Shout Out: The Mission - Styx

Continuing the trend of discussing albums from 2017 that I weren't aware of until after I'd written about the best/worst albums of 2017, here we have a new record from Styx!

OK, I'm quite late on this one but I still feel like it deserves some attention, seeing as how I only found it through the Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify and not any of the lists about 2017 album releases I read over the last couple of years. However, I'm not reviewing it simply because I don't have an awful lot to say about it, at least not in the usual depth I go into on album reviews; hence, Shout Out! Usually Shout Out posts are dedicated to albums I really love but occasionally, I write one when I just want to bring it to people's attention. This is one of those times.
The Mission is a concept album about mankind's journey to Mars with some narrative fluff in between; your typical Prog Arena Rock affair. Whilst this may not have the passion and youthful energy that earlier Styx songs contained (arguably due to the lack of Dennis DeYoung), the band have pulled an ELO and written music to accommodate their age. The majority of tracks are slower, more atmospheric ("Radio Silence", "Time May Bend") but there are a couple of faster paced rockers in there, such as true album opener "Gone Gone Gone" and "The Outpost". Whilst there are a couple of unnecessary filler tracks designed to bridge songs with musical narrative ("Ten Thousand Ways", "All Systems Stable"), it's still a strong album that feels like it was written with the intention of creating great music, not forcing the creators back into the mainstream or making undeserved money off idiotic music magazines and their fans touting the talents of has-beens.
If you like albums that you can chill out to and listen to in the background, The Mission is perfect for you. It starts off with excitement and peacefully mellows out for the rest of the journey, not unlike the launch of a rocket to space (an artistic decision that was hopefully intentional and not me reaching). If you want an album full of "Lorelei"s and "Blue Collar Man"s, you'll be disappointed. I suppose the album opener did a poor job of setting standards from that perspective but hey, that's what I'm here for! There are far more egotistical, unnecessary examples of Prog Rock concept albums out there, although for someone like myself who prefers Rock music that actually Rocks, it's not an album I'll be revisiting any time soon.

1. Overture

2. Gone Gone Gone

3. Hundred Million Miles From Home

4. Trouble At The Big Show

5. Locomotive

6. Radio Silence

7. The Greater Good

8. Time May Bend

9. Ten Thousand Ways

10. Red Storm

11. All Systems Stable

12. Khedive

13. The Outpost

14. Mission To Mars

ALBUM RATING - 6/10

Aaaaand that's me all caught up on blog posts for the month! Bring on April...and May...and June...just keep bringing on months until everything ends.

Taster Session #10

Several months have passed since the last Taster Session post and, sure enough, many more Rock/Metal singles have been released! Funny, that. Anyway, let's look at five new songs for upcoming albums and decide whether or not we want to enjoy the full records based on their singles:

"Devil" - Shinedown         (listen here)

From the album Attention Attention (04/05/18)

I'm slowly getting into Shinedown after listening to a bunch of their albums in one sitting. I definitely prefer their earlier stuff, though. It had more of an edge and pound for pound it felt more like Rock music compared to the stuff on Threat To Survival. "Devil" has the passion and energy but also sounds like something you'd hear at the end of a Transformers film or covered in a singing talent show; safe Rock. I'll probably listen to the album but considering it doesn't sound like Shinedown are reverting back to their earlier sound, I'm not going to get excited about it.

"Waiting For A Sign" - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow         (listen here)

From the album ???? (??/??/??)

Wow, the first new Rainbow song in about 22 years!!!

Holy shit, remember Rainbow? "Stargazer", "Kill The King", "Lost In Hollywood". They were an awesome Hard Rock band, I wonder what their new single will sound like?

WAHP WAHP. It sucks!

Yeah, Blackmore's lost it. He had something special and he fucking lost it, the twat. Seriously, listen to this song and get your head around the fact that the guy who laid down all the riffs and solos for the best Deep Purple songs shat out this Bluesy wank that sounds too dull even for Whitesnake. Maybe there'll be a full album and maybe Blackmore will unleash the beast, forcing me to eat my words (I'm not counting the upcoming live collection, by the way), but if this song is any indication, his time is done. But hey, I guess he doesn't think so as he's determined to milk whatever acclaim he can get; remember folks, this isn't just Rainbow. It's Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow again, a name the band haven't carried since 1975 and have presumably only reclaimed due to the man's unwarranted ego.

"Trouble" - Five Finger Death Punch         (listen here)

From the album And Justice For None (18/05/18)

OK, a bit of explaining needed here. "Trouble" was first released as a track on the band's A Decade Of Destruction compilation album as a new song that will be included on the deluxe edition of their upcoming album, And Justice For None (YO, WE'RE RIFFIN ON METALLICA UP IN THIS BITCH! MAXIMUM FUCKING EDGE, BOOOIIIS). The compilation may have come out already but it's still technically a sample of what's to come in the new album, so it counts! The track's not bad, got some good riffs and guitar melodies throughout. I doubt I'll listen to the album as I couldn't give a fuck about Five Finger Death Punch and their fanbase of angry white teenagers (that was a joke, don't get pissy) but this track's not bad. At least they didn't do the typical American Metal thing of forcing a soft middle section in to show listeners how sensitive they are.

"Burnin'" - Black Stone Cherry         (listen here)

From the album Family Tree (20/04/18)

I don't really have much to say about Black Stone Cherry. Yeah, they're pretty good? Some great songs, some meh ones. Nothing on either extreme, they're just very competent. As for this song...yeah, it's good. Solo sounds a little off; there's a sort of pre-solo bit that's played too high and it sounds terrible but then it sorts itself out. All in all, this is what I've come to expect from Black Stone Cherry and even though it's unlikely that I'll listen to the album, I'm not ruling it out if someone recommends it with unequivocal passion.

"Thought Contagion" - Muse         (listen here)

From the album ???? (??/??/??)

Hey, Muse are back with another single from an unnamed album! This time, they're going for a Coldplay thing along with their brand of synthy Prog shite blended with some 80s guff because nostalgia sells. Between this and their last single, "Dig Down", I am completely drained of excitement for any Muse album release in the near future. I can't remember anything about the last song except I think it sucked and this one definitely doesn't sound like the band are heading in the right direction, considering how awful their last Pop/Electronic based albums were. At least Drones had Rock songs that made it great to listen to.


I might have to write a video game post if I can't think of a better topic before the end of the month. Be warned.

Used Future - The Sword

Unlike Firepower, this is an album I was actually looking forward to listening to. If you're playing the Riffs And Raffs drinking game at home, take a drink every time I use the term "Stoner Rock" to get absolutely tanked!

