Best Movie Soundtracks

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

Dr_Gor — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:01:03 GMT

Ok.... Well.... eliminating all of the obvious 'concert films', I feel I can come up with a pretty good list...

1. "Heavy Metal"

2. "The Warriors"

3. "Reservior Dogs"

4. "Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf"

5. "Rocky III"

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

Leahpwnzors — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 02:02:17 GMT

One of the best things about movies is the music that goes with them. I do agree that the music shouldn't make the movie, it should... enhance it.

In no particular order:

* Friday Night Lights- Explosions in the Sky is amazing! The rest of my family is watching the movie right now, but I'm content just to listen to it from the next room. I adore the music.

* Lord of the Rings- Yes, all of them. haha I am especially partial to a few songs in The Two Towers, but I love all the music.

* Miracle- Don't ask me about any of the music besides the scores done by Mark Isham. I'm still saving a spot in my cd binder for this soundtrack. The music thrills me, absolutely thrills me!

* Titan AE- It's my cruisin' music, when I'm on the highway with the windows down.

* Garden State- It perfectly complements the movie. It's one of those soundtracks I can listen to without ever wanting to skip a track. I love that. (And if you want to hear a really great cover of "Let Go" by Frou Frou, go to youtube and search "Boys Like Girls- Let Go cover" It's pretty sweet.)

* Gladiator- Very moving, emotional... and- not that this has anything to do with the soundtrack- Russel Crowe is amazing!

(that was more than five and I actually have more "Favourites" but I'll stop here)

~Leah

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

Risselada — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 21:47:45 GMT

lbenschwartz:
3. Dream with the Fishes - Little seen indie flick from the 90s with mostly little known singer-songwriter types: Nick Drake (pre-VW ad exposure), Jeremy Toback, Greg Brown, Grandaddy, Ween and a classical Waterboys tune. Very solid, satisfying album.

WEEN!

They are coming to Chicago in October and tickets go on sale this Saturday! Anyone in Chicago going to be going?

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

lbenschwartz — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 01:44:33 GMT

1. Velvet Goldmine - Classic case of a fantastic soundtrack making a good movie great... Vintage Brian Eno, Roxy Music and Lou Reed mixed with fantastic covers by Shudder to Think, Placebo and a dead-on Stooges cover by Ewan McGreggor.

2. Amateur - Hal Hartley is known for creating a lot of the music for his own movies, but this gem from the mid-1990s is who's who of that decade's indie rock: My Bloody Valentine, PJ Harvey, Pavement, Liz Phair, Bettie Severt, Jesus Lizard, Red House Painters and Yo La Tango.

3. Dream with the Fishes - Little seen indie flick from the 90s with mostly little known singer-songwriter types: Nick Drake (pre-VW ad exposure), Jeremy Toback, Greg Brown, Grandaddy, Ween and a classical Waterboys tune. Very solid, satisfying album.

4. Dazed and Confused - Has there ever been a better collection of 70's super-rock?

5. Purple Rain - Much, much more than a soundtrack, one of the greatest albums ever made.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

AlienLazer — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:18:48 GMT

The whole soundtrack is full of remixes... like tecno versons of other songs and stuff, but like I said before... I'm guilty of not paying attention, so I couldn't tell you if it's off-set from what was really being played in the movie. Yep, I'm extremely lame. (:D)

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

Risselada — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:52:50 GMT

AlienLazer:
LOL... I was meaning I had no clue as to what the CD that I had was, only that it was a crazy cool mix, because I didn't ever see the cover and the CD itself just had a funky design on it. Yeah, the number design kinda gave it away when I though about it hard enough because of course I'd seen "The Matrix" at least twice before owning this CD. Yeah, I was guilty of not really paying attention to the music playing while watching that one. lol

Aha.

Is the music on the soundtrack totally different from what's in the movie? Is it all remixes or something? Or was it you just never noticed the music really while you were watching the movie?

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

AlienLazer — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 00:47:27 GMT

Risselada:

AlienLazer:
4. The Matrix - I was given this album and had no clue as to what it was. All I knew was that the beats blew me away because I loved the tecno-ness in it. Remixes are great!
How had you not heard of The Matrix before the soundtrack came out? The marketing on that movie was insane and it was all people talked about for a long time after it came out.

