TIME OUT HOSTS 'GUITAR HERO' BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Wednesday 12 April 2006/... With Guitar Hero now in UK stores, PlayStation 2^® gamers the country over are rocking and thrashing their way through the game's 30 fully licensed classic rock songs in a quest to prove their virtual guitar mettle.

But what do professional musicians make of the game, and who is the best real-life rock and roll Guitar Hero guitarist? That's a question posed by Time Out this week, in an exclusive Guitar Hero championship which features16 musicians from Razorlight, Circulus, recent Number One hitmakers Nizopoli, The Black Heart PROCESSION, Weapons of Mass Belief, Enjoy Destroy, Barefoot, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Rooster, along with hotly-tipped singer-songwriter Sandi Thom.

The artists were all challenged to play Take Me Out, strumming along on the game's replica Gibson SG controller and playing the fret buttons in time with the music. After one practice track, it was straight into the competition - the winner being the Guitar Hero with the most points at the end of the day.

No prizes: just kudos, and the respect of the music industry.

So who rocked and rolled the hardest? Who played the funkiest Gibson? And did the drummer embarrass himself?

You'll need to read the full feature, which is available in this week's issue of the UK's premier listings magazine.

"It was an amazing day," says Chris Salmon, music editor, Time Out. "What started off as a bit of a laugh soon became a hotly-contested battle. You wouldn't believe how seriously they all took it."

Kelly Sumner, CEO, RedOctane adds: "People wonder how much of an advantage real musicians have when playing Guitar Hero and Time Out has answered this conclusively. Maybe the next stage is to pit gamers versus real guitarists in the future - let's see how Guitar Hero players compare to their real guitar heroes."

Singer/songwriter Sandi Thom concluded the day declaring: "That was so much fun... it's a brilliant game."

The full results of the inaugural Time Out Guitar Hero Championships can be found in this week's issue, which is on-sale now.

Guitar Hero is available for PlayStation 2 now, priced £49.99 - which includes a replica Gibson SG controller.

Guitar Hero licensed tracklisting:

Ace of Spades

Bark at the Moon

Cochise

Cowboys From Hell

Crossroads

Fat Lip

Frankenstein

Godzilla

Heart Full of Black

Hey You

Higher Ground

I Love Rock and Roll

I Wanna Be Sedated

Infected

Iron Man

Killer Queen

More Than A Feeling

No One Knows

Sharp Dressed Man

Smoke on the Water

Spanish Castle Magic

Stellar

Symphony of Destruction

Take It Off

Take Me Out

Texas Flood

Thunderkiss 65

Unsung

You Got Another Thing Comin

Ziggy Stardust