If you asked me what I made of The Sword half a decade ago, I would've given them glowing praise. They were the kings of riff based Heavy Metal, magnificent bastards of Doom Rock and generally pretty fucking awesome at their craft. Since then, they begun their transition from Heavy Metal to Stoner Rock with the High Country album but there were still a couple of heavier tracks to enjoy. Used Future marks the complete metamorphosis into Stoner Rock by removing the aggressive Metal elements and replacing them with synth and Prog touches. Sure, the music's still good but it's a shame we had to lose a stellar Heavy Metal band to gain a great Hard Rock one.
Album opener "Prelude" is a pointless introduction to "Deadly Nightshade", the true album opener. Not only is it a good song but it's a great way of reminding fans about their new sound that's clearly here to stay; it's The Sword's blend of riff based Hard Rock with a cosmic touch. It's also a great choice for the lead single, as it's an easily accessible track from the album and the start of an unofficial trilogy of three songs that could very well be part of one Prog Rock movement, similar to the seven sections of "2112" - Rush. Whilst this album contains fuzzy bass, epic riffs and dynamic percussion throughout, "Deadly Nightshade", "Twilight Sunrise" and "The Wild Sky" run along so perfectly that they could quite easily be repackaged as a 10 minute epic. This is good news if you like the complete album experience but not so much if you want powerful precision strikes of great music.
This whole album feels like it was supposed to be enjoyed in one sitting; again, not unlike Prog Rock albums of the past. When I revisited a couple of songs just to brush up on the material, they often started abruptly due to continuing on from the previous song, which can be a little annoying if you just want to listen to a couple of favourites off the album. There are some highlights here and there if you enjoyed the Classic Rock style tracks from High Country such as "Brown Mountain", instrumental album closer that likely borrowed the riff from "Wheel In The Sky" - Journey without realising, and "Used Future", title track that could easily be a repurposed cover of a 70s B-side from [AOR BAND NAME HERE], but the majority of tracks are written to blend into the next one in order to carry you through your drug-fuelled musical odyssey. I know I've referred to this album as Stoner Rock but I don't think I've come across such a blatant example of the genre as this in a while.

As a result of this, certain aspects feel a little bit irritating if you just want to enjoy the album without hitting the dank load. For example, in this 13 song album, there are THREE non-songs. "Prelude", "Intermezzo" and "Reprise", all of which are terrible. "Intermezzo" is a moody synth-based interlude that adds nothing but padding and "Reprise" borrows the outro from "Come And Gone" to round off the album that could've quite happily concluded with "Brown Mountain". It comes across as arty-farty when you look at the song titles and general feel of each track but I guess you won't mind if you're high off your tits when listening to the album.
However, this desire to "experiment" has produced some gems. "Sea Of Green" and "Come And Gone" are tracks I never would've expected to hear on a record by The Sword and yet they work incredible well, offering slower Blues and Psychedelic Rock tunes to the categorically Hard Rock ones. There are also subtle features that amplify the quality of the music like the slow-burn build up of the bass and percussion in "Nocturne" or the more delicate mix during verses in "Book Of Thoth" to differentiate the song from previous Stoner Rock material. It's small changes like this that make a big difference, especially when compared to albums that get stale due to their lack of creativity around the halfway point.
Maybe producer Tucker Martine is the one to thank for that but either way, the band knew what they were doing. There may have been a couple of pretentious missteps here and there but as long as the music you're putting out is good and well crafted, this is how you get away with a bit of musical pomposity without coming across as a bunch of wankers (Queens Of The Stone Age, take note!); small steps towards a desired destination, not applying all the changes at once or assuming fans want to hear you sonically jacking off. In this case, The Sword applied synth aspects to Apocryphon, started focusing more on Hard Rock with High Country before putting out Hard Prog with Used Future, all the while improving their weaker aspects like vocals and the overall mix of material.

Used Future isn't my favourite album by The Sword (as I'll always take Heavy Metal over Stoner Rock) but this could be their most creative and ambitious to date. It's a shame that they've chosen this direction to follow as I still think they're at their strongest when blasting out thunderous riffs or creating battle anthems for frost giants but at least the album wasn't a complete disaster like whatever Muse put out before Drones. It's a tough one to rate as I doubt I'm personally going to revisit tracks as often as I have done for High Country (a 7/10, according to my review) but I do think they should be praised for their efforts and successes in recording a well oiled machine of Stoner Rock.
I'm gonna give it a 7/10 again as I feel the criticisms about pretentious aspects from the band that gave us "Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians" go beyond my opinion and into critique. Plus, I'm going to apply the general rule I have for concerts, sports and entertainment based events to this album; if you have to get wasted to enjoy it, it's probably not that great. In this case, you're better off getting high as fuck, just like High Country, but unlike High Country there aren't songs that stand out when you're not baked in the same way "The Dreamthieves", "High Country" or "Empty Temples" did. Out of interest, if any of my readers do partake in the occasional marijuana puff, feel free to listen to this album and let me know if it blew your mind or if I'm just talking out my arse with all this Stoner Rock stuff.
Also, get a damn job, hippie!

Firepower - Judas Priest

It's finally here! The latest Judas Priest album since Redeemer Of Souls! Let's see how it holds up against some of their other records! This is how my blog posts work!

Thank fuck for this album, we needed some good quality Metal again!
Firepower is Judas Priest's attempt at recapturing their old magic in an attempt to release another "classic" album; in fact, I'm pretty sure the cover art is a continuation of their Screaming For Vengeance album cover. However, much like their last record, this one starts off incredibly strong but loses steam around the halfway point. Album opener, title track and second single "Firepower" is no "Dragonaut" (even if it does sound vocally similar in the chorus) but it's still a great song. There's a fast Metal rhythm with some heavy riffs to get you headbanging from the start but it's arguably not the best representation of the rest of the album.
Much like "Hardwired" off the latest Metallica album, it builds a false sense of speed and power that you expect is going to be maintained throughout the entire record and yes, whilst the first few tracks are some of the strongest, it's a shame that the loss of energy is not only painfully apparent but seemingly permanent. We start off with tracks containing Maidenesque galloping rhythms ("Lightning Strike") and elements from previous songs like "One Shot At Glory" and "Night Crawler" off the Painkiller album ("Evil Never Dies") and, naturally, there are a couple of great character-based songs that Judas Priest are easily the Heavy Metal masters of ("Necromancer", "Flame Thrower").
Even the slower songs like "Never The Heroes" stand out with more of an 80s Hard Rock feel due to the synth intro and less emphasis on epic riffs, all working in favour of the album. However, we then get to "Guardians", a moody instrumental introduction to "Rising From Ruins" that probably shouldn't have been its own song. This is where the album starts to drag a little as Scott Travis, previously one of my all-time favourite drummers, starts to get a bit tired and rely a little too much on the slow and steady rhythms. The songs from here one are decent but sometimes go on a little too long and neglect to shake things up a bit with energy bursts or progressive sections, resulting in lesser quality material that could've been salvaged with a much needed burst of action ("Traitors Gate", "Spectre").

All in all, plodding Metal tracks aside, the album's still good to listen to. Even if Scott Travis may be waning slightly, he's still keeping the time and helping the great tracks become a little bit more awesome. I'm always going to prefer Judas Priest's fast tempo tracks over their slower ones (especially if they include Blues elements like "Lone Wolf", definitely not what I want to hear in this Heavy Metal album) but as long as those slower tracks have epic riffs and vocals, I can dig it. Thankfully, the rest of the band are still able to produce high quality riffs and falsetto screeches comparable to their earlier material although once again they've decided to end the album on slow epic "Sea Of Red" rather than a rousing explosion of Metal like, say, "No Surrender".
I complained about their choice to end Redeemer Of Souls on a power ballad and whilst this is nowhere near as bad, it's still a weak way to end an album. It feels more like an exhausted exhale than the BANG needed to leave fans with a great impression. If you're going to end on a slow and epic note, it needs to stand apart from the other epics on your album. It needs to feel like the band have pushed themselves to create something awesome, not just stuck one of their filler tracks at the end. Compare some of the album closers Iron Maiden have put out like "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner", "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and "Empire Of The Clouds" with "Sea Of Red". Iron Maiden know that the last song should leave a lasting impression, whether it's with sheer length or grand ambition, something Judas Priest have clearly forgotten about in the last decade.
It's quite tricky to talk about Firepower in as much length as other albums as there's not an awful lot to say that will give you necessary information or differentiate it from other records by older bands who are still going to this date, so let's list off the key points. The first half is great, the second half is weak but not bad. The songs sound like a healthy blend of classic songwriting and modern recording technology/instrumentation. Judas Priest aren't ready to throw in the towel yet but equally they're not booting down doors and announcing to the world that they're here to stay. This album feels like a well crafted effort but won't be remembered as one of the band's strongest entries, hence I rate it 6/10.
Maybe the better tracks will grow on me over time but I've had about a week to enjoy this album and I still can't really hum any of the riffs or clearly imagine the melodies in the same way I could after listening to Dystopia - Megadeth. On the plus side, at least Judas Priest didn't try to rip off fans with a deluxe edition containing nothing but a fancy cover and a lyric booklet...


