Eight more tracks from Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s

by Christopher Grant on Jun 12th 2007 11:04AM

Activision has trickled out a handful of additional tracks from the upcoming Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s but, before we share them with you, you should be warned. Singing along to any of these tracks -- especially "Hold On Loosely" -- may seriously jeopardize your good social standing and evergreen high school popularity, but that doesn't bother us one bit. Just hold on loosely, but don't let go-woah-woah ...

"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)
"Wrath Child" (as made famous by Iron Maiden)

The rest of the crew (or is that crüe?) announced so far are pasted after the break for your edification.

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s

"18 and Life" (as made famous by Skid Row)
"Bathroom Wall" (as made famous by Faster Pussycat)
"Lonely is the Night" (as made famous by Billy Squier)
"Nothing But a Good Time" (as made famous by Poison)
"Play With Me" (as made famous by Extreme)
"Shaken" (as made famous by Eddie Money) [We're assuming they mean "Shakin'"]
"Synchronicity II" (as made famous by Police)
"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)

Tags: Activision, GH-Encore, GH-Encore-Rocks-The-80s, GH-Rocks-The-80s, Guitar-Hero, Guitar-Hero-Encore-Rocks-The-80s, Harmonix, Music, PS2

Reader Comments (62)

Wow, that is a pretty solid lineup IMO.

I am so happy they decided to throw some Oingo Boingo in there.

"Radar Love (as made famous by White Lion)"

Damn. There goes the last chance of Golden Earring being in Guitar Hero III.

Anyone use there stuff on the PS3? If so, what do you need?

I was planning on passing on this in favor of GH3, which doesn't seem to be that far away, but with the inclusion of both .38 Special and Iron Maiden I just might be inclined to pick it up.

White Lion's version is better IMO.

For the love of God, release this on the 360 as an expansion with new Achievements!

Joystiq, why no posting of the first shots of Rock Band? Oh yeah, neither peripheral pics nor interface pics were unveiled... but what was shown looks damn hot!

@Matt B

White Lion's remake is very good, I'm not denying that. But I really like Golden Earring and Radar Love was their best chance to get into a Guitar Hero game.

Can't wait for this.....No One Like You rules, great solo!!! Wrath Child.....sick!!! Hey some "other" website mentioned Anthrax - "Caught In A Mosh", The Vapors - "Turning Japanese" and Winger - "Seventeen"...I hope these songs make it too.

@Stan

I agree, this needs to be released for the 360 as well. What happened with their claim of "the most download content ever"? This would be a perfect download expansion for the 360.

I thought Sweet did Ballroom Blitz. Which one's the original, then?

this HAS to come to 360 as DLC, please god

Great, apparently 80s edition really meant ass-rock edition. Where are the Pixies, Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, The Smiths, Gang of Four, Birthday Party, Slint, My Bloody Valentine (Shoegaze era, not goth)?

There was some great music made in the 80s, it wasn't all hair metal and synth-pop. Shit, there's not even a decent Prince tune on here. How about "Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks some at least mildly decent songs"? Is that too much to ask?

I agree with Anam about Gold Earring, and I also wish they were saving Ballroom Blitz to use The Sweet's version.

That could be kind of a cool feature for a future version: have songs that have been covered a couple of times, and be able to unlock the different versions.

I don't know if it will come to the 360. Compared to the PS2, the 360 install base just isn't there. :P

Wrathchild = worth a purchase

@14: "Great, apparently 80s edition really meant ass-rock edition. Where are the Pixies, Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, The Smiths, Gang of Four, Birthday Party, Slint, My Bloody Valentine (Shoegaze era, not goth)?"

I haven't heard of any of them, and that's probably why. Guitar Hero is for the mainstream, which I must be. I'm not saying those bands suck, so please don't try to twist it that way; just that being mainstream has its advantages.

I second the wrathchild = purchase sentiment.

The version Golden Earring did was loads better than the cover.

Too bad it was recorded in 1973...

And the version of Ballroom Blitz...I perfer the version that was in Wayne's World by Tia Carrere acctaully.

Sweet is the original ballrom blitz. #17 Are you young? Those are pretty mainstream artists from the 80's.

Is it just me, or do all those screens look decidedly wide and sharp...like a 360 version? I'm pretty sure all the initial GH1 and GH2 screens were 4:3 until they started showing screens for the 360.

@17

You've never heard of The Smiths or Talking Heads, but you have heard of Scandal and White Lion?

Talking Heads rule.....I challenge you to find a better album then "Stop Making Sense".

GENIUS!!

"23. Talking Heads rule.....I challenge you to find a better album then "Stop Making Sense"."

Done: The Name of this Band is Talking Heads.

:)

Anyways, yeah, this is a pretty horrible track list that ignores all the good music from the 80s. Come on guys, four Guitar Hero games in (counting the two upcoming) and still no sign of The Clash? I realize their masterpiece was (barely) a 70s album, but that doesn't mean they didn't right anything after. Where's "The One I Love" or "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"?

Still waiting for some Don't Stop Believin'; the inclusion of that song would really push this puppy over the top with cheesyness (in a very good way).

@Andrew

That's a very good idea. I'd also like to be able to play The Kinks' version of You Really Got Me.

The Talking Heads do rule... but I can't think of any songs that have distinctive guitar parts (but I haven't listened to them in awhile, so maybe I'm wrong.)

I wanna see some more Rush (the one before was disappointing). Let's see some Tom Sawyer.

