Line #2 Trivia/GuitarHero


1	! Trivia with their own pages
2	* AwesomeDearBoy: When Activision approached {{Music/Tool}} to see if they can put one of their songs into ''World Tour'', they agreed and license out three of their songs ("Parabola", "Schism", and "Vicarious")... but on the condition that they get personally involved with their own exclusive venue inspired by Alex Grey's artwork.
3	* BTeamSequel:
4	** {{Creator/Neversoft}} took over the franchise starting with ''Guitar Hero III'', after Harmonix left to create ''VideoGame/RockBand''.
5	** Also, not counting the ports to less-powered systems, some of the spin-offs were developed by other Activision-owned studios: Beenox did ''Smash Hits'', Vicarious Visions did the ''On Tour'' subseries, Underground Development did ''Van Halen'' and [=FreeStyleGames=] did both ''DJ Hero'' games and, later on, ''Live''.
6	* CashCowFranchise: The series broke the $1 billion milestone in 2007 and there was much rejoicing on Activision's part. However; an oversaturation of products released in 2009[[note]]GH 5, GH Metallica, GH Smash Hits, Band Hero, and DJ Hero were all released that year across ''over 25 [=SKUs=] (standalone software discs and hardware bundles)''[[/note]] hurt sales severely[[note]]Which also affected the sales of ''Warriors of Rock'' the following year, with the game failing to reach 1 million sold units across its three platforms[[/note]], ultimately causing the franchise to collapse. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Good going, Activision]].
7	* CreatorBacklash:
8	** The Romantics attempted to sue Activision over the cover of ''What I Like About You'' in ''Encore: Rocks the 80s'', claiming it was "virtually indistinguishable from the original".
9	** Due to the fact that avatars of real musicians could perform any song once unlocked in ''Guitar Hero 5'' and ''Band Hero'', resulting in some colorful and often inappropriate performances, Creator/AdamLevine and Music/GwenStefani sued Activision over the feature. Music/CourtneyLove and Music/DaveGrohl also expressed distaste over Music/KurtCobain's avatar being allowed to perform any song, and requested that he can only be used on Music/{{Nirvana}} songs.
10	* CrossDressingVoices: It doesn't matter if your singer is male or female, it'll sing whatever song is selected regardless. {{Justified\|Trope}} because they could just be lip syncing... {{Handwave}}d in ''World Tour'', where a microphone was added as an instrument. Averted in the guitar-based entries, where the singer's gender was matched with the song.
11	* DevelopmentHell: Creator/{{Activision}} claimed that a new game in this series would be released in 2012. Assuming they were telling the truth, and the fact that no ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' game was released in 2012, it probably fell into this, and ended up being cancelled anyhow. That, or it morphed into ''Live'' somewhere during development.
12	* DisownedAdaptation: [[Music/TheCharlieDanielsBand Charlie Daniels]] hated the version of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” that appeared in ''Legends of Rock'', mainly because the devil could ([[NintendoHard and often would]]) win. He said that losing to the devil undermined the whole meaning of the song, and the only reason why it appeared in the game was because he had lost its publishing rights- had he still owned them, he would have never approved of its inclusion.
13	* DuelingGames: with ''VideoGame/RockBand''. With the death of the GH series, ''Rock Band'' appears to be the victor (even though it, too, was affected by the decline of the genre).
14	** 2009 saw two well received band-centric titles going up against each other, ''Guitar Hero: Music/{{Metallica}}'' vs ''Music/TheBeatles: Rock Band''.
15	** The same year also saw the duel of the two family friendly entries, ''Band Hero'' and ''Lego Rock Band'', sharing several of the same songs to boot.
16	** To an extent with ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'', a game with similar themes. Though while both ''Warriors of Rock'' and ''Brütal Legend'' are set in a heavy metal fantasy world inspired by album covers, ''Brütal Legend'' is more of an open-world action-adventure RTS than a music game.
