So I put it to you, friends: What are the best, most inspiring/energetic/manic songs out there for working out?
Let us tackle this task together: Let Us Build The Greatest Workout Mixtape EVER.
(Post your best suggestions below: The lesser-known the song, the better.)
I already have some great songs on my MP3 player:
The Touch - Stan Bush
Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)
Eye of the Tiger
Montage (from Team America: World Police)
Final Countdown
Winner Takes It All - Sammy Hagar (from Over The Top)
What A Feeling
I Need A Hero
You're The Best (from The Karate Kid)
(that's all I can remember off the top of my head)
My Friend John by the Fratellis [youtube.com]. The first 30 seconds at least are awesome.
The Brazilian by Genesis
it builds up and builds up and when you push through that wall it rewards you with some epic 80s synth.
And if it's good enough for Magnum P.I. ...
Search on youtube and you can give it a listen.
Spiderbait - Black Betty
Propellerheads - Spybreak!
JET - Are You Gonna Be My Girl
A few of my workout favorites:
Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim
Spybreak! - Propellerheads
In Da Club - 50 Cent
Bad Reputation - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Body Movin' (Fatboy Slim Remix) - Beastie Boys
The Planet Plan - United Future Organization
It Takes Two - Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock
It's Tricky - Run DMC
Runnin' Down a Dream - Tom Petty
okay, hear me out. this may get me called a nerd, but
the soundtrack that goes with EVERYTHING?
The Lord of the Rings.
Boom.
I just changed your life.
"Theoden Rides Forth" makes everything epic.
Indestructible - Disturbed
Rods and Cones - Blue Man Group
Feel Good INC - Gorillaz
Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz
The Distance - Cake
Hey You - The Exies
Heart Full of Black - Burning Brides
One Step Closer - Linkin Park
Points of Authority - Linkin Park
Inside the Fire - Disturbed
Don't Stay - Linkin Park
Nine Thou (Superstars Mix) - Styles of Beyond
Airbase - Amanamaguchi
Don't Hold Back - The Sleeping
Devour - Shinedown
Heroes - Shinedown
Yer Majesty - Shinedown
Ten Thousand Fists - Disturbed
Land of Confusion - Disturbed
It's My Turn to Fly - The Urge
Dance Dance - Fall Out Boy
Nobody's Listening - Linkin Park
Welcome Home - Coheed & Cambria
Welcome to the Masquerade - Thousand Foot Krutch
Scream - Thousand Foot Krutch
Hope some of those help you out.
For strength training:
OK Go - Invincible
Queen - Another One Bites The Dust
Cheap Trick - Dream Police
The Cranberries - Zombie
Dandy Warhols - Boys Better
The Kinks - Bernadette
The Lemonheads - Mrs. Robinson
Nine Inch Nails - Deep
Peter Gabriel - The Building That Ate People
Cardio:
Ooh - Scissor Sisters
Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice
Kirsty MacColl - Us Amazonians
Amy Winehouse - Rehab
Basement Jaxx - Do Your Thing
Heart of Glass - Blondie
Buster Poindexter - Hot, Hot, Hot
Teddybears - Cobrastyle
Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You
David Byrne - Glass, Concrete and Stone
Elvis Presley - A Little Less Conversation
Gary Glitter - Rock and Roll Part 2
Cliff's handy, dandy suggestions:
Back In Black - AC/DC
Party Hard - Andrew WK (any Andrew WK, really)
Go - Andrew Hunter
Good Luck - Basement Jaxx
That Golden Rule - Biffy Clyro
Never Gonna Come Back Down - BT (W/Mike Doughty)
Get Your Snack On - Amon Tobin
Dive For You - Boom Boom Satellites
Setting Sun - The Chemical Brothers
Weapons Of Mass Destruction - The Crystal Method
They Live! (DJ Version) - Evil Nine
Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim
Silver Screen Shower Scene - Felix Da Housecat
Emerge - Fischerspooner
Atom Bomb - Fluke (highly recommended)
Mind Killer - Adam Freeland
Escape Artists Never Die - Funeral For A Friend
Are You Real - Fury In The Slaughterhouse
We Have Explosive - Future Sound of London
I Wish - Infected Mushroom
Today - Junkie XL (almost any Junkie XL, really)
Conga Fury - Juno Reactor
'88 Aka Come Down On Me - Lemon Jelly
From Rusholme With Love - Mint Royale
Getaway - The Music
The Hand That Feeds - Nine Inch Nails
Ready, Steady, Go - Oakenfold
Take California - Propellerheads
Invaders Must Die! - The Prodigy
Guerrilla Radio - Rage Against The Machine
Seventeen Years - Ratatat
Fight! Smash! Win! - Street Sweeper Social Club
Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team) - Taking Back Sunday
Breakdown - Tantric
Break It Down Again - Tears For Fears
Donna Everywhere - Too Much Joy
Teenage Wristband - The Twilight Singers
I Will Follow - U2
Don't Let Go - Weezer
CNR - Weird Al (trust me on this)
Baba O'Reilly - The Who
Treat Me Mean, I Need The Reputation - Xploding Plastix
This is a good sampling from my rather massive workout playlist on my iPod. Needless to say, I aim high.