Also, although they might not allow it, chill with the Megadeth and Iron Maiden and throw some Metallica in.

Haha, Sweet. Nice to see Boingo get in there, even if it is just Only a Lad.

Why not Dead Man's Party? That'd be MUCh more fun.

I have to agree with Brian (14). This is a pretty sad representation of music from the 80s. There's a long list of really good bands that would seem painfully overlooked... The Cure, U2, The Smiths, INXS, Depeche Mode, Genesis, Blondie, Talking Heads, Joy Division, New Order, Dire Straits, The Pixies...

I can't wait to put my codpiece and eyeliner on, wrap a scarf around my leg, dump a can of Aquanet in my hair, and hump my GHII axe on the ground to the sounds of White Lion and Winger. Oh yeah! Let me bust out the Whitesnake too!

Will this play like GH1 on the PS3 or like the GH2 version on the PS3, GH2 is mildly playable on the PS3 while the GH1 plays just fine.

#24: Hell yea, let's get The Clash and R.E.M. in there. Perfect punk, and perfect jangle rock. They both need to be in Guitar Hero 3 (along with Dire Straits, Radiohead, early Modest Mouse... I could keep going). If you go early R.E.M., you could squeeze them into the 80's edition too.

#26: Thank You For Sending Me An Angel could be a good speedfest; two minutes long and consistent, if repetitive, fast guitar work. Found A Job would probably work better. Regardless, you'd probably have to look at 77 or More Songs... to find the right track. Sadly, most of their bigger hits wouldn't work that well at all (unless they re-record Burning Down The House or Life During Wartime to minimize the keyboards and maximize guitar).

too bad the PS3 owners that sold their PS2s will miss out since the guitars don't work

I'm all for the Dio, but the Holy Diver cover is just fucking terrible. Why the hell didn't they throw in some Dio/Sabbath tunes?w

@Charron

Yeah older Modest Mouse would be awesome, they have some crazy guitar in their songs like:

Paper Thin Walls
The Good Times Are Killing Me
Polar Opposites
3rd Planet
Gravity Rides Everything
Dark Center of the Universe
I Came as a Rat
Never Ending Math Equation
Dramamine, would be trippy

My God talk about milking a franchise. Just slap a few new songs and it counts as a $50 sequel? ...and people bitch about paying $10 for Pac-Man CE!! Every "sequel" for Guitar Hero should just be downloadable tunes. There is nothing new in the gameplay.

@jabbertrack

At least until they make a PS3 guitar. Tho, could be worse, like all those people that didn't buy a ps2 cause they were told Guitar Hero was coming to the Xbox 360.

@Pete

Rock the 80s isn't considered a sequel, it's an expansion. And I haven't seen the price listed anywhere, so I can't say whether it will $50 or not. My impression was that it would be less.

Second, Guitar Hero 2 did change the gameplay. They added co-op mode, bass guitar tracks and changed the way hammer-ons and pull-offs work. They also gave completely new characters, stages, and had even more songs than the original, so I'm not sure what more you want from a sequel.

I can't say about Guitar Hero 3, since less information has been released. We'll see.

#33: I was thinking Doin' The Cockroach, myself. The end just gets nuts.

I can't believe I forgot that! Yeah it would be great on the game. Personally, I've played air guitar to Dark Center of the Universe more than once... I'd love to see 3rd Planet too.....

I will be $50.00

Red OCtaine Sent me an Email for a pre order and they wanted $50 for just the ENcore DIsk.

PS: good line so far, up give me 10 more solid songs and $50.00 will be worth it.

@14:

and besides, it's "Rocks the 80s" not "Synths the 80s."

Yes! Iron Maiden is so fucking kick ass. I was hoping for Powerslave or Hallowed Be Thy Name, but Wrathchild is good.

Krokus did the Ballroom Blitz cover in the 80's.

I'm surpized at the Oingo Boingo nod. Wouldn't have ever thought it a guitar track.

Smiths and Clash are sorely missing so far... But we don't know the full track listing yet, right?

Taking me waaaaay back with that Oingo Boingo.

And may I humbly submit for consideration: Ministry's album "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste" was released on November 14th, 1989.

Just sayin'.

the problem with getting some really good music from the 80s probably stems from getting the rights. I'm guessing artists like the talking heads, pixies, etc. ask for more, because they (or the studios who own the rights) don't see their music getting played around in other entertainment forms these days, so rights-wise, the publisher would have to pony up more for getting the songs.

Which is too sad. It's the same problem with TV shows on DVD, too much money to get the original music, and that's part of what makes the show so good.

@ #45

yea but you'd think it would work the other way, their music doesn't get played much on the radio so they would jump at the chance to have their music in the game, as the more people that hear their songs the more likely they are to sell their CDs containing said songs

@joystiq wasn't there a song by The Go Go's that was announced in the commercial that you missed on that list?

personally i'm still waiting for Dire Straits Money for Nothing, Journey's Don't Stop Believing, and Jovi's Living on a Prayer

Sometime close to 5/31, RedOctane removed I Want Candy, and has as-of-yet declined to comment.

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=0&cId=3159872 or http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/guitar-hero-ii-rocks-the-80s/792574p1.html

I'm not real happy about that, though Ballroom Blitz helps. But...but...KROKUS? Admittedly that's the 80s version, but...that doesn't make them not suck!

@ #46

We Got The Beat was on Kotaku's list, with Caught In A Mosh, Turning Japanese, and Seventeen.

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Eight more tracks from Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s

Reader Comments (62)

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