'Wasted Potential' Radio Stations

[sabitsuki]

Thread to write about radio stations throughout the series you feel have some degree of missed opportunities.

 

GTA IV:

 

LCHC (Vanilla)

As you might know, the hardcore scene in NYC/DC back in the 80s-90s was very influential to genres such as thrash and alternative metal. As such, it's a huge shame that the playlist was so damn short for this one, with only 10 songs in it (8 in the Complete Edition) with song lengths that mostly run between a minute to three, not helped by the fact that a few of the songs kind of sound the same. Would have been nice to hear other bands from the era like Dag Nasty and Gorilla Biscuits in the mix, as well as some post-hardcore stuff from the 90s.

 

Self-Actualization FM

They should have went full-on Warp Records with this station. Lots of nice IDM and classic chillout tracks from the 90s that clashes really badly with early-to-mid-2000s hotel lounge music.

 

The Vibe

Amazing selection of tracks in IV, but I feel it's one of those stations that should have been updated in TBOGT, since it fits the atmosphere of that DLC really well.

 

Vice City FM

Amazing playlist with nice obscure sophisti-pop songs that somehow ended up as a footnote in the box set of expansion packs. They should have saved the tracks in this for an actual game set in Vice City.

 

Radio Broker (EFLC)

Fits TLAD to a T with lots of nice hard-edged post-punk revival and blues rock songs by really underrated groups like Kill Memory Clash, The Yelling and Japanther. The cut soundtrack had lots of amazing songs that could have padded out the length of this station a lot more, which is a shame since the updated playlist had an extremely unique, Grindhouse-esque aesthetic for the time period.

 

LRR (EFLC)

The current playlist is nice, but the deleted soundtrack was full of protopunk and heavy metal gems. It's weird that a lot of iconic tracks by New York Dolls, Motorhead, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden were cut, not to mention alternative legends like Lou Reed and Love & Rockets being among those removed from the station.

 

The Beat (EFLC)

Two words, Statik Selektah. His set was way too short in my opinion, and should have been a lot longer. His mix was my favorite of the four, and it really fit the gritty atmosphere of LC at night.

 

GTA V:

 

VBR

Too short, even with songs added to it. Should have been as big as Radio Mirror Park. I don't know why LRR gets so much focus.

Edited September 15, 2021 by sabitsuki

[sefus]

Los santos rock radio had virtually 0 Rock songs on it, mainly just soft-rock/teetering on pop ballads.

[CynicalMexican]

Vinewood Boulevard FM:

How the f*ck do f*ck do you not focus on an alternative radio station when you have a game in SoCal? No Weezer, Green Day, and so on, and the number of tracks are way too damn low, especially compared to LSRR which was saturated with hits.

 

To answer your question, it's because R* have a massive hard on for the 80s. Idk why. They just do.

 

Soulwax FM:

They should have gone full EDM with this one. EDM was a huge thing during this time so EDM rave tracks would've been great to have rather than this hodgepodge.

 

Non-Stop Pop FM:

I get that pop music is expensive, but the playlist on this radio was bloody all over the place. Some songs from Pitbull, Eminem, Ne-Yo, and so on would've done wonders to keep this more contemporary and fit perfectly with Los Santos.

 

(Extra) Stardust FM:

Given that Stardust's "Music Sounds Better With You" and Modjo's "Lady" just fit so damn well with the game's vibe, I feel a house radio station of hits from 1998-2002 with songs such as Phats & Smalls "Tonite", Ann Lee's "Two Times", and that infamous "I'm Blue Bada Bi" song would have been awesome.

Edited September 15, 2021 by CynicalMexican

[[Ambient]]

Playback FM. No, not because the playlist is too short or something, but because the station was advertised as an "old-school hip-hop" or "classic hip-hop" one, even though it was just East Coast rap from around the same period of time RLS plays West Coast rap from. For actual "classic hip-hop" vibe of the station, as far as early 1990's rap standards go, the station should've been similar to Fresh 105 or Wildstyle (minus the electro and electro-funk stuff). I know Rockstar wanted to reflect the West Coast vs East Coast hip-hop scenes rivarly from around the time GTA SA was set in, but that could've been done on a separate station.

 

The Journey. Definetly it's too short. Could've get some stuff from Brian Eno, Robert Fripp (as a solo artist), Vangelis or whatever. Hell, maybe even more electronic-like songs from krautrock bands.

 

IF99. The station's full name is "International Funk 99". However, it seems like... it's not really international. The songs play on the station come from maybe like 5 countries around the World.

