Guitar Hero II's final boss revealed, all 11 solos of it

by Christopher Grant { Sep 15th 2006 at 5:55PM }

In the latest issue of EGM, Guitar Hero's resident axman, Marcus Henderson, revealed that we would know the identity of Guitar Hero II's final boss "when it arrives." He gushed, "This is a major, major guitar ass-kicker. It has no less then 11 guitar solos in it." Speculation led one poster on PlayStation Lounge to guess the killer track in question was Megadeth's eleven guitar solo-havin' "Hangar 18" (why not just make it eighteen guitar solos for consistency?).

Guitar Hero II hasn't arrived yet, but we've gone the extra step of putting this two and that two together to get four, and we feel pretty comfortable saying that "Hangar 18" will indeed be the final boss in Guitar Hero II. You see, a now mysteriously absent GameTrailers video titled "Staying on Track" had Will Littlejohn, Senior Producer/Mixer at Wavegroup (he records all the songs), revealing that Aerosmith's "Last Child" and Megadeth's "Hangar 18" would be on the sequel, so it's pretty obvious. Of course, fans of the series will recall that Megadeth's "Symphony of Destruction" was "actin' like a robot" on the first installment, so it'll be great to spend some more time with Dave Mustaine & friends. Eleven solos? Sheesh.

Read on for the confirmed songs thus far, including Cheap Trick's "Surrender," accidentally left out of 1UP's list.

[Thanks, monkeydog and Aaron]

Megadeth; "Hanger 18"
Aerosmith; "Last Child"
Cheap Trick; "Surrender"
Nirvana; "Heart-Shaped Box"
Primus (original recording); "John the Fisherman"
Stone Temple Pilots; "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart"
Anthrax; "Madhouse"
Motley Crue; "Shout at the Devil"
The Police; "Message in a Bottle"
The Pretenders; "Tattooed Love Boys"
Spinal Tap; "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight"
Heart; "Crazy on You"
Allman Brothers Band; "Jessica"
Lynyrd Skynrd; "Freebird"
Avenged Sevenfold; "Beast and the Harlot"
Dick Dale; "Misirlou"
Lamb of God; "Laid to Rest"
Alice in Chains; "Them Bones"
Reverend Horton Heat; "Psychobilly Freakout"
Black Sabbath; "War Pigs"
KISS; "Strutter"
Butthole Surfers; "Who Was in My Room Last Night?"
Van Halen; "You Really Got Me"
Guns N' Roses; "Sweet Child O'Mine"
The Rolling Stones; "Can You Hear Me Knocking?"
Rush; "YYZ"

We've embedded the code that used to point to the aforementioned video, in case it ever makes it way back online. GameTrailers?

Tags: GHII, Guitar Hero II, GuitarHeroIi, Harmonix, Red Octane, RedOctane

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kevin @ Sep 15th 2006 6:00PM

11 SOLOS! My fingers hurt just reading about it.

KrazyIan @ Sep 15th 2006 6:04PM

Definitely one of the best songs ever in the Megadeth canon. Couldnt have picked a better one for the game though, Hangar 18 is a workout.

Dracula Jones @ Sep 15th 2006 6:07PM

At around the 1:40 mark of the Megadeth video, is that a PS3 coming off the manufacturing line?

JodyAnthony @ Sep 15th 2006 6:08PM

sweet monkey jesus, I want it just for Surrender. I fucking love that song like nobody's business.

KrazyIan @ Sep 15th 2006 6:08PM

It should also be noted that the band's name is usually spelled "Megadeth" (no 'a').

FSK405K @ Sep 15th 2006 6:12PM

Damn, when are they gonna announce some Yngwie Malmsteen?

Brian @ Sep 15th 2006 6:22PM

@#7

Hopefully never. At least not in this edition of the game. It's nice to have a few really difficult songs featuring ridiculously fast guitar solos, but Bark at the Moon and Cowboys from Hell were never among my favorites to play in GH1.

Ahms @ Sep 15th 2006 6:38PM

YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gavin @ Sep 15th 2006 6:41PM

Ditto on Surrender. Cheap Trick was the shiznit.

MSH-Hitman @ Sep 15th 2006 6:43PM

Holy crap this is going to be insane. Hanger 18 is a killer song, but I'm not looking forward to trying to take on those solo's lol

JacKal @ Sep 15th 2006 6:49PM

HOLY SWEET ZOMBIE JIHAD!?!? This list is fantastic!!! I was a bit worried when they got all popular and a bigger budget of mainstream songs... I didn't know if they'd still pick songs 'for guitarists in mind'... boy was I wrong... Once again, a fantastic mix of songs!! And I thought the first GH list was the best...

