Playoff Playlist...Breakaway Version

A quick correction to yesterday's post first of all...as Yotes points out, Newcastle were the only team beginning with "N" to be present at last years playoff finals...Nottingham didn't make it. That was something I should have caught in the re-read if not the original type...it's duly been edited, with thanks to Yotes for pointing it out in such a polite fashion (as a Panthers fan, a slightly sarky comment would have been more than justified :)) and apologies to both Vipers and Panthers...

Onwards...as promised yesterday, the Breakaway is continuing its playoff link with Five Minute Major, this time round creating the ultimate playoff playlist. The way this works is simple...I do ten over here, and then Becky and Matt over at FMM do their ten, and between us we create the ultimate soundtrack CD to playoff weekend...(well, an alternative one, obviously-being the NIC we're likely to get the ruddy Clap Clap Song, Chelsea Dagger, or, if we're really unlucky, Sandstorm on repeat, given that most British hockey music has to either be family-friendly clappiness or bad techno nowadays, it seems. Or, if you're lucky, a few of the same rock songs that get played in the NHL, such as Sweet Child O'Mine...

Anyway...a quick caveat before my ten...

Most of them are going to be alternative/rock, and fairly heavy at that (with one notable exception). This is because rock music is the only one that really fits hockey properly, in my opinion.

They're intended to excite anticipation in the hockey to come, or put you in the mood. If you can imagine a montage of hits, goals and fights to it, there's a good chance I considered it...

And, obviously, this is not a definitive list, feel free to suggest what you'll be firing up on the iPod on the way to Nottingham, and we'll see about building a "Now That's What I Call British Hockey!" if by some fluke there are more than one or two comments...

These songs will probably work best in the order they're given...

The reasons given are mine and mine alone, and there'll be one for each track, just to keep you interested...or otherwise...

Through the magic of youtube, there's a link to the best version of each song I could find, also.

Anyway...on we go. Crank that stereo up and let's drop the puck!

1. 1. Gustav Holst: "Mars, the Bringer of War" (from "The Planets"): Yes, it's classical. But a piece originally written intended to reflect the coming of mechanised warfare, the rattle of machine guns and the roar of exploding bombs is possibly the ideal, if somewhat left-field way to open this CD...the ebb and flow of the music and the pounding, menacing thump of the main theme is almost as unsettling as the snarl of Brett Clouthier dropping the gloves or the sight of two heavyweights circling each other like a pair of fighting grizzlies....but the high point of the whole thing occurs around 4 minutes in, as the music builds to a crescendo, higher and higher, before the main theme kicks back in with the sound and fury that even a packed Panthers/Steelers playoff final can only dream of...if hockey is legalised war on ice, then this is its soundtrack...
   
2. David Bowie: "Heroes": Yes, it's a fairly obvious choice what with the themes of heroism and game-winners that come ready-made with semi-finals, finals, winning and losing...But that isn't the reason it fits hockey so well. This is...and this is what I think of whenever I hear Bowie's voice...Bill Clement's commentary and all. For some, the greatest moment of this marriage of sublime hockey commentary and great music is right at the beginning, as skates are tied and players glide in slow motion through the mist. For others it's "GRRRRRREEEEAAAAT SAVE JOS-EPH!". For still others, it might be Bowie's distinctive voice soaring over the image of a leaping Matthew Barnaby as Clement yells that most hallowed of hockey phrases to mark the moment Barnaby "shoots....and SCORES!" Either way, it's one minute of hockey heaven-and that's why the song that goes with it makes this list.
   
3. Garbage: "Push It":
   Like "Heroes" this one perhaps makes it in more by association with hockey imagery rather than with the game itself. However, while "Heroes" and the images with it are notable for showcasing the grace and beauty that can be found in all aspects of hockey, this song, and the images it was used with (from the first NHL game I actually owned) are all about the intensity and power. The fact that I happen to find Shirley Manson's drawl among the sexiest singing voices on the planet doesn't hinder the song much either. From the puck dropping in the empty rink, to the animated player taking a burning stick from on high as the song builds, to the game footage (including the awesome "slide-along-the-bench" check (watch the video to see which I mean) means that hearing this song always, always fires me up for some hockey...it makes the violence of hockey look beautiful...
4. Prodigy: "Smack My Bitch Up: Self-explanatory, this song...it's just an absolutely awesome hockey tune to thump out loud on the way to a game. If, like me, you like to imagine it as some sort of audio ode to Dan Tessier getting a kicking from Rob Dowd, Jay Latulippe pointing out the error of Ryan Finnerty's ways, or the same Finnerty dealing with Bruce Richardson once and twice in the way every non-Panthers player would have probably liked to at some point this season, then that's just extra.
   
5. Hammerfall: "Any Means Necessary":
   
The whole philosophy of how to win in playoff hockey, summed up in a song title. The song itself isn't bad either in a kind of slightly-too-earnest way...the repeated chant of "by any means necessary" should be a mantra ringing in your team's head by now...

6. Judas Priest: "Painkiller"
   "Faster than a bullet-terrifying scream. Enraged and full of anger, he's half man and half machine". Believe it or not, this song wasn't written about an angry Brad Voth, nor for Steve Munn when he's on the warpath. What it was written for is unashamed hell-for-leather (and being Judas Priest, leather was never in short supply) headbanging. Breakneck speed, Rob Halford's barely-human scream and more potential for making angry faces while singing along than you can shake a Rbk 9k stick at...it's just pure bloody fun to have on on the way to a hockey game...
   
7. Turisas: "Battle Metal":
   ...as is this, from Finland...granted, Viking Metal may not be to everyone's taste but the clue's in the title, really...sing along, yell your fan war-cries out of the window if you're on the motorway and generally have a whale of a time pretending to be rampaging barbarians invading the wilds of Nottingham, aiming to drink the Castle dry and roar your team to victory in the company of your warrior brethren as they quest for British hockey's Holy Grail (well, one of them)..."BAT-TLE! BAT-TLE! MET-AL!"
   
8. Korn: "Here To Stay:
   ...This, meanwhile, is music to make pure, unadulterated war by. Like "Mars" which opened this ten, it's uncompromisingly aggressive and all business...this is the brutality of playoff hockey summed up in aural form.
   
9. Hanson Brothers: "The Hockey Song"
There had to be one "traditional" one in here, and which one better than the greatest ever ode to the game of hockey, slightly reworked for the modern era? Stompin'Tom Connors' iconic original is given a punk-rock rework...why a team hasn't incorporated a fan singalong of this timeless classic into their build-up as a tradition, God only knows. Come on, Coventry (or indeed any team)-you know it makes sense...

10. The Pogues: "Love You Til The End":
Picked more for the afterglow of victory and the ride home than the ride to Nottingham, some of you may only know this song either because you're already a fan of Shane MacGowan and co, or from the somewhat cheesy chick-flick of 2008, PS, I Love You. And thus you may be wondering what it's doing here. Unless you've seen the ending of Mystery, Alaska. In which case you'll know exactly what it's doing here. Two words as to why this song and the very last little bit of this film makes such an impact..."pond hockey".

There you go...that's the Breakaway's half of the Playoff Playlist...nip over to Five Minute Major to check out Matt and Becky's half, add your own in comments if you wish, and keep keeping your eye on the puck...