 

Los Santos Rock Radio. As much as I don't expect a classic rock station in a GTA game to play purely hard rock and metal, LSRR is too soft, in my opinion. Sometimes, LSSR feels like a Los Santos 80's Pop Radio, to me.

 

Both Soulwax FM and East Los FM for not getting any update, while other stations did.

[Lord Bizkit]

14 minutes ago, CynicalMexican said:

How the f*ck do f*ck do you not focus on an alternative radio station when you have a game in SoCal? No Weezer, Green Day, and so on, and the number of tracks are way too damn low, especially compared to LSRR which was saturated with hits

Add some Deftones,  Korn and Coal Chamber In There.

[sefus]

27 minutes ago, CynicalMexican said:

Vinewood Boulevard FM:

How the f*ck do f*ck do you not focus on an alternative radio station when you have a game in SoCal? No Weezer, Green Day, and so on, and the number of tracks are way too damn low, especially compared to LSRR which was saturated with hits.

 

Soulwax FM:

They should have gone full EDM with this one. EDM was a huge thing during this time so EDM rave tracks would've been great to have rather than this hodgepodge.

 

Non-Stop Pop FM:

I get that pop music is expensive, but the playlist on this radio was bloody all over the place. Some songs from Pitbull, Eminem, Ne-Yo, and so on would've done wonders to keep this more contemporary and fit perfectly with Los Santos.

 

(Extra) Stardust FM:

Given that Stardust's "Music Sounds Better With You" and Modjo's "Lady" just fit so damn well with the game's vibe, I feel a house radio station of hits from 1998-2002 with songs such as Phats & Smalls "Tonite", Ann Lee's "Two Times", and that infamous "I'm Blue Bada Bi" song would have been awesome.

Vinewood Boulevard FM was such a f*cking horrible station, i can't even name one song of that station that is memorable, it feels like bands that payed off rockstar to have their bands within the game.

[GTA-Biker]

Like others have already said,LSRR has barely any real rock songs,other than Fortunate Son by CCR, Gimme All Your Lovin' by ZZ Top, Dirty White Boy by Foreigner, Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins, Photograph by Def Leppard and maybe a couple others it's mostly pop rock and soft rock from the 70s and 80s.

 

I expected VBR to have proper alternative rock, grunge and punk,something more similar to Radio X from GTA SA.

 

I also expected NSP to have more pop hits from the late 2000s and early 2010s.Maybe they should have even make two separate stations for older 80s, 90s and early 2000s pop and for contemporary late 2000s and early 2010s pop.

[The Tracker]

1 hour ago, sabitsuki said:

Thread to write about radio stations throughout the series you feel have some degree of missed opportunities.

 

GTA IV:

 

LCHC (Vanilla)

As you might know, the hardcore scene in NYC/DC back in the 80s-90s was very influential to genres such as thrash and alternative metal. As such, it's a huge shame that the playlist was so damn short for this one, with only 10 songs in it (8 in the Complete Edition) with song lengths that mostly run between a minute to three, not helped by the fact that a few of the songs kind of sound the same. Would have been nice to hear other bands from the era like Dag Nasty and Gorilla Biscuits in the mix, as well as some post-hardcore stuff from the 90s.

 

Self-Actualization FM

They should have went full-on Warp Records with this station. Lots of nice IDM and classic chillout tracks from the 90s that clashes really badly with early-to-mid-2000s hotel lounge music.

 

The Vibe

Amazing selection of tracks in IV, but I feel it's one of those stations that should have been updated in TBOGT, since it fits the atmosphere of that DLC really well.

 

Vice City FM

Amazing playlist with nice obscure sophisti-pop songs that somehow ended up as a footnote in the box set of expansion packs. They should have saved the tracks in this for an actual game set in Vice City.

 

Radio Broker (EFLC)

Fits TLAD to a T with lots of nice hard-edged post-punk revival and blues rock songs by really underrated groups like Kill Memory Clash, The Yelling and Japanther. The cut soundtrack had lots of amazing songs that could have padded out the length of this station a lot more, which is a shame since the updated playlist had an extremely unique, Grindhouse-esque aesthetic for the time period.

 

LRR (EFLC)

The current playlist is nice, but the deleted soundtrack was full of protopunk and heavy metal gems. It's weird that a lot of iconic tracks by New York Dolls, Motorhead, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden were cut, not to mention alternative legends like Lou Reed and Love & Rockets being among those removed from the station.

