Soundtracks

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I'm sure this question has been asked before, but what do you all think is the best movie soundtrack?

― Leslie, Monday, 21 July 2003 05:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Xanadu

― Savin All My Love 4 u (Savin 4ll my (heart) 4u), Monday, 21 July 2003 05:38 (twenty-two years ago)

goldfinger

― autovac (autovac), Monday, 21 July 2003 05:46 (twenty-two years ago)

bandwagon

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 21 July 2003 05:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Pi.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 21 July 2003 08:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Natural Born killers - because unlike many OSTs it actually captures the essence of the scenes.

Cinema ParaDISO - because the music is beautiful

― scottjames23 (worrysome-man), Monday, 21 July 2003 10:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Until the End of the World

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 21 July 2003 10:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Do musicals count? If so, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Grease all shit on everything else this thread is ever gonna mention from *such* a great height.

ps. Xanadu...how we laugh.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 21 July 2003 11:16 (twenty-two years ago)

some like it hot

― j0e (j0e), Monday, 21 July 2003 11:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Betty Blue and Requiem for a Dream

― russ t, Monday, 21 July 2003 11:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Giu la Testa/ Duck You Sucker/ Fistful of Dynamite - call it what you will

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 21 July 2003 12:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Wings of Desire

― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Monday, 21 July 2003 12:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Twin Peaks/a bunch of Morricones. I love "The Mission", even.

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Monday, 21 July 2003 12:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Run Lola Run

Rushmore

Royal Tennebaums

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 21 July 2003 12:17 (twenty-two years ago)

The Harder They Come
Superfly
A Colcokwork Orange
Paris,Texas

― Jeff K (jeff k), Monday, 21 July 2003 13:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah 'Superfly' is great, beats the crap out of the actual movie

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Monday, 21 July 2003 13:11 (twenty-two years ago)

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE*...never post before drinking your first cup of coffee. Wouldn't it be great to add Kevin Shields's Lost In Translation soundtrack coming out soon? Wishful thinking perhaps.

― Jeff K (jeff k), Monday, 21 July 2003 13:32 (twenty-two years ago)

sholay
eraserhead
the harder they come
trocadero lemon blue

― joni, Monday, 21 July 2003 13:39 (twenty-two years ago)

A Fistful Of Dollars, you heathens. Morricone is fantastic.

― Xii (Xii), Monday, 21 July 2003 13:52 (twenty-two years ago)

there is a gaping hole in my collection that should be filled with morricone soundtracks.

recent-ish faves of mine are traffic and mulholland drive.

― disco stu (disco stu), Monday, 21 July 2003 14:14 (twenty-two years ago)

isn't there a morricone box out there?

say, that reminds me. I got the Leone/Eastwood dvd box for my pop for christmas, watching it made me think: why doesn't more pop culture have this amount of art(for lack of a better word) in it? i mean, you have morricone doing this progressive minimalist soundtracks(progressive for westerns, i guess), and Leone with a visual style that wouldn't really be appreciated until a generation later...

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 21 July 2003 14:20 (twenty-two years ago)

"the best" is a damn-difficult-verging-on-impossible choice to make (as is only too obvious) (only one? there cannot be only one, bah!)

fwiw, Mancini's been on my mind n' in my ears the most, lately.

(what i've heard of Williams and Elfman, say, has never impressed me much)

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Monday, 21 July 2003 14:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I just buy Morricone stuff out of the bargain bin. I have no idea why he regularly ends up in there, but I'm not complaining.

― Xii (Xii), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 05:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Most recent surprise favourite: Finding Forrester. OK, it came out three years ago, but I've only just seen it and the s/t (mainly by Bill Frisell but including works by Miles Davis & Ornette Coleman) is great old/new jazz.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 08:44 (twenty-two years ago)

I just buy Morricone stuff out of the bargain bin. I have no idea why he regularly ends up in there, but I'm not complaining.

It's because he's not only the best film soundtrack composer but he's also the most prolific.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 11:46 (twenty-two years ago)

solaris (the new one)

― jason m. (jason m), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 12:42 (twenty-two years ago)

did they ever release a soundtrack to _McCabe & Mrs Miller_?

or is it pretty much just this one:

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf300/f374/f37441h03d1.jpg

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 12:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Saturday Night Fever
Warriors
Thief
Le Grand Bleu

― Vincent Vern, Tuesday, 22 July 2003 13:09 (twenty-two years ago)

....and naturally...