Oh?


Oh.

Rapid Fire: Greta Van Fleet, Dream Troll, Wayward Sons

Usually with Rapid Fire posts, I look at three older albums by more established bands. This time, I'm mixing it up! I recently wrote a blog post about the best/worst music of 2017 and, in true Riffs And Raffs fashion, discovered two new bands/albums that were pretty decent from last year. So after seeking out a third album to write about, I decided to dedicate a Rapid Fire post to looking at three bands/albums I could've and probably should've written about in the RARRAMAMSPAs, starting with the band that deserves way more attention in the Classic Rock community.


1. From The Fires - Greta Van Fleet

There's a lot of talk now about deceased Rock stars being brought back to life on stage through the magic of holograms. I'm not sure if this is something Led Zeppelin will ever consider when one or more additional members of the band bite the dust and they're no longer capable of touring but after listening to this album, I came to the conclusion that we'd be far better off with Page & Plant signing over the rights to their back catalogue to Greta Van Fleet, the new Led Zeppelin. It's almost scary how close to Page and Plant guitarist Jacob Kiszka and vocalist Joshua Kiszka sound in the album opener "Safari Song", one of the finest Rock album openers I've heard in a while.
Luckily, whilst it's easily the highlight of the album, From The Fires maintains the quality of a Led Zepp record, from the use of Psychedelic organ in "Flower Power" to the Bluesy numbers like their cover of "Meet On The Ledge", without sounding like a hacky tribute album. The band are able to add their own flair to each track, giving us songs like "Highway Tune" dripping with sweet Southern Rock riffs or "Talk On The Street", a modern take on a song that sounds like it's straight out of the 60s. It's clear Greta Van Fleet know how to capture the best aspects of Classic Rock whilst enhancing them with modern recording technology.
Whilst "Safari Song" may have set the bar unreasonably high for the band to reach again, Greta Van Fleet have proven their ability to Rock with the best of 'em...literally, the best. If you can write a Led Zeppelin song better than some of the most popular Led Zeppelin songs out there, you've already passed the test. I recommend this album to fans of Classic Rock or just Rock music in general and I cannot wait to hear Greta Van Fleet's own "Immigrant Song" or "Stairway To Heaven", assuming they follow in Led Zepp's footsteps and become even heavier over the next few years.

1. Safari Song

2. Edge Of Darkness

3. Flower Power

4. A Change Is Gonna Come

5. Highway Tune

6. Meet On The Ledge

7. Talk On The Street

8. Black Smoke Rising

ALBUM RATING - 8/10

Next is a NWOTHM album from UK Indie Metal outfit Dream Troll, complete with an umloud in their name.

2. The Knight Of Rebellion - Dream Troll

It's fashionable for a lot of modern Metal bands to ape off Iron Maiden (usually just Iron Maiden) with some kind of shitty contemporary element but Dream Troll mix it up slightly. It's clear that they're fans of 80s Metal but rather than the traditional classics like Megadeth, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath, these guys seem to favour the mythical Prog-Metal variety such as Queensryche, Dio and Dream Theater. Atmospheric album opener "Time For Vengeance" starts off on a surprisingly grand scale for a band that self produced their record. There are synth/piano accompaniments, multi-layered guitars and vocal effects you wouldn't expect to find on a debut.

Most of the songs are over seven minutes long (or just below) but if you like your Metal short and energetic, Dream Troll have got you covered in the form of "Velvet Drawbridge" and "A Fairy's Tale", my two favourites from the album. However, whilst I'd normally say that an album with long and short songs is versatile enough for fans of both types of songwriting, The Knight Of Rebellion is definitely better suited for those who like their Metal long and grand. Songs such as "Mons Ominosus" and "Unwanted By The Gods" start off with heavier riffs and faster rhythms but suffer when it gets to the inevitable "slow bit" about 2/3s of the way through, which is fine if you want to take the music in and go on a Proggy journey but not if you want Heavy Metal at its most pure.

I can't fault the musicianship of the album and the production is surprisingly great for this Leeds based band (although having seen footage of them playing live, I'm not sure if the vocalist should be too reliant on studio magic). The question is where are the band going to go from here, as they've proven that they don't need a record label to enhance the production values of their music and the Prog-Metal nature of their music means they're already ahead of the need to experiment. Regressing to Speed or Thrash Metal at this point might be great for someone like me but I can't speak for their fans, meaning Dream Troll might be resigned to releasing the same album for a while. However, at least it's a decent album and I'll be there to check out the second one...so long as it's not all eight minute epics.

1. Time For Vengeance

2. Velvet Drawbridge

3. Mons Ominosus

4. Lost In The Pages

5. A Fairy's Tale

6. Unwanted By The Gods

7. (The) Earthbound Betrayal

ALBUM RATING - 7/10

Finally, we're back to Rock with a band who may have listened to Kansas at some point.

3. Ghosts Of Yet To Come - Wayward Sons

I'm still not sure if this is the best album I could've picked for this list, as it's taken me days to get through it and I'm still hugely indifferent to it. Ghosts Of Yet To Come is a pretty standard Rock album in a similar vein to Foo Fighters or a less heavy Black Star Riders. Unfortunately, compared to bands like The Treatment or Inglorious, Wayward Sons lack that one great high octane Rock song needed to elevate the rest of the album. Album opener "Alive" should've come after lead single "Until The End" as it's a pretty dull intro to an album that promises something with more excitement in the cover art alone. It's slow and easily forgettable, completely the wrong way to kick the album off if you're an up and coming band.
Luckily, "Until The End" has a bit more to it. It's got some good little riffs and great vocal melodies but the whole album suffers from being a little too plain and musically safe. It's not that it lacks energy or talent, as the band clearly have both. This isn't some cynical going-through-the-motions attempt at staying relevant or topping up the bank account like most of the bigger albums from last year so at least it has that going for it. Unfortunately, that's all it really has. Effort. Mediocre background music by a band that would probably put on a solid warm-up show for a much better act but couldn't lead their own gig with this material alone.
As much as I've essentially shit on Ghosts Of Yet To Come, it certainly wasn't the worst thing released in 2017. The worst thing about the album is there's a lot of dull filler but there are a couple of decent songs if your experience with Rock music is fairly slim. Whilst there are hints of AC/DC and other classic bands throughout the album, the record seems to be mostly inspired by modern Rock bands so if that's your jam, you'll probably get more out of this than I did. However, if you prefer Rock from the 70s and/or 80s, you're better off listening to the Greta Van Fleet one.

1. Alive

2. Until The End

3. Ghost

4. Don't Wanna Go

5. Give It Away

6. Killing Time

7. Crush

8. Be Still

9. Small Talk

10. Something Wrong

ALBUM RATING - 5/10

There are many other albums from 2017 that are probably worth discussing but I hope you enjoyed reading about these three! If there are any 2017 albums you recommend, let me know via Twitter or the comment section.