 

The Beat (EFLC)

Two words, Statik Selektah. His set was way too short in my opinion, and should have been a lot longer. His mix was my favorite of the four, and it really fit the gritty atmosphere of LC at night.

 

I wouldn't say it's fair to include those stations that were already great in the base game, or those that were given justice with a nice update (Like LCHC).
 

One station I would say really wasted potential in IV was The Classics, way too short of a mix in what is the craddle of Hip-Hop (New York), EFLC had the opportunity to update it with more 70's-80's songs, but instead they updated The Beat which was already great as it is (Even if I admit I like some songs that TLAD added to it like Swing Ya Rag or Green Light).

Edited September 15, 2021 by The Tracker

[CynicalMexican]

5 minutes ago, The Tracker said:

 

I wouldn't say it's fair to include those stations that were already great in the base game, or those that were given justice with a nice update (Like LCHC).
 

One station I would say really wasted potential in IV was The Classics, way too short of a mix in what is the craddle of Hip-Hop (New York), EFLC had the opportunity to update it with more 70's-80's songs, but instead they updated The Beat which was already great as it is (Even if I admit I like some songs that TLAD added to it like Swing Ya Rag or Green Light).

 

The Classics should have had New York hip hop from 1993-1996, that was the golden age of hip hop in NY during that time.

[sabitsuki]

9 hours ago, The Tracker said:

I wouldn't say it's fair to include those stations that were already great in the base game, or those that were given justice with a nice update (Like LCHC).

As someone who owns separate copies of GTA IV and EFLC, I think it's a fair scenario.

[universetwisters]

12 hours ago, sabitsuki said:

Self-Actualization FM

They should have went full-on Warp Records with this station. Lots of nice IDM and classic chillout tracks from the 90s that clashes really badly with early-to-mid-2000s hotel lounge music.

 

IDK man, I really liked SAFM just the way it was, I just wish the music they cut from the final made it into the station.

OT - Vladivostok FM in TBOGT. Don't get me wrong, I love DJ Paul's mix, but given that it's, yknow, Vladivostok FM, it would stand to reason that there'd be russian techno sh*t on there like ruki vverh, PPK, etc

[bahraini_carguy]

Since most people here already mentioned all of the other radios, especially with LSRR & VBR.

 

Anyhow, one radio omes to mind...

 

GTA LCS:

 

Radio Del Mundo

I ironically and unironically like the radio due to how out of place it felt to listen to some cheesy, baby boomer era, Arabic folk song in a late 90s East Coast setting. At least that's how i feel about the original PS2/PSP release before they butchered it up with the mobile port.

 

However, they missed a mark by not making the radio more of an "around the global world music" type of theme rather than one that simply plays 70s South/West Asian music.

 

I was going to talk about the lack of stations that plays licensed 90s Rock and/or Pop but then again, LCS was a pretty budget title in contrast to rest of the series.

 

=========

GTA V/Online:

 

I feel like there's way too much focus on Electronic music lately, i find it odd how they pretty much abandoned Soulwax FM with no additions to it's playlist since the OG 2013 release but somehow managed to make 4-5 new radio's off the same or related genre's. 

Edited September 16, 2021 by FalconKing

[Lock n' Stock]

14 hours ago, sefus said:

Vinewood Boulevard FM was such a f*cking horrible station, i can't even name one song of that station that is memorable, it feels like bands that payed off rockstar to have their bands within the game.

Yeah, that station sucked ass. Something like a Radio X successor (like the cancelled PMR station) would have been so much better than that garbage.

[sabitsuki]

1 hour ago, FalconKing said:

LCS was a pretty budget title in contrast to rest of the series.

I always found it kinda funny how VCS in contrast had all these well known tracks from the 80s in there despite coming from the same relatively obscure mold as LCS did.

[Americana]

I don't know, most radiostations in Grand Theft Auto V ain't the best - however, some of them are awesome. Not everything has to be boomer-based.

[Zenit]

21 hours ago, sabitsuki said:

Self-Actualization FM

They should have went full-on Warp Records with this station. Lots of nice IDM and classic chillout tracks from the 90s that clashes really badly with early-to-mid-2000s hotel lounge music.

They meant to add Moby, System 7, Spacetime Continuum, Erik Wollo, another Pete Namlook track and Coldcut...

 

And inside the SAFM archives there was a Future Sound of London track "Lifeforms".

