Well, here we are. Arguably the peak of rhythm gaming’s popularity and cultural penetration, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was nothing short of a phenomenon. The first Guitar Hero game not to be made by original developer Harmonix, Guitar Hero III was moved to Activision and Tony Hawk developer Neversoft.
A new feature in Guitar Hero III was the “Guitar Battles” mode, a multiplayer mode where you’d earn “battle gems” that hinder your opponent’s ability to play with the ultimate goal to make them fail out before you do. These were used in career mode as set-pieces with the aforementioned Legends of Rock, which consisted of Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and then-former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, as well as a final battle against “Lou”, who is the devil.
For the first time in series history, the setlist was majority master versions of songs. Two of those, Cult of Personality and Anarchy in the U.K., are re-recorded versions from the original artist, and the Talk Dirty to Me cover features vocals by original Poison frontman Bret Michaels, who also appears as a non-playable character in the game. Also in a series first, there is a cover song in the bonus songs section, thanks to She Bangs the Drums.
As for the setlist itself, Guitar Hero III placed a massive emphasis on heavy metal and difficult songs, with a lot of people commenting on how quickly the difficulty ramps up on Expert. Not including the battle songs (vs. Tom Morello, vs. Slash, and The Devil Went Down to Georgia), the total setlist in Guitar Hero III consisted of 70 songs. Of that 70 song setlist, 34 are currently available in Rocksmith 2014, for a grand total of 48% available. That’s the highest percentage we’ve seen to date in Setlist Sunday! In addition, we can increase that percentage to 50% if we factor in Sunshine of Your Love in the original Rocksmith.
| Artist | Song | Date in Rocksmith |
|---|---|---|
| Aerosmith | Same Old Song and Dance | 01/07/2014 |
| AFI | Miss Murder | 04/01/2014 |
| Alice Cooper | School's Out * | 12/4/2018 |
| Backyard Babies | Minus Celsius | N/A |
| Beastie Boys | Sabotage | 02/21/2017 |
| Black Sabath | Paranoid * | N/A |
| Bloc Party | Helicopter | N/A |
| Blue Öyster Cult | Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll * | N/A |
| Bret Michaels Band | Go That Far | N/A |
| Cream | Sunshine of Your Love * | 10/18/2011 ** |
| Dead Kennedys | Holiday in Cambodia * | N/A |
| Die Toten Hosen | Hier Kommit Alex | N/A |
| Disturbed | Stricken | 04/12/2016 |
| Dope | Nothing for Me Here | N/A |
| DragonForce | Through the Fire and Flames | 10/24/2017 |
| An Endless Sporadic | Impulse | N/A |
| Eric Johnson | Cliffs of Dover * | 01/15/2013 |
| The Fall of Troy | F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X. | 12/06/2016 |
| Foghat | Slow Ride * | 11/03/2015 |
| Gallows | In the Belly of a Shark | N/A |
| Guns N' Roses | Welcome to the Jungle | N/A |
| Heart | Barracuda * | 01/17/2012 |
| The Hellacopters | I'm in the Band | N/A |
| Héroes del Silencio | Avalancha | N/A |
| In Flames | Take This Life | N/A |
| Iron Maiden | The Number of the Beast | 11/05/2013 |
| Kaiser Chiefs | Ruby | 03/13/2018 |
| The Killers | When You Were Young | 10/28/2014 |
| Killswitch Engage | My Curse | 11/04/2014 |
| KISS | Rock and Roll All Nite * | 10/22/2013 |
| L.A. Slum Lords | Down 'n Dirty | N/A |
| Lacuna Coil | Closer | N/A |
| Lions | Metal Heavy Lady | N/A |
| Living Colour | Cult of Personality *** | 03/05/2013 |
| Matchbook Romance | Monsters | N/A |
| Metallica | One | N/A |
| Mountain | Mississippi Queen * | 09/04/2012 |
| Muse | Knights of Cydonia | 10/22/2013 |
| NAAST | Mauvais Garçon | N/A |
| Pat Benatar | Hit Me with Your Best Shot | 06/26/2012 |
| Pearl Jam | Even Flow | 04/04/2017 |
