Guitar Hero: Van Halen is all David Lee Roth

by Ben Gilbert { Jun 11th 2009 at 9:15PM }

Dream of playing the upcoming rhythm game Guitar Hero: Van Halen as your favorite Van Halen lead singer Gary Cherone? Well, Rolling Stone is reporting today on the dashing of your dreams, claiming that an Activision/RedOctane representative confirmed to them the game's exclusivity to David Lee Roth as lead singer. This is also to say that the tequila-shilling Sammy Hagar will also be excluded from the band's lineup in the game.

We already kind of sort of knew about the exclusion of Cherone and Hagar from Activision's Senior Vice President of Global Brand Management telling us way back when, "Oh this is definitely Van Halen, not Van Hagar." The RS piece posits that the only Van Halen tracks featuring David Lee Roth will be making it into the game, possibly destroying all hopes of the chance to drunkenly belt "Why Can't This Be Love?" and "Fire In the Hole," though, as of press time, Activision had yet to respond to our inquiry.

[Image credit]

Tags: david-lee-roth, gary-cherone, guitar-hero, guitar-hero-van-halen, rolling-stone, sammy-hagar, van-halen

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 11th 2009 9:26PM

To me, there is no Van Halen outside of the Roth era...so this is a great choice.

Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 11th 2009 9:38PM

agreed.

cuteSAVAGE @ Jun 11th 2009 9:41PM

This is a great choice as long as you aren't planning to play the singer. David Lee Roth is a fantastic performer, but he has the vocal range of a dying Giraffe.

Sucks there won't be any 5150 on there, it might have forced my hand into making a purchase.

InFaMoUs1- @ Jun 11th 2009 9:43PM

ugh thank god I HATE Sammy Hagar.. the band totally sucked after Dave left because they became more of a synth rock band

Mest @ Jun 11th 2009 11:26PM

are you guys serious hagar rules the cock
Roth is a fucking loser my dudes

Ridgecity @ Jun 11th 2009 10:05PM

You probably never heard "Right Now", "Dreams" or "Poundcake". They probably didn't include any of that because they could get the guy to allow it since he was pretty much against Van Halen's love for selling out.

If the playlist ends up being mostly the shitty songs, I will throw a f*cking Cabo Wabo tequila to the LCD...

Von Dozier @ Jun 11th 2009 10:28PM

Agree. Van Hagar was pretty trash besides a very few select songs.

Sly [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 11th 2009 10:40PM

although hagar is good in chickenfoot.

Drew @ Jun 11th 2009 10:55PM

@ Savage: Bullshit.

NForever @ Jun 11th 2009 9:30PM

Gary Cherone 1, Activision 0

Bagels: Commander in Chief of the lolcat sarcasm alert force. @ Jun 11th 2009 10:48PM

THIS

Chad Vanderbilt (Moptimus in Disguise) @ Jun 11th 2009 9:30PM

thanks....I guess?

sony boy @ Jun 11th 2009 9:37PM

isn't this like the 11th guitar hero game? I would prove it to you, but i'm lazy.

Josh @ Jun 11th 2009 9:56PM

Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Guitar Hero: Metallica
Guitar Hero: Smash Hits
Guitar Hero: Van Halen Neversoft
Band Hero
Guitar Hero: On Tour
Guitar Hero III Backstage Pass
Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades
Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile
Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits
Guitar Hero Arcade

That's 17 including mobile games (for the DS and others), Arcade games, and as-of-yet released games (there are 6 due out before the end of the year. 1 Arcade game, 1 mobile, and Band Hero, GH5, Smash Hits, and Van Halen)

And before someone asks, I am incredibly bored sitting here listening to music. I did that to take up some time.

InFaMoUs1- @ Jun 11th 2009 10:04PM

My head just ASPLODED!

T-Bag @ Jun 13th 2009 3:10PM

Yeah, they're milking it worse than EA on generic 3rd person shooters and hack&slashers.

HaloEleven @ Jun 12th 2009 10:55AM

You forgot DJ Hero.

B3astofthe3ast @ Jun 11th 2009 9:44PM

Eruption HAS to be in this game. Not that I'm getting it.

Josh @ Jun 11th 2009 9:47PM

Er... why would there be Sammy Haggar or the other guy? Look at GH:M. The -only- bassist is Trujilio. No Newsted or McGovney. And only Hammett. No Mustaine.

Is there honestly anyone who expected any different from this game?

Ozzpot @ Jun 11th 2009 10:16PM

lol, you mentioned McGovney but not Burton? WTF dude?

Josh @ Jun 11th 2009 10:02PM

...oh wow. How the hell did I forget him? I really fucked that up. Crap.

KM @ Jun 12th 2009 1:03AM

Lol Mustaine? No way Metallica would have let him in the game, they would've had a bitch fit.

Mustaine probably would have retorted with something along the lines of not wanting to be in the game an having banged their girlfriends.

Don't get me wrong, I love Megadeth and Metallica, but the egos are just crazy.

Oh, and chances are, if I didn't buy GH:M yet, I'm not buying GH:VH

josh @ Jun 12th 2009 9:11AM

they have songs from the newsted and burton eras though, right? i haven't seen the tracklist but all of their biggest songs were from the burton and newsted eras... it would be weird if they weren't on there....