~c.
Cliff "Devinoch" Hicks
Wow, a bunch of my songs have already been listed, but here are some more good ones:
Peak Hour (From Days of Future Passed) - The Moody Blues
Let There Be Rock - AC/DC
Jump (For My Love) - The Pointer Sisters
Here It Goes - Ok Go
One Angry Dwarf (And 200 Solemn Faces) - Ben Folds Five
Go - The Apples in Stereo
The Boys of Summer - The Ataris (cover)
Love Shack - The B-52s
Catch A Wave - The Beach Boys
Helter Skelter, Help, or Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles
I've Just Seen a Face - perf. by Jim Sturgess on the Across the Universe soundtrack
Also, if you want to add amusing yourself to your workout:
The Rye or the Kaiser
Albuquerque
Smells Like Nirvana
Your Horoscope for Today
Grapefruit Diet
Canadian Idiot
or any Polka by Weird Al Yankovic
Okay, I could probably go on forever, so I'll stop now.
"25 Miles" [youtube.com] by the late, great Edwin "War" Starr -- it's especially good for the treadmill/running/hiking. It's hard not to get moving listening to it.
"War" would be pretty good too, but the subject matter is a downer.
You've got to include some Ugress, to add that... "je ne sais quoi" of geeky awesome beats.
Some candidates:
Manhattan Sapphire
Makina Fifth
Monochromatic World
Battle 22
Cthulu's Night Out
Sordid Pulse
E-Pipe
Spiderman Theme
Evil Jeans
Also, the entire Descent 2 soundtrack is totally kick ass. ;)
Bad Bad Leroy Brown by Jim Croce
Butterflies and Hurricanes by Muse
The words make me feel like I'm fighting an army of epic robots . . . which is what I'm training for on the exer-cycle anyway.
Chop Suey - System Of A Down
I would post a few ghetto songs w/ bass, but not everybody likes them!
Anyway, enjoy the song & keep doing an awesome job on exercising!
Physical - Olivia Newton-John
AN ESSENTIAL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWz9VN40nCA
Actually for a workout, all you gotta do is reenact that music video.
My vote is for the Heartless Bastards, a Cincinnati-based band, now on tour across the country. They've got some really hard-driving rhythms and a singer who is always giving it her all. Most of the stronger tunes really keep me going in my workouts.
Check out their website. [theheartlessbastards.com]
Their first album, Stairs & Elevators [amazon.com], is the great for workouts. Check out the songs Gray, New Resolution, and Done Got Old for starters.
If you're looking for something a little more upbeat, but that keeps you moving, try the Seedy Seeds [theseedyseeds.com] (another Cincy band). Really wild stuff, but the rhythms are great to keep you jammin' on the treadmill, etc. Check out their first album, Change States [amiestreet.com], specifically songs like
Earned Average Dance America, The Little Patton, and Alberta.
Keep on shakin' your money-maker!
- James
