Setlist Checklist: Guitar Hero
Originally released in November 2005, no one can deny that the original Guitar Hero title started a major cultural phenomenon. Over the course of two short years, the Guitar Hero franchise went from a fledgling game experiment to the highest grossing video game title EVER. But sadly, with each successive title release, more and more fans lost interest. And as nearly everyone knows, Activision announced earlier this year that they would be putting the game on indefinite hiatus, until the game can introduce innovative new features while simultaneously drawing a profit for the oft-maligned game developer behemoth.
It’s no mystery that we here at the site are bigger fans of Rock Band, but the franchise wouldn’t be possible without the rival Guitar Hero titles originally paving the way in establishing a new genre of gaming. That is why we thought we would go back and look at all the Guitar Hero titles (and possibly a few other lesser known rhythm games) in a recurring segment we call Setlist Checklist. We will talk a little about the game itself, the music featured on it, and anything else we found interesting about the game.
The original Guitar Hero title was created when peripheral maker Red Octane (best known for making the Dance Dance Revolution game pads) approached music game developer Harmonix about a peripheral based guitar simulation game. Red Octane made the hardware (and retained the rights to the IP), and Harmonix made the software. This is an important distinction to establish now, as it becomes important (and somewhat confusing) later on in the franchise’s history. The game was produced for just under $2 million, and was nearly an instantaneous breakout hit, garnering critical acclaim among reviewers and peers, and earning $45 million in the last two months of 2005 alone.
All of the main setlist songs used in the game were covers faithfully reproduced by the musicians at WaveGroup Sound. Nearly all of the bonus songs were from bands featuring Harmonix employees or close friends of Harmonix. Graveyard BBQ was featured in the game through a “Be a Guitar Hero contest,” and former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde contacted Harmonix directly late in development to see if Black Label Society could also have a song included in the game.
With Rock Band 3′s setlist creation tool, we can create, save, and share setlists, so we have included a Rock Band 3 setlist below that you can save to your profile if you would like to check out any or all of the songs! And as the holes are continually filled in by Rock Band’s weekly DLC releases, we will update this post, and keep it linked in the FAQ page above, for future reference.
Main Setlist
The original Guitar Hero game featured covers of 30 popular rock songs spanning five decades of rock, from the 1960s through 2005, in addition to 19 bonus tracks. Not including the bonus songs, Rock Band has 18 of the 30 songs currently in game, or 60%. If you factor in the bonus songs, the percentage drops down to 49%. Some of the bonus tracks are making their way through the Rock Band Network now. The songs included in the main setlist are included directly below.
| Artist - Title | Date in Rock Band |
|---|---|
| Audioslave - Cochise * | N/A |
| Bad Religion - Infected * | N/A |
| Black Sabbath - Iron Man * | N/A |
| Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla * | 1/26/2010 |
| Boston - More Than a Feeling * | 3/25/2008 |
| Burning Brides - Heart Full of Black * | N/A |
| Cream - Crossroads * | N/A |
| David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust * | 1/25/2011 |
| Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water * | 10/26/2010 |
| The Donnas - Take It Off * | N/A |
| The Edgar Winters Group - Frankenstein * | 1/17/2012 |
| The Exies - Hey You * | N/A |
| Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out * | 5/5/2009 |
| Helmet - Unsung * | N/A |
| Incubus - Stellar * | N/A |
| Jimi Hendrix - Spanish Castle Magic * | 3/30/2010 |
| Joan Jett - I Love Rock and Roll * | 10/26/2010 |
| Judas Priest - You Got Another Thing Comin' * | 4/22/2008 |
| Megadeth - Symphony of Destruction * | 2/21/2012 |
| Motörhead - Ace of Spades * | 9/14/2008 |
| Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon * | 5/31/2011 |
| Pantera - Cowboys from Hell * | N/A |
| Queen - Killer Queen * | 10/20/2009 |
| Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows * | 10/26/2010 |
| The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated * | 10/26/2010 |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers - Higher Ground * | N/A |
| Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood * | 3/3/2009 |
| Sum 41 - Fat Lip * | 1/31/2012 |
| White Zombie - Thunder Kiss '65 * | 10/25/2011 |
| ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man * | N/A |
* Denotes a cover song in the original title.
NOTE: Ozzy Osbourne’s “Bark at the Moon” is only available as part of the Ozzy Osbourne 8-pack.
