Every movie has a soundtrack.
Often, they’re just background sounds. Something to set the mood, such as impending doom, chase scene hype, or a romantic interlude.
Every so often we’re treated to that rare movie where the music is as integral to the show as the plot is. Without it, the movie wouldn’t be the same.
Here are 5 of my favorite movie soundtracks that stand on their own as albums. I would argue that for each of these movies, if the music were different, so too would the movie itself be different.
Heavy Metal
I saw the movie Heavy Metal as a teenager when it was released in 1981. I remember going to the theater, I remember it was animated. Other than that, I don’t really remember much about the movie at all.
The soundtrack is not forgettable! It reads like a who’s who list of rock artists of the era: Sammy Hagar, Blue Öyster Cult, Stevie Nicks, Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick and Journey just to name a few.
There were licensing issues, certainly not unusual when it comes to soundtracks, causing a 14-year delay until it was released on CD. Don Felder’s only solo hit – “Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride)” – was the movie’s theme song and reached No. 5 on the Mainstream Rock chart.
The Sound of Music
OK, hear me out on this one! I didn’t say it would only be rock. As a rule, I don’t care for musicals. There are only two, and The Sound of Music is one of them. Looking at this objectively, The Sound of Music is one of the most successful selling soundtracks in history, with more than 20 million copies sold worldwide in multiple languages.
Almost every song on this soundtrack is known by generations. “Do-Re-Mi” – “My Favorite Things” – “Edelweiss” – “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” and of course, the iconic title track by Julie Andrews, “The Sound of Music.”
Dazed and Confused
Released in 1993, Dazed and Confused is another movie where the soundtrack is filled with the rock royalty of its generation (in this case, the generation being portrayed is the 1970s).
14 of some of the best rock songs of the 70s, all right here on one album: Rick Derringer’s “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo,” “Slow Ride” from Foghat, Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and Nazareth’s big hit “Love Hurts.” This really is a “greatest hits of the decade” in soundtrack form.
One of my favorites in the movie – “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways.
8 Mile
2002’s 8 Mile starring Eminem captured early 2000s rap culture in both film and music. The Oscar winning “Lose Yourself” is still relevant today and can be heard hyping stadiums in Detroit at all its major sports events.
8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and went on to become certified sextuple platinum. The soundtrack produced four singles: “Wanksta,” “8 Mile,” “Rap Name” and “Lose Yourself.”
Pulp Fiction
The four previous soundtracks mainly focused on a single genre. “Music from the Motion Picture Pulp Fiction” takes a different route with a mix of rock, surf, soul and pop music.
The movie was released in 1994, and by 1996 the soundtrack had U.S. sales of over two million copies. It can easily be argued that Quentin Tarantino’s choice of songs for Pulp Fiction is what helped make the movie as quirky as it was.
In addition to songs like “Flowers on the Wall” by The Statler Brothers, Dusty Springfield’s version of “Son of a Preacher Man” and “Jungle Boogie” by Kool & the Gang, the album also contains spoken excerpts from the movie, such as the “Royale with Cheese” exchange.
One of my favorites of the soundtrack: Chuck Berry, “You Never Can Tell”
Album Soundtracks Make or Break a Movie
Drop the needle on “You Never Can Tell” and it’s hard not to see Uma Thurman and John Travolta on the floor of Jack Rabbit Slim’s, barefoot, dancing like nobody’s watching. The same thing happens the second “Lose Yourself” kicks in, or when Julie Andrews starts “The Sound of Music” — the song and the scene fuse into one memory, and you can see Julie spinning on the mountain top.
A bad soundtrack can make a good movie mediocre. A good soundtrack can make a mediocre movie great — and sometimes, the soundtrack is the reason a movie becomes unforgettable in the first place.