17	* DummiedOut: "Trippolette" and "Graveyard Shift" in the original game, which are both accessible through the use of a cheat device. "Trippolette" was planned to be part of the main game, but was cut due to someone in QA sneaking it in at the last second before anyone on the dev team was able to find out.[[note]]It's probable that either Andrelia Buch or Aaron Demuth, the respective composers, were responsible. They both stopped working at Harmonix a few months after the game was released.[[/note]]
18	--->''"Needless to say, he doesn't work at Harmonix anymore."''
19	** "Trippolette" was eventually recomposed and released for the ''Rock Band Network'' service.
20	** An unused CoverVersion of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDmXiNkJQjQ "Unchained"]] by Music/VanHalen was found on the disc of III.
21	** Rhythm Guitar tracks can be found in the files for ''Guitar Hero: Metallica'', suggesting they were going to make a return after being abandoned for mixed lead/rhythm guitar tracks following ''III''. They are unplayable by any means in the official ''Guitar Hero'' games, but are fully functional when ported over to ''Clone Hero''.
22	** 5 extra songs were found in the files of ''Guitar Hero 5'''s Wii version. These songs were "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynrd[[note]]It would later get official chart exclusively for that system[[/note]], a live version of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog", "March of the Pigs" by Nine Inch Nails, "Bug Eyes" by dredg, and a ''World Tour'' medley consisting of "Beautiful Disaster" by 311, "Freak on a Leash" by Korn, "About a Girl (Unplugged)" by Nirvana, "What I've Done" by Linkin Park, "Are You Gonna Go My Way" by Lenny Kravitz, "Feel the Pain" by Dinosaur Jr., "Prisoner of Society" by The Living End, and "Dammit" by blink-182.
23	* ExecutiveMeddling: Minor example: While ''Guitar Hero: Metallica'' was in production, [[Music/{{Metallica}} Lars Ulrich]] originally wanted Music/{{Slayer}}'s "Angel of Death" in the game, but Microsoft objected to the use of the song (and thus threatened to refuse to license the game for the Xbox 360) out of sensitivity for the victims of UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, forcing Lars to change his choice to "War Ensemble" instead. Justified, as the song ''is'' about the experiments of Josef Mengele. It's not that the development team didn't like Slayer's song or anything, it's that they would have had to censor it so heavily they might as well have had an instrumental. Which is funny, considering that the song was in ''[[VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater Tony Hawk's Project 8]]'' without much of a problem...
24	** If they had, it might have come out something like [=GH5=]'s version of Iron Maiden's "2 Minutes to Midnight." No cuss words in the song, but apparently the anti-war message was just too vivid and the result is a lot of censorship, ironic given Maiden's view on those issues. The bigger problem with censoring this song, though, were the implications of children abuse (like when the chorus says "to kill the unborn in the womb", the "to kill" is omitted), so it came off whitewashed and with a rather broken message.
25	** The very first game had "Spanish Castle Magic" by Music/JimiHendrix, but the lyrics were removed because Hendrix's estate didn't want an impersonator.
26	* FandomLifeCycle: Started at Stage 0-b for the original game; after the original became a SleeperHit, its sequel quickly catapulted the series to Stage 3, if not Stage 4, the series reached Stage 5 when ''Guitar Hero III'' was released, slipped to Stage 6-a with the series' over-saturation in 2009, and slipped further to Stage 6-b when Activision shelved the series.
27	* FollowTheLeader:
28	** Originally of ''Guitar Freaks'' (where [=RedOctane=] got the idea from the guitar peripheral), and later, of ''VideoGame/RockBand'', from ''World Tour'' on. They were planning on making a separate drum game, and eventually integrate them - but MTV offered Harmonix the chance to do it all in one shot, so...
29	** ''Warriors of Rock'' is accused of cribbing its aesthetics and themes from ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend''. Ironically, Activision tried to rebrand the game as ''Guitar Hero Adventures'' when they inherited the publishing rights from Sierra/Vivendi, but Double Fine refused.
30	*** Reviews, and even Creator/TimSchafer, agree.
