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Seven Tracks for 80s Guitar Hero Announced
Ars Technica's Opposable Thumbs blog has a partial track list for Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s , an upcoming expansion for the hit music game. Poster Ben Kuchera wonders aloud about the report that it will be 'exclusively for the PlayStation 2'; given the recent release of Guitar Hero on the 360 it makes little sense that we won't see the new tracks as downloadable content. The tracks announced so far: "I Wanna Rock (by Twisted Sister), I Ran (by Flock of Seagulls), Round and Round (as made famous by Ratt), I Want Candy (as made famous by Bow Wow Wow), Metal Health (as made famous by Quiet Riot), Holy Diver (as made famous by Dio), Heat Of The Moment (as made famous by Asia)"
...can make up for the overwhelming load of crap that are the other tracks. I guess it's not inherently the game's fault though, the 80s wasn't a very good decade overall, popular music just happened to suffer the most.
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
New songs at http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3671314/Frets_on_Fire_ Song_Pack__3_(311_songs)
I don't know if the PS2 will have the definition needed to show Ronnie on the stage!
Ryan
I am just waiting for someone to convert them into Frets on Fire format and post somewhere. If you know any links (torrent or not) please share!!
find -name "*base*" -exec chown us {} \; ; ln -s
Rock music (especially the "hair metal" that near-defines the decade) sucked in the 80s. Why would you make an entire game of those kinds of tracks? Especially given how diverse the playlists are in the regular GH games.
I don't really recall any shredding Guitar Solos in most of those songs, except for maybe "I Wanna Rock". Now, if "Take It On The Run" by REO Speedwagon was on the list, I'd so be there.
Zagreus sits inside your head, Zagreus lives among the dead, Zagreus sees you in your bed and eats you in your sleep.
do I need to mention the lack of dire straights on the list??
Some day, on SOME edition of Guitar Hero, I want Dueling Banjos to be available in multiplayer mode.
Shades of Grayden
It would be cool if there were a cheap analog to digital converter that you could plug into your console and play the notes on an actual electric guitar. Of course you'd have to tune it first, and start out simple. But the software could recognize tones and keep score based on your accuracy. Could also pipe your own sound through the system so you could hear yourself play. I already own a bass, so I think something like this would be pretty cool.
I guess the long intro will give people time to stand there stupidly and finish their beers before the actual song starts.
You're joking, right? Journey and Def Leppard sound familiar? How about Van Halen :-) The 80s had some AWESOME rock, at least if you like rock. And I'd think that folks who buy Guitar Hero should at least like the *good* 80s rock...
:-/
I can't say I agree with Guitar Hero's selections, but then again I hate Guitar Hero anyway. I'd much rather rock out on my Ibanez than that thing that comes with the game. It seriously reminds me of a toddler toy
I like basketball!!1!
Why bother? It may have sucked, but it was popular! I suspect there are a ton of us who were teens in the 80s who will eat this stuff up. Sure looking back now a lot of the music had a pretty low level of artistic merit, but that doesn't mean it isn't going to hit the nostalgia strings of a pretty huge audience. I do think they'd be better off focusing on the Rock/Metal scene of the 80s which was more guitar focused than the New Wave scene which had a big synth/keyboard influence but I liked a little bit of everything from that time period.
The problem with that period is the sound. Exactly in mid-80s digital effects became widely available and thus were heavily used (mostly abused) for at least 4-5 years before people got bored of them. There are some good tracks from that era almost completely destroyed by too much chorus and reverberation on everything, from voices to drums: you can listen the first 5 seconds of a track and guess that it was recorded between 1984 and 1988 from the sound. That's very bad.
I'd rather love a list from the late 70s-early 80s only: AC-DC, Scorpions, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden (with Paul di' Anno singing), Blackfoot, Ramones, Molly Hatchet, Kiss, etc.
On a side note, a "Drum Hero" for the Wii with tracks by Neil Peart and Mike Portnoy would probably decrease the obesity amount in western world by 80% or so.
May I direct your attention this way?
=DIVIDE BY CUCUMBER ERROR: REINSTALL UNIVERSE AND REBOOT=
Thanks for reminding me why I never read the PA wannabe that is Ctrl-Alt-Del.
I like basketball!!1!
Not *everything* sucked. What about old *real* rockers, like Judas Priest? KK Downing and Glenn Tipton are guitars KINGS, and would have all the pretty-hair "rockers" for breakfast. What about early Maiden? AC/DC? Van Halen?
