With GTA 5 nearly upon us, we’re feeling a bit nostalgic. Rockstar Games has gone where no game franchise has gone before in terms of their depth of immersion into the world of licensed soundtracks for gaming. The Grand Theft Auto series’ in-game radio stations are always a world of exciting exploration, and an obvious way for the music team at Rockstar to have a little fun flexing their own tastes. They’ve even released the soundtracks as CD releases, with a 7-CD box set available for fans who just can’t get enough GTA in their lives.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of fantastic songs in the history of Grand Theft Auto, hosted by a spectrum of DJs voiced by everyone from Axl Rose to SNL’s Fred Armisen. From the retro 80s theme of Vice City’s soundtrack to the much wider variety of San Andreas (which featured 11 radio stations, each with its own unique flavor) and beyond, there’s an unending array of goodness to occupy your ears as you’re creating utter mayhem across the game’s landscape.
In anticipation of the upcoming release of GTA 5 and its accompanying soundtrack, we’ve dug through the archives of GTA soundtrack songs, and compiled a Spotify playlist of the Top 20 GTA Soundtrack Songs in the franchise’s history! We did our best to span the various games and genres, with an ear for the most kickass jams in the mix. Beneath the playlist you’ll find the list of songs with the corresponding game they belong to, for your nitpicking pleasure…
Game Credits List:
The Black Keys – Strange Times (GTA IV)
Need You Tonight – (Vice City)
The Gap Band – You Dropped a Bomb on Me (GTA: San Andreas)
Michael Jackson – Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Vice City)
Children’s Story – Slick Rick (GTA: San Andreas)
Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock – It Takes Two (GTA: San Andreas)
Rick James – Ghetto Life (Vice City)
Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance (GTA IV)
Tito Puente – Oye Como Va (GTA: Vice City Stories)
Alice In Chains – Them Bones (GTA: San Andreas)
Hall & Oates – Out of Touch (Vice City)
NWA – Express Yourself (GTA: San Andreas)
Cypress Hill – How I Could Just Kill a Man (GTA: San Andreas)
Kanye – Flashing Lights (GTA IV)
Nu Shooz – I Can’t Wait (GTA IV)
Afrika Bambaataa – Renegades of Funk (GTA: Vice City Stories)
Phil Collins – Easy Lover (GTA: Vice City Stories)
Helmet – Unsung (GTA: San Andreas)
Toto – Africa (Vice City)
The Cure – A Forest (GTA: Vice City Stories)
Ted Nugent – Stranglehold (GTA: Vice City Stories)