31	---> ''(referring to trailer using "[[Music/BlackSabbath Children of the Grave]]")''\
32	"Holy crap! They even stole our intro music!"
33	*** Just look at [[http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/guitar_hero_warriors_of_rock/screenshot-3.html the re-designed Axel Steel]] and compare him to [[http://www.aolcdn.com/ch_gamedaily/eddie-riggs-transform.jpg demon mode Eddie Riggs.]] Well, the wings are part of the stage though, but aside from that...
34	* FranchiseKiller: Though its not one specific game responsible, the absolutely ridiculous number of released titles since Activision took over on the franchise in 2006 (and especially so since they booted Harmonix, who co-created the series in the first place, out of it in the next year - 13 new titles in the years between 2007 and 2010) have been pretty much confirmed to be the cause of the killing of at least the franchise, if the not the [[GenreKiller the whole band game genre.]]
35	** Activision then attempted to revive the franchise with ''VideoGame/GuitarHeroLive''. However, its own poor sales, alongside divided reactions among the fanbase, only managed to kill it even more conclusively.
36	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Barring the delisted DLC, there are two other instances that makes playing the game cost as much as a real guitar.
37	** There exists another variation of the chart for "We Three Kings" in ''III'' that for unknown reasons was replaced with the more common version that re-arranges some patterns and removed three notes (hence, the first revision is known as the "1100 version"). Those who already own the previous version will still keep it even after it was replaced.
38	** Though you can find the main console version in just about any used game store, the same can not be said for the PC version of ''World Tour'', which costs way more in comparison (assuming you can actually find a copy).
39	* NoPortForYou: ''Guitar Hero III'', ''Aerosmith'' and ''World Tour'' were the only games in the series to see a release on PC and [=macOS=]; the rest were exclusive to consoles and/or mobile devices.
40	* PromotedFanboy: After Activision bought the series and it lost Harmonix, Neversoft stepped up to the plate as developer, saying they played it on breaks while making ''Tony Hawk'' games.
41	** Many custom note chart authors from the ''Guitar Hero'' fan community were also picked up by Neversoft to write charts for their game. Of course, these were the sort of players who were already very, very good at the game and wanted to write harder charts to challenge themselves, which carried over directly to ''Guitar Hero 3''...
42	* TheRedStapler:
43	** The release of ''Guitar Hero'' caused a massive spike in sales for real electric guitars, and especially electric guitar lessons. Many a guitar player in the mid-to-late 2000s wouldn't be seen as all that odd if they cite ''Guitar Hero'' as a reason they got into the instrument.
44	** Lots of bands saw a spike in sales of any song featured in the series, leading to many new fans of old school rock and metal like Music/JudasPriest, Music/IronMaiden, Music/{{Kiss\|Band}} and Music/{{Rush\|Band}}, to name a few. Power metal band Music/DragonForce cite ''Guitar Hero'' as a huge contributing factor to their popularity, and their song "Through the Fire and Flames" remains the band's most popular song more than ten years after ''Guitar Hero 3'' made it famous.
45	* RevivalByCommercialization: The runaway success of the ''Guitar Hero'' franchise in the mid-to-late 00s exposed many young people to classic hard rock and heavy metal songs. As a result, the genres of hard rock and heavy metal returned to a level of mainstream popularity they had not seen since probably the early 1990s. Many of the songs that appeared in the games became popular downloads from digital music services such as [=iTunes=].
46	* SleeperHit: The first game, released in late 2005 to little fanfare, became critically lauded and gave rise to a fad that lasted the remainder of the 2000s.
47	* UrbanLegendOfZelda:
48	** Some cheat-sharing sites falsely claim that ''Guitar Hero: On Tour'' has four additional bonus songs: "[[Music/OzzyOsbourne Crazy Train]]", "[[Music/RedHotChiliPeppers Dani California]]", "[[Music/{{Metallica}} Master of Puppets]]", and "[[Music/GunsNRoses Welcome to the Jungle]]", unlocked by getting 5 stars on certain (or all) songs on all difficulty levels. Some sources also claim that you need to be playing on the original "Phat" DS, and not the DS Lite. The only bonus song in the game is "I Am Not Your Gameboy".
