'It fully altered my taste in music': bands reflect on the awesome power of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater soundtracks

[Celerity]

The games’ runaway success introduced a whole generation to hopped up US punk and metal. Bands including Less Than Jake, the Ataris and AFI pay tribute to a gaming megastar who loves them back

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/jul/11/music-tony-hawks-pro-skater-soundtracks


‘The culture of skating and music is so meshed’ … Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4. Photograph: Activision

When millions of parents bought their kids a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game in the late 90s and early 00s, they couldn’t have understood the profound effect it would have on their children’s music taste. With bands from Bad Religion to Papa Roach and Millencolin accompanying every failed spin and grind, these trick-tastic games slyly doubled up as the ultimate compilation CD.

While the Fifa games have an equally storied history with licensed music, those soundtracks feel impersonal – a who’s who of whichever artists EA’s associated record labels wanted to push at the time. Pro Skater’s soundtrack, by contrast, felt like being handed a grubby and slightly dog-eared handmade mixtape, still battered from its last tumble at the local skate park.

“Most of the bands were chosen because I heard them growing up at the skate park. I would say most of the original punk stuff – even the early hip-hop – that was my soundtrack to skating in the 80s and 90s,” Tony Hawk says. “I never imagined that I would be a tastemaker but, that was really just a byproduct of staying true to the culture.”

“Tony was very involved in punk rock,” says Chris DeMakes, frontman of Less Than Jake, before his set at this year’s Slam Dunk festival. “Ultimately, he had to approve the bands on his soundtrack … So that always kind of made me feel good about it.” The band’s Roger Lima adds: “The culture of skating and music is so meshed, it made sense for them to have a real soundtrack to it.”

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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 OST (Extended) (2000)

PS1, PC & N64
0:00:00 Neversoft Intro
0:00:17 Rage Against the Machine - Guerilla Radio
0:03:43 Brian Bright - THPS II
0:07:08 Anthrax and Public Enemy - Bring The Noise
0:10:37 Millencollin - No Cigar
0:13:19 Paparoach - Blood Brother's
0:16:49 Bad Religion - You
0:18:53 Lagwagon - May 16
0:21:49 Swingin' Utters - Five Lessons Learned
0:23:44 Consumed - Heavy Metal Winner
0:26:13 Powerman 5000 - When Worlds Collide
0:29:10 PapaSean + BlackPlanetMusic - Out With The Old
0:32:55 Naughty By Nature - Pin The Tail On The Donkey
0:36:38 Styles Of Beyond - SubCulture
0:40:07 Dub Pistols - Cyclone
0:43:39 The High and Mighty - B Boy Document '99 ft.Mos Def & Mad Skillz
0:47:31 Born Allah - City Stars

XBOX
0:48:16 THPS2x - Club London

iOS
0:50:52 Operatic - Interested In Madness
0:54:08 Killing California - Now I'm You
0:55:49 Bobot Adrenaline - Wasted Youth
0:58:56 The Spanks - Just Dance
1:00:33 The Lions Rampant - The World Won't Spin Forever
1:03:10 Nathan Xander - The Alchemist
1:08:27 Goonies Never Say Die - Everyone Comes To Life
1:12:39 Late Night Conditions - Saviour
1:16:12 Murs & Terrence Martin- Fresh Kicks

Pocket PC
1:19:28 Oranger - Garden Party For Murder Pride
1:22:40 Delegate - Flat Out
1:26:01 Kissinger - Certain Girls
1:29:24 The Clutters - Rock And Roll
1:32:44 Ryan Young - Crickets In The Soap

Fin.K.L (Korean release)
1:36:43 Now
1:40:14 White
1:44:08 To My Prince
1:47:59 Feel Your Love
1:51:33 Waiting For You
1:55:42 Pride