 

Apart from them I would have added Aphex Twin, Biosphere, Boards of Canada, Orbital, L.F.O., Higher Intelligence Agency, Move D, Peter Benisch, among other classic ambient techno, IDM and chill out gems instead of modern downtempo.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Matsukine

[The Tracker]

8 hours ago, sabitsuki said:

As someone who owns separate copies of GTA IV and EFLC, I think it's a fair scenario.

 

Sh*t, now I see. That's why the original versions of TLAD and TBoGT are the real deal. 

 

[sabitsuki]

43 minutes ago, The Tracker said:

 

Sh*t, now I see. That's why the original versions of TLAD and TBoGT are the real deal. 

 

The only drawback is Jailbait by Drive By Audio isn't on LCHC. It's a damn good song tbh

 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by sabitsuki

[sefus]

Los Santos Rock Radio being Soft rock missed a total shot to add Duran Duran

[Jeansowaty]

Still Slipping Los Santos in GTA Online. Garbage.

 

Vladivostok FM in EFLC should have been a separate radio with a different name.

 

Electro-Choc in GTA IV feels... odd. It fits the vibe of IV and I love it but I felt it was so obscure. Overall GTA IV with its wide radio selection disappointed me with the lack of electronic radio stations, no Trance, no 90s Rave/Techno, but instead we got 3 damn Reggae stations, wtf

[CynicalMexican]

1 hour ago, Jeansowaty said:

Still Slipping Los Santos in GTA Online. Garbage.

 

Vladivostok FM in EFLC should have been a separate radio with a different name.

 

Electro-Choc in GTA IV feels... odd. It fits the vibe of IV and I love it but I felt it was so obscure. Overall GTA IV with its wide radio selection disappointed me with the lack of electronic radio stations, no Trance, no 90s Rave/Techno, but instead we got 3 damn Reggae stations, wtf

 

Given that AnjunaBeats was at their height at this time, a trance station would have been really appreciated.

 

Deadmau5's remix of No Pressure was iconic though.

[Jeansowaty]

6 minutes ago, CynicalMexican said:

 

Given that AnjunaBeats was at their height at this time, a trance station would have been really appreciated.

 

Deadmau5's remix of No Pressure was iconic though.

THIS!!! I remember hearing this song in NFS: MW 2013 and I put it into my user tracks (welp, 2009 songs are fine for IV imo) and it fit so great during the early hours in Algonquin or Alderney.

 

[CynicalMexican]

1 minute ago, Jeansowaty said:

THIS!!! I remember hearing this song in NFS: MW 2013 and I put it into my user tracks (welp, 2009 songs are fine for IV imo) and it fit so great during the early hours in Algonquin or Alderney.

 

 

Ah, you are a person of culture I see

 

 

I used to have this on a GTA 4 custom playlist. Fits the cold LC streets so damn well.

[sabitsuki]

3 hours ago, Jeansowaty said:

Still Slipping Los Santos in GTA Online. Garbage.

 

Vladivostok FM in EFLC should have been a separate radio with a different name.

 

Electro-Choc in GTA IV feels... odd. It fits the vibe of IV and I love it but I felt it was so obscure. Overall GTA IV with its wide radio selection disappointed me with the lack of electronic radio stations, no Trance, no 90s Rave/Techno, but instead we got 3 damn Reggae stations, wtf

Disagree with SSLS and Electro Choc.

 

I don't play Online anymore since Doomsday but as a standalone station I really enjoyed Still Slipping. It's a nice trippy station that has plenty of great UK Garage and Dancehall in it that sort of feels like a British version of FlyLo FM.

 

As for Electro-Choc, I wouldn't really call it obscure, to be honest. Francois K's mix had plenty of pretty popular electroclash artists at the time like Deadmau5, Black Devil Disco Club and Justice not to mention Post-Punk/No Wave artists like Liquid Liquid and Killing Joke, which were really popular in the NY underground scene back in the 80s. Crookers was basically late-2000s EDM fidget/sleazy House personified, it was pretty much the sound that every club in New York bumped back in the day. I wouldn't really call artists like Kelis, Chemical Brothers, Major Laser and Miike Snow obscure.

 

Besides, Trance by that time had sort of fallen way out of favor in America, so it was fair to not include such a station in the game.

Edited September 17, 2021 by sabitsuki

[Jeansowaty]

6 minutes ago, sabitsuki said:

Disagree with SSLS and Electro Choc.

 

I don't play Online anymore since Doomsday but as a standalone station I really enjoyed Still Slipping. It's a nice trippy station that has plenty of great UK Garage and Dancehall in it that sort of feels like a British version of FlyLo FM.