LOL... I was meaning I had no clue as to what the CD that I had was, only that it was a crazy cool mix, because I didn't ever see the cover and the CD itself just had a funky design on it. Yeah, the number design kinda gave it away when I though about it hard enough because of course I'd seen "The Matrix" at least twice before owning this CD. Yeah, I was guilty of not really paying attention to the music playing while watching that one. lol

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

lawgrrl07 — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 18:16:33 GMT

Ok, my top five "all-time" favorite soundtracks would have to be:

High Fidelity - The reasons are obvious to anyone who loves this film. I mean where else can you get a compilation like this? It feels as intimate as a cassette tape made for you by your high school sweetheart.
Phenomenon - This one is included for The Iguanas version of Para Donde Vas (the Eric Clapton I could do without)...
Garden State - Beautifully dreary, just like the movie.
High Art - Just perfection...Shudder to Think are geniuses.
Wicker Park - Unlike the movie, I can experience the soundtrack over and over forever.
Gossip - Ok, ok...so this is supposed to be limited to five, but the soundtrack was never released -- which I consider to be a serious crime! I even tried to collect the songs from the movie, but, alas, since most of them are obscure artists, it was impossible. This would be my number one favorite...if only it existed!

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

Risselada — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:08:36 GMT

AlienLazer:
4. The Matrix - I was given this album and had no clue as to what it was. All I knew was that the beats blew me away because I loved the tecno-ness in it. Remixes are great!

How had you not heard of The Matrix before the soundtrack came out? The marketing on that movie was insane and it was all people talked about for a long time after it came out.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

AlienLazer — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 21:04:58 GMT

indieabby88:
If I could add a sixth soundtrack to my list, it'd be "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." I just watched this movie again on Friday, and I'd forgotten how great the music was. I've been listening to the soundtrack non-stop since then.

I love this movie! I haven't seen it in over a year even though I own it, so I really need to dig this movie out because it was totally yummy.

And of course just about any musical has a great soundtrack, but that's just the reason why I didn't inclued any on my top 5.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

JEllen — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 08:31:10 GMT

I don't think I can narrow my favorite soundtracks down to five. So I will post my five favorite movie composers, with some examples of each.

1. John Williams (Star Wars, Raiders, Jaws, Close Encounters)

2. Vangelis (Chariots of Fire, Bladerunner)

3.James Horner (A Beautiful Mind, Titanic)

4.Michael Nyman (The Piano, The End of the Affair)

5.Phillip Glass (parts of Truman Show)

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

indieabby88 — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 21:01:01 GMT

If I could add a sixth soundtrack to my list, it'd be "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." I just watched this movie again on Friday, and I'd forgotten how great the music was. I've been listening to the soundtrack non-stop since then.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

AlienLazer — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:31:24 GMT

My TOP 5:

1. The Crow - I feel in love with Jane Siberry's "It Can't Rain all the Time" at a very young age, and just grew into the rest of the soundtrack.

2. Spawn - If you've ever heard Orbital & Kirk Hammett's "Satan", you'd know just how twistedly evil I really am.

3. Queen of the Damned - I just really love the voice and yeah the great beats.

4. The Matrix - I was given this album and had no clue as to what it was. All I knew was that the beats blew me away because I loved the tecno-ness in it. Remixes are great!

5. Dawn of the Dead - Richard Cheese was my new hero after this. He turned Disturbed's "Down with the Sickness" into perfact lounge music that was the ultimate song for blowing zombie's heads off.

Okay, I have to make it my TOP 6 because I can't forget this last one...

6. Jay and Silent Bob Strick Back - I'm sorry... I just love Jay's Rap. Nevermind, I'm not really sorry. I was just going for "face", but that never works. #2 "Jay's Rap" all the way... all the way!

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

tmoney — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 06:19:13 GMT

indieabby88:

3. "The Mission"-Ennio Morricone. "Gabriel's Oboe" breaks my heart every time I hear it. Possibly the most beautiful theme in all of cinema music.

Oh man this song rips my heart out when I hear it. I agree one of the most beautiful theme songs. At the oscars this year when Morricone's montage played, and that song appeared, I stopped the Oscars and put in The Mission.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

indieabby88 — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 03:14:24 GMT

bishop:

Lord of the Rings Soundtrack(s) - makes great background music.

I gotta agree. As my friend Jeremy says "it kicks total ass!"

