Shackler's Revenge

There has been lots and lots of speculation this week regarding a new GN'R track that is supposedly going to be part of the downloadable content for the Rock Band 2 videogame.

A rumored tracklist popped up here on Kotaku (Gossip, News, and Leaks for Obsessive Gamers).

There are 84 songs on the list, and there it is down at number 28:

25 Go-Go's, The We Got the Beat
26 Grateful Dead, The Alabama Getaway
27 Guess Who, The American Woman
28 Guns N' Roses Shackler's Revenge
29 Interpol PDA
30 Jane's Addiction Mountain Song
31 Jethro Tull Aqualung

So, it's just a rumor, but a little quick research turned up this text from Bucket's official site:

28) What soundtracks/scores has Buckethead played on?
Last Action Hero (soundtrack and score)
[snip]
Shackler’s Revenge (score to lost film)
John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars (soundtrack and score)
Flesh for the Beast (soundtrack)

Hmmm... both items are #28 on their respective lists (cue X-Files music).

So here's what we know.

There is a new Guns N' Roses song, "Shackler's Revenge," that is "confirmed" to be on Chinese Democracy.

According to Saul (Buckethead's webmaster), "The basic song structure was written by Bucket and Brain. Big B did a score for a film of the same name (never released) From what I can gather Axl liked the plot/ideas of the story and crafted lyrics behind the music. It's supposed to be a pretty guitar driven rocker of a song with an amazing hook/bridge."

According to Mysteron (a semi-credible, supposed "insider"), "I know nothing of Rock Band 2, but I am 100 per cent sure that Shackler's Revenge is a new GN'R song...Whoever started this rumo(u)r managed to pull the title of a new GN'R song out of the air from somewhere...It will be on CD."

There is a Buckethead song called "Shackler" that is on one of the Dragon Ball Z soundtracks, The History of Trunks.

If you want to hear "Shackler" (Bucket's original song) You can listen to it here (you'll have to hold down the "escape" button as the page is loading).

As far as "Shackler's Revenge" being part of Rock Band 2?

Well, the game is set to debut at E3 2008 (gaming convention) this weekend.

I guess we may hear more details next week, but the game's not due out until September, so we may not know 'til then.

I'm just going to have to take a "wait-and-see" approach, but it sounds to me like we WON'T be hearing this song anytime soon.

-M.A.