Shout Out: A Hat In Time (Original Game Soundtrack) - Pascal Michael Stiefel

Apologies for another video game post so soon after the Guitar Hero 2 one but I miscalculated the timing of future album reviews, meaning I have to wait a couple of weeks to review the new Judas Priest album...so time for some filler!

A Hat In Time is easily my favourite game of 2017 and definitely one of my all-time favourite platformers too...but you probably could've guessed that I love the game, what with it being here in a Shout Out post. I could've picked many top tier game soundtracks to write about ranging from classics like Ocarina Of Time to underrated gems like Tearaway Unfolded but for this short little post, I chose A Hat In Time mostly because it's a soundtrack that continued to consistently amaze me all the way through my playthrough of the game. In my experience, many game soundtracks have at least one period of downtime where the music isn't to my liking; one hub world or significant portion of the game where the music is a weaker than the rest of the soundtrack. Not A Hat In Time!
I can't think of a single beat in the game's natural progression that suffers from that misstep; every chapter, every environment has at least one brilliant tune from the classic overworld music of Mafia Town to the incredible boss battle tune in the Dead Bird Studios world. There might be weaker tunes or variations that pop up now and then but you don't have to wait long to hear another belter. Also, if you don't like one of the songs during certain key levels, there are unlockable remixes that you can swap main tunes out for. Granted most of the remixes aren't as good as the originals but it's still quite fun to hear a Disney-fied version of the Snatcher boss theme or the electro-swing remix of "Train Rush".
The game's composer, Pascal Michael Stiefel, is mostly known for creating remixes of game music so there are a few familiar melodies tweaked just enough to make them into new songs. There are elements of the Song Of Storms in "The Windmill Peak" level and I literally had to check to make sure the music from "Picture Perfect" wasn't lifted from Super Mario Galaxy or one of the many Mario Kart games. However, the main takeaway here is that the soundtrack does a perfect job of capturing the tone of each level, whether it's chilling edge-of-your-soiled-seat horror levels set in Queen Vanessa's Manor or joyful platforming and exploration of each village in the Alpine Skyline world. It's a delightful soundtrack that I strongly advise checking out or just full-on purchasing, as it's only $9.99 for 78 tracks.

1. Main Theme

2. Title Screen

3. File Select

4. New Adventure

5. The Mystery Track

6. Welcome To Mafia Town

7. Welcome To Mafia Town (Remix) [Feat. Qumu]

8. Time Piece Released

9. Barrel Battle

10. A New Friend In Mafia Town

11. Mafia Town Is Asleep

12. She Came From Outer Space

13. So, What's The Plan

14. Mafia HQ

15. The Badge Seller

16. Mafia Boss' Big Showdown

17. Mafia Boss' Big Showdown (Remix) [Fear. AdulescensF]

18. Heating Up Mafia Town

19. No More Mafia Boss

20. Scootin' Through Mafia Town

21. Deadbird Studio Reception

22. Dead Bird Studio

23. You Are Now Legally A Bird

24. The Ratings Are In

25. Picture Perfect

26. Picture Perfect (Remix) [Feat. Carlos Eiene]

27. Murder On The Owl Express

28. Who Dun It

29. Tick Tock

30. The Phone's Ringing

31. Metal Bork

32. The Conductor's Train

33. Train Rush

34. Trainwreck Of Electro Swing (Remix)

35. The Big Parade

36. Turn On The Pyrotechnics

37. The Annual Bird Movie Award

38. Dead Bird Studio Basement

39. Dead Bird Studio Is Closed

40. The Battle Of Award 42

41. Heart To Heart

42. Subcon Forest

43. Scootin' Through Subcon Forest

44. Snatcher's  Contractual Obligations

45. Oh It's You

46. Subcon Village

47. Subcon Village (Remix) [Feat. Echorobot]

48. The Fire Spirits

49. The Subcon Caves

50. Toilet Of Doom

51. A Forsaken Place

52. Entering Vanessa Manor

53. Vanessa Wants To Play

54. You're Safe Now

55. Your Contract Has Expired

56. Your Contract Has Expired (Remix) [Feat. Cameron Munoz]

57. The Tower Of The Goats

58. Alpine Skyline

59. The Birdhouse Peak

60. The Lava Cake Peak

61. The Windmill Peak

62. The Twilight Bell Peak

63. Alpine Skyline At Night

64. The Weather Has Cleared

65. Clocktowers Beneath The Sea

66. Scootin' Through Clocktowers Beneath The Sea

67. Clocktowers Beneath The Sea (Remix) [Feat. AdolescensF]

68. Mafia Of Cooks Time Rift

69. Battle Of The Birds Time Rift

70. Subcon Forest Time Rift

71. Alpine Skyline Time Rift

72. Roll The Slots

73. Judge, Jury And Executioner

74. You Are All Bad Guys

75. Get Lost

76. Little Help From My Friends

77. Goodbye Everyone

78. The End

ALBUM RATING - 9/10

I haven't checked out the album of B-sides and additional remixes from this game yet but since it contains music from the upcoming DLC pack (including New Game +, local Co-Op mode and a brand new chapter, ALL FOR FREE!), I'll have to seek it out soon.

Thunderbolt - Saxon

Good news! We're back to doing album reviews for a bit, starting with the latest offering from Saxon!

If you're an avid reader of my blog, you'll know my thoughts on Saxon already; they're one of the few Rock/Metal bands in existence that have improved with age. Whilst that may ring true for rerecordings of their classics, can the same be said for their new studio albums? In this case, sadly not. Thunderbolt is a let down to someone who's heard the band's greatest hits and smashing deep cuts but as far as Heavy Metal goes, it's not bad; it's just a bit "meh" from the band that gave us Sacrifice just five years ago.
The album starts off with the moody, atmospheric "Olympus Rising", a short instrumental that wouldn't be out of place during the introduction of a powerful boss battle in a game or film. It would've been cool if it was fleshed out into a full track but instead, we get "Thunderbolt" afterwards, a half hearted follow up. As far as true album openers, lead singles and title tracks go, "Thunderbolt" isn't bad. It sounds like your typical Saxon song but with a slightly weaker chorus that slows the song's Heavy Metal momentum down. When I first listened to this song, I was worried that Saxon's new album would be a little too one-note and that they'd become the new Motorhead. Fortunately, the band must've been aware of this risk and decided to take steps to avoid that.
The album features several tracks that sound like Saxon's attempt at a musical subgenre taster platter. There's an epic Power Metal blini complete with orchestral elements and a high speed guitar solo ("Nosferatu (The Vampire's Waltz)"), a Speed Metal slider containing lyrical and musical references to Motorhead in tribute to Lemmy ("They Played Rock And Roll") and a Death Metal quiche, featuring guest vocalist Johan Hegg from Amon Amarth ("Predator"). Whilst I applaud Saxon for their attempt to separate this album from others through conscious stylistic changes, none of the previous songs work strongly as either a Power/Speed/Death Metal track or a Saxon one. They're all heavily produced but utterly mediocre, the closest thing to an exception being the raw version of "Nosferatu (The Vampire's Waltz)" included at the end of the album.

