Yet Another Guitar Hero III Track Unveiled
By Steve on Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 at 8:30 PM PST In Activision, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Games, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony
It seems Activision premiered a new track for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival today. Highlights from the press release include:
“‘She Bangs the Drums,’ as made legendary by The Stone Roses, was played for the very first time, underscoring the company’s promise that the track list for the next installment in the Guitar Hero franchise will draw inspiration from all eras and genres of guitar music, ensuring a soundtrack with truly global appeal.”
“‘She Bangs the Drums” is one of the Stone Roses’ best-loved songs, hailing from an album consistently voted the very best British album ever. Its inclusion in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will appeal to fans of the classic late-80s music scene, lovers of sublime guitar rhythms and riffs, as well as the indie-shoegazers.”
“Along with the announcement of this classic British track, the screening provided the first opportunity for members of the public this side of the Atlantic to witness first hand the new boss battles and multiplayer game modes. The new Guitar Hero controllers were also premiered.”
I have to be honest; I’ve never heard this song before until today. After immediately listening to “She Bangs the Drums”, I think she should stop banging them altogether. Underwhelming is an understatement here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for indie-rock. But, there have to be better choices for the Guitar Hero audience gamut. Anything from Failure would have been très chic. Hell, anything from Ken Andrews would fill that whole niche perfectly. I just can’t see a Stone Roses track surviving the modern day critics. It just sounds so…. dated. Of course, this is my wholehearted opinion. And for the record, I experienced the entire 80’s – the good & the bad. I’m not bashing the era in any way.
Anyway, this brings the confirmed Guitar Hero 3 track count to 32 (source here). I’m still hoping classic tracks like Faith No More’s “Epic” and Yes’ “Owner of the Lonely Heart” somehow make it in there. We have some decent metal so far, but could use a tad bit more. We need more off the wall tracks comparable to the Butthole Surfers track found in Guitar Hero 2. Tenacious D? Come on. That’s an inside-joke akin to Trogdor (and should be b-listed as such). GWAR would be a hilarious choice. Hmm… you know what? GWAR would make a killer boss battle. Ok, I could go on all night about my vision of GH3, so without further ado…
Read the press release after the break:
Tuesday 14th, August 2007…Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) premiered a new track from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock game during its exclusive hour-long screening at Edinburgh Interactive Festival today.
“She Bangs the Drums,” as made legendary by The Stone Roses, was played for the very first time, underscoring the company’s promise that the track list for the next instalment in the Guitar Hero franchise will draw inspiration from all eras and genres of guitar music, ensuring a soundtrack with truly global appeal.
“She Bangs the Drums” is one of the Stone Roses’ best-loved songs, hailing from an album consistently voted the very best British album ever. Its inclusion in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will appeal to fans of the classic late-80s music scene, lovers of sublime guitar rhythms and riffs, as well as the indie-shoegazers.
The Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock screening took place at 1:00 pm today, as part of the Festival’s public day at the Odeon, Lothian Road, Edinburgh.
Along with the announcement of this classic British track, the screening provided the first opportunity for members of the public this side of the Atlantic to witness first hand the new boss battles and multiplayer game modes. The new Guitar Hero controllers were also premiered.
“The Edinburgh Interactive Festival is all about the culture of gaming,” states Zach Fountain, General Manager, RedOctane Europe. “The Guitar Hero franchise has already established itself as part of mainstream pop culture, so it was a perfect place to unveil one of our UK-originated songs. The Guitar Hero road show moves from here to Leipzig, where we’ll be announcing a whole new stack of European songs for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.”
For full details of the festival programme and events, along with details about registration and how to book, visit the Edinburgh Interactive Festival website at www.edinburghinteractivefestival.co.uk
Songs announced for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock so far include:
- Slash’s Original Boss Battle Recording
- Welcome to The Jungle (by Guns N’ Roses)
- One (by Metallica)
- Paint It Black (by The Rolling Stones)
- Cherub Rock (by Smashing Pumpkins)
- Sabotage (by Beastie Boys)
- The Metal (by Tenacious D)
- My Name is Jonas (by Weezer)
- Knights of Cydonia (by Muse)
- Even Flow (by Pearl Jam)
- Lay Down (by Priestess)
- Cult of Personality (by Living Colour)
- Miss Murder (by AFI)
- Through Fire and Flames (by Dragonforce)
- Number of the Beast (by Iron Maiden)
- 3’s and 7’s (by Queens of the Stone Age)
- Suck My Kiss (by Red Hot Chili Peppers)
- Raining Blood (by Slayer)
- Reptillia (by The Strokes)
- Paranoid (as made famous by Black Sabbath)
- Cities on Flame (as made famous by Blue Oyster Cult)
- Mississippi Queen (as made famous by Mountain)
- La Grange (as made famous by ZZ Top)
- Rock and Roll All Nite (as made famous by Kiss)
- School’s Out (as made famous by Alice Cooper)
- Rock You Like a Hurricane (as made famous by Scorpions)
- Slow Ride (as made famous by Foghat)
- Barracuda (as made famous by Heart)
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, published by RedOctane and developed by Neversoft, is not yet rated by the ESRB and will be available this October. For more information about the Guitar Hero franchise, please visit the dedicated community site: www.guitarhero.com.
About Activision, Inc.: Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision posted net revenues of $1.5 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007.
Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s World Wide Web site, which is located at www.activision.com.
GWAR! How hilarious that would have been, spiked costumes and all. They are showmen if nothing else, I actually got stuck in a mosh pit at one of their shows once. I don’t recommend it.
I think the game could use something more metal-goth. Maybe some Nightwish. Anything from them would have made your fingers cramp, and you would have been lost in power chord heaven. I am becoming more and more disenfranchised with this series everyday, and it is a shame because I absolutely love playing both I & II. GH III better live up to the hype, because I am assuredly throwing down $200 on Rock Band – THAT would be a great outlet for some Nightwish! Could you imagine some poor sap trying to sing something Tarja Turunen perfected? LOL.
Nightwish would definitely make my GH3 list. In fact, why not take it to the next level?
Guitar Hero: The Nordic Invasion
Nordic rock/metal is superior to modern American metal now. Slap some Nightwish,Opeth,Ayreon/Star-One,Sun Caged,Sonata Artica,& Pain of Salvation in there. Wow, I’m getting all tingly thinking about this. It would work, I’m telling ya. Most of these bands are still around and would gladly donate master tracks.
If only…
Song list aint a looky so good to me : p
It probably doesn’t take too long to put a song into guitar hero. I think they should put a lot more songs than they usually do onto the next version.
Nightwish Hero is a great idea! The Gathering have some great guitar riffs too.
Pity the PS2 doesn’t support user-defined songs (unless you can burn a CD or something.)