Thanks for reminding me that Penny Arcade is terrible and CAD is not really on my radar.
Do you love freedom??? Do you love freedom!!! DO YOU LOVE FREEDOM!!!!!!!!
Well... they're just that good, if you ask me.
(never bought GH1)
I think you're mistaken. Penny Arcade has a wide layout with typically three panels. Ctrl-Alt-Del has a more square layout with typically four panels. They are completely different.
Of the seven songs listed in the article, only two of them ("Heat of the Moment" and "I want Candy") were hits in the UK. Of the others, "I Ran", "Mental Health" and "Holy Diver" didn't even reach the Top 40. The Twisted Sister one isn't even listed as a Top 75 single (if it was released here at all). As for Ratt... who?! I've never heard of them, but apparently the best they could do was #50 in the album charts (no Top 75 singles listed).
:-)
Ta very much "Guinness British Hit Singles and Albums"...
Anyway, maybe they'll redo it for different markets, or maybe they'll assume that the target audience is too young to remember the 80s, so they don't think it'll matter anyway. I don't know how important osmosis is (i.e. hearing songs on the radio later on or rifling through your parents record/CD collection) in that case.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Oh, indeed. Thing is, I don't see them on the list.
And yes, early Iron Maiden and AC/DC were good too.
I'm thinking the same thing. There are some notable exceptions like van halen and some metal bands, but I wouldnt pay much for this. This would make a nice free (or very cheap) expansion disk or downloadable xbox live content. As another 60 dollar game just, meh. They can add a few token 80s songs to GH III and be done with it.
I'd choose:
Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)
Rock Of Ages (Def Leppard)
The Number Of The Beast (Iron Maiden)
Jump (Van Halen)
I Will Follow (U2)
Fade To Black (Metallica)
Hurts So Good (John Cougar/Mellencamp/whatever)
Paradise City (Guns 'N Roses)
Rock You Like a Hurricane (Scorpions)
Livin' On a Prayer (Bon Jovi)
Dr Feelgood (Motley Crue)
they re-released GH1 with GH2's engine... would be nice to have HO/PO working in GH1 the same way...
-- the cake is a lie
He's certainly worthy, but I'd hate to see he controller, It'd have to have what, 80 pads on it?
The 80s had awesome metal. Pop Rock sucked in the 80s. Def Leppard and Journey are probably not the best examples to defend 80s rock. Van Halen is maybe the only good "rock" band out of the 80s, but only because Eddie revolutionized tapping. Oh yeah, I thought of another - Aerosmith is definitely decent.
But then look at metal bands: Rush (which paved the way for Dream Theater), Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Metallica (shudder), Motorhead, and even Priest.
Anyhow, the real point of all this is that the only reason some of us like Guitar Hero is because some of the much harder songs (like Hangar 18 or YYZ) are damn near impossible to play on a real guitar. So instead of pretending like I'm a guitar virtuoso thinking I'm Steve Vai while my neighbors think I'm Kurt Cobain or that I left my guitar on while my cat is jumping up and down on it, I'd rather pretend and, hell, even have some fun with my wife because now we can BOTH mess around with it. And yes, I did just equate Kurt Cobain to a cat on the guitar -- he was a great songwriter, just not the greatest guitar player in the world.
Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine -- Robert C. Gallagher
Money for Nothing would be outstanding. One of the great 80s rock songs, with an excellent guitar riff. Makes me think of the (now cheesy) video. Who wouldn't want to play that on Guitar Hero?
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying. - Woody Allen
Heh I like all those bands :-P
Thanks for mentioning Steve Vai, that man is amazing. Though my all-time fav is probably still Malmsteen.
I can see Guitar Hero's appeal in some ways, but I just can't play a music game of that sort without wanting to turn it off and go jam on an actual guitar or play around on a keyboard. But that's just me. Just like if there were a similar dancing game (DDR isn't really, not that I like it...) I'd want to just go out and dance for real instead.
Now, luckily that doesn't carry over when it comes to fighting games. Or FPSs for that matter, hahah. Those I'm just fine with in their "virtual" incarnations ^_^
I like basketball!!1!
Where's VanHalen?
It's all about Dream Theater, man. I'm hoping I can get some Metropolis action in the next guitar hero game. It's just shameful they haven't had any Petrucci-rippin' tunes in the series up until now. If it did, I'd probably actually buy the game. YYXs a good start, though.