However, Saxon didn't go full-experimental and included new tracks for fans of their classic and contemporary material. "The Secret Of Flight" contains a distinctly modern sounding riff but a similar vocal melody to "Power And The Glory", released a good thirty years or so ago, and "A Wizard's Tale" successfully blends a galloping Metal rhythm with lyrical themes that wouldn't be out of place in a Dio record. This is where the album either excels or falters depending on what you want out of it, as it's an understandably mediocre release for a band that have put out 22 studio albums so far.
The album is well recorded and the songs are passable, meaning you'll probably love it if you just want bog standard Heavy Metal with lyrics about mythology and feats of engineering to stick on in the background whilst driving to work or doing the washing up. However, if you want something a bit more memorable, something to revisit frequently and mentally take apart with each listen, you may be disappointed. There are a few songs with decent riffs and driving rhythms to enjoy ("Sniper", "Speed Merchants") but nothing with the same immediately apparent passion and energy as other modern Saxon songs like "Hammer Of The Gods", a far more exciting song about Norse mythology than "Sons Of Odin".
Then there's the matter of the lyrical themes. Saxon have had their embarrassing moments in the past (such as literally writing a song about standing in a queue called, you guessed it, "Standing In A Queue") but much like some of the solos and riffs, this album feels a little uninspired when it comes to subject matters. "Roadies' Song" would've been a great concept if Tenacious D hadn't beat them to the punch half a decade ago and the general repetition of melodies and riffs from previous Saxon material means that things start to sound a little stale. As I said, these are fine if you haven't already been exposed to them en masse but if you've seen and heard it all before, there's nothing particularly special about their use here.

Thunderbolt is OK. That's the short version of this review; it's an average Metal album by a band that have been capable of much better in recent years. The band still have life in them so I'll refrain from mourning the loss of one of my favourite Metal bands until it's evident that Saxon are physically and creatively tapped but hopefully their next album (because there probably will be another album) will come when the band are ready to blow our socks off, not when they need the money for a loft extension.
I rate Thunderbolt 5/10, mostly for effort. The songs that aren't straightforward Heavy Metal may not belong on the album but it's commendable that the band are gingerly stepping out of their comfort zone when remaining firmly in the Heavy Metal category has served them well so far. It's just a shame that the Heavy Metal songs included are all a bit run-of-the-mill this time round. At least Saxon still know how to put on a top notch live show and can really bring out the better aspects of their material live on stage, which is more than some Heavy Metal bands going through the motions can say.
COMING SOON: a review of the new Judas Priest album!

Guitar Hero 2

Continuing the unofficial series of blog posts I'm writing about the soundtracks for all the different Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, this entry is all about the setlist for the 2006 music game, Guitar Hero 2. Along with GH3 and GHM, this is widely considered to have one of the best setlists in the Guitar Hero franchise...but are we looking at the game through rose tinted lenses or does the soundtrack still hold up to this date? I intend to find out in the same way that I did with the following setlists:
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s
Guitar Hero 3: Legends Of Rock
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Rock Band 2
The Beatles: Rock Band
Lego Rock Band
Guitar Hero: Van Halen
Rock Band 3
Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock
Rock Band 4

I'll be going through the entire game's main soundtrack (including the bonus Xbox 360 tracks but NOT the game's bonus songs that you can purchase) and deciding whether each song deserves a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down based around three key factors. 1) Whether I actually like the song (since this game mostly consists of WaveGroup covers, I'll be judging those). 2) Whether the song is fun to play on guitar. 3) Whether the song deserves to be included in the game based on its popularity or relevance to the Guitar Hero term.
At the end, I'll tally up all the Thumbs Up/Down to determine if the game's soundtrack is a yay or nay. So now we've gone through that obligatory explanation, let's revisit this setlist!

"Bad Reputation" - Thin Lizzy
I don't even need to revisit the WaveGroup cover of this to tell you it's a THUMBS DOWN. Thin Lizzy have recorded so many great songs with amazing guitar melodies such as "Whiskey In The Jar", "Cowboy Song", "Waiting For An Alibi", "Cold Sweat" and more. Why in the hell did Harmonix think "Bad Reputation", a lesser known, easily forgettable song of theirs that's mostly strumming and waiting, deserved a spot in the game's soundtrack? My bet is it was probably a personal choice from one of the game's creative directors, even if the solo is alright.

"Beast And The Harlot" - Avenged Sevenfold
Ahh, the beginning of the A7X rhythm music craze. Granted it probably would've happened sooner or later but this song was the one that started it all off...and with pretty good reason. It's a decent song that makes for a great challenge, definitely worth being in the game and (as far as I know) a popular track by A7X too. Regardless of how I felt about it being in RB3, this song is fun as a WaveGroup cover in early GH games and deserves a THUMBS UP as a result.

"Billion Dollar Babies" - Alice Cooper
The first Xbox 360 exclusive track (and, therefore, one of many that I've never actually played). As far as WaveGroup covers go, it's hit and miss. The guitar sounds terrible but the vocals aren't too bad. I'm not a huge fan of the song so it's mostly down to whether it's a fun chart and a decent Alice Cooper choice. It's got a decent solo and some fun riffs, perfect for a mid-tier track, and the song's one of Cooper's biggest hits. It'd make sense to choose fun over popularity when it's not the original and part of an expanded setlist. Yeah, I'm OK with this choice. THUMBS UP.

"Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" - The Rolling Stones
Well, at least they picked a shorter version to cover. Never thought I'd say that but here we are. The guitar riff in the cover starts off pretty well although the rest of the track quickly turns to shit, even doing the impossible and finding a vocalist to cover a Rolling Stones song who sounds worse than Mick Jagger. God, I fucking hate this song. The "CAN YOU HEAR ME KNOCKIN'" riff is awful and even though it has the makings of a track I should love, there's nothing I like about this cover from the intro riff to the crappy outro solo. What's worse is there are plenty of great Rolling Stones songs that likely haven't been made into GH/RB DLC because of unavailable master tapes, meaning WaveGroup covers were the easiest way to get songs like "It's All Over Now" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash". THUMBS DOWN.

"Carry Me Home" - The Living End
Man, I forgot how awesome this song is. Not only is it excellent for guitarists looking for a challenge but it's a pretty fucking great cover too, arguably superior to the original at least as far as vocals are concerned. It's also a fairly well known track by The Living End (though I'm not sure if that's because of this game or general radio play) but I still think it belongs in this game more than some of their other great tracks like "West End Riot" and "Into The Red". THUMBS UP.

"Carry On Wayward Son" - Kansas
I'm sure I've talked about this cover in the past but I still feel that the original is easily the best version. The vocals in the intro followed by the muted guitar riff sound wrong but at least they're not terrible to play. I think it's fair to say that a lot of people discovered this song due to this game, since it suddenly started appearing everywhere after 2006, but it's a shame the cover's kinda meh. At least it's a solid choice and a fun chart, which earns it a THUMBS UP.

"Cherry Pie" - Warrant
Hats off to WaveGroup for recording a pretty fucking spot-on version of this song. Well known Hair Metal anthem, sweet guitar chart and a top quality cover. All in all, the perfect song for GH2. THUMBS UP.

"Crazy On You" - Heart
I remember hating playing this on GH2 but that was mostly because I wasn't a very good player and this has a semi-challenging guitar chart. Revisiting it, I kinda dig it. Fun guitar throughout and a serviceable cover (although the spot-on guitar tones deserve a major shout out!), but is it the best Heart song to cover? Yes. Absolutely. Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the right choice. THUIMBS UP.

