Tony Hawk's Pro Skater: The Soundtrack That Served As A Gateway For Fans To Get Into Punk and Metal

As a punk and metal fan in the early 2000s in India, it was pretty hard to get by. Music channels on tv would mostly play pop artists like Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera, with the occasional Linkin Park, POD, and Korn.

Most music stores would have a rock and metal section that would be severely lacking. While the internet was around, it was nowhere close to the unlimited access that we have today.

You could only truly immerse yourself in the genre if you played a particular video game.

First released in 1999, the Tony Hawks pro skater series of games have not only gone on to become one of the best skateboarding video games of all time but have also given us a memorable soundtrack of all time containing a plethora of Punk, Metal, and even Rap songs.

Anthrax and Public enemy’s “Bring the Noise” (A collaboration which would play an important role in the development of the Nu metal/rap rock genre) The Ramones classic “Blitzkrieg Bop”, Red Hot Chili Peppers “Fight like a brave” and Rage Against The Machine's “Guerilla radio” were just some of the classics on the game.

The game had a lot of great 90’ hip hop songs as well like “Pin The Tail On The Donkey” by Naughty By Nature, “B-boy Document 99” by The high And Mighty ft. Mos Def, and Mad Skillz and Xzibit’s “Paparazzi”.

The game was a gateway for many fans to get into punk and metal, in fact for many it was probably their first exposure to the genre. Tony hawks pro skater has played a crucial role in popularizing Punk, Rock, and Metal.

Also read: Unbeatable White Label - An Anime-based Rhythm Video Game With An Emotional and Relatable Story