It was late 2007. I remember sitting on a basement floor, hands cramping around a plastic Gibson Les Paul, staring at a CRT television that felt like it was vibrating. The screen was a blur of neon notes. My friend was screaming because I was about to fail out of "Raining Blood" for the tenth time that hour. We weren't just playing a game; we were trying to survive a tracklist that felt like a curated history of rock and roll violence.
The guitar hero 3 list of songs isn't just a menu of MP3s. It is a cultural landmark.
Honestly, if you grew up during the plastic instrument craze, these 70+ tracks are burned into your DNA. You can't hear the opening riff of "Slow Ride" without your fingers twitching toward buttons that aren't there. It was the peak of the franchise, a moment where Neversoft took over from Harmonix and decided to make everything louder, faster, and significantly more punishing.
The Main Career Setlist: A Descent Into Finger Cramps
The game was structured into eight tiers. It started easy—kinda. You’d kick things off with Foghat and Poison, feeling like a god because you could hit 100% on "Talk Dirty to Me" without breaking a sweat. But the difficulty curve in GH3 wasn't a slope; it was a cliff. By the time you hit Tier 7, "Live in Japan," the game stopped being a toy and started being an endurance test.
Most people remember the "big" ones.
You had "Barracuda" by Heart, which taught everyone how to gallop on the strum bar. Then there was "The Metal" by Tenacious D, which felt like a fever dream of odd-timed riffs. But the real gatekeepers were the encores. Winning a tier meant playing a "secret" song that usually pushed your skills to the limit. Think "Welcome to the Jungle" after beating Slash in a boss battle—which, by the way, was notoriously frustrating because of the power-up mechanics.
✨ Don't miss: Why the Clash of Clans Archer Queen is Still the Most Important Hero in the Game
Tier 1: Starting Out Small
- Slow Ride – Foghat
- Talk Dirty to Me – Poison
- Hit Me with Your Best Shot – Pat Benatar
- Story of My Life – Social Distortion
- Rock and Roll All Nite – Kiss (Encore)
Tier 4: European Invasion
This is where the game really starts to bite back. "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath is a classic, but "Anarchy in the U.K." (specifically re-recorded by the Sex Pistols for this game) had a raw energy that was hard to time. And let’s talk about "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam. That solo? Absolutely brutal for a mid-game track.
The Bonus Tracks: Where the Real Shredding Lived
While the main career had the radio hits, the bonus section in the "Store" was where the developers hid the technical nightmares. You had to earn "cash" by playing shows to buy these. It was home to "F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X." by The Fall of Troy—a song so fast it felt like the fretboard was melting.
There was also "Impulse" by An Endless Sporadic. This instrumental prog-rock masterpiece became a cult favorite specifically because of how satisfying it was to play. It didn't have the name recognition of a Metallica or a Rolling Stones, but it fit the "Legends of Rock" vibe perfectly. Honestly, the guitar hero 3 list of songs was amazing specifically because it balanced legendary anthems with these obscure, high-skill floor tracks.
Notable Bonus Songs
- My Curse – Killswitch Engage
- Prayer of the Refugee – Rise Against
- Take This Life – In Flames
- The Way It Ends – Prototype
The DragonForce Phenomenon and "Through the Fire and Flames"
We have to talk about it.
The crown jewel. The reason a generation of kids knows what "power metal" is. "Through the Fire and Flames" by DragonForce wasn't even part of the standard career. It was a reward for beating the game. As the credits rolled, this nine-minute odyssey of twin-guitar harmonies and blast beats would start, and most players would fail within the first ten seconds.
🔗 Read more: Hogwarts Legacy PS5: Why the Magic Still Holds Up in 2026
The intro alone required a technique called "tapping," where you used your right hand on the frets because the notes were moving too fast to strum. It became a viral sensation. Before TikTok or Instagram Reels, there were YouTube videos of kids hitting 100% on this song, their hands moving like spiders on caffeine. It changed the band's career forever. Herman Li, the lead guitarist, has mentioned in interviews that their album sales spiked purely because they were the "final boss" of a video game.
The Boss Battles: A Controversial Addition
Not everyone loved the boss battles.
Adding "battle power-ups" like broken strings or whammy bar malfunctions felt a bit "Mario Kart" for some purists. But you can't deny the impact of seeing Tom Morello and Slash rendered as digital avatars. The original compositions they wrote for their respective battles were actually quite good. Tom Morello's battle focused on his signature "whammy pedal" and "killswitch" noises, while Slash’s was a pure blues-rock shred fest.
Then there was Lou. The Devil.
The final battle against Lou used a metalized version of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." It is arguably the hardest "mandatory" part of the game. If you played on Expert, the note density during the solos was essentially a wall of pixels. Beating Lou felt like a genuine life achievement. It was the moment you earned the right to say you'd mastered the game.
💡 You might also like: Little Big Planet Still Feels Like a Fever Dream 18 Years Later
Why This Tracklist Still Wins
Why do we still care about the guitar hero 3 list of songs in 2026?
Because it had variety. You could go from the psychedelic vibes of "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream to the sludge-metal weight of "Black Sunshine" by White Zombie. It didn't just stick to one era. It bridged the gap between 70s stadium rock and 2000s metalcore.
It also featured "One" by Metallica.
The way that song builds from a somber ballad into a machine-gun rhythm section is legendary. Playing the "Fast Solo A" section on a plastic guitar is one of those gaming memories that stays with you. It was the first time many of us truly felt the "rhythm" in rhythm gaming.
Actionable Steps for Today's Players
If you're feeling nostalgic and want to revisit this iconic list, you've got a few options:
- Clone Hero: This is the modern standard. You can download the entire GH3 setlist (often called a "chart pack") and play it on your PC with almost any controller.
- The Original Hardware: If you still have a Wii, PS3, or Xbox 360, hunting down a physical copy is worth it for the career mode experience. Just be prepared to pay a premium for working guitars on the second-hand market.
- Practice Mode is Your Friend: If you’re trying to finally conquer "Cliffs of Dover" or "Raining Blood," use the practice tool to slow the speed down to 60%. Build the muscle memory before you try it at full speed.
The guitar hero 3 list of songs remains the gold standard for a reason. It wasn't just a collection of hits; it was a gauntlet that turned casual listeners into rock nerds. Whether you're a "Slow Ride" beginner or a "TTFAF" veteran, that tracklist is a piece of gaming history that won't be forgotten anytime soon.