I love the THPS video game franchise. Who doesn’t right? One of the things we can probably all agree on is the soundtracks have always been an important part of the gameplay, mixing the best of underground hip hop and punk throughout the years while shining light on up & coming artists, as well as throwing in the legendary acts – kind of like we do here at New Noise Magazine.
So while we anticipate seeing the track listing for the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 soundtrack, here’s a list we think would make the game great sonically.
The Real McKenzies – “Who’d A Thought”
Fast-paced punk rock from beginning to end. I can definitely hear this song playing on a smaller / cramped level, where your reaction time will have your fingers mashing buttons at the same tempo of the track.
Kendrick Lamar – “i”
They would have to make an edit to the track length for this one to fit the usual THPS song run time of approximately 3 minutes, which won’t be too difficult as they can cut out the intro to make it work. The vibe of this song commands big tricks that linger – smith grinds up or down spirals stair cases, big Indy grabs over the Los Angeles River – and if there’s a slow motion option, throwing that bad boy on while this song plays would be perfect.
Great song for building courses / levels as well.
The Story So Far – “Heavy Gloom”
For those skate sessions where you’re tryna clear your head and blow off some steam. I’d probably tackle a lot of the harder obstacles in the game to this track, due to the angry focus. The drum hits and hard guitar strumming in this track would accompany those big impactss – 360 flips down huge sets of stairs, huge drops to grinding rails.
Run The Jewels feat. Zack de la Rocha – “Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)”
This song would be paying homage to Rage Against The Machine’s appearance on the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 soundtrack (“Guerrilla Radio”). Plus the authoritarian subject matter of this track goes well with the history of skateboarding – we all know the relationship of police officers and skaters. Grind a cop car to this one.
Strung Out – “The Animal and the Machine”
Another fast, punk rock track. You can never go wrong with, or have to many of, these songs.
deM atlaS – “All We Got”
This track is perfect for those huge levels where you can take some time to contemplate life. I can see setting up some long lines to this one – lots of connecting tricks with manual to score some huge multipliers.
Pears – “Victim To Be”
Another fast punk track with some crazy transitions, which of course call for your own complimenting transitions – going from street to vert and vice versa.
Millencolin – “Perfection Is Boring”
This song has that mid-tempo that can break up the fast pace of a lot of the punk rock tracks, plus the band are THPS alumni (“No Cigar” appearing on THPS2).
The Sidekicks – “Summer Brings You Closer to Satan”
If there’s any song that will stand out more so than all the others on this soundtrack it’d be this track. The Sidekicks capture that indie vibe that the SoCal riders of yore would be jamming. It’s bouncy and puts you in cruise mode – great for perfect runs in THPS.
Rancid – “Raise Your Fist”
Come on, it’s Rancid; they have to be on the THPS soundtrack. If you’ve never skated to Rancid then I’m not sure you can say you’ve fully experienced skateboarding. I also think Tim Armstrong should make an appearance in the game at some point (subtitles included… or not).
Mondo Drag – “The Dawn”
For the bearded ’70s homies. Definitely a slower track to bring the mood down and make it serious; perfect for turn on the perfect balance cheat and circling a fountain while transitioning from one grind to another.
Iron Reagan – “Miserable Failure”
This song is complete chaos and it’s beautiful. If this track isn’t in the game, someone at Activision needs to get the boot… seriously. They also released a great music video for the song (see below).
Lagwagon – “The Cog in the Machine”
Another THPS alumn. This track has some serious riffage and totally capable of getting you in the zone when it comes to pulling off high scores and damn near impossible objectives.
Doomtree – “String Theory”
This is the song that gets you from point A to point B, head down in your own zone. You ride your board like the beat – fluid and transitions through different skill sets.
The Smith Street Band – “Surrender”
This song scream ALL VERT. Just stick to the half pipe and try to break into the stratosphere, and again, a slow down time option would be great for this track.
Red Pill – “Rap Game Cranky”
This track gets grimey and is perfect for online gameplay. I’m sure they’ll steer clear of the drug & alcohol references and pass on songs like this, but other aspects of the song embody the attitude of gamers.
PUP – “Reservoir”
You have to hurt yourself to this – for those tricks that seem impossible to land (even by THPS standards). *Physical abuse required.
Fashawn – “Out The Trunk”
This one is for our very own Lisa Root (publisher/editor). She loves Busta Rhymes and I love Fashawn, so here’s to hoping she sits down and plays the game with me when I get my copy – not likely though. I could see just leaving this on the menu screen for the entirety of the song if this song comes up. Great song to bob your head to while designing your character, tweaking stats, building levels, etc.
Beach Slang – “All Fuzzed Out”
This song reminds of The Breakfast Club, and I’m pretty sure it’d be on the soundtrack of the movie if they decided to do a remake. And that has nothing to do with anything really.
Just put it on the soundtrack, okay? Even if it’s during the credits with the skater doing a fist pump in the air. Freeze frame.
Cayetana – “Hot Dad Calendar”
This track is sort of like The Story So Far track listed above, but a little less angry and more internal than external. Perfect for free skate where you can tell yourself, “It’s cool. I’ll get better.”
Damu The Fudgemunk – “Tea Thyme”
Some good ole head bobbin’ instrumental music. Great for free skate and clearing your head in general.
Purchase Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 here!