Probot @ Sep 15th 2006 6:50PM

For those that haven't heard the song, the video is on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9xHdFeTHTE

(My excitement about the song is not an endorsment of the video.)

C. Grant @ Sep 15th 2006 7:05PM

I already embedded it Probot!! :)

Probot @ Sep 15th 2006 7:07PM

What do you know, that exact video is staring at me right at the beginning of the post.

tittergrrl @ Sep 15th 2006 7:11PM

SURRENDER?!?! YAY!

I used to love playing Boston's "More Than A Feeling" for pure ironic joy... but, now... that is being left at the wayside.

GH 2 for GOTDecade

Vlad @ Sep 15th 2006 7:14PM

the list is undoubtedly awesome (I'm particularly stoked for "Message in a Bottle", "Trippin' on a Hole..." and "Crazy on You") but I do still have one nagging question. I remember waaaaay back that Tool was supposed to have a song in the game. is this still true, or some terrible rumor that never came to fruition? Harmonix, please please dispell my fears and confirm a Tool song!!

Dr.Swiss @ Sep 15th 2006 7:14PM

What are they doing to ET??? :*( nooooo!!

JCA @ Sep 15th 2006 7:23PM

#7. Yngwie dude? Are you insane? Even on Easy anything he recorded would be too difficult for like 90% of people to play...Maybe some Joe Satriani though.....while also a virtuoso his stuff may fall in line with the melodic and riff-centric songs they had on GH1.

Woulda been so nice but I'm not surprised there's no Metallica on there. They have some of the best riff-o-licious songs but unfortunately those guys are insano conservative when it comes to licensing their music.

Aaron @ Sep 15th 2006 7:32PM

i cant wait to play this song!

Satt @ Sep 15th 2006 7:53PM

Not worried looking forward to a good challenge, bark at the moon is getting boring to replay over and over and over again.

Fanboys Rules the World @ Sep 15th 2006 9:07PM

No Guitar Hero for 360.

MrP @ Sep 15th 2006 9:22PM

Holy CRAP! From the fifth minute and outwards... Makes my fingers hurt just thinking about it.

Monkeydog @ Sep 15th 2006 9:28PM

Hanger 18 is one awesome song, it'll be fun to play. Same with Crazy on You and YYZ.

YYZ was actually being played in that video that disapeared...I wonder where it went.

daeyeth @ Sep 15th 2006 10:09PM

Uhh...aren't you guys jumping the gun a little here? When Henderson said that, I really don't think he was being literal...

FSK405K @ Sep 15th 2006 10:39PM

Of course they can add Yngwie, like Far Beyond the Sun or Flamenco Diablo. There's only 5 keys to press and one "string" to "pluck." Now, I haven't mastered FBTS yet--who has--but playing Guitar Hero isn't quite like trying play the real things. (Yes, more difficult in the exactingness, but not in overall skill.)

OMGMatrix @ Sep 15th 2006 11:17PM

Yah, Malmsteen would be cool, if you like getting repeatedly raped.
I just wanna see some YES or Pink Floyd.

jeffx @ Sep 15th 2006 11:33PM

I thought everytime I die had a song in there... but I went back to the original kotaku post and it looks as though that was canned:

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/guitar-hero-ii-announcement-rocks-concert-update-185095.php

Babylonian @ Sep 16th 2006 12:00AM

Was I the only one who watched this video for about an entire minute while under the impression that Guitar Hero II had adopted a live-action, campy cutscene style?

If only...

LaughingMan @ Sep 16th 2006 12:59AM

I never realized "Hanger 18" had 11 solos. It's like a deleted scene from Spinal Tap. "

"You've got 10 solos in the song, right? Where can you go from there?"
"Well why don't you have 9 solos and have the 10th be the final and most elaborate"
"...................... We have 11 solos"

Intellectualdiot @ Sep 16th 2006 3:55AM

@OMGMatrix:

I too would like some Yes. Quite honestly, I was thinking about how awesome "Heart of The Sunrise" would be to play in that game as I looked at the "Freetar Hero" wiki. It seems as if it might a bit too proggy for Guitar Hero though (even the more proggy songs in GHII tend to be guitar centric, for obvious reasons - this isn't necessarily so in most progressive rock), so in terms of classic Yes that would have a reasonable chance of surfacing, I'd suggest "Starship Trooper". It's a classic rock staple and has a fantastic solo.

But it won't happen. No Yes. Oh well. I'll legitimately be crushed if Pink Floyd isn't on the final setlist though. I won't get what I want (anything from Animals, but preferably "Dogs"), but any obvious Pink Floyd choice would rock my socks.

@Vlad:

I suppose it should be taken with a grain of salt, but MTV incidently mentioned that Tool was in talks with RedOctane to be in GHII back in May, but I'm not entirely sure if this is what you are speaking of. I'd love to have a little Tool on the setlist, especially anything from Lateralus.