| Poison | Talk Dirty to Me * | 11/08/2016 |
| Priestess | Lay Down | N/A |
| Prototype | The Way It Ends | N/A |
| Queens of the Stone Age | 3's & 7's | 06/02/2015 |
| Rage Against the Machine | Bulls on Parade | 12/09/2014 |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers | Suck My Kiss | N/A |
| Revolverhead | Generation Rock | N/A |
| Rise Against | Prayer of the Refugee | 02/18/2014 |
| The Rolling Stones | Paint It, Black | 10/22/2013 |
| Santana | Black Magic Woman * | 01/08/2013 |
| Scorpions | Rock You Like a Hurricane * | N/A |
| Scouts of St. Sebastian | In Love | N/A |
| Senses Fail | Can't Be Saved | N/A |
| The Sex Pistols | Anarchy in the U.K. *** | N/A |
| Slayer | Raining Blood | 05/19/2015 |
| The Sleeping | Don't Hold Back | N/A |
| Slipknot | Before I Forget | N/A |
| The Smashing Pumpkins | Cherub Rock | 10/22/2013 |
| Social Distortion | Story of My Life * | 08/11/2015 |
| Sonic Youth | Kool Thing | N/A |
| Stevie Ray Vaughan | Pride and Joy * | 11/15/2016 |
| The Stone Roses | She Bangs the Drums * | 08/25/2015 |
| The Strokes | Reptillia | 01/22/2013 |
| Superbus | Radio Song | N/A |
| Tenacious D | The Metal | 12/08/2015 |
| Weezer | My Name is Jonas | 01/21/2014 |
| White Zombie | Black Sunshine * | 10/25/2016 |
| The Who | The Seeker * | 12/03/2013 |
| ZZ Top | La Grange * | N/A |
* Indicates a cover version of the track
** Indicates a track that is not playable in Rocksmith 2014
*** Indicates a re-recorded version of the track
Now for the songs we’d like to see in Rocksmith!
Dead Kennedys – Holiday in Cambodia
There’s a lot of really cool stuff going on with the guitar here (especially if we get the full studio version), but for me the real appeal here is the bass. I know that I’d personally love the chance to play that great droning bassline on a real bass.
DragonForce – Through the Fire and Flames
Oh, you thought Play with Me was hard? One of the hardest songs in rhythm game history, few songs are as synonymous with the genre as Through the Fire and Flames. And before you think that this wouldn’t work in a game with real guitars, remember that this was available as DLC for Rock Band 3. With Pro-Guitar/Bass. Just imagine how impressive you’d be to your friends if you could bust this one out!
Kaiser Chiefs – Ruby
One of the most notable songs from the wave of mid-2000s indie rock, Ruby might not be the most challenging song on guitar, but it’s certainly one that if you bust out at a party, you’ll get people on their feet and singing along. It would definitely be a great one for us to have in our repertoires.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Suck My Kiss
I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but we haven’t seen these guys since Rocksmith 2012 and it makes no sense! I initially thought that they were just waiting until we got bass, but that happened and still no more RHCP. I’m sure the licensing isn’t easy, as we’ve seen with Rock Band, but hopefully we see this song show up in Rocksmith soon!
Scorpions – Rock You Like a Hurricane
Talk about iconic riffs. Rock You Like a Hurricane has arguably one of the most well known guitar riffs of all time that would surely be great to have in your repertoire, and to top it all off, there’s a great solo in there as well that’s sure to challenge you as a guitarist! This song just seems perfect for Rocksmith.
Sonic Youth – Kool Thing
Alternative rock at it’s finest. That’s what Sonic Youth are to me. While rhythm games have typically not included too much else from their catalogue, this song is still a great starting point and would provide some very interesting strumming and effects gameplay to the game. If only there was a way to simulate feedback…
There’s our picks, what songs would you like to see from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock end up in Rocksmith 2014? Let us know!
