Here's volume 1 of our best soundtracks ever.
Soundtracks are just as important a part as score, direction and acting. Often times, they set the mood, take you back to a certain era, or have the power to totally effect the emotional impact of a scene. In Volume I we count down ten of the best motion picture soundtracks. This is not a definitive list as there are many more that are just as great or greater than these. Enjoy the read and share in the comments what you think are more of the best soundtracks ever.
The Crow
There are several reasons why I don't think that this
upcoming remake of The Crow is a terribly good idea, but one of the biggest
reasons is that the early-1990s were, in an artistic sense, the absolute
perfect time to tell that story. That era's distinctly Gen-X brand of dark,
disaffected angst perfectly suits James O'Barr's tale of grief, loss, and
revenge, both visually (with its post-Batman and pre-CGI Gothic cityscapes) and
in its fantastic soundtrack. A passionately bitter soundscape of goth,
industrial, and grunge, there could not be a better musical accompaniment to
the late Eric Draven's quest for vengeance and eventual peace. And I don't
think it could have come from any other decade.
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| "Care to dance?" |
The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, Pantera,
and The Rollins Band all recorded new songs for The Crow's soundtrack, and the
film features live performances by My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and
Medicine (whose lead singer, interestingly enough, was eventually replaced by
Brandon Lee's sister). Among Trent Reznor's very earliest work on original
music for films, Nine Inch Nails' moody and hypnotic cover of Dead Souls
by Joy Division is one of the stand-out tracks; perfectly setting the mood as
Eric stalks the night for his killers. It is also a welcome homage to O'Barr's
comics, which were artistically influenced by Joy Division and prominently
quoted some of their lyrics. Both of the live performances within the film were
very deliberately chosen to reflect the two main aspects of the narrative:
Medicine's Time Baby III reflects the story's more introspective and
thoughtful side, with lyrics vaguely evoking Eric's nebulous, half-spirit
existence, while My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult's After The Flesh
makes an appropriately violent and rage-filled backdrop for the movie's most
brutal action sequence. But the true centerpiece of the soundtrack – and the
song used in arguably the film's most iconic scene – is The Cure's fantastic
original single, Burn. Its haunting, despair-drenched sound – and its
lyrics that directly reflect the story's themes – bring a strong emotional
punch as Eric dons his costume and makeup for the first time, while painfully
flashing back to his life and death. This Burn sequence has got to be
one of the coolest musical montages in any film, and it is largely thanks to
one of The Cure's best yet most overlooked singles.
When recently discussing the upcoming The Crow remake, James
O'Barr mentioned that he will have a good deal of input on the soundtrack, and
that it will certainly feature his beloved Joy Division. Which is awesome, but
also must make us wonder: if the remake will channel some sort of retro feel
with music by bands like Joy Division and The Cure, then why not just stick
with the original that is authentically from that time, and features a pretty
perfect soundtrack of the era already?
Donnie Darko
When a film is set sometime in the past, there is no tool
more effective than a great soundtrack to anchor it in its time zone and make
the setting believable; but it has to be done right. Sticking with the most
obvious hits of a decade can make the setting seem false, like “I Love The 80s”
in movie form, and will call attention to the fact that it is a modern
production trying to be retro. A good soundtrack will authentically capture
what the characters would actually be listening to in the world of the story; a
mix of songs everyone will recognize and gems that may have gone under the
mainstream radar. Possibly the perfect example of this is Donnie Darko. Through
a series of excellent sequences choreographed to often thematically-related
music, the soundtrack perfectly evokes its late-1980s suburban setting.
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| "I'm so emotional." |
Unfortunately, one of the controversial changes made to the
film for the director's cut was a decision to replace certain songs in the
soundtrack; and the changes were not for the better. Most notably, The
Killing Moon was replaced in the opening sequence with Never Tear Us
Apart by INXS, which – while still a solid 80s pick – does not fit nearly
as well, musically or thematically. Nonetheless, in its original form, Donnie
Darko has one of the best soundtracks of any movie set in the '80s but made in
more recent years.
Goodfellas
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| "This bag is full of pristine vinyl." |
To give an idea of Scorsese use of
music to evoke the drugged tension of Hill’s search for his next fix, the
soundtrack races through the energized pace of George Harrison’s What is Life? before abruptly shifting
to Muddy Waters’ Mannish Boy the
moment Hill manages to snort a line.