"Dead!" - My Chemical Romance
Ugh, these guys. Fair play to these twinks, this isn't a bad song for GH. Fun guitar chart (which is fucking rare for these wankers), a catchy sound that isn't just your overly affected strumfest lamenting how hard it is to be Alternative in high school and from what I know about MCR, it's one of their more popular songs. Oh, and it's one of four master recordings in the game...and an Xbox 360 exclusive track. If I didn't know this was MCR, I'd probably like the track a lot so I've got no choice but to give it a THUMBS UP. I know, weird huh.

"Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Do I really need to spend more than a single line explaining this one? Nope! THUMBS UP.

"Freya" - The Sword
This is one of the main reasons why I believe the Guitar Hero 2 soundtrack is regarded as one of the best. Yes, you've got WaveGroup covers of bands that wouldn't appear in GH/RB as master recordings for some time (if at all) and a myriad of fun guitar songs but you've also got lesser known modern Hard Rock/Metal songs that fans of classic bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin are likely to enjoy. It's the perfect balance to create the ultimate Rock music rhythm game. The fun chart and great cover quality are added features at this point, as is the bitchin' outro. THUMBS UP.

"Girlfriend" - Matthew Sweet
I've played this song on GH2 and listened to it as a way of reminding myself about the song...and yet, I still can't tell you anything about it. It's so fucking non-descript and average, even if it does have a fun solo. There are plenty of other one-off Rock songs that could've been better used in this game but instead, we get Placeholder - Fuckin Who?! taking up a slot. It's not a terrible song but it doesn't deserve a win for any of the key factors I'm judging these on. THUMBS DOWN I'm afraid.

"Hangar 18" - Megadeth
Oh shit, this song gave me so much trouble when I first played this game. It's a shame the cover is possibly one of WaveGroup's weakest in that it sounds barely anything like the original but it still sounds good enough. There's also the added benefit of it being one of Megadeth's better known songs deliberately picked to be an insane challenge for guitarists at the end of the game. Whilst there are other Megadeth songs that I think I prefer to listen to, this is definitely the best choice for the game (way better than "Symphony Of Destruction" in GH1). THUMBS UP.

"Heart-Shaped Box" - Nirvana
Hmmm...on the one hand, it's one of Nirvana's bigger tracks ignoring the obvious one that they chose not to go with for some reason. On the other much bigger hand, it's not the most fun guitar track and Nirvana aren't really a band that comes to mind when I think of the term Guitar Hero. They might work in later games or DLC but not GH1-3 on-disc tracks. It's a THUMBS DOWN from me.

"Hush" - Deep Purple
It's a shame this wasn't on the PS2 version but it's still a damn good track. It's a solid little chart for those who want a fun but relatively easy song on guitar but thankfully, it's a great cover with a neat little guitar solo written in and a sensible choice for a Deep Purple song. Sure, there are plenty of more challenging Hard Rock songs they could've gone with but there's nothing wrong with this Psychedelic choice from the band's early career. Hopefully one day we'll get it as Rock Band DLC since they seem to be revisiting all the GH setlists now. THUMBS UP.

"Institutionalized" - Suicidal Tendencies
Fuck this song. Horrible to listen to, crap to play, rubbish choice for 80s Metal (although this game has some great choices overall) and completely lacking in anything remotely enjoyable. There are plenty of challenging guitar songs that should've taken its place so it's a hard THUMBS DOWN for this utter shithawk of a tune.

"Jessica" - The Allman Brothers Band
Ah yes, the second best Southern Rock epic in the game. Easily one of the most fun songs to play and it's not a terrible WaveGroup cover. The guitar tone is great and the omission of the piano solo to make it more fun in GH doesn't sound bad either. The Allman Brothers Band have plenty of fun songs to choose from but this has to be the best choice, as all the others wouldn't be anywhere near as fun or popular except maybe "Ramblin' Man"...but I'm glad we got the original two years later instead. THUMBS UP.

"John The Fisherman" - Primus
Ewww, Primus. I know they're kinda shitty normally but goddamn, they sound even worse as a WaveGroup cover. I mean, the vocalist is doofy and the guitar tone is just awful. WaveGroup really fucked up when...wait...oh, it's a master recording? Yeesh, what a waste. I wouldn't mind if this was a bonus song and one of the bonus tracks like "Soy Bomb" or "Raw Dog" was a main setlist choice instead...but Jesus, this is bad. It's not even fun to play, it's just a solid lump of bad. THUMBS DOWN.

"Killing In The Name" - Rage Against The Machine
You might be thinking that I'm generally shitting on the more modern songs but this is one that I actually like quite a bit. Whilst the GH:SH chart is still my favourite (let's not talk about the Rock Band one), the GH2 guitar chart isn't that bad and WaveGroup successfully manage to recreate a Tom Morello guitar solo without completely fucking everything up. They also did a good job rewriting the lyrics to be a bit more family friendly so overall, a good effort. It's also one of the better RATM choices, as Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band 2 would prove. THUMBS UP.

"Laid To Rest" - Lamb Of God
It's not the best song to listen to but it's a solid choice for some modern Metal that isn't just a recreation of 70s/80s stuff. Plus, that guitar chart is just fucking great. Actually, so is WaveGroup's cover. I actually had to double check to make sure it wasn't the original as the guitar tones are damn near identical. It's only when the verse vocals come in that you realise it's not Lamb Of God but musically, the cover's good. I'm assuming this is one of Lamb Of God's better known tracks as we've had barely any other tracks of theirs in music games so far. So yeah, sweet pick. THUMBS UP.

"Last Child" - Aerosmith
I'm torn on this one. It's a good little tune but I doubt any Aerosmith fan (casual or hardcore) would choose this straight away if you asked them for the best Aerosmith song; at least not if they were listening to this cover. Maybe this choice was more to do with Aerosmith being notoriously expensive to license so they wanted a nice, cheap B-side to cover instead. Either way, it's a good song with a semi-fun but easily forgettable chart. When weighing up the positives (only just passable WaveGroup cover, fun chart) against the negatives (not amazingly fun to play, so many better Aerosmith songs to pick from), I've got to go with my gut and say THUMBS DOWN if only because a song like "Walk This Way", "Back In The Saddle" or "Sweet Emotion" would've been awesome. However, this isn't a bad B-side choice.

"Life Wasted" - Pearl Jam
Another Xbox 360 exclusive that I'm a bit jealous of. I'm a bit surprised they went with modern Pearl Jam when you'd assume any of their 90s hits would've been the obvious choices. Still, it's a fun song off an underrated album and a good WaveGroup cover. I wouldn't replace this with any other song of theirs, mostly because I wouldn't be able to play it anyway. THUMBS UP.

"Madhouse" - Anthrax
I wish we got more Anthrax stuff off the Spreading The Disease album that wasn't a WaveGroup cover or shitty live recording. Ah well, at least GH2 knew what was up. Bitchin' tune from the band's best album, what's not to like? Fun guitar, totally relevant for the game and a solid cover. THUMBS UP without a moment's hesitation.

"Message In A Bottle" - The Police
The Police are a funny beast in the world of Rock Band/Guitar Hero. They're a relatively popular Rock band with a very limited collection of fun songs. "Message In A Bottle" is OK to listen to and sort of fun to play but it's not a track I would ever seek out; it's just one that I enjoy when I'm experiencing it. It's also a very sensible choice for the game, what with it having some decent but easy guitar sections for early on in the career and it being one of the band's biggest hits. Yeah, THUMBS UP I guess. I don't hate it or even dislike it, I'm just wildly indifferent but have no beef against it.