I was about to get bored with Hangar 18 until that rather awesome shift in time signature before the onslaught begins. That part will fell me many, MANY times before I ultimately succeed. Either way, it'll be amazingly fun.

At this point RedOctane could fill the last 25 or so remaining spots with boy bands and I'd still have a hard time staving off the urge to purchase this game. Clearly Guitar Hero II is going for Game of the Century honors.

Latocki @ Sep 16th 2006 4:25AM

I honestly don't believe that Hangar 18 is the boss song. It may be an extremely difficult song, but there is evidence to prove it isn't the boss. I got to watch that GT video before it was taken down, and after the guy said something about Hangar 18, he began to speak about a seemingly different song. He says "this one song" is really complex, basically a solo from front to back, and every instrument track is recorded twice and layered on top of eachother, etc. But the way that the GT video was set up implies that Hangar 18 is in fact not the boss song. what do you guys think?

kitbathman @ Sep 16th 2006 11:30AM

This song Hanger 18 is an OK song, but as far as having 11 solo's ??? how do you figure ?? there's basically 1 solo with a bunch of what are called long pauses... not solos...A guitar solo consists of the lead guitarist playing by himself hence the term (solo)
not having the rest of the band turn down thier amps a little so the lead guitar stands out more !!! (not really a solo....And as for this being such a difficult song !!!! PLEASE...........The 11 6 or 7 second riffs he plays are definatly not difficult.. they are more along the lines of medioka at best...for someone who actually play lead guitar....If you want to hear much better and faster riffs and more technical then listen to one of the other bands in this line up !! listen to some of the Lamb Of God albums.... much more technical riffs on most of thier tracks....atleast for real guitar players.......

raindog @ Sep 16th 2006 2:30PM

What I wish more than anything else about Guitar Hero is that we had the option to plug an actual guitar in and get judged for our actual playing. I mean, fine, have the guitar controller for non-players, but some of these songs I was playing 20 years ago and it'd be like some retro thing to play them again and be judged by a videogame rather than, you know, an empty room.

That, and Heart of the Sunrise would be awesome, but I agree that Starship Trooper is the more guitar-centric song.

Ah well, I know I'll buy it regardless..... I loves me some War Pigs....

sheepbat @ Sep 16th 2006 2:57PM

All these comments and no one wondering where Call of Ktulu is?

JWM @ Sep 16th 2006 3:20PM

Meh, you've obviously never heard of DragonForce!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3VUBIdBaOU&search=dragonforce

However, Hanger 18 is one hell of a song.

[vjgx] @ Sep 16th 2006 3:22PM

Now all we need is something by Dragonforce... preferably "Storming the Burning Fields" ;)

JWM @ Sep 16th 2006 3:39PM

BTW for those of you who were talking about real guitars, if youre looking for a cool guitar to learn on you should check out http://www.fretlight.com

Slod @ Sep 17th 2006 8:49AM

Funny. I just looked at the 11 solos part and knew it was Megadeth. At least a good band is getting some recognition =)

KR @ Sep 18th 2006 12:12AM

Megadeth's best song ever. Great choice...will be amazing to see someone pull it off on the hardest difficulty.

KR @ Sep 18th 2006 12:14AM

"No Guitar Hero for 360."

Wrong. It's on the way, Red Octane has said as much recently.

Esquilax @ Sep 19th 2006 4:58PM

I heard about two more songs that are supposed to be on GH2 (unless the above is the complete list and other songs recorded for the game were scrapped):

The Stray Cats; "Rock This Town"
Kansas; "Carry On Wayward Son"

keo @ Sep 28th 2006 9:05AM

I cant believe that the folks over at Guitar hero 2 Have not thought about including "Still of the night, or "Judgement Day" by Whitesnake, and also " i remember you" by Skid Row

All those songs especially still of night are great!

JM @ Sep 28th 2006 6:23PM

"A guitar solo consists of the lead guitarist playing by himself hence the term (solo)"

By that logic then, I can think of like 1 song that has a guitar solo: Heartbreaker by Led Zeppelin. To normal people (read: not pretentiously over-technical guitar nerds) however, the guitar solo is that part in the middle where the guitar player plays lots of single notes in succession, and is quite common.

Jared @ Oct 18th 2006 1:28AM

I was keeping my fingers crossed for SRV's version of "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)"

IzzyToxic @ Oct 21st 2006 6:13AM

"'Comfortably Numb' as made famous by Pink Floyd" could work really well in GH. Perhaps if David can bury the axe with Roger (metaphorically only, not in his cranium) then maybe we will see that song in GH3.

* Sure we will, when Pink Pigs fly!
- Come on guys, "tear down the wall", please?