My top five:

1. Finding Nemo-Thomas Newman. This is the soundtrack I listen to the most. It's ambient, energetic and inventive. All of Newman's scores make great writing music, and this is tops for me.

2. The Hitchhiker's Gude to the Galaxy- Joby Talbot. A super fun soundtrack. I love "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" and the update on the Eagles' "Journey of the Sorceror" that was used in the BBC mini-series.

3. "The Mission"-Ennio Morricone. "Gabriel's Oboe" breaks my heart every time I hear it. Possibly the most beautiful theme in all of cinema music.

4. "Pulp Fiction"- Quentin Tarantino is one of those directors with distinct tastes in everything, including music. His taste is practically flawless.

5. "The Royal Tenenbaums"- Wes Anderson belongs in that category with Tarantino of directors with excellent musical taste. Mark Mothersbaugh's original music is fun, sweet and really fits the tone of the movie, not to mention all the great songs from bands like the Velvet Underground, the Ramones, the Clash and Nick Drake. "Fly" is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

LongArm — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 00:02:26 GMT

Had to chime in. Still have the cassette of the Rocky IV soundtrack. Hearts On Fire is sung by none other than John Cafferty of Beaver Brown Band fame and On the Dark Side from the Eddie and the Cruisers soundtrack.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

Kiddo — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 14:45:12 GMT

Snaps for your Good Will Hunting choice. . .Elliot Smith is remarkable. . .why is it that the best songs sometimes come from the most depressed minds?

Fave soundtracks for spout. . .

Kiddo — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:30:36 GMT

Hmmm. . . desparately trying to rattle these off without thinking about it too terribly much. . .

Practical Magic. . . "I         could drink. . .a case of you". . .one of the best song lines ever. . .

Garden State. . . .thank god for Iron and Wine. Please just go! Go buy it right now.

Oh Brother Where Art Thou. . .I adore bluegrass. Had Down to the River to Pray in my wedding. . But don't ever try to make out to it. When the little girls start singing, the mood is, um, lost.

Reality Bites. . .. . . .I just had to, it's like the soundtrack of my college life. . ..Tempted. . .. . .there's nothing quite like it for happy driving.   "Cuz Mom I'm not retarded!"

Urban Cowboy. . . .you've never understood America until you've heard Cherokee Fiddle. This is classic country, not the new bullshit "     Fine fergit it!"

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

smallinov — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 03:57:07 GMT

A Beautiful Mind. - EXCELLENT
Good Will Hunting. Elliot Smith was amazing...
Grease - Need I say more?
A Walk To Remember....So I love Mandy Moore, what can I say...
The Wizard of Oz.....Brings back some great childhood memories...

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

paul — Fri, 19 May 2006 20:11:01 GMT

Crooklyn Disc 2 - It's the best compilation of the seventies that will never appear on a "Best of the 70's" compilation.

Yes, High Fidelity. Can't beat it with a stick.

True Stories, soundtrack by the Talking Heads. I know I'm in the vast minority, but it's my favorite album of their's.

Mentioned elsewhere in this group, Un Coeur en Hiver can be set on "Repeat" for days and never get old.

And I can't deny the hundreds of times I listened through the Trainspotting soundtrack. Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" is one of my all-time faves thanks to Danny Boyle.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

spoutgirl — Fri, 12 May 2006 15:03:26 GMT

I have to admit I love the soundtrack to Desperado
When I clean the house I listen to it. Not sure what it is about the music, but it really puts me into a fantastic mood.
The other sound track the I absolutly love is "The Talented Mr.Ripley"
I am kind of a jazz nut sometimes.
:)

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

Watcher_in_the_Woods — Thu, 11 May 2006 04:40:05 GMT

I just bought Garden State (the DVD). Don't feel ashamed. Great movie, great soundtrack.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

KatiesFlicks — Thu, 11 May 2006 02:10:09 GMT

Proudly, I will admit to Moulin Rouge being my favorite soundtrack.
Then, in no particular order, I enjoy:
High Fidelity
LOTR trilogy
Oh Brother Where art thou
Empire Records - brings back many highschool memories. Every time I hear the song "I want your money" I continue the line from the movie with "Joe's money"

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

billhr — Wed, 10 May 2006 03:36:00 GMT

Alrighty. I'll throw my list out there as well. No detailed explanation, just the list:

