Best Soundtrack Evah
 

What's your poison?

What is, IYHO, the best movie soundtrack ever recorded?

Don't be shy. Let 'em fly.

Xanadu! ;)

Pulp Fiction. Not original songs but goodies.

Flash by Queen for Flash Gordon. Is that the name of the song?

Oh and st for Boogie Nights.

John Williams is the undisputed champ, but not many people just listen to his music.

In high school, it was The Big Chill.

I like Mark Knopfler's Local Hero a lot.

Saturday Night Fever was huge.

John Williams has written everything!

Except for what Randy Newman and Dolly Parton wrote.

Oooh...Nine to Five!

Dated now, but Flashdance and Footloose both sold well.

Danny Elfman seems to be the new John Williams

I'm a big fan of tv series soundtracks. I particularly like those series that use leitmotifs as a part of the storytelling (for anybody not aware of leitmotif, basically it's the use of particular 'themes' for individual characters or plotlines, that then come together and merge as the characters and plots merge).

My favourites are:

Battlestar Galactica, by the composer Bear McCreary. These are some of my favourite ever orchestral pieces, and the way the diffeent themes intertwine is just wonderful

Doctor Who, by Murray Gold. Again, what I love is the way the individual themes intertwine. So, for instance, the Doctor has his own theme(different for each new doc and series) and there's a theme for 'Gallifrey' that shares certain elements of the Doctor's theme. In the episode The Doctor's Daughter, the daughter's theme is a separate theme but incorporates elements of both the Doctor's theme and Gallifrey (nice touch I think).

Am currently very into the series soundtrack for Camelot. Beautiful combination of orchestral, drum beats and plainsong.

Also love the Being Human soundtrack. Some lovely pieces on that, especially 'Ancestors' which plays over the meeting of two of the main characters.

So... examples.

Some very different examples of the BSG music.

First one is a real tubthumper, like a military tattoo in places, but with the sense of increased momentum almost like a train gathering speed. It starts slow, but you can feel the gathering pace until you end up with an amazing blend of drums and wailing pipes.



Second one is a gentle tune. Has a real sense of pathos.



Third is another that gathers to a crescendo



And then just to show how varied the soundtrack is, here's a little piano piece, a reworking of one of Mozart's 'Sonatas'. This played across a scene in which one of the characters found himself in a strange nightmare of his own making.



And a lovely vocal piece:




Doctor Who:

Gallifrey/Our Childhood Home


The Doctor's theme (No.10) alsoknown as The Lonely Angel, a much darker theme than the previous year. This is the Doctor having lost everything.



The Doctor's Daughter. A much lighter affair, with a comedic tone, but if you listen closely, you can hear elements of both the Doctor's theme and Gallifrey



Being Human Soundtrack:

The opening theme. Just a really lovely acoustic guitar piece.

A Wonderful Thing.



Ancestors. I love the violin in this (or it might be a cello?)




Camelot

The wedding song 'Be my Light'. This woman's voice sends a shiver down my spine.



The drowning of Excalibur. Love the drumbeats in this and the use of guitar and pipes. Don't know if there's also a mandolin in there?



The court of Pendragon, i love the use of fanfare.



Morgan's Court

Brilliantly medieval sounding :p




Funeral song


Justice Compared. Quite a stately piece this I think

Jesus Christ Superstar
Camelot
Hair
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Fantasia

For Haunting Mood Music
Blade Runner
Natural Born Killers
The Good Bad and The Ugly

And More Recently
Once
Oh Brother Where Art Thou

Oh, and to answer the original question :p

Anything by John Williams
Also, pretty much anything by Enrico Morricone (The Good the Bad and The Ugly, Fistful of Dollars etc)

And the soundtrack to Star Wars. The music for Darth Vader's entrance in particular!

Har! You got in with TGtBatU before me:p

That was the music we played at dad's funeral. As we entered the chapel:

Easy Rider

1. The Pusher - Steppenwolf
2. Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
3. The Weight - Smith
4. Wasn't Born To Follow - The Byrds
5. If You Want To Be A Bird (Bird Song) - Holy Modal Rounders
6. Don't Bogart Me (Aka Don't Bogart That Joint) - The Fraternity Of Man
7. If 6 Was 9 - Jimi Hendrix
8. Kyrie Ellison Mardi Gras - The Electric Prunes
9. It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - Roger McGuinn
10. Ballad Of Easy Rider - Roger McGuinn

"Dazed and Confused" soundtrack rocks.

Jonny Greenwood for "There Will Be Blood". So perfect.

I'm going to have to go with Star Wars.

The music tells the story just as much as the words and pictures.

You know where you are, just by listening.

Brilliance.

I think of scores as being modern symphonies, although I know many music critics would disagree with me.

Soundtracks are a totally different matter, because they often contain previously recorded music that was chosen for the film. I was quite pleased that there were two separate releases for Watchmen ... one of the Score, one of the Soundtrack.

