Primus Gives Master Track to Guitar Hero 2

Yesterday at E3, while I waited in the RedOctane booth to to get my rock on in Guitar Hero 2, I talked with some of the developers, and found out some rather exciting information that I haven't seen printed anywhere else: there will be at least one master track included when the game ships in November.

Due to licensing and technical issues, when you rock out in Guitar Hero, you play along with a cover version of the song, rather than playing to the master track as recorded by the original artist. (In fact, you know you've been playing too much Guitar Hero when you hear Godzilla or Fat Lip on the radio, and something about the vocal just doesn't sound quite right to you.)

One of the most requested features in Guitar Hero 2 is for some actual master tracks to play along with, but the same licensing and technical issues that RedOctane faced in Guitar Hero have made this a difficult request to fulfill.

Well, it turns out that Les Claypool, bass player and lead singer for Primus, is a huge Guitar Hero fan. When he found out they were doing Guitar Hero 2, he gave the team permission to include Primus' first single John the Fisherman in the game. He also gave them the master tracks as recorded for their album Fizzle Fry, so when you play John the Fisherman in Guitar Hero 2, you'll be playing along with Les, Larry "Ler" Lamond, and Tim "Herb" Alexander, just like you were with them in the studio in 1989.

I asked if the rumors about a Gibson Flying V controller shipping later this year were true, but I couldn't get anyone from RedOctane to officially confirm or deny it. However, I got the impression that it's just a rumor, and very unlikely to happen any time soon. I also got the impression that the guys from RedOctane are just as excited about this game as we are.

Guitar Hero 2 features 55 songs, and will be released in November for PS2.