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
We all knew there would be hair bands (and I'm pleasantly surprised to see "I Ran"), but how about bands like Dramarama, The Replacements, The Smiths? They're probably not known for blistering solos, but certainly for playable riffs and generally good songs. "Anything Anything" by Dramarama is the epitome of a great one-hit wonder (I know they had other songs, but nothing as big as this). Gary's Got A Boner or Bastards of Young by The Replacements would also be good choices. Johnny Marr is an excellent guitarist. Surely one of his songs with The Smiths could be featured.
Oh, one other hair band that I haven't seen mentioned yet - Tesla. Heaven's Trail(No Way Out), Little Suzi, or Modern Day Cowboy would all be fun to play.
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying. - Woody Allen
I love these discussions. Apparently it's just not cool to like some bands (if only we could all agree on which ones weren't cool), and god forbid you actually enjoy playing a video game instead of a real guitar. Also, don't fret guys - they are just publishing a "teaser" list and I'd say everyone should save the REAL bitching until the final list is out.
No Pink Floyd or Rush? Both have had godlike guitar solos like you'd never believe.
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
Heat of the Moment? I hope they use Cartman's version!!
are you kidding me? The 80's was a seminal decade for guitar. GIT anyone? Didnt anyone here have a Lita Ford poster?
Eric Johnson - Tones
Joe Satriani - Surfing with the Alien
Stevie Ray Vaughn - nuff said.
And as for hair bands sucking, yes there were a few that were obscene and ridiculed...funny how some of them are considered the 'classics' now...Twisted Sister? AYFKM? Quiet Riot I could at least understand because Randy played with them for a while... What about Dokken, or Crue? Paul Gilbert and RacerX? Yngwie? Dire Straits? Holy crap the list goes on of killer guitar from the 80's...even The Smiths as someone else pointed out...
Seems to me some of these posters are actually quite clueless when it comes to 80'S guitar rock. Or are you really that impressed by 3 chord wonders like Nirvana and Pearl Jam?
Only tyrants and oppressors need fear a well armed populace.
An octopus in a bear trap? No, they don't suck.
7 mutant leeches with one arm each, like Trogdor? That must be it. But it seems awfully complicated and not accurate.
How about your mom, your dad, you, and your one armed sister?
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
I know you're smart enough to know this, but it's not about them intentionally leaving out stuff that would be awesome for this franchise, it's about what they're able to license. Notice the conspicuous use of the term "As made famous by" in the description? That means that they're not allowed to use the actual songs, they painstakingly recreate the songs from scratch. Most times the rights holders are not the musicians, and most times the rights holders are idiotic morons who are worried about a game like Guitar Hero "damaging the brand" of the songs they hold the rights to. So, don't be too surprised to see a big hole where the super-famous tracks should have been. They probably weren't able to license the rights to recreate the tracks.
I make these: http://beatseqr.com
Agreed. That game actually inspired me to put real effort into learning Hangar 18. I'm about half way through, until about the 4th solo, right before Dave takes over. Marty was amazing.
Anyway, it's fun to play with other people who don't know how to play for real, like close friends who never had time to pick up guitar -- GH has a relatively flat learning curve (on the easy level) so you can both rock out and "deploy star power".
As far as dancing goes, you're on your own on that one hehe
-ik
P.S. Regarding: Heh I like all those bands :-P ... Though my all-time fav is probably still Malmsteen.
Good taste
Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine -- Robert C. Gallagher
They should use the whole Scenes from a Memory album as the Grand Finale "song" of the game (it's just one giant song anyway!).
Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine -- Robert C. Gallagher
No Jukebox Hero?
Dekker Dreyer
The end scene where Ralphy Boy triumphs over evil (and Steve Vai) - That's one I want!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090888/
http://www.listal.com/video/166888
"Creativity is allowing ones self to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep" - Scott Adams
You might actually manage to lose your virginity if you do.
So sorry, the king of rock guitar is not very big on licensing.
"Creativity is allowing ones self to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep" - Scott Adams
Meh... personally, after years of waiting for the legendary "M2", I was a little letdown. I actually really like Six Degrees A LOT... I didn't really get into the epic, "6 degrees", though, until this year when they released the orchestral version, on their new live album, "Score", which is absolutely stunning.
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
Please, just look up words that you've never seen in print.
Nothing is an analogue, you fucking imbecile.
How about some... - Metallica (Master of Puppets, Battery) - AC/DC (Back in Black) - Slayer (Raining Blood, Angel of Death) - Journey (Don't Stop Believin') - The B-52's (Love Shack) These would all be good. They all include average lengthed solos (except, of course, for Metallica).