Yeah I guess I wasn't really thinking of the music of West Virginia when I posted this. Also I've never actually listened to music while hiking either--guess I associate music more with majestic images than actual climbing. More favorites of mine: "Going to California" by Led Zeppelin and "Subterranean Homesick Alien" by Radiohead. Former is especially potent if you're actually in California.

Oh trust me Matt, I was tempted to post the Simon & Garfunkel one. But I like taking obscure ones and let other folks get the famous ones.

I like Midnight Oil, and there are some musical similarities to U2. Lots of their material is related to the Australian outback, and contains a lot of references to plants and animals of the region. They also do a pretty good job arranging their albums, which makes it good to listen to hiking.
One you may recognize: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejorQVy3m8E[/youtube]

BITD, I had pretty consistent listening habits for my long (usually solo) drives to and from the mountains.

Tioga Pass Road (W to E) at night would always be Pink Floyd's Animals and Wish You Were Here.

Trips to Sequoia/Kings Canyon would be ELO or maybe even Moody Blues.

East side trips along 395 would have to be Robin Trower's first two albums.

Going home from any trip: Derek and the Dominoes and Hendrix's Electric Lady Land.

Listening to songs from these particular albums now, will usually transport me back in time to those trips and places- especially if I shut my eyes.

The first few years after my son was born, I was sort of forced to listen to Charlotte Diamond or ('gasp') Barney songs when we went on mountain trips. AHHHHHHHHH!!! Oops, sorry!

anita wrote:I tend not to listen to music when out in the mountains or climbing... just takes away from everything
but I will listen when I get back to my car. norwegian death metal usually ends a day nicely

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h9XzRdFIhc[/youtube]

Not my cup of tea (too heavy) but I still find Norwegian Death Metal absolutely fascinating. Especially Mayham & Gorgoroth.
But I do like some newer stuff (not death metal): Bestias de Asalto, Painbastard & God Module

Props for Midnight Oil!
I heard last that Peter was in Austrailian parliment now?

I always take music with me to the mountains...but I never listen to it while I'm hiking.

The music theme seems to fall into a number of different categories though.

There are those songs that whenever I hear them I am immediately taken back to the mountains. These are songs that I have listened to either during the road trip to the mountains, or in the car inbetween trailheads. Some of them may be related to the mountains...some not. The list would be long but two that come to mind are James Taylor's Carolina In My Mind , which one could argue is related to a mountain experience, and a second being Neil Young's The Old Laughing Lady, which probably has nothing to do with mountains. They just conjure up great memories of some great trips.

Then there are those songs where the poetic theme makes them, for me at least, great mountain songs. This would include:
The Decemberists Rise to Me...

Big mountain, Wide river
There's an ancient pull
These tree trunks, these stream beds,
Leave our bellies full

And Van Morrison's Hymms to the Silence

Oh I wanna go out in the countryside
Oh sit by the cool, clear, crystal water
Get my spirit, way back to the feeling
Deep in my soul

Then there are those songs that get stuck in my head while I'm on the trail...and I keep singing it to myself over and over again. Two that I can actually remember would be from last year's Colorado trip when I couldn't get Neil Young's Expecting to Fly out of my head. And on another trip a number of years back to RMNP when I kept singing Supertramp's Asylum. Of course, on that trip on one particular day I did find myself off trail, bushwhacking during a thunderstorm...so maybe the lyrics were related to the mountains .

Please don't arrange
To have me sent to no asylum
I'm just as sane as anyone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpsaQq0Of2U

"Kashmir" by The Mighty Zep... a mountain classic.

"The Wizard" by Uriah Heep... doesn't suck like an asthmatic at elevation.

"Unforgiven" by Metallica... all of the songs in that series rip.

"Seven Spanish Angels" by Willie Nelson & Ray Charles... listen to it sometime while atop a peak, looking down upon what might be "The Valley of the Gun."

"Ring Of Fire" by Johnny Cash... can't go wrong with this tune, no matter what you do.

"A Million Miles Away" by Rory Gallagher... Rolling Stone Magazine once asked Jimi Hendrix how it felt to be the greatest guitarist in the world, and Jimi replied, "I don't know, go ask Rory Gallagher."

"Fire" by Jimi Hendrix... song will get you psyched for ANY route or boulder problem.

"Frankenstein" by Edgar Winter... another jam to psych ya up, yeah?

"D.O.A." by Van Halen... the ultimate driving tune for heading to the wilderness.

"Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver... hokey to some, but not bad when you're actually in the Rockies, LOL.

"Immigrant Song" by The Mighty Zep... oh, hell, now I'm repeating myself where bands are concerned.

Could go on forever here, but you get the point... when I was driving a big truck nationwide, using that same rig as a 40-ton RV to tour the country, I used to key my CB mike and blast some Swiss yodeling by one Trudi Kistler, I think you can research her on the Net, and NOBODY ever yodeled like THAT gal, I assure you, she had some lungs on her. Oh, and that hand who listens to Norwegian Death Metal, I have a Norwegian Death Metal CD that goes with me on every trip, LOL... good CD, all about hacking opponents with swords and axes, dicing 'em up like so much Benihana entree material. Meh, somebody has to do it, might as well be those modern-day Vikings wielding guitars and amplifiers. Moi, I'll go with a Husqvarna chainsaw, makes it easier to store severed heads in my refrigerator, 10-4??? LOL...