MowDownJoe @ Jun 11th 2009 9:49PM

So much for a cameo by Chickenfoot. With Satch in Activision's pocket, you'd think they'd include that little group that includes Hagar and Satch.

Ostentaneous @ Jun 11th 2009 10:09PM

Thank god! Holy hell does Chickenfoot suck. Granted I've only hear the one song on the radio but it is just awful. Don't get me wrong I love Joe Satriani, but I was very disappointed when I heard that song.

Drew @ Jun 11th 2009 10:53PM

ostentaneous, its apparent that you forgot to GET YOUR BUZZ ON!

Woz @ Jun 12th 2009 9:52AM

I only listened recently to the samples on Amazon, but I thought Chickenfoot sounded great. It's better than anything VH can put out.

Woz @ Jun 11th 2009 9:49PM

I might be the minority, but I liked Hagar.

Deezul @ Jun 11th 2009 10:18PM

Poundcake, you will be missed. :(

Gemini Ace @ Jun 11th 2009 11:19PM

I liked him, too.

PARANOID365 @ Jun 12th 2009 3:31AM

Me three.

Jimbotron @ Jun 12th 2009 9:22AM

I greatly prefer him over DLR. Though Van Halen overall is ho-hum to me. They have a small number of good songs, but I don't like most of their stuff. And I dislike just about all of their pre-Sammy Hagar songs.

I mean, how am I supposed to enjoy my 18-year-old bottle of Crystal Pepsi if I cannot play "Right Now" in the upcoming game? It's just not right.

Woz @ Jun 12th 2009 9:30AM

I do like them both. I've seen Van Halen live with Sammy and then again with DLR. Both shows were awesome. For guitar hero, David Lee Roth material is the better choice, but I feel the song writing was better with Sammy Hagar. I enjoy both equally and for different reasons. It's a shame the brother's (Eddie/Alex) have this huge ego and won't allow for their entire catalog to be represented

And I'm not surprised they left out Michael Anthony. He's not part of the band anymore. He's touring with Sammy.

EdgeOne @ Jun 12th 2009 9:45AM

I don't know where all the Hagar love went, but I thought he rocked it out on 5150 and OU812 (to say nothing of the later releases). DLR is a complete tool if you've ever seen him in an interview or heard him talk on the radio - but still a great singer.

Eddie and Alex Van Halen are like that person you know that can't hold down a relationship and when they break up, it's was always the other person's fault, not theirs.

HarveyJC @ Jun 12th 2009 9:51AM

I agree. To those who say VanHagar turned them into a synth band, have you not listened to "Jump"?

AirIntake @ Jun 12th 2009 10:18AM

Yeah, I can't stand David Lee Roth Van Halen too. It's like a wine and cheese gathering. Plus I can't stop thinking of Dr Rockzo. Ki ki ki ki ki ye-ah!

Cyryl @ Aug 6th 2009 2:32AM

Wow. FINALLY someone who doesn't have their head clear up Dave's cross-dressing, crack-sniffing, attention-whore ASS.

F that dude. He can't sing worth a damn.

Hagar ALL the way. I'm not buying this crap.

BTW. Seems most of you are idiots... Hagar was in the band LONG before Lee Roth. And according to the band itself, Lee Roth was technically never even part of the band.

He just THOUGHT he was.

What a sorry sack of crap he is.

joerendous @ Jun 11th 2009 10:18PM

I love you Joe Dirt!

MystileArmor @ Jun 11th 2009 10:29PM

Interesting other fact is that Michael Anthony isn't going to be in the game either... I wonder how they'll pull that one off, since he's been in that band from the start.

http://www.nme.com/news/van-halen/45221

Matthew Perry @ Jun 11th 2009 10:37PM

This is unquestionably the right move. David Lee Roth-era Van Halen is the only Van Halen.

That's a huge bummer about Michael Anthony, though.

laptopskinsplus.com @ Jun 11th 2009 10:43PM

Chickenfoot would make a great GH release, along with old satch

Dave @ Jun 11th 2009 10:50PM

So, does this mean there will be a second Van Halen pack? With only Hagar?

Jon Acheson @ Jun 12th 2009 1:37PM

That would actually be a great idea. Adds good material without confusing the lineup of the main game.

Monkeys Suck @ Jun 11th 2009 11:30PM

As long as running with the devil is in it, I can scream all I want drunk

C.A. @ Jun 11th 2009 11:49PM

Dream another dream, this dream is over. Ooooover..

smooth @ Jun 12th 2009 12:32AM

Even though I'm not much of a Van Halen fan, I guess there should be a little bit of all to be well rounded. However, what's going to be tough to see in the next few days is no matter who prefers what, They'll just come up with a PR statement claiming "those are the best songs to play" and everyone's gonna have to swallow it.

ill trooper @ Jun 12th 2009 4:26AM

Article UPDATE, final sentence should read:

"...Possibly destroying all HORRIBLE FEARS of the THREAT to drunkenly belt "Why Can't This Be Love?" and "Fire In the Hole"..."

Eric D-J @ Jun 12th 2009 5:46AM

Instead of Sammy this And Dave that, why don't you all realize we all get screwed as fans. I wan't to see it as it is i want to see all songs as would appear on a greatest hits and a few extras. They only care about themselves and their arguing, even if it was the Dave days, Michael needs to be on there. But when you take sides, they will cut you from the picture. They only care about themselves, not fans at all. They know it will sell and prove they can get away with childishness.