Jason Hasselkus

Are you ready? Have you at least pre-ordered your game? Well I have and I can’t wait until Guitar Hero II comes out for the xbox 360. Right now you can only pre order the game, which is expected to be released on April 3rd. This super hit for the Playstation is expected to be even better for the xbox. There is a new guitar, called the X-Plorer, but unlike the Playstation version, it’s not wireless. RedOctane, the makers of the game said that wireless protocol “might” be on it’s way, but right now we are going to have live with plugging the guitar into the USB port.

Here’s the best part of the whole game, Microsoft was able to get 8 new tracks on this game, some, like the Pearl Jam song, that is only for Xbox. Here are the titles and eight venues you can play.

1. Opening Licks
• Surrender - by Cheap Trick
• Possum Kingdom - Toadies (New original recording)
• Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana
• Salvation - Rancid
• Strutter - Kiss
• Shout at the Devil - Motley Crue
2. Amp-Warmers
• Mother - Danzig
• Life Wasted - Pearl Jam (New)
• Cherry Pie - Warrant
• Woman - Wolfmother
• You Really Got Me - Van Halen
• Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight - Spinal Tap
3. String Snappers
• Carry on Wayward Son - Kansas
• Search and Destroy - Iggy Pop & the Stooges
• Message in a Bottle - The Police
• Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper (New)
• Them Bones - Alice in Chains
• War Pigs - Black Sabbath
4. Thrash and Burn
• Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters
• Hush - Deep Purple (New)
• Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet
• Who Was In My Room Last Night - Butthole Surfers
• Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ - The Rolling Stones
• Sweet Child o’Mine - Guns N’ Roses
5. Return of the Shred
• Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer (New)
• Tattooed Love Boys - The Pretenders
• John the Fisherman - Primus (original recording)
• Jessica - The Allman Brothers Band
• Bad Reputation - Thin Lizzy
• Last Child - Aerosmith
6. Relentless Riffs
• Crazy on You - Heart
• Trippin’ On a Hole in a Paper Heart - Stone Temple Pilots
• Dead! - My Chemical Romance (New Original Recording)
• Killing in The Name - Rage Against the Machine
• Freya - The Sword
• Stop - Jane’s Addiction (Original Recording)
7. Furious Fretwork
• Madhouse - Anthrax
• The Tropper - Iron Maiden (New)
• Rock This Town - The Stray Cats
• Laid to Rest - Lamb of God
• Psychobilly Freakout - Reverend Horton Heat
• YYZ - Rush
8. Face Melters
• Beast and the Harlot - Avenged Sevefold
• Carry Me Home - The Living End
• Institutionalized - Suicidal Tendencies
• Misirlou - Dick Dale (you know the Pulp Fiction song)
• Hanger 18 - Megadeth
• Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd

As you can see there is a serious amount of guitar knowledge that is needed to master these songs. I’m excited to play the new titles and maybe this year will be the year I finally master the Reverend Horton Heat song. That and Hanger 18 are probably the two toughest songs in the bunch, but you decide which ones are toughest for you and give it a try.