Scorsese’s always loaded his soundtrack with more American musical
iconography than can fit on the platter, but few are edited together quite as
precisely to both comment on and share the experience of his characters. There’s also an undeniable air of cool felt
by the mobsters as they do violence, including an unforgettable assault by
Tommy (Joe Pesci) against made mobster Billy Batts (Frank Vincent) with
Donovan’s Atlantis chiming in an
almost heavenly optimism set against the bloodletting. As much an encyclopedic listening experience
as it is one of the great American film experiences of our time, Goodfellas represents the apex of
Scorsese’s musical vocabulary, both historically and inspired use of
context!
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| "The audio system in this molester van is just top notch!" |
While some are quick to dub Paul
Thomas Anderson’s first mainstream success as lifting from Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, from the editing, camerawork
and soundtrack, Boogie Nights has
quite the memorably comic collage of classic disco tunes from the late 1970s to
the early 1980s synthesized rock scene.
Exploding onscreen alive with light and noise is Best of My Love by The Emoticons, following an unbroken tracking
shot inside the disco nightclub hangout for the porn family that will come into
contact with Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg), soon to be the eponymous porn star
Dirk Diggler. There’s an energy and
spark to the opening dance, suggesting an infinitum of possibilities for the
close knit band of misfits. Much like
Scorsese, the soundtrack uses music to evoke the characterizations, some of
which are as iconic in their use as they are hilarious. Take for instance the awkward homosexual
soundman played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as his eyes meet Dirk
Diggler’s for the first time. The
soundtrack jumps to Hot Chocolate’s You
Sexy Thing, inviting chuckles of appreciation for the lost but lovable
misfit.
One of the best uses of montage
in the film depicting Dirk’s growth in the porn industry makes fluid use of
split screen before morphing into a kind of choreographed musical number involving
all the characters dancing together in the disco club, all brilliantly set to Machine Gun by The Commodores. Another particularly memorable sequence late
in the film during the downturn for Dirk and those still cast under his coke
addled spell involves a botched drug deal within the home of drug lord Rahad
Jackson (Alfred Molina). The thick air
of anxiety and fear felt by Dirk as he skirts between cocaine high and
unbearable tension plays out on his face in an unbroken long take, set
ironically to Jessie’s Girl by Rick
Springfield. Anything could happen here
and inevitably does, for better or worse, but the music plays on undeterred,
providing something of a cruel jet black irony to the proceedings. A finishing touch to the dysfunctional family
of porn actors is a montage layered with God
Only Knows by The Beach Boys, lending a life affirming poignancy to the
cast of lost souls trying to make it in the world. Although Anderson’s epic was (and still is)
understandably dubbed as a Scorsese wannabe, there’s enough unique choices here
making up the colorful soundscape of his meditation on the late 70s porn
industry to make you want to put on your boogie shoes and dance!
Magnolia
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| "What do you mean, you're not a fan of music? What EXACTLY does that mean?" |
Anderson's use of Mann's song Wise
Up is nothing short of masterful.
The scene is a montage of faulted characters singing along to Mann’s
song while suffering the repercussions of their flawed existence. The result is one of the best uses of a song
in a film. It's the perfect example of
the projection of emotions a film can convey when music takes over a
scene. The swan song Save Me reflects the events of the
film's final moments as Officer Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly) confesses his love
and support for his troubled girlfriend Claudia (Melora Walters). Mann wrote the song specifically for that
scene after receiving an advance copy of the script. Anderson lets the song dominate the ending,
leaving John C. Reilly's whispered dialogue nearly muted by Mann's ballad. The scene ends with Walters smiling and
looking right into the camera while the song continues into the end
credits. The brief audience
acknowledgement of Walter's gaze, combined with the heart on the sleeve lyrics
of Mann's song, creates a memorable and satisfying ending for viewers of
Anderson's sophomore film. Save Me would go on to earn Mann Academy
Award, Golden Globe, and Grammy nominations.
Fun
Fact - The video for Save Me was
shot at the end of filming days. Mann
would come in and sing portions of the song while the cast stayed in character
but acted unaware of Mann's presence.
Pulp
Fiction
One of cinema’s defining moments
of the last century was the introduction of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, and no short supply of
this landmark’s lasting influence was due to its carefully chosen soundtrack.
To this day, moviegoers think of Dick Dale’s Misirlou simply as the “theme to Pulp Fiction” instead of a classic rock instrumental that inspired
Tarantino back in his days jockeying a register at a video store. The
soundtrack, like the film it enhances, is all over the map. Just as Tarantino’s
time-shifting narrative tells fully contained yet interconnected stories with
their own unique madness, the songs themselves celebrate his electric
storytelling — from fast-paced rock instrumentals to the banjo-driven Counting Flowers on the Wall.
