Deep Black Zeppelin

[discman69]

Not sure if this is the best place for this, so if a mod wants to move it. 

Next Friday I am driving to Myrtle Beach for my son's baseball tournament. It will be roughly an 8 hour trip. So I am coming up with different playlists on Spotify for the trip. Now I have to have a mixed one with pop, Country and such for the wife, but I decided to make one of the 3 Giants of Early Metal.....Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Hence the title Deep Black Zeppelin. Now the hard part, I made myself narrow it down to 10 songs per band. Talk about almost impossible, especially Sabbath. Anyway I thought I would share. I'm sure some may be like what? You left so and so song off. Again this was tough. You try narrowing your Sabbath list to just 10.

Black Sabbath
Hush
Good Times Bad Times
War Pigs
Black Night
Whole Lotta Love
Wheels of Confusion
Child In Time
Immigrant Song
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Strange Kind of Woman
Misty Mountain Hop
Symptom of the Universe
Fireball
Rock and Roll
Heaven and Hell
Smoke on the Water
No Quarter
The Sign of the Southern Cross
Highway Star
Houses of the Holy
Trashed
Woman From Tokyo
Kashmir
I
Burn
Achilles Last Stand
God is Dead?
Perfect Strangers
Fool in the Rain

[Zzzptm]

Ooooh, a mixtape thread... I like...

Actually, given the parameters - 10 songs from each of the Big Three - for me, it's not a question of the best of the best, but a question of the songs that work best off of each other.

For example, this trio does not make sense to me:

Hush
Hole in the Sky
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You

But change one song, and the flow would work much better, in my opinion:

Hush
Solitude
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You

I'll make another rule for myself in that I want every three songs to be one from each band - no double shots, unless there's no other way to fit one trio with another.

This is a road trip, as well, so we need road trip music, not beanbag chair and headphones music. Road trips for me also mean looking for deep cuts that may not work all the time, but might be perfect for that one spot on the playlist.

Good Times Bad Times
The Wizard
Speed King
Paranoid
Communication Breakdown
Hush
Back Street Kids
Ted the Mechanic
Candy Store Rock
Children of the Grave
Stairway to Heaven
Pictures of Home
Neon Knights
Highway Star
Living Loving Mad
Wishing Well
Might Just Take Your Life
Whole Lotta Love
Heaven and Hell
No No No
Custard Pie
Looking for Today
The Ocean
Smooth Dancer
Never Say Die
Fool in the Rain
Walk Away
Don't Hold Your Breath
When the Levee Breaks
Lonely is the Word

I'm pulling some cuts from Deep Purple's Purpendicular album, which I strongly recommend as consideration for any road trip play-listery. That one and Abandon as well. Those two albums are the best ambassadors of the Morse era of Purple, which has some great stuff, indeed.

[discman69]

That is a great playlist. I agree that as a road trip play list you should have some deeper cuts. I should have taken that advice because I would have had Walk Away on there as well. Thought for sure if I did I would be shunned forever.       So I may pull God is Dead and put Walk Away on or Over To You.

I have to give a listen to Purpendicular. I'll be honest I am not that familiar with Purple music after Perfect Strangers

[Zzzptm]

It's also important to have a variety in terms of styles, tempos, and artists. The Great American Road Trip involves lots of miles and it's very easy to get highway hypnosis. Therefore, the music should help to keep the driver awake and alert.

In general, songs you can sing along with are great - but you gotta sing along! Don't just take the music for granted. In that sense, "Don't Stop Believin'" would be better than Deep Purple's "The Mule (Live Version)" because it is damn hard to sing along with a massive drum solo. Yes, the Journey song is sappy... but it's also singable, so it's something that should be considered for a road trip, especially if you've got passengers who don't want you to have tyranny in the music department.

Slightly unfamiliar songs are also good because they sound relatively new, so the brain is keying in on the new stimulus. The bonus is that the music tends to get married to the drive, so you'll be able to remember your trip when you hear that song again.

Really heavy heavy heavy metal can make me drowsy because the basic beats are so repetitive, fast, and constant. Not good. On the other hand, there are a lot of stoner bands that play music that goes perfectly with the rolling rhythm of the drive. Western Swing always works well for me, as it has that travelin' rhythm to it, has variety, and is quite singable. Algerian Rai music is also good stuff - putting the two together makes for some odd contrasts, however...

For really interesting parts of the drive, like when we get into mountain roads, I want some up-tempo Goa Trance. That stuff is perfect for sharp turns and steep climbs.

I put "Highway Star" into my playlists at my own risk. Invariably, the song is cursed for me and I will either be in the middle of traffic for the whole of the song, or I'll be stuck in massive traffic by the time the vocals start. Every. Damn. Time.

[Charger]

Very cool thread this one indeed!

However I have to say I very rarely make cds with mixed bands...It's usually sort of best of collections that I have in my car...

I do have a few...but usually they're filled with bands that I only like one or two songs...I do have some sort of theme albums as well with songs from certain eras...like 70s rock or 80s metal or stuff like that...or best pop rock songs.

But for me it is usually just best of collections that I make from stuff that I have...

On that note I just made myself a new 3CD collection from Ozzy...haven't really listened Ozzy's solo stuff in years and thought it'd be about time again...

[Zzzptm]

I used to do solid-band tapes or album-only tapes, but all that changed when I stopped using tapes.

I still call them tapes, though, even though they're now MP3 files on a USB or MP3 files on my phone.

But I like a good mix of music now, because the added variety really helps me stay awake at the wheel.

[discman69]

So the trip there and back consisted of these playlists:
1) Kid Rock. 15 songs
2) Men of Country....for the wife. 25 songs
3) Heartland Rock... Bob Seger, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen. 20songs
4) Deep Black Sabbath. 30 Songs
5) Disney Movie Tunes. 20 Songs
6) 80's Hair Metal. 15 Songs
7) Women of Country. 25 Songs
Dance Fever....15 dance/rap songs
9) Rolling Beatle Monkee. 30 Songs of Stones, Beatles and Monkees
10) Fab Four. No not more Beatles but 40 songs of ac/dc, Aerosmith, Kiss and Van Halen

[Zzzptm]

I'll be having a Texas road trip soon. Wife has said, "Nothing crazy and no new stuff. I'm too old for new stuff!"

So, my genres for the mixes will include:

1. Texas-based country
2. Classic country - talkin' Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Bakersfield Sound
3. Oldies - Golden age of Rock stuff, 1951-1963
4. Motown and 1960's funk/soul
5. Classic rock, 60's to 80's

I'll be using my phone, and I just discovered VNC for mobile, which really beats the default player on my Samsung. I'll test to see if I can build a playlist on my PC and then port it to my phone.

[discman69]

Those are some good playlists. I had a Motown and Southern Rock one as well, but didn't get to them as per road trip wife and I got mad at each other. 

[Zzzptm]

That stuff happens. I'm glad that, for me and my wife, it's pretty much limited on whether or not to use the parking brake on a level surface or whether or not to tear the entire top off a resealable bag when opening it for the first time.