Highlights
- GTA 5 has a fantastic soundtrack with radio stations that offer a wide variety of music genres, making it appealing to all players.
- The radio stations in GTA 5 feature real songs, hilarious radio hosts, and commercials that add to the game's signature irreverent tone.
- The best radio stations in GTA 5, such as West Coast Classics, Los Santos Rock Radio, and Radio Mirror Park, offer high-quality music that enhances the gameplay experience.
Grand Theft Auto 5 has an excellent soundtrack thanks to its radio stations, and even among strong company, a few stations stand out above the others in quality. While Grand Theft Auto 5 has effectively had an extended shelf life thanks to Grand Theft Auto Online, both games sharing radio stations keeps the soundtrack relevant even a decade after release. Of course, Rockstar has a legacy of excellent soundtracks by this point, so GTA 5's radio stations are just another audio triumph. There's something for everyone in the soundtrack, and that's especially true with its best stations.
GTA 5 is yet another Rockstar game with an amazing soundtrack, and Grand Theft Auto's radio stations in general are something of a franchise tradition. Grand Theft Auto radio stations are generally loaded with real songs associated with the genre of the station in question. Thanks to this setup, players can find a station tuned to their favorite kind of music and listen for a long time. GTA radio also features its own radio hosts and commercials, all tinged with the series' signature irreverent sense of humor. Grand Theft Auto 5 even incorporates the radio into a few story scenes, making its incarnation more memorable.
GTA 5's Best Radio Stations Offer a Solid Variety of Quality Music
Players who have fond memories of GTA: San Andreas' radio stations will find something to like in GTA 5's West Coast Classics. Helmed by DJ Pooh, the station focuses on west coast rappers from the '90s, tackling several styles of the time. The setlist includes a lot of familiar names such as Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, as well as a song from GTA: San Andreas alumnus MC Eiht. The station also includes Snoop Dogg's classic "Gin and Juice", one of the best songs to play while cruising around Los Santos. For fans of rap, West Coast Classics is hard to beat.
Players looking to get hyped to take on Grand Theft Auto 5's best missions may want to try Los Santos Rock Radio. This station is made up of classic rock songs that are likely nostalgic to many players. While the station was solid to begin with, the update that came with the Xbox One and PS5 ports was extremely kind to it. Additions like "Danger Zone", "Carry On Wayward Son", and "Roundabout" gave it possibly the biggest upgrade of any station in the game. Los Santos Rock Radio is the perfect radio station to play before or during a big action scene.
The song "The Set Up" should be familiar to those who finished Grand Theft Auto 5's Ending C, as it plays during the credits. This song appears in-game as a part of Radio Mirror Park, an indie station with an eclectic setlist that features a lot of electronica and synthesizers. The result is a station with many of the chillest songs in the game, with a few managing to achieve a downright ethereal feel. Even the comically hipster-ish host doesn't keep it from being the most laid-back station in the game. Despite GTA 5's chaos, listening to Radio Mirror Park can be a rather relaxing experience.
Truth be told, all of Grand Theft Auto 5's music stations have songs worth listening to, and while GTA 6 can be a fresh start in many ways, it needs to keep the same level of musical quality. Whether a player is looking for rap, rock, or a more niche genre, Grand Theft Auto 5's radio will generally have them covered. There's a reason why the series has long had some of the best soundtracks in gaming. Grand Theft Auto 5's best radio stations will rarely disappoint, and hopefully they can be a good influence on the next game as well.
Grand Theft Auto 5 is available now for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