49	** Rumors persisted for a while that Music/{{The Rolling Stones\|Band}}' live DLC was recorded at their infamous Altamont, CA concert, with "Under My Thumb" being the song where Meredith Hunter was killed. It's actually from ''Get Yer Ya-yas Out'', their live DVD which was recorded at Madison Square Garden earlier in 1969.
50	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
51	** The [[http://kotaku.com/5965684/guitar-hero-7-was-going-to-have-six+string-guitars-no-drums-no-singing-was-cancelled-in-2011 now-cancelled Guitar Hero 7]] would have featured dynamic venues, unique music videos for each song, and a new six-button guitar controller with strings instead of a strum bar, while removing drums and vocals. Your mileage will definitely vary on whether this would have been a good direction, especially given the route they did end up taking the series in with Guitar Hero Live.
52	** ''Warriors of Rock'' was originally going to include, among other things, the song "[[EpicRocking Deliverance]]" by Music/{{Opeth}}. They decided against it due to disc space issues.
53	** In the time between Guitar Hero II's release and Harmonix splitting off from Activision, there were talks of a Guitar Hero animated series being pitched to MTV, among other names. Of course, given MTV's direct involvement in [[VideoGame/RockBand the series direct competitor after the Harmonix/Activision split]], the kibosh was quickly put on this idea.
54	** The Bow Wow Wow cover of "I Want Candy" was going to be in ''Encore: Rock the 80s'', and even appeared in some preview builds of the game, but was removed for undisclosed reasons. [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Because It's Midnite]] was originally going to be a bonus track like "Trogdor" was in ''2'', but was ultimately moved to the main setlist to replace it.
55	** Activision and [=RedOctane=] had applied for numerous trademarks that were probably meant to be used for more games, including ''Guitar Villain, Drum Villain, Drum Hero, Keyboard Hero, Sing Hero'' and ''Dance Hero''.
56	** There was also meant to be a fourth band-centric game based on the Music/RedHotChiliPeppers that never materialized.
57	** As mentioned above, when Activision had the publishing rights to ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'', they tried to rebrand it as a spinoff, ''Guitar Hero Adventures'', but the developers Double Fine refused, leading to them seek EA as a publisher instead.
58	** The songs discovered on the Wii ''[=GH5=]'' disc, especially the Led Zeppelin one due to their stinginess about licensing; see DummiedOut above.
59	** The final version of the drum chart for "Scatterbrained (Live)" we see in ''Guitar Hero 5'' is actually a nerfed rechart after Neversoft decided the original chart was too difficult. The result is a ''ridiculously'' undercharted drum chart missing tons of ghost notes that's rated a 10 in terms of difficulty, but in practice is closer to an 8 or 9.
60	** An avatar for [[Music/BonJovi Jon Bon Jovi]] was planned in ''[=GH5=]'', but he refused to license his image after he discovered he could be used to play any song.
61	** [[https://youtu.be/fWXMZZ5tZ9E The alpha build]] for ''Guitar Hero 1'' not only had a radically different UI and color palette for the frets, but their cover of "Spanish Castle Magic" had lyrics!
62	** Band Hero 2 was in development and was planning to follow a storyline similar to ''[=Warriors of Rock=]'', if [[https://twitter.com/DodylectableT/status/1441668291139981312 unearthed graphics]] in ''[=WOR's=]'' files were anything to go by. [[https://twitter.com/Acai28/status/1631383237862862848 A partial setlist was also leaked]] and would've included songs from Music/DavidBowie and Music/LadyGaga; additionally, [[https://youtu.be/Iwjj5Kk7oDY?si=M_CaRU1EzEtmYSlj&t=3268 according to Neversoft charter Chris Vance]], his team also really wanted "Hocus Pocus" by Focus, to the point of having already charted the song, but were unable to get it because the masters were lost. However, layoffs within Neversoft ultimately led to the game's demise; according to Vance, the game never made it far into development before its cancellation.