Beautiful Girls

High Fidelity

Magnolia

O' Brother Where Art Thou

Trainspotting

Current Guitly Pleasures - Garden State and Moulin Rouge (I'm going to hate myself in the morning for revealing that)

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

tmoney — Mon, 08 May 2006 04:46:20 GMT

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Jon Brion is a genius. Uses instruments people have never even heard of.
2. Life Aquatic: Sigur Ros at the end blew my mind. Seu Jorge rocks my world too.
3. Vanilla Sky: Sigur Ros, Radiohead, man i can't get enough of this soundtrack.
4. Dark Days: DJ shadow remixed score.
5. Hedwig and the Angry Inch: Does a musical count? I love love love the transvestite rock in this film.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

ktincu — Fri, 05 May 2006 20:21:08 GMT

I hesitate to try to do a real top five list right now (not enough time to go through my movie list and really think about it) but here are some I love:

- The Life Aquatic: This was my introduction to Seu Jorge, now one of my favorite artists. The whole concept of remaking classic David Bowie songs in Portuguese with an acoustic guitar is just too strange and wonderful. Mixed in with the other diverse styles on the soundtrack, it's a very quirky listen.

- The Royal Tenenbaums: Yes, I think Wes Anderson's got good taste in music AND a great sense for when and where to use it. Think of the scene with Luke Wilson and Gwyneth Paltrow in the tent, listening to the Nick Drake record... We will forever be losing ourselves and our problems in music.

- Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch) is SO utterly about the music--even more so because the film is in black and white, which somehow focuses your attention more intensely toward the music. (Think constant Neil Young guitar riffs, then decide if you'd like that kind of thing or if it would drive you nuts.)

And I heartily agree with these, already mentioned by others:

- Night on Earth: Yes, Jim Jarmusch has got it going on, too. He gets it just right.

- Talk to Her: The ballet scene at the beginning, with its musical accompaniment, is almost too heart-wrenching to watch (and it sets the tone for the rest of the film and the soundtrack).

- O Brother, Where Art Thou? With T Bone Burnett producing it and huge talents like Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch and Emmylou making the music, what's not to love? (Unless of course you just don't like this sort of thing...)

-

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

soyem — Thu, 04 May 2006 20:26:21 GMT

I don't remember five movies where I loved the music, but the one I always think of is Talk to Her. In Spanish, about weird folks, a bit hard to follow.

But the movie is absolutely beautiful. Can I love a movie only for the color saturation, pace and music?

The music matches the mood of the movie perfectly, and I went directly from watching the film to try and find a good copy of Caetano Veloso's CuCuRuCoo (or however you spell that.)

If you like music in movies, this is one to see.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

pippin06 — Thu, 04 May 2006 12:17:14 GMT

ok, here are my top 5 orchestral ones, which i count separately from the song ones.

1. star wars original trilogy (any) - Includes the most recognizable movie themes in history.

2. lord of the rings trilogy (any) - A grand score for an epic trilogy that added so much texture.

3. schindler's list - Simultaenously beautiful and heartwrenching and heavily features Itzak Perlman

4. e.t. - This one of the most complex pieces of music written for screen. I know because I've played it.

5. raiders of the lost ark - Includes perhaps the second most recognizable movie themes in history.

I obviously love John Williams (#1, 3-5) but Lord of the Rings is wonderful (all praise Howard Shore).

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

bishop — Thu, 04 May 2006 05:52:31 GMT

My top 5:

The Crow - its a consistently dark cd.

Lord of the Rings Soundtrack(s) - makes great background music.

Nightmare before Christmas - Elfman is awesome.

BladeRunner, The Complete Score - again..great background music.

Star Wars - I know, I know...but I just can't help myself. :P

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

Watcher_in_the_Woods — Wed, 03 May 2006 19:58:37 GMT

Survivor. Very influential in my musical journey.

Hey, any idea who sings "Hearts on Fire" from Rocky 4?

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

daryn — Wed, 03 May 2006 18:35:25 GMT

Top Gun

Top Gun might be one of the best sound tracks ever. Although you might not want to admit it. I think everyone has caught themselves hearing a song from the movie and instantly being able to place the scene in the movie it is from. For instance "Danger Zone" and you see Maverick (Tom Cruise) trying to race a jet on his motorcycle. How about "You've Lost the Love and Feeling" yeah see you know what I am talking about. Maverick signing to Charlie (Kelly McGillis) and then he follows her into the ladies room and offers to save her from making a mistake with the old man she was with. (I don't think that is on the sound track however.)

