Hi. I’m looking to put together a workout tape in hopes it will be the thing to get me back to exercising. It’s been six years now of slothdom and I just gotta do something about it. As you can see, I’m even using terminology (amped???) from my workout days when I lived in the Valley and the most important things in the world were my bench press max, my fantasy baseball team and my collection of pornos.
I’m afraid “Wanted: Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi and similar songs from my old compilations won’t have the same effect as they used to.
All genres welcome, all eras. I really appreciate it.
My three contributions (a little cliched, perhaps):
A good pre-workout warmup would be High Roller by Crystal Method. For some reason I always picture about six fighter-bombers loaded down with ordnance, skimming over some hellacious terrain at about 1,000 feet. Very little actual bombing. But I digress – their Trip Like I Do is also a great warmup and break-me-in song.
Once you get into the workout, Ringfinger by Nine Inch Nails is great, especially if you have a system that can deliver good fidelity bass during the third verse. The Geto Boys’ Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta is great for any fans of Office Space. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes do great up-tempo punk covers of some awesome songs, like Science Fiction, Double Feature and Rocket Man, among MANY others. The Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction and to a lesser extent, Gimme Shelter, are both great songs for something to get you rockin. If you’re into that – and a lot of people aren’t – a good live cut of Phish’s Tweezer, or the studio version of Tweezer (Reprise) off of “A Picture of Nectar”, will keep you company during a long segment of your workout (up to 30 minutes). Poe’s Walk the Walk is an amazing up-tempo song with a dark edge and a nice come-down; bonus points for the inspirational message. For that matter, Jimmy Eat World’s recent hit The Middle is pretty good; perhaps deduct a point becase it’s overplayed on pop radio. Touch and Go have a pair of songs you’ve almost certainly heard before: Straight to Number One and Would You? – okay, so you’ve almost certainly heard them, but only if you’ve been to a gay dance club in the last two years or so. They’re about sex, but that doesn’t mean they’re not catchy.
ac/dc- You Shook Me All Night Long
Aerosmith- F.I.N.E., Back in the Saddle, Rag Doll
Linkin Park-Numb
Three Doors Down-Kryptonite
Green Day- Basket Case
Offspring- Self Esteem
Red Hot Chili Peppers- Zephyr Song, Scar Tissue
Stone Temple Pilots- Interstate Love Song
Blue Man GroupAudio and Blue Man GroupThe Complex. The first few tracks from The Complex are enough to keep me on the elliptical machine just long enough to really break a sweat.
A better Jimmy Eat World song to get you pumped would probably be “Crush” or “No Sensitivity”.
“The Brides Have Hit Glass” by Guided By Voices always kinda gets me pumped, but that might just be me.
Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop 'Til You Get Enough” is also pretty good.
If you’re at all interested in Japanese Rock, or are willing to simply listen to a song for sound rather than attempting to understand the lyrics, L’Arc~en~Ciel has a few upbeat songs you might like. “Dive To Blue”, “The Ghost In My Room”, and “Shi no Hai” can get me pretty pumped.
Basement Jaxx is similar to Fatboy Slim, and you might like some of his stuff too.
I was all amped driving around in the dark listening to “Add It Up” by The Violent Femmes. Also, I like “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath and the entirety of Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral.
“Alex Chilton” The Replacements
“Ask” The Smiths
“Cups” Underworld
“I Miss You” Bjork
“Just Sick” Big Ass Truck
“Supersex” Morphine
“U-Mass” Pixies
“Would” Alice in Chains
If you can find any of Tomoyasu Hotei’s albums (he did the instrumental theme used in Kill Bill), I find his more recent work to be great for exercising.
Battle Without Honor or Humanity (the Kill Bill piece) Katana Groove
Supersonic Generation
Fuck the Fake Star
Believe Me I’m a Liar
They Spy You
The Immigrant Song (a remake of the Led Zep song)
Because We Can - Moulin Rouge
Meet Me In The Red Room - Moulin Rouge
Hindi Sad Diamonds - Moulin Rouge
Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin
Train Kept a Rollin’ - Aerosmith (find a live version)
What Kind of Love are You On? - Aerosmith
Toys In The Attic - Aerosmith
Baby Please Don’t Go - Aerosmith
Ballroom Blitz - Crucial Taunt (Wayne’s World)
Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
