Guardians of the Galaxy’s Soundtrack is an ’80s Meme Dream

Square Enix and Eidos-Montréal have revealed the “almost complete” soundtrack for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and fans of classic ’80s tunes will love it. The list includes everything from meme songs like Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up to hair-metal classics like Kickstart My Heart by Mötley Crüe.

The list includes 28 licensed songs from the 1980s and two original songs performed by the in-universe Star-Lord Band, the latter of which received two animated music videos.

Here’s the complete song list:

• Never Gonna Give You Up — Rick Astley
• Kickstart My Heart — Mötley Crüe
• Turn Me Loose — Loverboy
• Holding Out for a Hero — Bonnie Tyler
• Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go — Wham!
• (Don’t Fear) The Reaper — Blue Oyster Cult
• Turn up the Radio — Autograph
• Don’t Worry Be Happy — Bobby McFerrin
• White Wedding — Billy Idol
• Hit Me With Your Best Shot — Pat Benatar
• Everybody Have Fun Tonight — Wang Chung
• Rock Rock (Till You Drop) — Def Leppard
• Everybody Wants to Rule the World — Tears For Fears
• Hangin’ Tough — New Kids On The Block
• Tainted Love — Soft Cell
• I Ran (So Far Away) — A Flock Of Seagulls
• Every 1’s a Winner — Hot Chocolate
• I’ll Tumble 4 Ya — Culture Club
• We’re Not Gonna Take It — Twisted Sister
• I love It Loud — KISS
• Take on Me — A-ha
• Love Song — Simple Minds
• Call Me — Blondie
• Since You Been Gone — Rainbow
• Relax — Frankie Goes To Hollywood
• The Warrior — Scandal, Patty Smyth
• We Built This City — Starship
• The Final Countdown — Europe
• Zero to Hero — Star-Lord Band
• Space Riders with No Names — Star-Lord Band

The original Guardians of the Galaxy movie was lauded for its great licensed soundtrack, and it looks as though the game will be no different. Alongside the aforementioned meme songs and hair-metal classics, the list includes alternative hits like Relax and Everybody Wants to Rule the World, which have very different vibes but exude the same sense of nostalgia.

There’s also a good bit of classic rock in there with White Wedding, Call Me, and (Don’t Fear) The Reaper. A couple of the songs are still notable today: Take on Me was considered the biggest one-hit wonder ever for a few decades, and We Built This City was once voted the worst song of all time.

While these songs are fun to listen to, they’re not necessarily stream-safe. For streamers and content creators who want to use the game in their videos, Guardians of the Galaxy will feature a “stream-safe” mode that replaces the licensed soundtrack with alternative music. It’s a good idea, but it’s also a shame that fans who want to watch the game on Twitch or other streaming services won’t be able to experience a big part of what the franchise is known for.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy launches on October 26 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch via the Cloud.

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