Guitar Hero Main Setlist for Rock Band 3
Bonus Songs
| Artist - Title | Date in Rock Band |
|---|---|
| Anarchy Club - Behind the Mask | RBN - In Process |
| Artillery (now Breaking Wheel) - The Breaking Wheel | N/A |
| Black Label Society - Fire It Up | N/A |
| Count Zero - Sail Your Ship By | N/A |
| Din - Fly on the Wall | N/A |
| Drist - Decontrol | N/A |
| Freezepop - Get Ready 2 Rokk | 9/8/2009 |
| Graveyard BBQ - Cheat on the Church | 8/8/2010 |
| Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives - Hey | 9/12/2011 |
| Made in Mexico - Farewell Myth | N/A |
| Monkey Steals the Peach - Guitar Hero | N/A |
| Shaimus - All of This | 3/9/2010 |
| The Acro-Brats - Callout | N/A |
| The Bags - Caveman Rejoice | N/A |
| The Model Sons - Story of My Love | N/A |
| The Slip - Even Rats | 1/13/2010 |
| The Upper Crust - Eureka, I've Found Love | N/A |
| Unknown Artist - Graveyard Shift ** | N/A |
| Andrew Buch - Trippolette ** | 1/22/2010 |
** Denotes hidden songs only playable via the use of a PS2 cheat device.
Guitar Hero Bonus Songs for Rock Band 3
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I am your father
I am your priest
Your only Messiah
To say the least
The songs I’m missing :
“Cochise”
“Iron man”
“Higher ground”
Bionic92 Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 9:06 pm
Higher Ground would be epic.
Very cool new feature. Especially linking to setlists for RB3. Great idea.
Great article, brings back a lot of memories. I never actually played either of the first 2 GHs – was too poor for the consoles – so made do with Frets On Fire on PC, and played the songs obsessively.
I was going to list the songs that I hope will come to RB at some point, but it’s quicker to list the ones I wouldn’t buy – Heart Full Of Black and Hey You from the main list.
I loved this. I dig how this site is very linked up, so to speak. From the gs playlists to formspring to fatures like this. Thanks, RBA!
Choz Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
*features, even.
I remember playing the original Guitar Hero at a teammate’s Halloween party. There was nobody in his living room, he had the TV on with some random hockey game on…I asked him WTF is that guitar shaped thing on the floor, he fired up the game, and soon there was a ton of people gathered around watching and wanting to play.
Of course, I didn’t own any gaming consoles, and it took RB2 to convince me to finally take the plunge. $2K or whatever later…here I am.
That is a great setlist. RB is really missing some of these…particularly “Frankenstein”. That can’t be difficult to license, no?
samjjones Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
First song I ever played in this genre was “Smoke on the Water”, btw. Which was also the first and only guitar riff I ever learned to play on a real guitar
RockBandAide Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
If you see how many problems they can potentially run into with licensing songs, yes:
- Usable masters don’t exist
- Usable masters exist but no one knows where they are or how they are sorted
- Usable masters exist but bands / labels / management won’t give us access
- Masters / licenses are owned by multiple parties who can’t agree on use
- No one knows who actually owns the rights to music we request
- Some artists simply aren’t interested in being in a music game (for now)
- Some artists aren’t comfortable with digital distribution
- Some artists deny our track requests and instead offer… less than exciting material
- Some artists / labels hold off for future events (releases, tours, announcements, etc)
- Some artists aren’t interested in DLC, only a fully dedicated band game
(Courtesy of @HMXHenry on the RockBand.com forums)
I got my start on GH, maybe two weeks or so after it came out. I remember watching a review of it on X-Play (then again it might have been Extended Play back then) and thinking it was the coolest thing I had ever seen.
Then I played I Love Rock and Roll on Medium and failed.
Five years and 1,000+ songs later and the only thing that still makes me cry is Satch Boogie.
Also – Kudos for bringing back the nostalgia of a barely-functional HOPO system. Great memories of the classic system.
Cochise how I miss you…
-goes to the bathroom and cries-
Once you reach Guitar Hero On Tour (the first GH title released after Rock Band launched), you should separate out the songs that get featured in the GH games that have already been previously been available for Rock Band.
RockBandAide Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
Good idea, but I don’t want to turn this into a “which franchise got what first” thing. I’m planning now to just keep the date at which each song was added. I may throw in some commentary behind a few of the songs, though.
