Supernatural Music - Issue #1: "The Road So Far" Playlist

THEN

A television series about two ghost-hunting brothers looking for their father (who "went hunting" and "hasn't been home in a few days") airs on the CW to little fanfare or acclaim. While it carries similarities to other CW shows, it sets itself apart by placing its two *ahem* very good-looking leads in "monster-of-the-week" episodes that feel like horror mini-movies. These two "hunters" travel around the back roads of America, listening to classic rock in the most gorgeous black '67 Chevy Impala you've ever seen. The scenes of small towns and small roads work because it is reminiscent of every road trip I - and everyone like me - ever took with my family as a child.

The requisite CW angst works really well between the brothers, perhaps moreso than it does on any other show on the CW lineup. Also, these guys hunt monsters. It's fun, grittier, and less polished than most CW shows. Despite the inherently formulaic nature of the show, it soon reveals a larger plan, and the season finale cliffhanger leaves people itching for more.

NOW

Thirteen seasons later, this plucky little show has a cult following (seriously). Sitting at a 2-3 million viewership, Supernatural has respectable enough ratings to keep itself on air, but only just. Yet this show has turned into a phenomenon that shows no signs of stopping...and this has everything to do with its rabid fan base.

As a fandom, Supernatural can only be described as...scary. We besiege pollings for awards, influence plots of episodes, are one of top two fandoms on fan fiction sites, have successfully lobbied for the return of beloved characters, and have even successfully campaigned for a spin-off that caters to our preferences. We appear to be everywhere, taking over Tumblr memes and Reddit threads with a speed that terrifies other fandoms.

Let that sink in for a moment. Other fandoms are scared of us.

What inspires such devotion in a television series...or anything, for that matter?

Well, for one...music. ...and lots of it.

Music: The 4th Supernatural Character

If you know anything about the show, you know that many of the characters who started out as smalltime players have become bigtime fan favorites who make regular appearances. The two main characters are not as alone as they once were, and that's a good thing.

Yet aside from the walking, talking characters on the series, there are two other "main" characters that have featured in practically every episode: "Baby" (the aforementioned Impala) & the music that accompanies the series. I'll talk about "Baby" (a.k.a - the 3rd character) at another time. She really deserves her own post. For now, here's a quick bit about the music, a.k.a. the "4th" character...

It's putting it rather mildly to say that Supernatural would not be Supernatural without it's rocking soundtrack. The music doesn't just give you something to bop along to as the brothers hurl about, getting themselves into and out of trouble. Nor does the music exist for the sake of pulling people in with the most current popular tracks. No, there's much more to it than that. Eric Kripke, the show's creator, knew from the start that he wanted to have classic rock tracks for the soundtrack. As so many scenes take place inside a car on the road, the music choices had to be just right, embodying the preferences of the main characters and setting the tone for the overall style of the show.

On that score (no pun intended), they nail it every time. Not only do many of the choices feel more score-like than just popping in a CD and calling it good, but they also use titles of songs for titles of episodes, references to various locations, persons, and things. The music is pervasive, and holds a place of honor. Hell, Led Zeppelin is the most honored music within the show's universe, and they've never even had the rights to play a single track. That's how important the music is.

Sure, some of the choices are cheesy. In "Faith", a mid-Season 1 episode, Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" plays while a minor character is literally chased down by - get this - a grim reaper. But it's this cheesiness that somehow makes the show work. The show's indulgence in cheese keeps it from taking itself too seriously - a mistake made by many other shows - while committing to said cheese gives it just enough weight to make you not hate yourself for liking it. It does what so many hipsters won't even try: liking something inherently ridiculous without irony.

Better Episode Recaps: Turning a Necessity into Art

As if making you love the music during the show isn't enough, the creators make you love it before it even starts with its "Then" & "The Road So Far" recaps of previous episodes.

You may have noticed that recaps are a necessary evil for shows today. In decades past (and sometimes still today), TV shows have had such an episodic formula that you were never in danger of having lost some important detail for the final episode climax of the season's overarching plot. That was partially because there really isn't much of one in most of those shows. So if you missed a detail, or even a couple of episodes, no harm, no foul.

Now, however, more and more TV shows rely on overarching plots and themes which are touched upon in nearly every episode, rather than the old self-contained formula. Some, such as in the case of Supernatural, strike a balance of the two. These methods make it difficult to watch shows week-to-week without some kind of pre-episode recap. Can you imagine watching Lost or the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series as they aired without recaps? Most people wouldn't have a clue what was happening. (Even bingeing a show may still result in lost clues to season and series finales.)

