Photo: Artwork
For many of us, Tony Hawk was the male role model we didn't know we needed but was always there for us - sorry Dad. He taught us how you didn't need drugs to be cool, how to bust a gnarly Switch 360 Flip without landing sketch and, most importantly, about rad music.
The Tony Hawk Pro Skater games reigned king as the must-have skate simulator between 1999 and 2002. There were a number of spin-off games like THUG or American Wasteland which, by all accounts, were still great fun but were never catalogued as much of a centrepiece for youth culture as the Pro Skater series.
The overwhelming nostalgia surrounding these masterpieces comes more from the soundtrack than it does from the feeling of euphoria that comes after collecting the final 'E' of SKATE and Japan Air-ing through a glass window in celebration - how we miss those halcyon days.
The Hawk-curated soundtracks are a window into a by-gone time, where rap-rock was acceptable and people thought Sublime were just the illest. Since Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 is due out Friday (2 October), let's Kickflip the script, focus less on the Impossible and Method-ically rank the best tracks ever to grace a Tony Hawk game.
12) Xzibit - Paparazzi (THPS3)
"That's why Xzibit only roll with the chosen few", for three minutes on a 50 minute cycle, we were that chosen few. Tony Hawk not only enabled us to adopt the mannerisms of legitimate skateboarders by teaching us the terminology and how to 'waste' someone, but acted as passage into the world of Hip-Hop, a world the nine year old me was not ready for.
11) Alien Ant Farm - 'Wish' (THPS3)
Riding the ANThology wave, Alien Ant Farm seeped into the world's consciousness by squeezing into, arguably, the most consistently brilliant THPS soundtrack. 'Wish' had one of the more furious tempos on the tracklisting which made for perfect motivation for when you needed to reach that four stair before your combo ran out.
10) Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - 'If You Must' (THPS2)
When THPS2 dropped, the world that were out of the loop, were only aware of Del Tha Guy On Those Gorillaz Tracks. 'If You Must' captured the humorous spirit of the series. At the time, the track just seems to be about good hygiene and brushing your teeth but is in fact a thinly veiled diss track to all the 'funky, smelly people' - you know who you are.
9) Dead Kennedys - 'Police Truck' (THPS)
As Youtube commenter oM Vader put it: "I just pretend I'm Rodney Mullen when I hear this". That's exactly the kind of power these songs harness, the ability to transfer your consciousness into the unsuspecting body of a now-49 year old man. Despite the track's politically charged nature (which is more relevant now than ever) it's almost disconcerting that it's primary association is with a late 90s skate simulator rather than police brutality...
8) Motorhead - 'Ace of Spades' (THPS3)
Well, obviously.
7) Bad Religion - 'You' (THPS2)
Bad Religion are the band that epitomised California punk-rock and what's more California punk than getting stoned and playing Tony Hawk? While very few of us actually lived that glamourous lifestyle, that's the attitude Bad Religion instilled in us. Just kicking back with some pals and Christ Air-ing out of reality for a few hours.
6) AC/DC - 'TNT' (THPS4)
As a part of the least popular of the Pro Skater series AC/DC's 'TNT' stands out as one of the more defining moments in that game. The graphics had been sharpened and the songs didn't sound so much like they were being filtered through a bin-bag but despite this gain in fidelity and loss of character, THSP4 was still dynamite.
5) N.W.A - 'Express Yourself' (THPS4)
In further defence for THPS4, the soundtrack featured one of the most resonating tracks of the game's legacy, 'Express Yourself'. Not only is it the only N.W.A song without swears, it's reflective of the personal impact the games had on our mouldable minds. We played these games around the same time we discovered complex feelings, music, girls, boys, hair in peculiar places and the importance of self-expression.
4) Anthrax & Public Enemy - 'Bring The Noise' (THPS2)
Alright, so out of the realms of the tutorial skatepark, the original Public Enemy banger is far superior in every way. But this is THPS, squealing guitars and obnoxious reworks are as big a part of the franchise as not wearing helmets in-game and being scorned by your mum for living too far on the edge in real-life.
3) Rage Against The Machine - 'Guerilla Radio' (THPS2)
SKATE OR DIE, MAN. Admittedly, the latter is fully independent of the first but the urgency and bombastic groove of 'Guerilla Radio' really made it feel like we had to choose one. A soundtrack for misdemeanours and, while Tony himself is a stand up guy, a choice of music that connotes the taste of a man who has illegally No Complied more than once in his career.
2) The Ramones - 'Blitzkrieg Bop' (THPS3)
Far from the best Ramones song, but at this point the track is iconic for it's mass overuse in everything from movies to television and THSP3. Punk anthems are either made or broken in the Tony Hawk sphere, 'Blitzkrieg Bop' was a taste of familiarity in a soundtrack dominated by future discoveries and favourites.
1) Goldfinger - Superman (THPS)
What else was it going to be? It's even hard to listen to now, as a grown adult, without the itch to throw on some cargo shorts and dig the deck out of the garage. There's no track that has the ability to instantly surface the bubbling excitement experienced when trouncing your mate at Horse or breaking a combo into the 100,000s. It generates the feeling of being untethered from the distinction between reality and fantasy, the track is emblematic of a youth that may be playfully labelled 'wasted' but formed the people we are today. People who are just trying to be as cool as Tony Hawk.