YourSins Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
I think this is an awesome idea! I was about to do this myself with my cousin, a pen, and some paper. Really, all i want is “Jessica” back. Awesome instrumental that actually includes piano. That, “Somebody to Love” and “Italian Restaurant” is all I ever wanted on piano.
It’s a little confusing having the bolded and underlined titles below the lists of songs.
RockBandAide Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Agreed. I tried to change the formatting a little bit.
i really like the idea of this
this is very cool. it will be interesting to see how many of guitar hero’s songs the rock band platform really has. thanks for this!
These have been playable on my xbox 360 unhacked for a few weeks now, using the files from the guitar hero disc
awesome
samjjones Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
I keep reading about people doing this.
Part of me is really disturbed, as its potentially taking money away from HMX. The other part of me wants to know how to get the Beatles to be playable in the main platform.
RedIon1992 Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Well, I hav done a lot of this “hacking” myself, however I have tended not to release the efforts of my work because of the possibility that Harmonix may release them in a “legit” manner. I do know that if I release them, and HMX later announces them as being released, I will remove all of my work where Harmonix has offered a legitimate alternative.
I only see it as taking money from Harmonix if they actually offer it for sale. Until then, I’ll keep playing my copy of Enter Sandman made with the RB1 disc files.
Senotfed Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
well since ive spent around £1500 on rock band dlc and instruments i think i should be able to play a few extra luxuries if i want, nbody takes enter sandman and black hole sun from me!!! mwahhaha
Both “Hey” and “Soy Bomb” by Honest Bob are in the RBN pipeline according to RockGamer Studios’ song page.
I remember being a 12 year old kid at Circuit City. I saw some douche bag with a plastic guitar and tried it out for myself. I pass ‘More than a Feeling’ first try with a 72%.
Here I am, 5 years later and 2k spent without so much having a job, and still rocking.
samjjones Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Aero – you’re 17…society expects you to be a douchebag.
I’m 35, with a wife and kids…and doing the same thing.
Who’s douchier?
Mumrat Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Samjjones…you are totally not a douche man. My brothers 33 and I am 25 and all of our friends (who mind you are all atleast 23 or older) get together on a monthly basis for Rock Band parties together. You have to embrace what you love, and we all love us some Rock Band
This is a great idea! Ive been following a few threads on the rock band forums, but this will be much easier to update etc.
It will be also great to see how the series progressed over the years, and how many GH songs RB has added over the years too.
So is the plan to do the main series, then the spin off’s?
or are you going to do it from when they were released?
RockBandAide Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
I believe so. I plan on doing all the Guitar Hero games, other rhythm games, and then possibly other games outside the genre (GTA, Maddens, etc.).
LGscoundrel Reply:
July 12th, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Sounds like it’s got legs. Looking forward to more.
Hayden Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 7:27 am
I’ve long wondered about the setlist checklist for Weird Al’s “Angry White Boy Polka”, but I’ve never done the legwork.
Machetemonkey Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
According to wikipedia:
* “Last Resort” by Papa Roach X
* “Chop Suey!” by System of a Down X
* “Get Free” by The Vines X
* “Hate to Say I Told You So” by The Hives
* “Fell in Love with a Girl” by The White Stripes X
* “Last Nite” by The Strokes
* “Down with the Sickness” by Disturbed X
* “Renegades of Funk” by Rage Against the Machine, originally by Afrika Bambaataa
* “My Way” by Limp Bizkit
* “Outside” by Staind
* “Bawitdaba” by Kid Rock
* “Youth of the Nation” by P.O.D. X
* “The Real Slim Shady” by Eminem
Ones with X have already been included. so that’s 6/13 songs.
When I hit the link, it goes to make a setlist. Am I missing something? I have yet to share setlists.
RockBandAide Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
It should go to the “Make a Setlist” page, however with all the songs pre-populated. You have to be signed in and have your account linked to take full advantage of using the link to get music on to your system.
Love this idea. Keep it up RBA!!
Man, what I wouldn’t give for Burning Brides, The Model Sons and The Upper Crust in RB3.
For now, I think Rock Band is doing pretty good with their DLC choices. I’d really love to see more Queens of the Stone Age, though.
Great post! Moar for other Guitar Hero’s?
Got many of them, would also like these:
Bad Religion – Infected
Burning Brides – Heart Full of Black
The Donnas – Take it Off
Cream – Crossroads
Pantera – Cowboys from Hell
ZZ Top – Sharp Dressed Man
Din – Fly on the Wall
Breaking Wheel (Artillery) – Breaking Wheel
Drist – Decontrol
Acro-Brats – Callout
“(and possibly a few other lesser known rhythm games) ”
Amplitude please, Freqs Unite!
