Top 10 Super Hero Songs
Monday, May 7, 2012 at 12:40PM[With The Avengers big news at the box offise, list-meister Brent Chittenden took a look through his CD collection. -AC]
In case you missed it, The Avengers made a ton of money over the weekend. Over $200 MILLION in three days.
Superheroes are big at the box office which has given me a great opportunity to combine my love of comics (feel free to read my column over at www.comicbookdaily.com) and my love of music into the top ten list of superhero songs.
Some of them aren’t necessarily about the hero in question, some were featured on soundtracks but all of these songs have a vague superhero connection of some sort. What I wanted to create was the superhero playlist that you can listen to before heading to the theater to watch The Avengers for the third or fourth time. Enjoy the top ten superhero songs of all time!
10) Five For Fighting – "Superman"
This came out around the same time Smallville started gaining some steam and in terms of Clark Kent, the song really goes well with a teenager who will eventually be the greatest of all DC superheroes.
9) Joe Satriani – "Surfing With The Alien"
Joe Satriani’s guitar classic titled for the Silver Surfer. Not a big Silver Surfer Fan myself but this should be included on every comic book music list.
8) Soundgarden – "Live To Rise"
A late entry but I really, really dig this new Soundgarden song from The Avengers soundtrack. Given time, it might actually rise up the ranks on my list. But because it’s fairly new, here it shall stay. For now.
7) Paul McCartney and Wings – "Magneto and Titanium Man"
It’s a Beatle singing about Marvel villains! Sure the characters are portrayed a little different then they are in the comics but as i said before it’s a BEATLE SINGING ABOUT MARVEL COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS!!!
6) Rollins Band – "Ghost Rider"
A cover of Suicide’s song from the Rollins Band about the fire headed Marvel hero, interestingly enough, the song appears on the soundtrack to another comic book turned movie, The Crow. Suicide’s version is good but I love the Rollins Band version.
5) Partners in Kryme – "Turtle Power"
You can’t help but give the Turtles a shout out and this song is a lot better the Vanilla Ice’s “Ninja Rap” from TMNT Part 2.
4) Velvet Revolver – "Set Me Free"
This comes from the first Hulk film directed by Ang Lee... a film that is... okay... but it featured our very first listen to Velvet Revolver and the song itself does really fit the character of the Hulk well.
3) Black Sabbath – "Iron Man"
Not exactly about Marvel’s Iron Man but it just feels right especially if we’re talking the first Iron Man suit which is clunky and embodies the phrase “heavy metal”.
2) Prince – "Batdance"
From Prince’s soundtrack to the 1989 Batman, Batdance is an interesting take on music for Batman. Who would have thought Prince and Batman would fit together so well.
1) The Ramones – Spider-Man theme song
The Ramones take on the classic Spider-Man theme just feels like peanut butter and chocolate meeting. The song is a perfect fit and hey, Spidey protects New York, The Ramones are from New York. Peanut butter and chocolate my friends.
And there is a ton more out there. The Cure’s “Dredd Song”, Rancid’s “Sidekick”, Elton John’s “Dan Dare”. [Wot? No Crash Test Dummies? -AC]
What did we miss that you feel should have been on the list? List them below because this is always a list we can revisit. This summer alone there’s GI Joe; Retaliation, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises.
Reader Comments (12)
Yup, no Crash Test Dummies but I'm kind of sad that my buddies Kirby Krackle slipped by. A list that might need some reworking in the future.
don't forget "Heroes" by Wallflowers Godzilla soundtrack!
Also add "Waiting for Superman" by the Flaming Lips and "Hole me Thrill me Kiss Me Kill Me" by U2.
"NY Debut (Instrumental)" and "The Boy Falls from the Sky" are also from U2's comic book hero canon.
One of these days, I'm going to do a piece on U2's "nerdy" stuff. The Spider-Man musical, the aborted musical Clockwork Orange, Edge's theme to The Batman cartoon. There's a lot to mine there. Someone once told me that when he's in Toronto, Bono shops at The Silver Snail but I have no personal confirmation of this.
The Flaming Lips is a great suggestion. What else am I missing?
Chalk Circle's Superman (meets the Man of Steel) deserves a mention. Was that a 1940s cartoon sample in there?
Wow, some truly terrible songs on that list.
Trying to alternative it up a bit, I can think of R.E.M.'s "(I Am) Superman", Matthew Sweet's "Evangeline", The New Pornographers have a song called "Challengers" the reference's the Challengers of the Unknown. The Chameleon's "Swamp Thing". "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" isn't about a comic character but it's definitely about a superhero. Devo made a song about the Powerpuff Girls, I kid you not.
The Crash Test Dummies song is an abomination and we should never speak of it again.
What about Heroes by Chad Kroeger (feat. Josey Scott) from the Spider-man soundtrack?
Firewater did a song about Christopher Reeve and the life of his stunt double after the accident... I'm pretty sure it counts.
Our Lady Peace's Made of Steel? I think it came out right around the time Spiderman did and I always thought it would have worked on that soundtrack.
A must add to the list: "Superhero" by Johnny Hollow.
http://youtu.be/QjHR0oASSfU
Moxy Früvous' version of the Spider-Man theme.
Chris Caraba (Dashboard Confessional) - Vindicated from the Spider-Man soundtrack
The Cure - Burn from The Crow soundtrack (although the whole thing is pretty darn good)
Joe Satriani’s guitar classic titled for the Silver Surfer. Not a big Silver Surfer Fan myself but this should be included on every comic book music list.