User blog:Abeardedgoat/Radio stations in GTA V.

Right, this is my first blog so bear with me.

I know a lot of you are speculating about vehicles, story and the map but not once have I seen anyone mention the radio, the music.

It is a well documented fact that music has the ability to cause vivid flashbacks, improve our ability to retain information and drastically affect our mood. It, is for these reasons I think it is such an integral part of so many games.

For me I was dissapointed with the radio in GTA 4. I felt like I didn't have much choice, as a rocker, the only option I had was LRR or a talk shows. The talk shows are good for a while but soon you have listened to the entire cycle and music is the only option left.

I feel that Rockstar could've done better. For me by far the best radio in a GTA game was San Andreas, and so I'll do my comparison with that.

First, minor quarrel but still something witch detracts from the experience; The host. For me, 'The nightmare' smith was by far a better host than whoever the one on LRR is. 'Smith' felt like he had a story and a personality, and managed it without interrupting the flow of the radio. Sage did too, and I though the emnity between the two stations was a nice touch which added to the experience. But, LRRs' host felt empty more like an automaton to fill the time than a living character. Also the voice actors, Axl rose is instantly recognisable and even those with little rock knowledge know of him. Compare that to Iggy pop and the gap is obvious. I never have to tell my friends who A. Rose is, but Iggy pop?

Me -' Him?, yeah he was in the stooges'. Friend - 'who? never heard of him' Me - 'the guy from the car insurance adverts... you know? with the puppet?'.

Secondly, the choice of radio stations. Apart from aforementioned talk shows, the music was limited for me in GTA 4 only LRR. But, san andreas, however, had both Radio X and the Dust for choice of music. A song comes on one you don't like? Switch to the other. Credit where it's due, though GTA 4 had the hardcore radio station, but for me it isn't good. LCHardcore presents itself as metal but it is screamo really, and not to the taste of someone like me, to whom metal is the likes of Iron maiden, metallica and megadeth.

Finally the songs. While this point is personal preference, I'm sure many will agree with me when I say that the songs on san andreas were more timeless. I mean, G'n' R - welcome to the jungle, skynyrds' Freebird, Hellraiser, The Who and their timeless eminence front. For me, the only true classic from 4 was Heaven and hell, while jailbreak and Mama are good songs they aren't quite timeless.

I really do hope that GTA V revamps the brilliance of SAs' radio. Maybe bring back the DST and radio X. Maybe have new hosts. While, having a massive rockstar voicing the host was nice I would much rather have a living breathing charachter instead of someone to fill the gaps. If all else fails; how about just a bit more variety?

I would appreciate your opinions on this, if you agree, if you disagree. Maybe if you could comment and say about what you feel for the other radio stations, those of you whose musical preferences differ from mine. And any other ideas, wishes or improvements/corrections about what I've said.