The first list of confirmed songs for Guitar Hero III have been announced, along with the confirmation that the controller will be based on the Gibson Les Paul, and will be wireless.

First of all, here’s the list of songs:

Barracuda – Heart
Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
Cult of Personality - Living Colour
Knights of Cydonia – Muse
My Name is Jonas – Weezer
Paint It Black - The Rolling Stones
Rock And Roll All Nite – KISS
Sabotage - Beastie Boys
School's Out - Alice Cooper
Slow Ride - Fog Hat
The Metal - Tenacious D

Unlike Guitar Hero 2, which predominantly had a lot of awesome heavy metal tunage, the songs on GHIII (going by this list) are lot more varied. This can only be a good thing, as in theory it should bring more people to this superb series of games who may have been turned off by the music in GH2.

Also, the wireless guitar is good news. After fans rose eyebrows at the lack of wireless guitar for the 360 version of GH2, Red Octane seem to have taken note. Based on the renowned Les Paul, the controller will also feature removable face plates for brutal customisation of your axe.

In real life, the Les Paul was developed by Gibson with one of the first guys to invent/experiment with the concept of a solid body electric guitar, namely legendary Jazz guitarist Les Paul. The guitar itself has been used by many notable guitarists, including Slash of Guns N’ Roses fame; and Ace ‘Space Ace’ Frehley, lead guitarist during the early years of KISS.

Other confirmed game features include online multiplayer, original artist recordings, and new multiplayer modes to keep you and a hard-rocking amigo to shred until the sun rises.

With the ever increasing cost of Rock Band, and with the popularity of the Guitar Hero franchise, GHIII is not one to be counted out.

Stay tuned.