A close second would have to be Rocky. If you ever played sports in high school at one point you had a tape you made up that had "Eye of a Tiger" on it and you know who you are! I think my tape wore out from me rewinding it so many times to hear the first 45 seconds of that song.

So what other movies have sounds tracks like this that mean something to someone.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

PammyK — Wed, 03 May 2006 18:25:57 GMT

Sometimes I find single songs that I really like in movies. I love the song "Mondo Bongo" by Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros from Mr. and Mrs. Smith. There are probably more, but I can't think of them right now.

Here are some soundtracks that I did like enough to buy...

Titanic - And not just the one song, all of the other songs are just instrumental and they are deep and sad and pretty.
Forest Gump - It really is a good mix of a lot of good songs.
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? - This is so unique and all of the songs are catchy and go together.
Empire Records - This was a favorite of mine when I was in highschool. I can't say I listen to it much anymore, but it was an interesting mix of songs and brings back memories of highschool.
Top Gun - "Take My Breath Away" was my favorite song for a long time, but all of them are so eighties and classic that the soundtrack has a very distinct feel to it.

Re: Top five favorite Soundtracks

pippin06 — Wed, 03 May 2006 18:07:01 GMT

Oh my gosh! I am totally serious by saying that I was thinking of starting a group just like this because I watched Elizabethtown last night (great soundtrack; jury's still out on the movie), and it got me thinking how I love movie music! I'm not lying! And movie music is something I can talk lots about. My top 5 favorite soundtracks (a hard one to decide):

1. Forrest Gump - This is the greatest road trip soundtrack ever created.

2. Bridget Jones' Diary - This one of my favorite movies, and the soundtrack is so spot on and features lots of pop artists from across the pond.

3. Pulp Fiction - This quirky soundtrack quickly recalls scenes in the movie (good or bad).

4. Wayne's World - It single handedly revived Bohemian Rhapsody.

5. Stand By Me - It's the only completely 50's music soundtrack I can stomach (and it's also one of my favorite movies).

I also enjoy orchestral movie soundtracks. Are those up for grabs in this group because I have five of those too. :-)

Top five favorite Soundtracks

Watcher_in_the_Woods — Wed, 03 May 2006 17:11:03 GMT

As ridiculous as the 347 year old *** Clark can be, his whole "Music is the soundtrack to tour lives" quotes is...well, pretty ridiculous as well. Still, there's something about it that clicks, I think.

Sometimes music is overused and misused in movies. Like Cameron Crowe's recent film Elizabethtown. You know, it's easy to enjoy a movie just because there's lots of great music, when in fact underneath it all is an all-too familiar plot, silly-shallow characters, and...well, that's about it. But then there's filmmakers who place just the right song in just the right places and as a result makes a great film more magical. I think Wes Anderson is a great example. I mean, when Gwynneth Paltrow (the troubled adopted daughter in The Royal Tennenbaums) meets Luke Wilson on the train station while Neco's version of "These Days" plays...it sets a perfect atmosphere of moments all viewers can relate to.

So what's your top five favorite soundtracks?

Here's mine to start:

1. Rushmore: From obscure Kinks tracks ("Nothing in this World Stops Me Worrying About That Girl") to forgotten Donovan classics, the soundtrack's songs are as quirky and marginalized as Max Fisher.

2. Can't Hardly Wait: If the film had any depth or practical wisdom I wouldn't like it nearly as much as I do. It's just about naive, clueless highshool graduates with only two priorities: have fun and fall in love. I think its soundtrack, with greats like Third Eye Blind, Parliament, and Matthew Sweet, is the perfect pomp and circumstance for the film's characters.

3. Forrest Gump: Sure, maybe a double disc of nearly EVERY pop classic from 1955-1975 was a bit much. But like the movie, these songs never lose their heartwarming charm.

4. Stand By Me: No other film better illustrates childhood friendship. And the songs that the ragtag boys sing and walk along to as they search for a dead body remind us what it was like to be young. Standout track/scene? "Lollipop."

5. Night On Earth: Tom Waits, my favorite singer, did the wonderful soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's breakthrough film.

Now, what are yours?