"Misirlou" - Dick Dale
Hoo boy, THIS song. I'm not sure if they were better off choosing this version or going with the Del-tones one used in Pulp Fiction. Either way, it's a fun song with LOTS of rapid strumming. If that's your jam, you better get on this song. If you hate rapid strumming, you'll probably get very little out of this other than a fail screen but luckily, it's not an arse of a song to strum hopelessly along to. Great tune, good choice for one of the game's main challenging tracks. THUMBS UP.

"Monkey Wrench" - Foo Fighters
I'll be honest, I don't even remember playing this in GH2. I remember it in Smash Hits and I loosely remember seeing it in the setlist but I can't remember playing it at all! However, the chart is pretty standard. A lot of chords, a lot of strumming but it's all in service of a great Foos track from an album with a lot of crappy hits that could've been picked instead. The cover's not bad either, I dare say the vocalist does a better job than Dave Grohl during the shouty bit. Despite being a totally forgettable song and chart in the collection of music that is Guitar Hero 2, I'm giving this a THUMBS UP.

"Mother" - Danzig
Not a huge fan of Danzig or this song but I guess it's quite popular? The vocalist did his best but he was never going to sound like Mr Danzig so any attempt at covering this song would always just sound like a parody. So yeah, not a huge fan of the song choice or cover quality...but is it fun to play? Meh, it's OK. Pretty standard affair up until the last solo which is great. I praised the soundtrack earlier for their choice of Rock and Metal from recent years with a similar sound to classic artists as  away of introducing fans to new material...but this song was released in the 80s, the same decade as Judas Priest, Metallica and Scorpions material. Granted most of those bands made it to Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s but I still feel like this is a meh song at best, even if it's not terrible to play. Fuck, I'm conflicted. I'm gonna say THUMBS DOWN purely because I wouldn't miss this song if it was replaced with something else, even if I'm not a huge fan of the song replacing it.

"Possum Kingdom" - Toadies
Another Xbox 360 exclusive and master recording combo...and it's mediocre! Positives first: it's got a sweet riff that's kinda fun to play (by the looks of it). It's also a somewhat popular song, I guess? However, it's your typical 90s Alternative, Pop Punk shit only this isn't Weezer or The Offspring or some other similar band with songs that'd be amazing to play in GH. As far exclusive bonus tracks go, this is pretty dull and should've been something more fun to listen to/play (even if it was meant to be an early career mode track to warm your fingers up). THUMBS DOWN though I might buy it as Rock Band DLC in the future.

"Psychobilly Freakout" - Reverend Horton Heat
Ahhhhh, this song's grown on me. I may not have enjoyed my experience of it in GH2 but since I've improved over time, I can appreciate this song for what it is. It's the wacky GH song full of fun yet incredibly challenging guitar (for the time) that one of the developers happened to know and decided to include that you find in most GH games. GHWOR had the Snot song, GH5 had the Jeff Beck jazz one, even GH:WT had "Satch Boogie". I'm OK with this not being a well known song by a well known band if it serves a purpose in the game's soundtrack, and it does! It serves a similar purpose to "Misirlou" but in a more fun way. It's also a pretty fucking great cover so THUMBS UP. Fuck the haters.

"Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo" - Rick Derringer
Oh neat, some more Classic Rock. Oh wait, it was an Xbox 360 exclusive. Shit. At least Rock Band 4 got the master recording (for which I am eternally grateful) but the GH2 cover and chart are still good. Sure, the outro solo might seem a little forced but the actual solo is brilliant and the whole song is full of amazing guitar sections. Definitely a true Guitar Hero song, even if it is a lesser known Classic Rock track outside of America. Well, it got a Thumbs Up in RB4 so it's definitely getting one here too! THUMBS UP.

"Rock This Town" - Stray Cats
This is definitely one of the most fun songs in the game, along with "Jessica" and one coming up a bit later. Everything about this song is fucking brilliant. Most fun songs have some kind of downtime section where it's just chords, strumming or nothing at all but this track has a fun and varied chart from start to finish. Rock Band released a version as DLC that couldn't hold a candle to this chart, although at least that was still fun. The GH2 version, however, will always be a testament to the perfect GH chart, even if the song isn't exactly GH material. THUMBS UP.

"Salvation" - Rancid
Generic 90s Punk, as bland as you can imagine. Boring chart, terrible song, plenty of better Punk tunes out there to include if you want an easy song to kick the game off and I wouldn't even consider it a significant song in general if you're after great Rock tracks for the game. Thankfully it's an Xbox 360 exclusive so I never had to play it but this should've been something else. THUMBS DOWN.

"Seach And Destroy" - Iggy Pop And The Stooges
From dull Punk to amazing Punk AND quite possibly my favourite song in the game. Note: it's not the most fun song in the game (that's probably "Rock This Town") but it's still my favourite. I always enjoyed playing it, even if I wasn't good enough to completely nail that amazing outro solo. Granted the chart's a little undercharted and the cover sounds iffy at times but overall, it's a great effort by WaveGroup and adequately challenging enough for where it is in the game's career mode. It's a shame we've yet to experience this in Rock Band but there's still hope for the future, especially since I heard a rumour that it was optioned for Guitar Hero: Smash Hits. As for whether it's the best Iggy song to go with, it's definitely the best Iggy and the Stooges song to pick...you know what, it's the best Iggy song in general. Semi-well known but obscure enough to introduce casual listeners to a cracking tune. THUMBS UP.

"Shout At The Devil" - Motley Crue
OK, so it might be a lame cover but as far as entry level songs go, this is one of the best. A well known Hair Metal track that successfully crosses into full on Heavy Metal territory and contains plenty of fun little HOPO sections to separate it from bland sustain of chordfests. It might not be the perfect song (fuck that trill solo) but as it was the first song I played in Guitar Hero 2, I can testify that it perfectly sets the tone for the great game ahead of you. THUMBS UP.

"Stop" - Jane's Addiction
You know my feelings towards Jane's Addiction and this is one of the songs that started the general animosity I harbour. Frustrating chart, cruddy song and not even the best choice by this band. "Idiots Rule", "Been Caught Stealing" or "Just Because" would've been much better for the game and arguably as well known (if not more so) than this song. However, one positive thing about the track is that it is indeed the original master recording. Sadly it's the master recording of a naff song so THUMBS DOWN.

"Strutter" - KISS
I wouldn't call this a tremendously popular KISS song in comparison to some of their others but on the scale of significant KISS singles, it's definitely on the list. It's also one of the most fun KISS songs on guitar so there are no complaints from me there. I was going to give this a Thumbs Down but then I revisited the chart; damn, those twin solos are something. THUMBS UP even though it's not a KISS song I'm particularly fond of.

"Surrender" - Cheap Trick
If you're going to pick a Cheap Trick song for Guitar Hero, you're definitely better off picking one of their actual Rock songs instead of their Pop shit. It's a solid track with some basic guitar throughout, perfect for early placement in the game's career mode. Whilst I personally would've preferred songs like "Stiff Competition" or "California Man", I'm not dumb enough to state that those would've been superior choices. "Surrender" is a well known Rock track that doesn't feel out of  place in GH and probably gave people a lot of fun when they played it, even if it's no "Rock This Town". THUMBS UP for not being terrible.

"Sweet Child O' Mine" - Guns N' Roses
OK, I'll say it right now. THUMBS UP. Good song? Check (even if I'm slowly falling out of love with GNR due to a certain prick on vocals). Fun chart? Check (it's fucking Slash, what did you expect?). Sensible GH choice? It's one of Rock's most iconic guitar riffs and songs, of fucking course. Good cover? Debatable; the vocalist sounds like a rougher version of Axl, which is fucking saying something, but at least the guitar tones sound perfect. All in all, good track!

