythms. Plus I bet the licensing cost on it was low.
      • Would have loved "2 minutes to midnight" myself. And where's Motley Crue or GnR?
      • No way! Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Thirteen minutes and thirty-nine seconds of Samuel Taylor Coleridge goodness. Plus, it will help stave off the ADD that video games tend to be involved in.
          • Yeah, I guess you're right. It might not be as exciting to play as some of their other songs, now I think about it, but damn is it good to listen to.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      They're saving the Def Leppard songs for Drum Hero.

      • Re:Huh? (Score:5, Funny)

        by brouski (827510) on Tuesday June 12 2007, @07:27PM (#19484923)

        They're saving the Def Leppard songs for Drum Hero.

        Meh, I could do those with one hand tied behind my back.

      • No, no. In keeping with the "made famous by" theme of the 80's edition of Guitar Hero, they've decided to go with the fabulous Def Leppard cover of that Smashing Pumpkins song from a few years back. I forget which one it was. "Bullet With Butterfly Wings?" "1979?" "Cherub Rock?"

        Oh, now I remember...

        "Disarm."

    • Re:Huh? (Score:5, Informative)

      by wowbagger (69688) on Tuesday June 12 2007, @05:43PM (#19483969) Homepage Journal
      Yes, considering that "Radar Love" was composed by Golden Earring — in fact I'd never heard anybody ELSE do Radar Love — and "Ballroom Blitz" was composed by Sweet, and again, until "Wayne's World" I had never heard anybody BUT Sweet perform "Ballroom Blitz".
      • Well, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that you'd get semi-popular 80s covers of both of those songs in Guitar Hero 80s. Maybe you'll get lucky and get the originals in Guitar Hero 70s.

      • The Krokus one was fairly well circulated, though I'm slowly beginning to believe that Krokus never did an original song...

        I'm kind of perplexed by the White Lion selection, though. They had at least 3 popular singles, so why pick a cover?

        • There seem to be an awful lot of "made famous by"s there. And even though I was there in the 80's I don't recall any of those songs, so I question how famous they really are. I'm guessing what we have here is a creative way to license songs associated with big name 80's bands very cheaply by not dealing directly with said big-name 80's bands or their labels.

          • And even though I was there in the 80's I don't recall any of those songs
            By "there" I assume you mean "born in" or "really stoned" since there is more than one #1 Main Stream Rock song listed, and most of them were top 10 MSR at some point.
      • If you're doing well-known covers (and not just to get around the fact that Van Halen won't license you an original track) from the 80s I'd think Joan Jett's "Crimson and Clover" cover would have been on the list.
      • The Damned also did a (bad) cover of Ballroom Blitz.

    • 'Radar Love' (as made famous by White Lion), 'Ballroom Blitz' (as made famous by Krokus)

      That's an odd choice of 'as made famous by's, although I confess I can't remember who Ballroom Blitz was actually made famous by.

      "The Sweet?"
    • I can't remember who Ballroom Blitz was actually made famous by.

      Sweet. Desolation Boulivard. Excellent old album that I bough on vinyl new. "Jesus I'm old!"

  • Radar love (Score:4, Insightful)

    by steeph (85070) on Tuesday June 12 2007, @05:43PM (#19483967)
    Radar Love by White Lion? I guess that should have been Golden Earring.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by jchennav (195368)
      People might be more familiar with the White Lion cover of "Radar Love".

      This is not the first time that a song in a Guitar Hero game is based on a cover version:

      "I Love Rock 'N' Roll" is based on the Joan Jett & the Blackhearts cover of a song by The Arrows.
      "Higher Ground" is based on the Red Hot Chili Peppers cover of a Stevie Wonder song.
      "Crossroads" is based on the Cream cover of two Robert Johnson songs.
      "You Really Got Me" is based on the Van Halen cover of a song by the Kinks.

      • This is not the first time that a song in a Guitar Hero game is based on a cover version:

        Though it is the first, or maybe second, time that the cover version in question was less popular than the original. I say second because I happen to be a Kinks fan, though I might be willing to admit that the VH version was more popular. I think if you took a random poll you would find more people that said Radar Love was performed by Golden Earring than by White Lion, but I doubt the equivalent would happen for the other songs.

