List of songs in Guitar Hero Live

Forty-two songs are featured on disc as part of the game's main "GH Live" career mode. Players progress through the career mode by playing one of several continuous sets of three to five songs, with each set presented as part of a concert performance. During a set, the game shows the note highway, the on-screen fretboard which represents the notes the player should play in time to the music, and other gameplay elements. This is shown atop live-action footage taken from the first-person perspective of the lead guitar player of one of several fictional bands, performing on stage and watching the reaction of the crowd and their bandmates. The live-action footage is manipulated by the game to reflect how well the player is performing. Once the player has completed a set, all songs from that set are available in a quickplay mode, allowing the player to perform a single song at a time which they can use to practice the song or attempt to achieve a better score.[1][2]

In selecting the on-disc songs, FreeStyleGames recognized that engaging guitar tracks are not strictly limited to rock music, and included other genres into the mix.[3][4] According to designer Jim Norris, their selection process began with identifying songs that would be expected by players to be on a Guitar Hero title, and then determining which of those songs which they could license. Once they had obtained the license, FreeStyleGames would mark up the song for the note highways and determined how much fun these songs would be to play. Finally, they balanced the song selection in the game to give players a combination of songs they know and those they may not recognize but would be enjoyable.[5]

The table below lists the on-disc songs, including the venue and fictional band that are used in the set where the song is included.[6]

Forgoing the downloadable content model used in previous Guitar Hero games, Guitar Hero Live adds songs to the game via Guitar Hero TV (GHTV), an online game mode offered free of charge in Guitar Hero Live. Instead of playing the immersive first-person view that the main career mode presents, songs on GHTV are played over the music video or footage of the band playing at a concert. Songs on GHTV are normally offered in a curated rotation, similar to a music video channel, allowing the player to drop in and out, but the player can use collected in-game rewards or use microtransactions to play any available song outside of this rotation.[7][8] FreeStyleGames found that this approach, in contrast to the traditional downloadable content model, made it easier to secure licensing rights with artists to use their songs,[9] as well as a throwback to the heyday of music video channels like MTV.[10]

Reviewers considered the on-disc soundtrack for Guitar Hero Live weak. Griffin McElroy of Polygon found it the "biggest disappointment" of the game given the setlist had mostly songs from 2000 or later, forgoing classic rock songs.[15] GameSpot's Scott Buttersworth stated that many of the on-disc selections are pop songs that "just aren't cut out for Guitar Hero gameplay", as they feature the same repeating guitar riff over and over.[16] Ben Griffin of GamesRadar was more favorable of the on-disc set list, finding that the tracks represented "the music landscape as it is rather than as it was".[17] Chris Carter of Destructoid also appreciated the soundtrack, calling it a "good spread" of songs that can appeal to everyone.[18]

The GHTV mode earned mixed opinions, with most reviewers praising the concept. The presentation of the channels was highlighted as hearkening to the heyday of MTV, and praised for providing players with the ability to explore new music. The selection of songs for GHTV was considered very diverse, and some reviewers found the GHTV songlist to be better varied than the on-disc list, providing songs from "six-string classic" bands that work well for games like Guitar Hero.[16][19][20] Criticism was raised on the use of microtransactions and premium shows, disallowing players to play specific tracks at any time without cost.[15][17][16][18]