Top 10 Movie Soundtracks

With Hans Zimmer the talk of the town for his Inception score derived almost entirely from the first chord of Edith Piaf's 'Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien', scores and soundtracks are getting the recognition they deserve. We've chosen a few of our favourites from Disney sing-alongs to rousing orchestral manoeuvres, via a bit of country and disco, and say thank you for the music: a vital, but overlooked, cinematic element.

Our Top 10

1. Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Not a bad place to start this top 10 list; the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever was a phenomenon that sold over 15 million copies in the United States alone. Predominantly featuring songs by the Bee Gees, it features iconic disco anthems such as Stayin' Alive, Night Fever and How Deep Is Your Love. Accompanying the film that propelled John Travolta to stardom, the album was responsible for reviving disco and creating essential singing for karaoke bars everywhere. All together now: ‘Ah, ha, ha, ha. Stayin' alive. Stayin' alive.’

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2. Dirty Dancing (1987)

Women around the world have undoubtedly spent many a moment wishing it was them being scooped up out of a lake by Johnny Castle (played by the late, great Patrick Swayze). The soundtrack for this classic chick flick spent an impressive 18 weeks at the No.1 spot in the U.S., and went on to sell over 42 million copies worldwide. Thanks to a combination of sultry dancing, a secret romance and this emotive soundtrack, Dirty Dancing has gone down in history. Track after track is pure music magic, but if there is one song which sums up the film’s passion then it’s has to be ‘(I've Had) The Time of My Life,’ which won the 1987 Academy Award for Best Original Song. And deservedly so.

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3. The Bodyguard (1992)

Containing one of the most famous songs of all time, The Bodyguard soundtrack was executive-produced by the star of the film, Whitney Houston, giving her total control of the album. The iconic signature song ‘I Will Always Love you,’ nearly didn’t happen, as Houston was going to record a different song but found out another film was already using it. It was her co-star Kevin Costner who thought of recording ‘I Will Always Love You’, which was originally released by Dolly Parton. The album made Houston the first act to ever sell more than a million copies in one week – pretty impressive we’re sure you’ll agree.

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4. The Lion King (1994)

It’s near enough impossible to pick just one Disney soundtrack, but The Lion King is more than worthy of a top 10 position. Not only is legendary composer Hans Zimmer behind the film’s score but it features performances from Elton John, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg and Jeremy Irons. Zimmer won an Academy Award for his score and Elton picked up the Best Original Song gong for the nostalgic Can You Feel The Love Tonight (Circle of Life and Hakuna Matata were also nominated). After selling over 10 million copies in the States it became the biggest selling soundtrack ever from an animated film. Not surprising really…

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5. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Choosing just one Tarantino soundtrack is a very hard task indeed – we were tempted to give the director his very own category – but alas, Pulp Fiction’s cooler-than-a-cucumber eclectic sound it is. Just like his directing, Tarantino’s soundtrack was equally untraditional; the album consists of nine songs from the movie, four tracks of dialogue segments integrated with songs, and three tracks of dialogue alone. Samuel L. Jackson’s now legendary speeches "Ezekiel 25:17" and "Royale with Cheese" are both featured in the soundtrack, and it’s snippets like these that mean the film is totally

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6. Titanic (1997)

Celine Dion may spring to mind when thinking about the Titanic soundtrack but composer James Horner is the man responsible for the film’s sound, winning him an Oscar for his efforts. Horner was the mastermind behind the iconic belter My Heart Will Go On, which is one of the biggest selling singles of all time. Director James Cameron originally didn’t want a song sung over the film's ending credits, but Horner went ahead and recorded a song with Dion at the helm. Needless to say, Cameron changed his mind once he’d heard the track. Horner has won umpteen awards for his long career in movie music and his talents will next be heard in Cameron’s hotly anticipated Avatar.

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7. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Fans of the film will perhaps have more love for the soundtrack than those who haven’t already been acquainted with Guy Ritchie’s signature Brit gangster flick. Combining the eclectic sounds of rock, pop, Brit pop and reggae, Lock Stock’s soundtrack has a decidedly British feel to it, despite the heavy inclusion of American soul. In the style of Tarantino, director Ritchie punctuates the film’s music with catchy sound bites from the cockney characters. Including tracks by Ocean Colour Scene, James Brown, Dusty Springfield and Robbie Williams. It’s a bit of a musical medley, but we like it.

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8. O Brother Where Art Thou (2000)

Produced by music maestro T-Bone Burnett, the soundtrack for O Brother Where Art Thou shows off the best of American folk. Despite having T-Bone on board, the album was still an unexpected hit – with commercial and critical success – and was the first soundtrack to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year since 1994. The Cohen brothers had already worked with T-Bone on the soundtrack for The Big Lebowski, and called him up to work on O Brother even before they’d finished the script. With the sounds of gospel, blues and country music, the soundtrack captures the time and situation of the film perfectly.

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9. Gladiator (2000)

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10. Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003)

Another heavyweight composer, Howard Shore is responsible for many cracking movie soundtracks (The Silence Of The Lambs, Se7en, and The Aviator to name just a few). Shore wrote hours and hours of music for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the scores for The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return Of The King won Academy Awards. Featuring recurring themes for certain characters and locations, the music features the classical sounds of woodwind and percussion instruments. The perfect accompaniment to the dramatic story of hobbits saving Middle-Earth from the Dark Lord Sauron…

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Tegan Kniveton