        On the other hand, if it weren't for White Lion we wouldn't be getting to

  • Don't Forget (Score:3, Informative)

    by PateraSilk (668445) <tedol@NospAM.isostandardstudio.com> on Tuesday June 12 2007, @05:46PM (#19484021) Homepage
    "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany and "Venus" by Bananarama.
    • Heavens, no. hitomi's remake of Bananarama's remake of "Venus" is far more pop and current.

  • Weird Science? Dead Man's Party? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by moderatorrater (1095745) on Tuesday June 12 2007, @05:47PM (#19484029)
    No, Insanity or Stay by Oingo Boingo. You know, the ones not based on movie plots.
    • Actually, I think songs which pretty much represented an entire movie in theme and complexity (and vice versa) really capture the zeitgeist of the 80s... For instance, once you saw something strange in the neighborhood and realized who you were going to call, the exposition(/development of the plot) was about over.

  • I was going to buy a PS2 for this... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by theantipop (803016) on Tuesday June 12 2007, @05:50PM (#19484053)
    But the distinct lack of really great songs as well as tons of "As made famous by..." really put me off. I suppose I can wait for GH3 for the Wii and hope the track list stays as top notch as the songs released already.
    • Just FYI, with rare exception the first 2 GH releases have all been "As Made Famous By..." tracks. Yes, there were the "original" tracks, but I personally didn't have much interest in them. At any rate, 99% have been covers anyway, so unsure why you'd be surprised that these are also covers.
      • Well yea, and the horrrrrible "As made famous by"s in GH1 & 2 made some great songs really hard to enjoy. Seriously, if it's not Ozzy, Cobain, de la Roca or Weiland the song is just going to sound foreign.

        • ...Ozzy, Cobain, de la Roca or Weiland...

          Ah yes name the songs where the cover was better than the original, with the possible exception of Killing in the Name, but that had nothing to do with the singing. Come on, this is almost as bad as the complaints about the Megadeth covers not sounding like Mustaine as if that is a bad thing. Ozzy, was never much of a singer, like him or not, de la Roca has one tone at one volume, Weiland, while an interesting front man and the best of the 4 mentioned, not exactly hard to cover well, and as for Cobain...

          • These are some of the people with the most recognizable voices in the last 25 years of music. They are also some of the worst offenders of bad covers in GH. Don't know how this makes them easy to cover. Regardless, the fact that you don't like them doesn't detract from my point.
            • You claimed the "As made famous by" songs were "horrrrrible" when what you meant was that they were not an exact duplicate of the originals. As it turns out at least a few of them were arguably better then the original. I think that does "detract from [your] point." I don't know what is worse, that you claim they have recognizable voice, or that you are wrong. Scott Weiland's voice is as generic as it gets, and Cobain's voice has been copied by so many up and comers, including some Asperger's inflicted A

    • Re:I was going to buy a PS2 for this... (Score:5, Funny)

      by xenocide2 (231786) on Tuesday June 12 2007, @06:00PM (#19484149) Homepage

      But the distinct lack of really great songs as well as tons of "As made famous by..." really put me off.
      I think you just summed up the 80s for me.

    • But the distinct lack of really great songs as well as tons of "As made famous by..." really put me off.


      The developers have commented on this before - apparently, they initially tried using the original versions of the songs (it's actually cheaper - licensing doesn't cost any more, and you don't have to pay a band), but they ran into a major problem:

      It just wasn't fun

      It turns out that most songs are not centred around the guitarist. While they may have some good riffs and solos in them, a lot of the song becomes quite boring to play, as the guitars take a back seat to the vocals. Also, the timing is often quite uneven, which makes it excruciatingly difficult for somebody to match on the controller - real bands kind of wing it, but GH doesn't work that way, you have to play the right notes at the time they appear in the score. So, in order to make the game fun to play, they recorded specialised versions of all the songs on the primary set lists, suitably rearranged with the guitars in the lead, and rehearsed to be note-perfect.