POD – Boom
Run DMC – King of Rock
Freezepop – Super Sprode
Blink 182 – The Rock Show
Symbion Project – Synthesized
Totally making a setlist for this tomorrow.
Spies Reply:
July 16th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Perhaps Frequency and Amplitude would be best combined into one Setlist Cheklist article. If kept separate Frequency should come before Amplitude
You made your freq so uber chic! F R E Q!
Great feature idea.
I really enjoyed the first 2 GH games. Never owned them, but played roommates’ copies. Then someone got GH3 and I was appalled at the art direction. Good setlist, though. It took Rock Band’s addition of drums to get me back into rhythm games.
Thats the reason I want these songs updated – to enjoy drums, keys, and vocals (as well as pro). I particularly want Infected, Crossroads, and Stellar.
Matt Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
I really liked GH3- the art direction wasn’t that bad (certainly not like 4-6), and the setlist was awesome. Of course, it helps that it was the only one out for the Wii.
Pancho Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
It was weird, though. They were like, cartoon heroes on GH1 and GH2, and then turned into criminals on parole on GH3.
QuestionMark Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
They were SO UGLY.
Thanks, Now can you please also do a setlist check for the other non-band guitar hero games?
RockBandAide Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 9:05 am
From the article: “That is why we thought we would go back and look at all the Guitar Hero titles (and possibly a few other lesser known rhythm games) in a recurring segment we call Setlist Checklist.”
Take it Off and Heart full of Black.
We need you now, we want you back!
Man what I would give to get “Hey You” from The Exies into Rock Band. Still my favorite track from Guitar Hero 1, Guitar Hero II Xbox 360 DLC and Guitar Hero S.Hits.
RockBandAide Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 9:04 am
YES!!! I really like that band, and would LOVE to have more of their content in game!
The Beef Reply:
July 14th, 2011 at 12:58 am
I am with you all the way. That is a song that absolutely NEEDS to be transferred.
Just so you know, I already have a thread on the RB forums dedicated to this. Have it for Guitar Hero 1-6, RTE, the On Tour series, Band Hero, all the DLC, and Brutal Legend just for kicks. Will be adding Rock Revolution, Power Gig and Rocksmith as soon as we get full setlists for Rocksmith. Here’s the link to help you out.
http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207130
RockBandAide Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 9:03 am
Awesome!!! I’ve done much of the legwork on most of the titles already, but now I can cross-check against your list to make sure mine is accurate. Thanks!
Man i would love me some crossroads. I doubt the masters would be easy to come by. whats the deal with covers, do harmonix flat out not use them anymore
GloofiE Reply:
July 12th, 2011 at 10:44 am
Nope!
RockBandAide Reply:
July 12th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
They have stated in the past that as long as songs exist with master tracks available, they don’t plan on going back to cover songs.
I vowed a long time ago to buy any song that was released in RB from a previous HMX Guitar Hero game. So I sonar have all the songs from GH1 GH2 and GH 80s that are available in RB
Excellent idea here. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw this because not two weeks ago I started making setlists of my own in RB3 for this. I just sticking to main disc GH releases, especially since those are so much easier to cross-reference, but I love the idea of lists for Madden and GTA games, etc. Looking forward to more of these!
Megadeth – Symphony of Destruction….
that would be amazing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtPQ_QJpFIU
It was funny, when i started buying DLC for rock band not so long ago, i bought All of this by Shamius, because i liked the tune. It was only I later relieased that it was on the oringal Guitar hero!
Sorry to comment again! But ive had a great idea to improve it.
You could state next to the songs as a list, if the track is part of a pack, or just a single. That way, people arent losing out if they search for the song by name on the rock band store.
Songs I miss from this list:
Audioslave – Cochise
Bad Religion – Infected
Black Sabbath – Iron Man
Cream – Crossroads
The Donnas – Take It Off
The Edgar Winter Group – Frankenstein
The Exies – Hey You
Helmet – Unsung
Megadeth – Symphony of Destruction
Pantera – Cowboys from Hell
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Higher Ground
White Zombie – Thunder Kiss ’65
ZZ Top – Sharp Dressed Man
Bonus songs, the only one from GH1 that I still want is Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives – Hey