John Berry - Bond theme etc. / The Persuaders theme
John Williams - Raiders.../E.T./Close Encounter...
Bernard Herman - Taxi Driver (THE BEST!!!!)

― Vincent Vern, Tuesday, 22 July 2003 13:14 (twenty-two years ago)

oh man, theres a warriors soundtrack?!?! where do i get one?
'......come out to playyyyyy'

― joni, Tuesday, 22 July 2003 13:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Soundtracks I've actually spent time listening to:
Pretty in Pink
Pump up the Volume
The Rockers
Twin Peaks
Shottas
hmmm...can't really think of any others...

― cybele (cybele), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 14:31 (twenty-two years ago)

amateur
acquire the wrath of god
2001
suspiria
gummo
half-cocked

― ddb, Tuesday, 22 July 2003 14:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Try these original scores:
Fight Club (Dust Brothers)
Out Of Sight (David Holmes)
Koyaanisqatsi/Powaqqatsi/Naqoyqatsi (Philip Glass - avoid The Hours st, though)
About A Boy (Badly Drawn Boy)
For All Mankind (Brian Eno - this is his Apollo album, not to mention the track from the Traffic st, the 28 Days Later trailer, etc.)

Great st composers:
Dittos on Morricone (I actually love his Untouchables st) and Clint Mansell's work on Pi and Requiem For A Dream.

Cliff Martinez's work for Soderbergh is always consistent, Solaris in particular.

Peter Gabriel's Passion is a must have (good interview with him on the Criterion Last Temptation Of Christ DVD, too). Birdy is good, too, but Long Walk Home (from Rabbit-Proof Fence) is hit 'n' miss. Sorta like his last album.

I love John Barry. Bond, Out Of Africa, Dances With Wolves.

John Williams is pretty good, The Empire Strikes Back being my definite favorite (The fucking Imperial March anyone? The Battle In The Snow? Rebels At Bay? The Asteroid Field? The Duel? Hyperspace? That disc is hitting my deck right now....)

Check out any of Prokofiev's compostions for Sergei Eisenstein films. Criterion released an awesome Alexander Nevsky/Ivan The Terrible boxed set.

Compilation soundtracks?

Vanilla Sky
The Beach (just for Underworld's 8 Ball!)
Salvation! (obscure Cabaret Voltaire and New Order, including Touched By The Hand Of God)
Welcome To Sarajevo (rare Massive Attack track)

― turkey (turkey), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh damn.

You asked for The Best.

That's gotta be Stop Making Sense.

― turkey (turkey), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Naked Lunch. Last year somebody screened the film in London, with Ornette playing the score live. I almost bought a plane ticket.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 17:15 (twenty-two years ago)

"did they ever release a soundtrack to _McCabe & Mrs Miller_?"

Actually, I just saw this film in repertory, and as soon as I got near a computer afterwards, I did a search. Columbia actually did do an EP soundtrack featuring the three songs used in the film. It's ong out of print though, so as you have already pointed out, "Songs..." is a welcome substitute.

I actually thought it kind of weird that an expanded soundtrack-- including some of the music played both by characters and on that jukebox contraption on screen-- has never been issued.

― Charles McCain (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 17:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Pee Wee's Big Adventure!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 17:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Repo Man
Smokey and the Bandit

― chad (chad), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 19:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I think some group called the Beatles did a couple of good soundtracks for a couple of good to great films.

― Charles McCain (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 22 July 2003 19:23 (twenty-two years ago)

morricone's best are the italian films he did. dagored's done a great job reissuing a lot of those on vinyl. i love his western stuff too though. it's hard not to. the zorn covers/tribute record to morricone is probably one of my favorite zorn records.

other favorites:

-mancini's "experiment in terror"
-krzysztof komeda's "rosemary's baby"
-alain goraguer "le planete sauvage" (he did a lot of music for serge... fantastic planet is a great animated sci-fi movie... fans of quasimoto would probably recognize the samples.)
-zorn's "naked city"
-whoever did the music for the shining. nutty stuff. i second the mention of clockwork orange... good stuff. 2001 is awesome as well. that collection if music is as classic as it is disturbing at times. very cool.
-"heat" had a good collection of kronos, u2+eno, moby, etc etc.

of course, rushmore and all of those. and the big action classics are all loveable... superman, star wars, indianna j, ET, close encounters and all. the music isn't strange or interesting, but i think it holds a special place along memory lanes.
m.

― msp, Tuesday, 22 July 2003 19:37 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...

