Led Zeppelin Uncomfortable With Licensing Songs To Rock Band, Guitar Hero

There's little doubt that the artist line-up for Rock Band 2 is shaping up nicely. Guitar Hero is getting some nice exclusives as well. With Journey, Boston, Metallica, The Who and other top tier acts lending their tunes to the dominant rhythm games, there aren't many superstars left to cross off the list.

One of the artists that continues to elude both Activision and Harmonix is Led Zeppelin. It's been chalked up to a lengthy licensing process, but a recent write-up from the Wall Street Journal helps shed more light on the British band's absence.

So, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith dropped this weekend in North America. What does that have to do with me getting completely smashed at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square and totally hitting on Steve Tyler?

Hit the jump for the full adventure.

The list of songs in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith has been trickling out for about a month. Now VideoGamesBlogger has just posted a list of all 41 tracks. It looks like a typical four-hour rotation for WKRR-FM "Rock 92" of Asheboro, N.C. back in my sophomore year of high school. The non-Aerosmith tracks are bands the gang either toured with or are big fans of.

Not a huge fan of Aerosmith, but I don't hate them, so, there's no real do-want moment here for me — except then I see "She Sells Sanctuary," which has been an air-guitargasm going back to the days of velcro sneakers. But I've already got carpal tunnel coming on like a heart attack, and I'd probably spaz before getting to The Cult's classic.

The game releases June 29 in the US, July 27 in the UK and August 6 in Australia. Full list after the jump:

The bad news? Activision is making Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Wait, that's not the bad news. The actual bad news was that all those Guitar Hero III tracks you downloaded from either Xbox Live or the PlayStation Store won't work on your copy of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.

Here's a dash of good. Guitar Hero World Tour will support your existing GH III downloads, which begs the question "Why would you buy Guitar Hero: Aerosmith?"

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you living, speeding proof that Activision is officially marketing the living hell out of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Presenting the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Target Chip Ganassi Racing number 40 Dodge, appearing June 29th at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway to commemorate the launch of the game. This beast will be piloted by Ganassi's Dario Franchitti, who is just pleased as punch.

“I love video games and actually have versions of Guitar Hero that I play on my bus and at home. To have Target, Activision and Aerosmith on my car for the New Hampshire race is pretty cool,” said Franchitti. “Who doesn’t love Aerosmith’s music? It’s perfect for getting ready for the side-by-side, non-stop action of NASCAR racing.”

In addition to the co-branded race car, Target stores will also be selling a special Wii bundle for GH: Aerosmith that includes 2 wireless controllers and a tour book for $149.99. You might as well just buy the damn game before Activision starts marketing on you. Believe me, it's extremely difficult to breathe in a full vinyl wraparound.

GH Aerosmith's Saving Grace: Run DMC

While I was busy checking out Guitar Hero: On Tour on the DS last week, on the other side of the hall I could hear everyone rocking out to the strains of Aerosmith. Being somewhat of a classic rock fan myself, I headed over to see what the hub bub was all about. Clearly it would be folly to try and explain the ins and outs of the workings of Guitar Hero at this point. If you haven't played it or at least watched it being played live or via videos, you must be living under a rock. Instead I will endeavor to cover all the new features that this particular iteration includes.

As the title implies, Aerosmith band members have been added to the roster of playable characters. Joe Perry, Brad Whitford and Tom Hamilton are all available for your use with singer Steve Perry and drummer Joey Kramer appearing when needed for full Aerosmith action. As an added bonus, Aerosmith coverer DMC will also be around to join in the hijinks as a playable character.

A slew of Aerosmith hits are available on the 41 song set list (a partial list resides after the jump) which is comprised of about 60% of original Aerosmith material. The remaining 40% are songs by "opening acts" and include hits such as Mott the Hoople's All the Young Dudes (cover) and The Cult's She Sells Sanctuary just to name a few. new venues are also a feature and include not only the site of Areosmith's first concert, Nipmuc High School but many others including: Max's Kansas City, The Orpheum Theater, the Superbowl Half Time Show and Moscow.

Slurpee Rocks Out With Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Oozes Muppet Ugly

Aerosmith Exclusive to Guitar Hero

Newsweek this morning is reporting that Aerosmith and their music will be a Guitar Hero exclusive for an "unspecified period of time." Activision CEO Bobby Kotick first hinted that the band would be "proprietary to our format" at last month's Morgan Stanley Technology Conference.

"It's an exclusive deal for this game," Aerosmith publicist Marcee Rondon told Harris. We confirmed this with Tim Riley, Activision's vice president of music affairs, who told us through Activision PR that "I can say that we do have the band exclusively, and their catalogue should be exclusive to us beyond the one or two tracks they had licensed out to Rock Band before we made our deal." (According to MTV's Rhythm Game Track Finder, it's one song: "Train Kept a Rollin'.")

Hit the link for N'gai's take on the info he uncovered and why it was both inevitable and, likely, will not be the last time this happens in the increasingly broad genre of rhythm games.

The Guitar Heroes at Red Octane Lock Up Aerosmith With An Exclusive Arrangement, Leaving Harmonix and Rock Band to Dream On [Newsweek]

Guitar Hero Aerosmith To Be Thankfully Not Just Aerosmith

Oh, we knew from the get-go that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith wouldn't just feature the middling, aging bad boys from Boston, saving us from gagging on a disc full of the band's signature schlock. The original press release even says that "celebrated artists that the band has either performed with or has been inspired by in some way" will appear. Who? Well, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has been pretty mouthy about that lately, with the latest issue of Game Informer revealing that Cheap Trick, Mott the Hoople, Joan Jett and The Kinks will have their own tunes on the next Guitar Hero release.

We've also heard that the guitarist dropped additional names earlier this month, spilling that tracks from Lenny Kravitz, The White Stripes and Deep Purple would appear in the game. If you want to read the Q&A with Perry and bassist Tom Hamilton at Game Informer, you'll have to be a subscriber. Just kidding, obviously! No one cares what a band's bassist has to say.

Guitar Hero Aerosmith - Joe Perry [Game Informer]

Guitar Hero: The Beatles May Be Coming, If Activision Wants It

Now that Activision has confirmed Aerosmith is getting its own Guitar Hero release, with a rumored Van Halen version in the works, where to next? Perhaps the Beatles? If the music publishing company that has the rights to the Fab Four's catalog has their way, it just might happen.

According to a report from the LA Times, Sony/ATV chairman and CEO Marty Bandier says that Guitar Hero: The Beatles is "something we have talked about and something I'd like to pursue." Whether that "we" was "me and Activision" or "me and my closest yes-men" wasn't specified, but I would think that, given the right arrangement, Bobby Kotick would agree to such a deal. Maybe we'll get a sitar controller after all.

Beatles tunes might make it to Guitar Hero [LA Times]

Is Guitar Hero: Van Halen Next For Activision?

"Any band that can go from 'Don't Want to Miss A Thing' (Aerosmith's #1 smash hit) to the ass-kicking 'Sweet Emotion' to the cheekiness of 'Love in an Elevator,' to the classic ballad 'Dream On' shows why Activision chose us to headline this game based on the diversity of the Aerosmith catalog. Not only is songwriting a bitch, but then it goes and has puppies."