 

As for Electro-Choc, I wouldn't really call it obscure, to be honest. Francois K's mix had plenty of pretty popular electroclash artists at the time like Deadmau5, Black Devil Disco Club and Justice not to mention Post-Punk/No Wave artists like Liquid Liquid and Killing Joke, which were really popular in the NY underground scene back in the 80s. Crookers was basically late-2000s EDM fidget/sleazy House personified, it was pretty much the sound that every club in New York bumped back in the day. I wouldn't really call artists like Kelis, Chemical Brothers, Major Laser and Miike Snow obscure.

 

Besides, Trance by that time had sort of fallen way out of favor in America, so it was fair to not include such a station in the game.

Why the hell did they advertise it as an acid techno/drum and bass station though? Totally killed my buzz

 

I meant that the IV Electro-Choc, not the EFLC one, felt a bit obscure. I do enjoy it a lot and folks like Nitzer Ebb and Black Devil Disco Club (whom I even interviewed, haha, have some shameless self promotion ) were great to hear. It's just that, my nitpick is that IV could have had more electronic stations aside from Electro-Choc and The Journey. Self-Actualization being basically The Journey but in the 90s/early 2000s was good but not enough imho. Also the jarring transition of Vladivostok, good mix but feels so awkward to hear blaring in Perestroika or Comrades.

Edited September 17, 2021 by Jeansowaty

[happygrowls]

every radio station added post launch in V not being anything other than Rap/Nightclub Scene music

 

yeah rockstar you have a close relationship with moodymann, i dont need to hear him on three different f*cking stations

[sabitsuki]

5 minutes ago, Jeansowaty said:

It's just that, my nitpick is that IV could have had more electronic stations aside from Electro-Choc and The Journey.

Oh yeah, no doubt. The more the merrier I guess. Could have used a deep house station hosted by Joey Negro or something.

[Jeansowaty]

Just now, sabitsuki said:

Oh yeah, no doubt. The more the merrier I guess. Could have used a deep house station hosted by Joey Negro or something.

Me personally, for 3 additional DLCs me and my friends are writing/modding, I wrote a Trance/Dance radio station called "Shine FM" hosted out of the Fan Dang nightclub in Alderney City. Currently all I have is a playlist for the Russian-themed DLC, songs that I feel would have fit IV, tracks mostly from Eastern Europe too (DLC focused on Spanish Lords would mostly focus on latin techno/makina instead, while the racer DLC would be mostly classic trance/eurodance/acid). Might not be the right place but eh, here goes.

 

Code Red - Kanikuly (2008)
DJs Juvial - Davaj, Davaj (2002)
East Clubbers - Beat is Coming (2005)
Hyperavers - Rain (2004)
Hyperavers - Racing (2004)
East Clubbers - Bungee (2005)
East Clubbers - It’s a Dream (2005)
Kalwi & Remi - Explosion (2006)
PPK - Reload (2002)
PPK - Resurrection (2001)
Sonic Division - Play This Music (2005)
Suie Paparude feat. Loredana - Gratie (2000)
Akcent - Kylie (2005)
2PM - Tetris (2002)

[sabitsuki]

8 minutes ago, Jeansowaty said:

Code Red - Kanikuly (2008)
DJs Juvial - Davaj, Davaj (2002)
East Clubbers - Beat is Coming (2005)
Hyperavers - Rain (2004)
Hyperavers - Racing (2004)
East Clubbers - Bungee (2005)
East Clubbers - It’s a Dream (2005)
Kalwi & Remi - Explosion (2006)
PPK - Reload (2002)
PPK - Resurrection (2001)
Sonic Division - Play This Music (2005)
Suie Paparude feat. Loredana - Gratie (2000)
Akcent - Kylie (2005)
2PM - Tetris (2002)

Not the craziest fan of trance music in general but I'll check it out. Sounds promising.

[Big Fat Paulie]

EFLC had a lot of improvements to both Liberty Rock Radio and LCHC but I still don't like the changes they made to Vladivostok and the fact they got rid of JNR.

 

If I was going to do a remake of GTA IV and EFLC, I'd keep the IV version of Vladivostok and make the EFLC version it's own station and keep JNR and Fusion FM, but merge The Journey and Self-Actualization into a single station.

 

I'd also add a few other stations and a few other areas like Staunton Island (Staten Island), The Carroways (Long Island), Upstate Liberty (New York State) and an expanded Alderney.