The problem with recaps is that they can spoonfeed too much of previous episodes, taking the re-discovery out of pertinent moments. If you add flashbacks to those moments on top of that... At that point, you have to conclude that if people need that much hinting, it means they probably aren't that focused on the show anyway and oughtn't bother.

I, personally, binge my TV shows so I don't have to watch recaps. I have absolutely no patience for a weekly wait between episodes as it is, and I hate relying on someone else to remind me of what happened in the past. So, I often wait a couple seasons before attempting a new show, and I try not to watch a show as it's airing.

So imagine my delight when Supernatural decided to make recaps that you actually want to watch. Much like movie trailers, these have some of the best moments condensed into a very short time, a mini-movie of what happened previously...like any other recap. Yet some of these recaps have kickass classic rock tracks that get you excited about a new season or, conversely, the upcoming season finale. True, they only do this for two or three episodes, but at that point, you're committed (or should be), and can therefore tune out the less interesting ones in between.

So that's what I'm focusing on today. There'll be other Supernatural music to focus on another day (such as an ode to Kansas's "Carry on Wayward Son"). Like the rest of the music they choose, each of these tracks is carefully curated, and conveys the mood and tone of previous episodes and upcoming scenes. They are, in a word, perfect.

So, if you're looking for a cool playlist of music, look no further. If you're not a fan of classic rock or are not open to checking out something new, feel free to carry on.

Season 1

1.21 "Salvation"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

1.22 "Devil's Trap"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Triumph - Fight the Good Fight

Season 2

2.01 "In My Time of Dying"
"Then" Recap: Ted Nugent - Stranglehold

2.02 Everybody Loves a Clown"
"Then" Recap: The Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come Today

2.03 "Bloodlust"
"Then" Recap: Journey - Wheel in the Sky

2.21 "All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Boston - Foreplay/Long Time

2.22 "All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Season 3

3.01 "The Magnificent Seven"
"The Road So Far" Recap: AC/DC - Hell's Bells

3.16 "No Rest for the Wicked"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Season 4

4.01 "Lazarus Rising"
"The Road So Far" Recap: AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long

4.02 "Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester"
"Then" Recap: Billy Squier - Lonely Is the Night

4.22 "Lucifer Rising"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Season 5

5.01 "Sympathy for the Devil"
"The Road So Far" Recap: AC/DC - Thunderstruck

5.02 "Good God, Y'All"
"Then" Recap: Foreigner - Long, Long Way from Home

5.22 "Swan Song"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Season 6

6.12 "Like a Virgin"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Aerosmith - Back in the Saddle

6.22 "The Man Who Knew Too Much"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Season 7

7.01 "Meet the New Boss"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Foghat - Slow Ride

7.11 "Adventures in Babysitting"
"The Road So Far" Recap: REO Speedwagon - Ridin' the Storm Out (Live)

7.23 "Survival of the Fittest"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Season 8

8.01 "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Jethro Tull - Locomotive Breath

8.10 "Torn and Frayed"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Bob Seger - Katmandu

8.23 "Sacrifice"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Season 9

9.01 "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here"
"The Road So Far" Recap: George Thorogood and the Destroyers - Who Do You Love?

9.23 "Do You Believe in Miracles?"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Season 10

10.01 "Black"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Pat Benatar - Heartbreaker

10.10 "The Hunter Games"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Electric Light Orchestra - Long Black Road

10.23 "Brother's Keeper"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Season 11

11.01 "Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Creedence Clearwater Revival - Run Through the Jungle

11.10 "The Devil in the Details"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Wishbone Ash - Changing Tracks

11.23 "Alpha and Omega"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Season 12

12.01 "Keep Calm and Carry On"
"The Road So Far" Recap: April Wine - Bad Boys

12.09 "First Blood"
"The Road So Far" Recap: AC/DC - If You Want Blood (You've Got It)

12.23 "All Along the Watchtower"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Season 13

13.01 "Lost and Found"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Metallica - Nothing Else Matters

13.10 "Wayward Sisters"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Halestorm - I Am the Fire

13.23 "Let the Good Times Roll"
"The Road So Far" Recap: Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son


If this playlist makes your mouth water, but you simply don't have the time to gather these tracks yourself, fear not. I've created it for you, over on my Spotify. You can access it here: "The Road So Far" Playlist on Spotify

Enjoy!


Quote:

"Driver picks the music. Shotgun shuts his cakehole."
~Dean Winchester ("Pilot" S1E1)

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What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!