Another big favorite is Philip Glass' Koyannisqatsi.

And I am another lover of Enio Morricone. The Untouchables was better, richer, more mature, than The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, but both are excellent.

I don't tend to differentiate between 'score' and 'soundtrack' so much. Generally speaking if you buy the music from a tv show it is called a 'soundtrack' whether it is an original score or a set of chosen tracks. So, for instance if you get the BSG album is is called Battlestar Galactica OST (original soundtrack) But yeah, I prefer the original scores on the whole.

And that I would absolutely consider a modern symphiny, likewise the music to Doctor Who. Murray Gold has composed a wonderful score which is meant to be played by a full orchestra.

Henry Mancini

Pink Panther theme

Breakfast at Tiffany's (Moon River)

Peter Gunn

Newhart

Mancini was the shit

One day I hope to see a bride walk down the aisle to Peter Gunn.

THAT would be cool.

He was. Amazingness piled up in album after album.

Very cool.

Ten things I hate about you-the funnest soundtrack of all time.

:bonk: Of course!

Breaking Glass
Christiane F. (Bowie)
Harold and Maude (Cat Stevens)
The Fifth Element score

Oh, add in the scores for Bladerunner and The Terminator.

Just thinking about the difference between soundtracks and scores:

Sometimes I think there is great artistry in finding the perfect existing track for a movie scene. Probably one of the best examples of this being the movie Donnie Darko.

I thought Doctor Who at the Proms was awesome.

Eddie Vedder's work on Into the Wild bears a listen.

Bladerunner was largely Vangelis, IIRC.

Has anyone picked High School Musical yet?:D

Peter Gunn was very cool, but I never considered TV series as having soundtracks, usually just a theme song.

A log of the cop/detective shows in the 60's and 70's (Gunn was technically 50's) had cool music, heavy on the brass. Peter Gunn was the first and maybe the best (tie with Hawaii Five-o):

Mannix
Hawaii Five-0

Of course, westerns had great themes

Rawhide - I cannot believe how many covers I found on Youtube
Original


Blues Brothers version - Good thing there just happened to be a bullwhip handy:whip:

In the Blues Bros. version - is that Jeff Lynne back there?

the garden state soundtrack is great.

I saw that movie and loved it, but I don't remembered soundtrack. That's my problem with most movies...unless they are a musical.

Funnily enough the music is what tends to stick with me from most movies and tv shows.

You don't notice really well done incidental music. It only stands out when it's just plain wrong.

I notice really well done incidental music. Probably because I am listening out for it. It's one of my obsessions :p

Zach Braff is one of my favourite actors, but I could take or leave Garden State -p'raps it's worth watching again to see if I get more out of it on the 2nd watch as well as it being a chance to listen to the soundtrack. I notice that Z.B. has playrighted a new show which is on in New York soon. If I were anywhere nearby, I would get tickets.

I don't think I saw it in here, the soundtrack to Rambo and Rambo II was not bad.

Wrong quote in my post. I'm absolutely certain that I didn't click on that post, but the one about Garden State. Not to worry.

Branagh's Henry V, by Patrick Doyle.

Of the "Star Wars" soundtracks, Empire has the Imperial March, so it's the coolest.

And I'll second Pulp Fiction for non-original songs.

I think two movies that really impressed me with incidental music were Lost in Translation and Solaris. Both I believe used it to set an alien tone. They both to me effected a disjointed feeling similar to being awake for over 24 hours at 2am.

Star Wars, obviously

Singles is a great snapshot of 1990s Seattle, aka "Grunge"

Waking Life soundtrack by Tosca Tango Orchestra

Ghost in The Shell, Kenji Kawai

Gross point blank and SLC Punk are 2 of my favs

You are correct.

Heavy Metal
Rob Zombie's Halloween
Full Metal Jacket
Rock 'n' Rule

Cas, I saw him (Mancini) live. It was a dinner/music thing. When he played Moon River I got pretty teary. It was a long time ago, I can't even remember the venue, but it was an intimate setting and I don't know what the ex paid for the tickets. It was priceless.

How very, very cool. I'm guessing he had a great stage persona? Was it just him and the piano?

I'd put Leonard Cohen in this category too, but I went to see Tito Puente in Tokyo in 1997 and that didn't make much of an impression. What you've said about Henry Mancini makes me think that it would be really worth the effort to go and see Pablo Milanes and Silvio Rodriguez before they get too old to perform.

There were other musicians but it was mostly him. Yeah, I'd recommend seeing anyone you can if the opportunity arises. When Mr Mancini passed away I was so glad I'd seen the greatness in person.

I'll have to ask the ex about when and where it was, exactly. So long ago.

I had the same feeling about the comedian Bill Hicks. Went to see him live, then he died about two years later.

Elmer Bernstein

Magnficant Seven

The Great Escape

To Kill a Mockingbird

Theme for National Geographic Specials

I saw him in a live performance several years before he died.