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| "Exactly why we're reading this list! Everyone dance!" |
Natural
Born Killers
Oliver Stone’s pop satire of
violent entertainment as all-encompassing Americana, Natural Born Killers, is as kaleidoscopic and psychedelic in its
collage of sensory overload sonically as it is visually. As Stone’s frenzied, hyperkinetic editing
between countless film formats, techniques, color to black-and-white shift
gears to dizzying effect, so too does the film’s richly layered soundtrack consisting
of everything from 1950s rock ballads to 1990s gangsta rap, classical to metal,
and even ambient to industrial electronica.
Everything but the kitchen sink is thrown into the blender and more
often than not, the ingredients are played off of one another for incongruent
irony or all the lights are turned on at the same time until we can’t decipher
anything anymore. Everyone from Leonard
Cohen (three of his songs, notably The
Future, are used here), Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Dr. Dre, Peter Gabriel,
Patsy Cline, Barry Adamson, and three original contributions by Nine Inch Nails
(including the original track Burn)
are poured into the amorphous and ever changing journey that is Oliver’s social
commentary.
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| "But honey, Trent just isn't as angry anymore." |
Trainspotting
Danny Boyle’s adaptation of
Irvine Welsh’s seminal novel Trainspotting
represents sonically an eclectic mixture of early 80s British punk rock
before making the transition to late 90s English electronica/ambient. Less a plot driven piece than a tragicomic
tonal journey depicting a group of heroin addicted friends living in Edinburgh,
Scotland remains as distinctly borne of the United Kingdom as it is emblematic
of street rats living on the fringes of a constantly transforming England. An ensemble piece primarily narrated by the
desperate and driven addict Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), the soundtrack is
notable for its explosive and exciting use of Iggy Pop, both in the film’s
opening “Choose Life” montage with The
Passenger to a crime and dealing passage backlit by Nightclubbing.
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| "Heroin makes this album so much better." |
Lost
Highway
David Lynch’s fastidious
penchant for control over every aspect of his sound design adorning his surreal
masterworks extends to all iotas pertaining to the music heard on the films’
soundtracks. Aiming for a sonic
tightrope walk between ethereal ambience and industrial abrasion, his 1997
neo-noir classic Lost Highway is best
remembered as the soundtrack that brought together Lynch and the dark lord of
mainstream industrial Trent Reznor together in collaboration. Between contributing pieces of his own and
editing the soundtrack itself under the total supervision of David Lynch, the
Nine Inch Nails frontman and regular Lynch composer Angelo Badalamenti have
produced a gothic soundscape of everything from hard electronica to
disconcerting jazz, soft white noise before building up to a shriek.
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| "Everybody shut up. I'm trying to film this music video before I kill my wife." |
Second to Badalamenti’s expectedly peculiar compositions are a series of
oddball pseudo-light jazz pieces by Barry Adamson, some of which got even more
airtime in the companion making-of documentary Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch. They sound calming but there’s just one note
that’s off key enough to make us fold our arms in nervousness. While Lynch has always been one for eclectic
musical selections, Lost Highway
represents the first time an accompanying soundtrack album managed to
overshadow and outsell the movie it was promoting. I know it piqued my interest in who would
eventually become one of my top 5 favorite filmmakers of all time!
Forrest
Gump
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| "Dr. Pepper and CCR. Life DOES NOT get much better than this." |
If you are looking for a way to introduce a younger generation to
samples of the best music from no less than three decades, turn off that stupid
Top 40 nonsense that’s playing on your radio, and put on Forrest Gump. These are singers who actually play their own
instruments and everything. Even Kanye could respect the artistry, you would
hope. Listening to the music alone is enough to transport you on Forrest’s
journey, and maybe send you on a nostalgia trip of your own… that hopefully
skips the whole Vietnam and bullet in the ass thing. This is one box of
chocolates that has its heart on its sleeve, and you know exactly what you’re
gonna get. So load up a player of your choice on whatever you kids today are listening
to music on, and take a trip through time with some of the best music ever
selected to accompany a masterpiece.
-Lee Lind
-Blake O. Kleiner
-Andrew Kotwicki
-Chris Jordan
-Lee Lind
-Blake O. Kleiner
-Andrew Kotwicki
-Chris Jordan