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Even if you haven’t been one of the millions of people glued to their keyboards for the last few years for so much as a sniff of an update on the most highly anticipated video game sequel ever, chances are, you’re aware that Grand Theft Auto VI is finally, finally mere months from release.

Two and a half years since the first trailer dropped, Rockstar Games finally made pre-orders available this week, with the game’s much-delayed release date of November 19 surely set to stick.

The GTA series has a long history of absolutely smashing it when it comes to its soundtracks, with rock, metal, hip hop, pop, dance and even classical all richly represented at various points throughout the franchise. In that spirit, ranking every main entry Grand Theft Auto soundtrack from worst to best seems a nigh-on impossible task. But you know what? We’re gonna try and do it anyway.

7. Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)

Just like the original, Grand Theft Auto 2 features a brilliant, diverse array of original compositions, building on its parent game by adding in more radio stations that can be accessed depending on which area of the game you’re driving through. The reason it’s bottom of this particular list? Despite expanding the soundtrack size of the first GTA, the sequel still feels like a slight step back because of the outstanding soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto: London 1969, an expansion to the original that was released just a few months before. That bolt-on featured licensed music in a GTA title for the first time, so the hop backwards to a 100% original soundtrack felt like a missed opportunity. Still, GTA 2‘s music is hella decent in its own right.

6. Grand Theft Auto (1997)

Every great gaming franchise has a thoughtful, immersive soundtrack to match, and the original Grand Theft Auto‘s was a game-changer in every sense of the term. Introducing the ingenious idea of having an interactive, in-car radio that could switch between stations and, therefore, genres gave the game’s open-world-ish feel extra depth and personality. It also added a hilariously unhinged layer to the game’s controversial violence; gleefully smashing into cop cars while playing propulsive 70s funk jams felt like the kind of cheekily subversive chaos that was destined to be lapped up by a generation weaned on South Park and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. Rockstar would innovate even further as the series wore on.

5. Grand Theft Auto III (2001)

Featuring three hours of music that included both real world and fictional artists, GTA III‘s soundtrack felt like as much of a leap forward for gaming as its namesake’s much anticipated jump into 3D. From lush instrumental tracks like Scary Movies to classical cuts from the likes of Mozart and Verdi, it packed in an impressively diverse selection of songs in its runtime. Plus, it gave many hip hop fans an introduction to Royce Da 5’9″, who’d later find fame as one half of hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil, also featuring some fella named Eminem. GTA III‘s music would inevitably pale in comparison to what followed, but this was as forward-thinking as gaming soundtracks got in 2001.

4. Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)

After some 80s and 90s detours, GTA IV brought the series screeching back into the present day, and had a soundtrack to match. This was rarely as prevalent as with the introduction of the radio station Electro-Choc, which brought with it glitchy EDM cuts from the likes of Simian Mobile Disco, Deadmau5, Justice and K.I.M. There were plenty more fresh strokes being added, too: Liberty City Hardcore brought the rage courtesy of punk rock killers like Bad Brains, Sick Of It All, Cro-Mags and Murphy’s Law (whose frontman Jimmy Gestapo presented the station). There were also rock anthems from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, plus a ton of hip hop, indie, pop, jazz and reggae. It lacked the stand-out anthems that felt title-defining like those offered by Vice City and San Andreas, but on a purely musical level, GTA IV still delivered the goods.

3. Grand Theft Auto V (2013)

GTA V did a particularly great balancing act that both tipped a cap to the nostalgic soundtracks of the sixth gen GTA titles while injecting a huge dose of contemporary, cutting edge whoppers. As well as getting stuck into the West Coast Classics Station and jamming Dr. Dre, N.W.A. and and Snoop, you could also switch on Radio Los Santos and enjoy fresh cuts by the likes of A$AP Rocky, The Game, Freddie Gibbs and Future. If rap wasn’t your thing, you could still get stuck into old school hardcore, classic rock, modern electronica, millennial pop and much, much more. For sheer variety, it’s hard to look past the latest entry into the series, and on that front, GTA VI certainly has its work cut out.

2. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)

Much like the game itself, San Andreas‘s soundtrack took the blueprint of its predecessor and built on it spectacularly. While the game’s vastness and crazy amounts of character customisation/upkeep was a little too much for some, what was in no doubt was that its music absolutely slapped. Adding lashings of r’n’b, soul, country and reggae, San Andreas also made the most of its 90s setting courtesy of ringing in tracks from decade-defining heavyweights including 2Pac, Cypress Hill, Rage Against The Machine, Faith No More, Jane’s Addiction, Soundgarden, Bobby Brown, Boyz II Men and many more. It made for an incredibly eclectic, bulletproof soundtrack that could appeal to music fans across the board.

1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)

Capturing the feel of its mid-80s setting magnificently, Vice City doesn’t just boast the best soundtrack of any GTA game, but one of the single best video game sountracks of all time. Anyone who picked it up at the time will never forget that first moment they jumped onto a moped and parped along blasting Billie Jean. With over nine hours of music across seven unique radio stations, players could hear heavy metal classics from Twisted Sister, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest or Iron Maiden on V-Rock, switch over to Wave 103 for some synth pop bangers courtesy of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Tears For Fears and Blondie and then have a listen to Wildstyle for foundational hip hop anthems by legends like Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC.

All at the tap of an L1 button. GTA soundtracks have got even more diverse since then, but for creating the perfect soundtrack to a game set in a particularly iconic era for pop culture – as well as providing countless hits perfect for heists and high speed chases – Vice City remains GOATed. Oh, plus: that main theme is an absolute worldie.

Grand Theft Auto VI releases November 19. Pre-orders are available via Playstation and Xbox

Welcome to Prog‘s brand new Tracks Of The Week! This week we’ve got seven more new and diverse slices of progressively inclined music for you to enjoy.

Well, what a battle we had on our hands last week! And huge congratulations to Bulgarian proggers Untold Stories, whose Pale Horizons edged ahead of Alex Henry Foster to win last week. And in third place, we had US prog metal quintet Outrun The Sunlight who pipped fellow US band North Sea Echoes by the closest of margins to grab third place. Well done all!

The premise is simple – we’ve collated a batch of new releases by bands falling under the progressive umbrella, and collated them together in one post for you – makes it so much easier than having to dip in and out of various individual posts, doesn’t it?

The idea is to watch the videos (or listen if it’s a stream), enjoy (or not) and also to vote for your favourite in the voting form at the bottom of this post. Couldn’t be easier, could it? We’ll be bringing you Tracks Of The Week, as the title implies, each week. Next week we’ll update you with this week’s winner and present a host of new prog music for you to enjoy.

If you’re a band and you want to be featured in Prog‘s Tracks Of The Week, send your video (as a YouTube link) or track embed, band photo and biog to us here.

THE PINEAPPLE THIEF – HOLD THE ASHES

The new single from The Pineapple Thief, Hold The Ashes, is the band’s first release since signing to InsideOut Music, and although there’s no news about a new studio album yet, Prog understands the band have recently completed work on their as-yet-untitled sixteenth album. So it doesn’t take much to connect the dots and reckon this is a taster for the new album. Sounds really good, too…

“One thing is certain, one day we’ll all be ashes,” says signer and guitarist Bruce Soord, cheerily. “It’s the ‘gift from the gods that comes to us all’. For some reason, when writing this song, I couldn’t stop singing about ‘ashes’ in the context of understanding what life is about. ‘Writhing in constant conflict’. Why? So take these ashes and scatter them far and wide. You know, make the most of it.”

CHANGING PLACES IN THE FIRE – HOME

Changing Places In The Fire are a Venezuelan quintet who will release their self-titled debut album through Wild Thing Records on July 24. As you will hear from the band’s latest single, Home, they meld muscular prog rock – think Tool, laced with Porcupine Tree, with more expansive post-rock moments which bring to mind the much-missed Oceansize. We reckon they’re in to a winner here…

“Home reflects on distance, guilt, and memory – on the ghosts that follow long after leaving,” explains keyboardist Alfredo Ovalles. “It confronts the ache of belonging to a place you can’t fully return to, and carrying that absence forward.”