"Tattooed Love Boys" - The Pretenders
One of many songs that I actually forgot was in the game. Uhh, yeah, this song sucks. It's a weird blend of New Wave and Hard Rock and I don't like it. Even if the chart is kinda fun if you're good enough to tackle the strumming rhythm, it's a poor choice for the game in my opinion. Not really a song that comes to mind when I think of Guitar Hero and if you were going to choose a Pretenders song, why not "Middle Of The Road" or "Precious"? THUMBS DOWN.

"Them Bones" - Alice In Chains
Bleh, Alice In Chains. Up there with Bush in my league of terrible Grunge bands. This song might have a sweet guitar solo but I still dislike listening to the rest of the song just to get to a brief HOPO stream sandwiched between a load of strumming. Alice In Chains have some decent tracks but nothing I feel is a must have for GH. The closest song is probably "Man In The Box", which I probably would've enjoyed more than this one...although this is a lot shorter. Either way, THUMBS DOWN. I would've been more likely to award the win if it was a Rock or Metal cover of "Dem Bones/Dry Bones".

"Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" - Spinal Tap
Fair play Harmonix, you put a Spinal Tap song on the main setlist. Not just a random Spinal Tap song off a new album as part of a contractual obligation in order to get album DLC later down the line (totally not referencing another game there) but a well known and awesome Spinal Tap song that featured prominently in the film too! It's a shame the song has to feature so many fiddly trills and a rapid strumming outro but at least the main riff is great. The cover quality's pretty good too, especially on the main riff and lead vocals in the verse. You could argue that a Rock song by an actual band and not a parody of 80s Rock groups should've had the spot this track took up but to those people, I say there's nothing wrong with the song as its own entity. If you didn't know it was Spinal Tap, this would sound just as awesome as anything by Twisted Sister or Aerosmith. THUMBS UP.

"Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart" - Stone Temple Pilots
OK, first of all, stupid song title. Second, this is one of the few popular STP songs with highly active guitar so I guess it makes sense to include in the game. "Vasoline" and "Crackerman" would've been good too but there's nothing wrong with this choice, apart from the aforementioned song title. As for the chart, it's not bad. A little too much strumming for my taste but it's nowhere near as awkward as "Tattooed Love Boys" or "Misirlou" so I suppose that's something. Plus, it's a 90s song that isn't bland, one of the main (and few) issues with the GH2 setlist. For that reason and all the other ones I wrote, THUMBS UP.

"The Trooper" - Iron Maiden
The last Xbox 360 exclusive track. I've played the original in GH:SH but never the WaveGroup cover, although the charts look relatively similar. Since I hated playing this song in GH:SH, I can only assume it's just as annoying in GH2. However, it is one of Iron Maiden's most popular songs so I can understand why it was picked. However, combine the annoying chart with the fairly meh solo and poor quality cover and it pains me to end up with a THUMBS DOWN for this song. As for which Iron Maiden song I would've preferred...tough to say, as any WaveGroup cover would sound crappy, but maybe one of the shorter, less annoying songs to play just to make the painful experience less harsh than this one.

"War Pigs" - Black Sabbath
Is this the same version that was released as Rock Band DLC? I love that version and the GH2 cover sounds pretty damn similar so it's possible. Since GH1 got "Iron Man", it was either this song or "Paranoid" for GH2 and I'm glad they went with this song. It's got many, many awesome guitar sections and will likely introduce casual listeners to a song that they're less likely to know compared to Black Sabbath's other two signature songs. I'm glad they didn't edit the song down to a more tolerable length too, as this track is best enjoyed with both solos in all their glory. THUMBS UP.

"Who Was In My Room Last Night?" - The Butthole Surfers
Another fun chart that I'd very much like to revisit as future RB DLC. Whilst I'm not sure this would qualify if we're after well known Rock songs, it definitely sounds like the kind of song that'd belong in Guitar Hero. Plus, it is an incredible guitar chart and decent cover so it doesn't feel out of place from the perspective of having fun. THUMBS UP before we start talking about the band's questionable choice of name.

"Woman" - Wolfmother
Similar to "Freya", this song feels like it was chosen because it sounds like 70s Hard Rock and happens to be the band's best known single with a fun guitar melody at that point in time. But enough about the song overall, let's talk about the guitar solo. Normally, the song breaks into an organ solo (which you can hear underneath the solo in this song, if you listen closely) but WaveGroup decided to add a guitar solo so that you've got something to play instead of the main riff. The solo's OK, suitable difficulty for this point in the game's career mode and not awful to listen to, especially when compared to the organ solo. If the guitar sounded a little bit closer to the original Wolfmother guitar, I'd be tempted to say this WaveGroup cover trumps the original as the vocalist sounds less whiny than Andrew Stockdale. So, to recap, good song choice, good chart, good cover; that makes this a pretty definite THUMBS UP in my books.

"You Really Got Me" - Van Halen
Really? Out of all the Van Halen songs available, you choose their meh cover of a song by The Kinks, a band that could've been included instead? Granted this is one of Van Halen's popular songs from their debut that helped catapult them into mainstream Rock along with "Eruption" and "Runnin' For The Devil" but there's no way this should've been picked over classics of theirs like "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" and "Panama" if you're after mid-tier difficulty. However, despite my criticisms, there are some shining positives. For starters, it's an exceptional cover; vocals and guitar are fucking identical. Then there's the chart; whilst it might be a bit of a pain for the inexperienced player, it offers some great little HOPO sections in such a short package. Unfortunately, I still feel like this was the wrong choice for the game's Van Halen representative so it's a THUMBS DOWN I'm afraid, though not as offensive as some of the other Thumbs Down this game has offered.

"YYZ" - Rush
Believe it or not, this was my first experience with Rush and now it seems like they're fucking everywhere. Anyway, it's the last main disc song in the game and it's a belter. It's not a terrible cover (it's damn right spot on in the intro, but then the main riff starts) and it's certainly fun to play on guitar and bass. However, is it the best Rush choice for the game? In short, yes. There might be other Rush songs that are more iconic like "Tom Sawyer" and "Limelight" but you're forgetting that those would almost certainly be WaveGroup covers and if the Rock Band covers taught us anything, it's that WaveGroup cannot get Geddy's voice right. They were smart to choose a Rush song that didn't have Geddy singing, therefore saving themselves the embarrassment of attempting to copy his unique pipes. With that in mind, this song and HMX's decision to choose it get a big ol' THUMBS UP.


Well, there you have it. 33 Thumbs Up against 15 Thumbs Down. A pretty good win for the Guitar Hero 2 setlist, right there. As for why this soundtrack is so great compared to other GH games, my theory is that HMX knew that the game's engine between GH1 and GH2 had been vastly improved and wanted a soundtrack that reflected that. The first game had a lot of iconic Rock songs with a couple of modern hits peppered throughout but this game really wanted to knock the socks off players with fun riffs, epic solos and plenty of HOPOs that you didn't have to strum in order to play to enjoy.
Whilst other GH games wanted a soundtrack to reflect fun guitar charts, this game had the benefit of being the second Guitar Hero title in existence, meaning most great and obtainable Rock songs were still new to the franchise (hence GHWOR reusing two tracks from previous GH games, which really didn't help things). Anyway, even if it isn't my favourite GH to play, it certainly is one of the finest soundtracks of music game history.