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July 26, 2007

Songs That Should Have Been In Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The '80s

Congratulations fake guitar players, Guitar Hero Rocks The '80s is out. You get it? We didn't ... yet. But of course, we will -- we even posted a partial tracklist, the sort of stuff we do only for like Animal Collective. The full Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The '80s song list certainly is decent, but the guys at Best Week Ever have a list of solo-worthy songs that should have, but did not, make the cut. Some highlights from their Top 10:

9. LL Cool J - “Going Back to Cali”
Because hip-hop is a relatively new phenomenon, you’re going to have to sort of explain it to people; the green button plays the word “fly,” red is “fresh,” blue is “Cali,” yellow is “romancin’,” orange is “I’m rappin’,” and the whammy bar increases the size of your Adidas sweatsuit.

8. Pixies - “Debaser”
Two minutes of sheer brute force, padded by a five-minute game-added solo to keep it from (god forbid) being under seven minutes long. Also, after you finish the song, another character in the game rips you off and becomes a whole lot more popular, then kills himself, then reappears in the 2009 PS3 game “Guitar Hero Rocks Every Top 100 List Ever Made.” You then get really fat.

5. The Replacements - “I Will Dare”
As you’re playing this jangly, upbeat alternative rocker, an actual 80s college begins to form around you; if you manage to five-star it on Expert, your character then literally attends the University of Minnesota for four years, which occurs in the game in real time, though if you’re connected online, you can swap R.E.M. and Hüsker Dü LPs with other students.

Head over for the rest of their chart assault, take the jump for the full Rocks The '80s song list, and consult with D Cross and/or J Mascis to start compiling your picks for notable omissions.

1. Opening Licks
"(Bang Your Head) Metal Health" - Quiet Riot (1983)
"We Got the Beat" - The Go-Go's (1981)
"I Ran (So Far Away)" - A Flock of Seagulls (1982)
"Balls To The Wall" - Accept (1983)
"18 And Life" - Skid Row (encore) (1989)

2. Amp Warmers
"No One Like You" - Scorpions (1982)
"Shakin'" - Eddie Money (1982)
"Heat Of The Moment" - Asia (1982)
"Radar Love" - White Lion[13][14] (1989)
"Because, It's Midnite" - Limozeen (encore)

3. String Snappers
"Holy Diver" - Dio (1983)
"Turning Japanese" - The Vapors (1980)
"Hold on Loosely" - .38 Special (1981)
"The Warrior" - Scandal (1984)
"I Wanna Rock" - Twisted Sister (encore) (1984)[15]

4. Return Of The Shred
"What I Like About You" - The Romantics (1980)
"Synchronicity II" - The Police (1983)
"Ballroom Blitz" - Krokus[16] (1984)
"Only a Lad" - Oingo Boingo (1981)
"Round and Round" - Ratt (encore) (1984)

5. Relentless Riffs
"Ain't Nothin' But a Good Time" - Poison (1988)
"Lonely is the Night" - Billy Squier (1981)
"Bathroom Wall" - Faster Pussycat (1987)
"Los Angeles" - X (1980)
"Wrathchild" - Iron Maiden (encore) (1981)

6. Furious Fretwork
"Electric Eye" - Judas Priest[17] (1982)
"Police Truck" - Dead Kennedys (1980)
"Seventeen" - Winger (1988)
"Caught in a Mosh" - Anthrax (1986)
"Play With Me" - Extreme (encore) (1989)

Posted at 4:14 PM in
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8 Comments

No smiths? no Cure? not even the cars? disappointing

Posted by: Jonathan at 07/26/07 4:55 PM  | Reply
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The raped corpse of the Dead Kennedy's: Still selling out!

Posted by: Evan at 07/26/07 5:03 PM  | Reply
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Yup. Almost trashy glam metal songs and that´s it. They´re saving the best ones for the real sequels.

That LL Cool J song wish made me piss myself!

Posted by: Dexter at 07/26/07 5:57 PM  | Reply
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dead on with the pixies.

Posted by: frankie at 07/26/07 7:19 PM  | Reply
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No Yngwie? Disappointing.

Posted by: The Other Matthew at 07/26/07 7:27 PM  | Reply
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Yeah, the Pixies description made me laugh. Poor Francis.

Posted by: Zayin_451 at 07/26/07 9:41 PM  | Reply
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limozeen!!!

what about taranchula's "moving very slowly"

Posted by: brent at 07/27/07 1:46 AM  | Reply
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I liked the inclusion of Wyld Stallions on the list, that was one of the first things that my friends and I felt was missing from the song list.

Posted by: tk. at 07/28/07 12:22 AM  | Reply
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