  • Help me place this Slashvertisement... (Score:3, Funny)

    by xxxJonBoyxxx (565205) on Tuesday June 12 2007, @05:51PM (#19484063)
    Help me place this Slashvertisement in the AIDA marketing model. Is this dribbling of useless information intended to raise Awareness, Interest or Desire?
    • I dunno, since somehow, magically, I already knew all these songs were on there... SlashDelay again. Or maybe it's just ZonkDelay
  • Maybe I'm just culturally behind the times or whatever, but I don't feel like the majority of Guitar Hero tracks are all at awesome. It probably has something to do with the licensing of content, but I'd say I had rarely or never heard of half the tracks in the GH series.

    • I'd say I had rarely or never heard of half the tracks in the GH series.
      God forbid you should learn something new!

        • Guitar Hero is a great way to find new music you like.

          I'd like to second that, even though so far I have been familiar with the vast majority of the main stream songs, I have found many of the unlockables to be very enjoyable.

          Congratulations on learning about the thoroughly enjoyable music of Rush. It may be 33 years since their first album, but better late than never. When you are at the show watch Geddy Lee closely, as h may not be the best bassist in the world (though probably damn close), but he is the best Bassist/Singer/Synth player in the world, so

  • Meh. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by morari (1080535)
    More tracks from what is probably the worst decade of popular music. Guitar Hero III looked to be shaping up fairly well as far as the tunes go, however.
      • GP's point stands. Except for punk, 80s music was a disaster. The 90s still had a fair few gems at the surface like Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Nirvana (but not their copycats), Garbage, Oasis, and No Doubt. But for the most part, guitar-based rock died in the 70s. The kind of crap that's being included in this version of Guitar Hero is godawful, except perhaps for The Police.
      • Oh, but BTW...I'd say the 2000s are shaping up to be even worse than the 80s. Seven years in and the only decent new group I can think of is Tegan and Sara. Even after perusing the WP list [wikipedia.org]...there's the White Stripes, I guess. And some occasionally decent "indie rock", but not a single standout that I can see.

        • Re:Meh. (Score:4, Funny)

          by Darkfred (245270) on Tuesday June 12 2007, @07:16PM (#19484805) Homepage Journal
          Hair metal was the epitomy of Human expression, it is the great star that our society will be judged by for centuries to come. like Homer's epics and Wagner's opera hair metal is simply our greatest legacy to the future.

  • Van Halen? Bon Jovi?! GNR?!?! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Alzheimers (467217) on Tuesday June 12 2007, @07:24PM (#19484893)
    Where's the Van Halen?

    Where's the Bon Jovi?!

    Where's the GUNS AND ROSES?!?!

    (me wonders if Harmonix are really music fans)
    • Is harmonix really doing this one? or is it activision?
    • I bought guitar hero two a month or so ago and its become pretty obvious that theyre making an effort to license "budget" songs. Theres an aerosmith song on there Ive never even heard of. There are songs from bands on there that make you go 'huh why this?' They are continuing this tradition with the 80s series. Pretty sad, I'd rather have less songs that are bad ass guitar songs instead of 6 or 8 singles i can recognize and bunch of filler. Hopefully, some enterpising developer will move in with somethi
      • There's much, much more to Van Halen than "You Really Got Me", and much, much more to GNR than "Sweet Child of Mine". Both of these bands could have entire Guitar Hero games based on their respective bodies of work.
  • Of course, they'd have to include a cardboard guitar controller...
  • Would be the Top Gun theme. Tell me that thing isn't all guitar...
    • Okay, I like Harold Faltermyer as much as the next guy, but I'm going to have to say that it's not exactly what I think of for Guitar Hero. Next thing I know there's going to be a keyboard hero and you're going to want Axel F!
    • Wait was the biggest hit off that album, it charted at #8 and brought the album to #11 on the charts. When the Children Cry charted at #3 but was off the charts in 5 weeks. Wait was on the charts for 18 weeks.

      If we're going to go by chart position, Radar Love was never on the chart; If we want to look at dates the cover of Radar Love didnt get released as a single until February 1990!

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