We were jamming to some tunes today, doing a little packing, when a song from the High Fidelity Soundtrack came up on the pod. Elizabeth claimed that it was the best soundtrack ever, which got us to thinking, in honor of High Fidelity, what are the top 5 soundtracks of all time? I decided there should be some rules to such a list. A musical is out--it just isn't in the spirit of the soundtrack when it is basically the thing that moves the movie's plot forward. Plus, eliminating musicals saves me from the embarrassment of having Little Shop of Horrors or The Little Mermaid on my list. Also, I decided that it should be a compilation of some sort, which rules out Badly Drawn Boy's About a Boy soundtrack. That really isn't a compilation, it's just an album by BDB. Also, I'm not talking about musical scores here, either. That would be a completely different category. So...here's my top 5:
5. O, Brother, Where Art Thou? -This one just happened along right when I was kind of getting into bluegrass anyway, so it was a perfect fit.
4. Juno - This is shamelessly on the list because of its newness. I'd be surprised if it would make this list a year from now.
3. High Fidelity - There really isn't a misstep on this. Even the Jack Black-Al Green number holds up pretty well.
2. Pulp Fiction - This one was in heavy rotation for a long, long time, and I still can't hear a song from it without placing it in the movie, which is unfortunate for "Comache" by The Revels
1. Rushmore - The opening riff to "Making Time" by The Creation is badass enough to land this soundtrack at the top of the list, especially since I'd never heard it before watching the movie.
Elizabeth's top 5
5. Magnolia - Even the Supertramp doesn't dampen my love of this songtrack filled with some of Aimee Mann's best songs (barely fits the category above, being mostly Aimee Mann tunes, but I think it counts).
4. The Life Aquatic - Portuguese covers of David Bowie songs. Really, what more do you need?
3. Rushmore - Solid.
2. Immortal - a bunch of Chapel Hill bands for a very obscure movie...need to put this one on the pod.
1. High Fidelity - And definitely the one I listen to the most.
In high school, Dazed and Confused and The Crow EASILY would have made this list.
7 comments:
Good subject!
I'm going with the following:
1. Garden State
2. Trainspotting
3. Singles
4. Lost in Translation
5. The Graduate/Pretty in Pink/Empire Records/Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Agree that the Crow would have been a no brainer in the early 90s.
Also, I was in a band that loved the usage of Rushmore's "Making Time" that we started covering it not long after..rockin tune!
Hmm...solid list. I thought about Garden State this morning and stand by not having it on my list, but it's more because Braff annoys me now than anything. The fact is that's a strong soundtrack. If I revised Lost in Translation would probably make the list...I used to have that, but I don't know where it went. All in all, a very solid list, sir.
if it's top of all time, the 1989 batman soundtrack (which doesn't meet your parameters) would be on my list.
the Teenage Mutant Turtles soundtrack would also probably be on mine.
i have no shame.
Oddly the Onion AVClub has a similar article on this topic this week:
http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/movies_lyrics_19_movies
Probably doesn't fit your specific criteria...but no doubt my favorite (and probably the best) soundtrack of all time is The Beatles's A Hard Day Night.
If I had to pick my favorite soundtrack (by the qualifications set forth) than it would be The Pulp Fiction soundtrack.
"Bring out the gimp..."
maybe this movie should be on the list
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