Revive!

I don't know if this is the best, but it sure is a sweet little honey of a number:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004SZVS.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― Charles McCain (Charles McCain), Thursday, 25 September 2003 17:27 (twenty-two years ago)

For me it's got to be Eno and co. for Apollo Atmospheres And Soundtracks, even though I've never seen the film that it accompanies (For All Mankind). That mention of the soundtrack to the new Solaris just made me think of how great Eduard Artemyev's soundtrack to the old one was.

― Damian (Damian), Friday, 26 September 2003 10:34 (twenty-two years ago)

WIm Wenders' Wings of Desire, Paris-Texas and End of Violence immediately spring to mind

― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Friday, 26 September 2003 11:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Clockwork Orange for sure. Nothing like breaking the speed limit on the freeway with the electrified versions of Ludwig Van's stuff.

But what about REPO MAN!?

― Sasha (sgh), Friday, 26 September 2003 14:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Listening right now to the soundtrack of "The Hunger" (the Bowie-Deneuve-Sarandon vampire flick inexplicably unavailable on DVD). The bits of classical music are lovely, interspliced with passages of alternately creepy and jarring synth freak-outs. Not quite something for everyone, but intriguing.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 27 September 2003 16:55 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the soundtrack to "McVicar" by Jeff Wayne and also Alan Price's soundtrack to "Oh! Lucky Man".

― Keith Watson (kmw), Saturday, 27 September 2003 17:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I've always been partial to the Dead Man Walking soundtrack. Though I know that some of it is merely inspired by the movie (which may disqualify it from this question), but I just find that all of the songs seem to maintain the tone of the movie, and they have an impressive listing of artists contributing.
It has the amazing Tom Waits song "The Fall of Troy," Johnny Cash's "In Your Mind," and the two Eddie Vedder and Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn songs are really great. I think the best track on the album is Mary Chapin Carpenter's song "Dead Man Walking (A Dream Like This)." Such beautiful music, and what a voice. Never really listened to her other work, but considering how much I love this song, I likely should.

If musicals count, though, then it's Oliver!

― Jonathan (Jonathan), Monday, 29 September 2003 01:20 (twenty-two years ago)

six years pass...

Let's post clips of our favourite bits from movie soundtracks.

A couple of fairly obvious ones from the amazing Carter Burwell:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pjr0yzkAx0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8eA9BuuyjY

There's a bit of music from Fargo later in the movie that I maybe like even more, playing when Buscemi buries the briefcase in the snow.

― Communi-Bear Silo State (chap), Wednesday, 2 December 2009 23:58 (sixteen years ago)

heard this in an advert for Film4's war season the other day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05BtmSXUQ8A

― The Devil's Avocado (Gukbe), Thursday, 3 December 2009 00:01 (sixteen years ago)

The original Dawn of the Dead has such a good soundtrack....I like lots of Goblin's stuff. Suspiria one is good too.

― mascara and ties (Abbott), Thursday, 3 December 2009 00:04 (sixteen years ago)

I think Howard Shore's LOTR score is pretty great if you ignore all the fiddle-de-dee Hobbit stuff. To me it sounds more textural than most blockbuster scores.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi8CUdK3HY0

― Communi-Bear Silo State (chap), Thursday, 3 December 2009 00:04 (sixteen years ago)

Takemitsu's score for Kwaidan is the only soundtrack that is, to me, genuinely scary in the context — especially during "The Black Hair" segment when all sound drops out but the music.

― Daruton, Thursday, 3 December 2009 00:24 (sixteen years ago)

I remember the score to Kitano's Zatoichi being particularly good. This is the only clip of it I can find:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JligjnKnAQ

― Communi-Bear Silo State (chap), Thursday, 3 December 2009 00:30 (sixteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m7g8F2F95g

― Communi-Bear Silo State (chap), Thursday, 3 December 2009 00:51 (sixteen years ago)

one year passes...

Just watched Last Life In The Universe again last night and forgot how beautiful the score is. Anyone know anything about the artists responsible, "Small Room"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2rr503GEgE

Goes a bit Moon Safari at times

― puff pastry hangman (admrl), Saturday, 1 January 2011 21:34 (fifteen years ago)

ten years pass...

(abstaining on any rating) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zOqked0rOs

― youn, Monday, 27 December 2021 20:57 (four years ago)

beat street and it had 2 volumes!

― xzanfar, Monday, 27 December 2021 22:23 (four years ago)

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