Guitar Hero: Van Halen Set For December, Track List Announced

The final track list is out for Guitar Hero: Van Halen and lo and behold — it’s all Diamond Dave all the time. There’s nary a tune from the Sammy Hagar era to be found anywhere among the 28 Van Halen songs featured on GH:VH.

Guitar Hero: Van Halen will be released on December 22^nd, just in time for a rockin’ Christmas – plenty of time to debate whether at least one song from the ‘Van Hagar’ days should have been included.

Perhaps even more astounding (and egregious) is the exclusion of founding bassist Michael Anthony. An Activision/RedOctane rep confirmed only David Lee Roth and Wolfgang Van Halen (Eddie’s son) will appear in GH:VH alongside Eddie and Alex Van Halen, according to a Rolling Stone report.

For longtime fans of the legendary rock band the omission of Anthony is just wrong. I will say it: it’s wrong!

Guitar Hero: Van Halen features some killer songs, maybe even some cuts you might not have expected to see included in the game: the hits are all accounted for, but the inclusion of “Feel Your Love Tonight,” “Hang ‘Em High,” “Ice Cream Man,” “I’m The One” and “Romeo Delight” shows boldness in the track selection, which equals instant legitimacy.

Along with Eddie, Alex and Dave, Michael Anthony was part of all those Van Halen songs and the classic albums they appeared on. So even though he is no longer in the band, it’s not like fans are just going to forget he wasn’t there for the band’s equally successful eras featuring David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar.

The Hagar debate is one thing, but Anthony was on the bass through it all. No reason not to include the guy in the GH: VH, in my opinion – the same for Hagar.

Hagar might not have been part of “Ain’t Talkin Bout Love” or “Dance The Night Away,” but “Why Can’ This Be Love,” “Finish What Ya Started” and “When It’s Love” (among others) are not bad songs, and the four albums released in the Hagar era represent a chapter in Van Halen’s history when the band was perhaps even more commercially successful than the Roth years; all four albums with Sammy hit #1 on the Billboard charts.

No doubt the game is going to be a big hit this holiday season and the track list is A-plus where the Roth era is concerned. But without the Hagar years included, even by one song, Guitar Hero: Van Halen feels like only part one of the Guitar Hero story.

And we didn’t even mention vocalist Gary Cherone!

Van Halen Songs

• “Ain’t Talkin Bout Love”
• “And The Cradle Will Rock”
• “Atomic Punk”
• “Beautiful Girls”
• “Cathedral” (solo)
• “Dance The Night Away”
• “Eruption” (solo)
• “Everybody Wants Some”
• “Feel Your Love Tonight”
• “Hang ‘Em High”
• “Hear About It Later”
• “Hot For Teacher”
• “Ice Cream Man”
• “I’m The One”
• “Jamie’s Cryin”
• “Jump”
• “Little Guitars”
• “Loss Of Control”
• “Mean Street”
• “Panama”
• “Pretty Woman”
• “Romeo Delight”
• “Running With The Devil”
• “So This Is Love”
• “Somebody Get Me A Doctor”
• “Spanish Fly” (solo)
• “Unchained”
• “You Really Got Me”

Other In-Game Tracks

• Alter Bridge – “Come To Life”
• Billy Idol – “White Wedding”
• blink-182 – “First Date”
• Deep Purple – “Space Truckin”
• Foo Fighters – “Best Of You”
• Foreigner – “Double Vision”
• Fountains of Wayne – “Stacy’s Mom”
• Jimmy Eat World – “Pain”
• Judas Priest – “Painkiller”
• Killswitch Engage – “The End Of Heartache”
• Lenny Kravitz – “Rock And Roll Is Dead”
• Queen – “I Want It All”
• Queens of the Stone Age – “Sick, Sick, Sick”
• Tenacious D – “Master Exploder”
• The Clash – “Safe European Home”
• The Offspring – “Pretty Fly For A White Guy”
• Third Eye Blind – “Semi-Charmed Life”
• Weezer – “Dope Nose”
• Yellowcard – “The Takedown”

How do you feel about Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony being left out of Guitar Hero: Van Halen?