B-sides, essentially any songs cut from an album, are a musical conundrum. What do you do with a song that just doesn't quite fit into an album, didn't find realization or just plain sucks? Well, if the band is always out to make a buck, they can be pawned off to compilations like movie soundtracks, which use them to sell records to unsuspecting buyers thinking that their favorite band are actually providing something new and up-to-snuff. Most bands will attach them to singles or just leave them on the cutting room floor. In a few extremely rare cases, such as this reviewer's favorite band, the Alkaline Trio, a band's B-sides are not only on par with their LP catalog, but they often surpass them. But this really is the rarest of cases.

So what does this have to do with Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s? Well, despite the full game price tag, suggesting to the consumer a sequel experience, Encore is nothing more than B-sides parading as a new LP, downloadable content at the full game price. 80s-themed costumes, venues and loading screens have been slapped onto Guitar Hero II, meaning that the same unlockables (minus songs), gameplay, modes, characters (there are no new ones but there are some missing) and so on are all intact, giving the feeling that this is just a costume that GHII is wearing to a party. The sheer amount of rehash would be at least forgivable if the thirty new songs met the series' standard for quality, but merely adequate covers, half-hearted song selection and a general lack of difficulty will leave even the most hardcore fan returning for only a handful of tracks, if that.

Having to come down on Guitar Hero like this feels terrible. I feel as if I'm writing a letter to one of my best friends to tell them we've got problems that have to be addressed if this friendship is to continue. I don't want to sound like a jerk, I don't even really want to bring it up, but we all know if you don't take a hard love approach after such a slap in the face, this could become a reoccurring trend instead of a one-time event. And that is something - for both our sakes - that I simply refuse to let happen. So, I must write this letter….

Dear Guitar Hero,

This has to be said. Please know that I love you and I'm not attempting to be malicious or spiteful; I am only speaking the truth. I value the special relationship we share and I don't want anything to ruin that. That is why I cannot bite my tongue in the face of such selfish actions.

First off - I never expected this from you. Sure, other games I've enjoyed in the past have burned me in this very same way, permanently damaging our relationships… but the bonds I had with them were nothing like what we have. We understand each other as if all the planets align when we are together. We both only want to chucka-chucka power chords all day, dine on the tastiest of licks all night and unleash blistering solos that burn like dragon's breath on the necks of all those who attempt to sleep the rock away.

Our first exploits are still nothing short of legendary. We took the crowd to places they only could have dreamed (or hallucinated) about. When we picked our axes up for that second tour of duty…damn! You remember how everyone was like, "that is the coolest thing I have ever seen!" because we rocked the hair right off their scalps? They didn't even care that we hit the stage again a few months later with only a few new songs in our set. We were so tight, and our new guitars so badass, that none of that mattered; they just let us to pleat them over and over again with radness.

As we began to prepare for the "Third Time's the F'n Charm" tour in the fall, I knew we had so much left to achieve, so much fun left to have, so many people left to slap senseless with the velvet glove of rock - I'll admit, I was a little overwhelmed with excitement. I was having trouble sleeping with my arms at my side, as I kept waking up mid-dream as my fingers refused to sleep, meedely-meedelied on their own.

So when you asked me to join you for some warm-up gigs, covering classics from the 80s, I replied with an emphatic "yes" before you could even finish filling me in on the details. When I asked you for a little more in-depth info on this jaunt, you said you had everything covered and that it would simply "rock the 80s." I had nothing short of 110% faith in you - though you hadn't really come through with your promise of supplemental material for our last tour - a handful of 'tour versions' of hits from our rookie outing wasn't quite what I was expecting when you said you were planning to make us the king of Marketplace content. Regardless, I chalked that up not to mistruth but to underestimating how far your focus would be pulled forward by the upcoming projects; disappointed but not disillusioned.

Finally, the day had come! You came over with your completed set list and we sat down to jam through them all as you laid down the finalized details. You started by breaking the news that you could only come up with thirty tracks - not the best way to start, but I figured quantity doesn't affect quality, so I let it quickly pass over me. As we went through track after track of recognizable tracks, The Go-Gos to The Police, Twisted Sister to Dio, I was shocked and surprised. Not at you, yet again, utilizing careful song selection, capitalizing at what we do best, but at the exact opposite. If it isn't a song from a band that definitely has not, does not and never will rock (Asia, Flock of Seagulls), it's a song from a band that was barely able to rock two decades ago, let alone now (Accept, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Poison). Even when you do get the band right (Dio, Iron Maiden, Anthrax), your song selection is as engaging as attempting to mosh at a Cyndi Lauper concert. I love Holy Diver, but there's nothing you can say that makes it a better song to play than Rainbow in the Dark.

Where's the kings of arena rock? Where are the dark lords of metal? Where are those damn punk kids? Where are Styx, Journey, Metallica, Guns and Roses, The Clash and The Descendents? Where are the bands that not only truly did rock, but whose actually wrote awesome guitar parts? And what's with the ho-hum covers? Did you crank this stuff out in a couple of takes and call it a day? Sure, not all of your choices and arrangements are bad - The Police's Synchronicity II, the excellent adventure known as Extreme's Play With Me and the Dead Kennedys' Police Truck are three of the best - but to get to every kick ass song, you force me and our fans to swim through a sea of malicious mediocrity.

As upsetting as all that is, I was still with you. I wasn't about to jump ship; I was ready to stick with it, to stick with you. Then you dropped the bomb. We would be hitting the road with the same props as our past two tours (with a few minor alterations to fit the theme where necessary), dressed up in some 80s clothes you picked up at a thrift store and with only a fraction of the original lineup while charging full price for the whole shebang. Half the value, half the integrity, half the focus, half the heart, for all the price? This isn't what I signed up for.

I don't care how much it hurts to say it, but I'm dropping out of this 'bonus' tour. There is no way I can stand up on stage and pretend to have fun playing Shakin', Radar Love and all the other bogus songs you put in front of a sold-out crowd who had no idea just what they were buying into. If you're gonna skimp on the production then you need to share the savings to the fans. There's nothing rock 'n' roll about playing your fans for walking wallets. Stairway denied.

If you need me, I'll be at home, getting ready for our big tour this fall. Maybe some time on the road, knee deep in heinous 80s songs will do you good, perhaps flush some of that ego out of your ears so we can go back to doing what we do best - rocking, kicking ass and then rocking all over again. Though I fear if your summer continues to be full of sold-out dates, it may only make matters worse. I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see how things play out in the next couple months….

Sincerely yours,

Tony Peters.

Reviewed by Tony Peters for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).