63	** [[https://youtu.be/Iwjj5Kk7oDY?si=BP9Qi5WRUVps6sQC&t=2137 The first three songs prototyped]] for ''III'' were [[Music/OzzyOsbourne "Crazy Train"]], [[Music/{{Metallica}} ''Master of Puppets'']] and [[Music/LivingColour "Cult of Personality"]]; the latter made it into the final game (as a re-recording by the original artist), though the former two would have to wait until later installments in the series (''World Tour'' and ''Metallica'' respectively). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iYaD-v2WOQ A prototype chart for Master of Puppets would be found in an early development build of ''III'' discovered in February 2024.]]
64	** A cover version of [[Music/{{Aerosmith}} "Same Old Song and Dance"]] was recorded and charted for ''III'', but Neversoft was later able to license the master track, making it unnecessary. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp2MpyxaQZc The chart for the cover version (but not the audio)]] survives on the same development build where Master of Puppets was found.
65	** [[https://youtu.be/7zeQsLscYco At one point]], Neversoft pitched a band spin-off focusing on Music/TheBeatles to celebrate their iconic legacy. For reasons unknown, this never got picked up, but Harmonix was still able to realize this idea with ''The Beatles: VideoGame/RockBand''.
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67	! Miscellaneous Trivia
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69	* The Music/SexPistols actually reformed and recorded new versions of two of their songs ("Anarchy in the UK" for ''[=GH3=]'' and "Pretty Vacant" for ''World Tour'') specifically for the game (the original multi-track masters were not available; the band's theory was that they were stolen). Well, for this and for [[MoneyDearBoy the same reason bands always reform]].
70	** Music/LivingColour also re-recorded a new version of “Cult of Personality” for ''Legends of Rock'', which would later be used for ''Smash Hits''. Strangely, the original 1988 recording would be used in ''Live'' and ''Rock Band''.
71	* Hyperspeed was originally included as a joke, like the giant heads "cheat". Yeah, let's make the charts scroll twice as fast! Then people started using it, and noticing the faster speed makes them ''much'' better at the game than without.
72	* ''Guitar Hero Smash Hits'' (Beenox) and ''Guitar Hero Van Halen'' (Underground Development) were handled by third parties, which would explain some of the chart discrepancies between those games and earlier appearances. In the case of Smash Hits, it's mostly because masters were used instead of covers, and because some note types weren't in the older games (tapped notes, extended sustains, open notes on bass), but for Guitar Hero Van Halen (which has Hot For Teacher, which appeared on World Tour but didn't export, and was essentially the same base game), there really isn't much of a reason to change the chart itself if you're using the same masters.
73	* You know that tiny print on the Guitar Hero II newspaper screen? [[http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16460&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=12 Someone found exactly what it says.]] It's the Arts and Entertainment column from the March 13th, 2004 issue of the Palos Verdes Peninsula News.
74	* The Guitar Hero 3 DLC track "Putting Holes In Happiness" by Music/MarilynManson is not the original version, but instead a remix by Nick Zinner of the Music/YeahYeahYeahs.
75	* As for the originals present in ''Rocks the 80s'', since both "I Wanna Rock" and "The Warrior" end in fade-outs, the in-game versions ''also end in fade-outs''. Harmonix's later ''VideoGame/RockBand'' series and later games in the ''GH'' series that use masters let the songs run past the fadeouts or constructed original endings from the masters, so it's likely Harmonix was rushed for a summer release, didn't care since this was their last game before Activision hijacked their own series from them, or simply hadn't thought of doing that yet. "I Wanna Rock" later reappeared in ''Smash Hits'' and "The Warrior" in ''Rock Band 4'' with full endings, allowing both songs to be played on a five-fret chart without fadeouts.

Context Trivia / GuitarHero