Sometimes the music can make the movie.
Movies can leave a mark on a person just through the stories they tell, but it could also be the music that gets trapped inside viewers’ brains.
From the catchiness of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” in “Purple Rain” or Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” from “Almost Famous,” here’s a look at the best film soundtracks from throughout the years.
“Purple Rain”
Prince had already started to make a name for himself when he released “1999” in 1982, but he became one of the biggest artists in the world when “Purple Rain” came out in 1984. The album served as a soundtrack to the movie “Purple Rain,” which Prince also starred in.
The soundtrack is loaded with classic cuts from The Purple One like “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “I Would Die 4 U” and “Purple Rain.”
“Purple Rain” is considered Prince’s best album and one that continues to heavy play. The iconic soundtrack has sold over 25 million copies around the world.
“Saturday Night Fever”
Nothing got people dancing in 1977 like the soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever.”
From beginning to end, the movie featured disco staples and captures the Bee Gees at their peak. The movie would not have been the same had “Stayin’ Alive” not been playing as Tony Manero walked down the street in the opening credits, or when the he became the king of the dance floor to “You Should Be Dancing.”
The album also featured other Bee Gees classics like “Night Fever,” “More Than a Woman” and “How Deep is Your Love.” Although the Bee Gees dominated the track listing, other disco classics like The Trammps “Disco Inferno” and Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You” played a big role on the soundtrack.
“Singles”
“Singles” was a movie that perfectly captured the grunge scene in Seattle at the time, so it’s fitting it had a star-studded soundtrack that launched alternative rock into the mainstream.
The soundtrack featured bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, The Smashing Pumpkins, Mother Love Bone and Mudhoney. Fan favorite B-sides like Pearl Jam’s “State of Love and Trust,” The Smashing Pumpkin’s “Drown” and Chris Cornell’s solo “Seasons” remain standouts 25 years after its release.
“Singles” went on to be certified platinum twice and helped make the featured grunge bands some of the biggest rock bands in the world.
“Boogie Nights”
To help tell a story that spanned both the ’70s and ’80s, the “Boogie Nights” soundtrack combined hit singles from Marvin Gaye to Rick Springfield.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson picked tracks that you were likely to hear on the radio or playing at parties for his iconic film about the adult film industry at the time. He included Hot Chocolate’s “You Sexy Thing,” The Emotions’ “Best of my Love” and The Commodores’ “Machine Gun.”
However, the song that sticks out the most is Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian,” thanks to the infamous Alfred Molina rendition moments before bullets flew in a shootout.
“8 Mile”
Anything Eminem touched in the early 2000s turned to platinum, including the soundtrack to his movie “8 Mile.”
One of the biggest songs Eminem ever wrote, “Lose Yourself,” became a huge hit single off the record and remains a staple in his collection of rap songs. The rapper also wrote “Love Me,” “8 Mile” and “Rabbit Run.”
He also recruited 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Xzibit, Nas, Obie Trice, Macy Gray and Rakim to contribute to the album, making it one of the best rap movie soundtracks of all time.
“Pulp Fiction”
Music is as much a part of Quentin Tarantino movies as are long sequences of dialogue. The tracks the director had included in “Pulp Fiction” continue to stick out the most.
The film has a memorable opening credits score that includes Dick Dale and his Del-Tones’ “Misirlou” and Kool & the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” before jumping into the movie. There’s also the iconic Jack Rabbit Slims Twist contest song, Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell,” that highlights the dancing skills of Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman).
Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man” and Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” also round out the stellar collection of songs featured in Tarantino’s classic.
“Almost Famous”
Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” is a movie that’s all about the music and what it was like to be a rock band in the ’70s. There was a ton of classic rock tracks sprinkled throughout the movie, later condensed into an Academy Award-winning soundtrack.
Music from Simon & Garfunkel, The Who, The Beach Boys, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin can all be found in the track listing. The standout track on the album is Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer,” famously featured in the bus sing-a-long scene.
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
Few could have predicted the success “Guardians of the Galaxy” would generate when it was released, but once it hit the big screen it quickly became a Marvel fan favorite. A part of this was thanks to the classic songs that made up its soundtrack.
The movie begins with Starlord (Chris Pratt) bopping around to Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love,” has a prison scene set to Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling” and comes to an end with a baby Groot dancing to “I Want You Back.”
The throwback tracks didn’t stop there, as the rest of the album had other classics like Five Stairsteps “O-o-h Child” and Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first soundtrack to reach that mark after being made up of previously released songs.