SOURCE – OPTIMISTIC

If you’re going to cover a song like Radiohead’s Optimistic, then you’d better be prepared for some scrutiny. Fortunately, this Boulder, Colorado trio have got the chops and deliver a thoroughly engaging version. The band talk of their music in terms of “heavy psychedelic prog rock” and they’ve released four albums thus far, with new single, Optimistic, nodding ahead to a fifth.

“When we decided to cover Optimistic, we really wanted to showcase our love for the song while bringing our own voice to the arrangement,” the band say. “I think our version has a lot of similar ingredients, but the way we choose to highlight those ingredients really displays our unique approach and sound. The tones are much heavier, the tempo is faster so it feels like there’s more energy, and the way we flip the ending into a heavy riff is my favourite part of our version.”

RAPHAEL WEINROTH-BROWNE – FALL FOR ME

Not one but two covers this week! Canadian cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne offers up his take on Sleep Token’s Fall For Me, the video set against the stunning backdrop of Ontario bathed in golden sunlight. Sleep Token divides the prog world, mostly, we suspect, because they seem to have emerged from the metal world despite evidently not being a metal band, but Weinroth-Browne offers a take on the song that’s probably far more palatable to prog fans, all the while managing to keep his shirt on for a promo video. No mean feat in itself!

“Fall For Me is a hidden gem in Sleep Token’s catalogue – its gorgeous melodies and rich choral harmonies lend themselves perfectly to the cello. In reimagining this song, I tried to convey the same juxtaposition of sadness and beauty that makes the original so poignant,” he says. “The music video was shot at the epic Eagles’ Nest Lookout in rural Ontario by Ben Kissner of Monscene Studios. My face was completely devoured by mosquitoes and black flies by the end of the shoot, but I believe it was worth it for the final result!”

PRINCE OF FAILURE – PHANTOM

Prince of Failure is the new collaborative project featuring TesseracT singer Daniel Tompkins and Paul Ortiz from Chimp Spanner, and they’ve just released their self-titled debut album through Kscope. It’s an album rooted in deep ideas, based around neurodivergence, masking, and the psychological weight of living out of alignment with expectation

“Phantom explores the fight against the darker forces that live both within and around us. It’s about being haunted by destructive impulses, temptation, and the feeling of losing control to something that seems impossible to escape,” Tompkins explains. “Within the wider story of the album, it represents a descent into chaos – the moment where the protagonist is forced to confront the parts of himself he’s tried to suppress, only to realise that the battle may already be consuming him. Themes of conflict, self-destruction, and overwhelming power run throughout the song, creating a sense of inevitable collapse as everything begins to burn around him.”

MAYA ONGAKU – ASTRAL ECHOES

Anyone who’s been suffering during the heatwave that’s been hitting the UK this past week might find the gentle melodies of Astral Echoes something of a balm. it’s the new single from Japanese psych tri Maya Ongaku, who will release their new album Nothing Space Music on August 7 (digitally) and September 9 (physically) via Guruguru Brain. The band draw inspiration from the experimental rock of the 1960s and 70s, Japanese folk and psychedelia, avant-garde art movements, literature, philosophy, and cultural anthropology, and this all sounds rather wonderful.

“Astral Echoes explores the moment when art comes into being — when inspiration quietly enters the mind,” the band state. “I believe inspiration is not something to be chased or seized, but something that emerges when we patiently wait for its arrival in silence.”

DATURA LODGE – STONE

Datura Lodge are a brand new prog duo from Bergen County, New Jersey. The enigmatically named Nicky B and “W” will release their self-titled debut album through Arquen Records on October 2. The album has been produced by the band and Ben Karas from Thank You Scientist, who also adds violin to this single, which, according to the band, “fulfils the ‘rock’ component of their progressive sound.”

“I was listening to Lou Reed’s ‘middle-aged man era’ albums a lot and love how his lyrics are rooted in reality but also very funny,” explains “W”. “Stone is my third-rate impression of that.”