Here’s A Dumb List of the Top Movie Soundtracks Of All Time, But What’s Your Top 3?

UK Vinyl Sales Highest Level For Thirty Years LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 28: Customers look through a rack of vinyl records at the HMV store on Oxford street on December 28, 2023 in London, England. The British Phonographic Industry figures show UK vinyl sales rose by 11.7% to 5.9 million units this year, increasing for the 16th year in a row. Taylor Swift's 1989 (Taylor's version) was the best-selling LP and she has two further albums in the top 10. (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Getty Images) (Peter Nicholls/Getty Images)

By Ethan

Another website dropped a list of the ‘best movie soundtracks of all time’, according to them. And of course they’re wrong about a bunch of it:

Here’s what they got right, in my opinion:

Ferris Bueller’s is good but only has like 4 really good songs,

Singles has a bunch of great songs from Led Zeppelin to Alice In Chains and should be much higher,

Trainspotting is another good one, but top 25?

So since this website is clearly run by people who’ve never listened to a great movie soundtrack, I’ll give my also unimportant opinion. But I’m limiting my list to soundtracks based on actual rock/pop artists and songs so classics like Star Wars are out, even though those songs are iconic.

So here’s my personal top 5: (the formatting is all messed up because computers suck)

  1. Say Anything
  • All For Love – Nancy Wilson
  • Cult of Personality (Live) – Living Colour
  • One Big Rush – Joe Satriani
  • You Want It – Cheap Trick
  • Taste The Pain – Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel
  • Stripped (Live) – Depeche Mode
  • Skankin’ To The Beat – Fishbone
  • Within Your Reach – The Replacements
  • Keeping The Dream Alive – Freiheit 
  1. Purple Rain
  • Let’s Go Crazy – A high-energy rock-funk opener and a #1 hit.
  • Take Me with U – A duet originally intended for Apollonia 6.
  • The Beautiful Ones – A haunting ballad written about Denise “Vanity” Matthews.
  • Computer Blue – A complex track featuring a bridge composed by Prince’s father, John L. Nelson.
  • Darling Nikki – Famous for its provocative lyrics that led to the creation of the “Parental Advisory” sticker.
  • When Doves Cry – The lead single and Prince’s first #1 hit, notable for its lack of a bass line.
  • I Would Die 4 U – A spiritual track where Prince inhabits different perspectives of the Holy Trinity.
  • Baby I’m a Star – An anthem reflecting the ambition of Prince’s character, “The Kid”.
  • Purple Rain – The emotional centerpiece, recorded live at First Avenue in Minneapolis.
  1. Singles
  • Would? - Alice in Chains
  • Breath - Pearl Jam
  • Seasons - Chris Cornell
  • Dyslexic Heart - Paul Westerberg
  • Battle of Evermore - The Lovemongers (Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart)
  • Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns - Mother Love Bone
  • Birth Ritual - Soundgarden
  • State of Love and Trust - Pearl Jam
  • Overblown - Mudhoney
  • Waiting for Somebody - Paul Westerberg
  • May This Be Love - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  • Nearly Lost You - Screaming Trees
  • Drown - The Smashing Pumpkins 
  1. Less Than Zero
  1. Aerosmith – “Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu”
  2. Roy Orbison – “Life Fades Away”
  3. Poison – “Rock and Roll All Nite”
  4. LL Cool J – “Going Back to Cali”
  5. Glenn Danzig & The Power and Fury Orchestra – “You and Me (Less Than Zero)”
  6. Slayer – “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”
  7. Public Enemy – “Bring the Noise”
  8. The Black Flames – “Are You My Woman?”
  9. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – “She’s Lost You”
  10. Alyson Williams feat. Oran ‘Juice’ Jones – “How to Love Again”
  11. The Bangles – “Hazy Shade of Winter”
  1. The Crow (the original movie, not the remake)
  • “Burn” - The Cure
    • The Cure wrote this song specifically for the movie.
  • “Golgotha Tenement Blues” - Machines of Loving Grace
  • “Big Empty” - Stone Temple Pilots
    • Stone Temple Pilots submitted this song after the accidental on-set death of star Brandon Lee.
  • “Dead Souls” (Joy Division cover) - Nine Inch Nails
  • “Darkness” (Re-recording of “Darkness of Greed”) - Rage Against the Machine
  • “Color Me Once” - Violent Femmes
  • “Ghostrider” (Suicide cover) - Rollins Band
  • “Milktoast” (Also known as “Milquetoast”) - Helmet
  • “The Badge” (Poison Idea cover) - Pantera
  • “Slip Slide Melting” - For Love Not Lisa
  • “After the Flesh” (Re-recording of “Nervous Xians”) - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
    • The band also appeared in the film during the nightclub scene.
  • “Snakedriver” - The Jesus and Mary Chain
  • “Time Baby III” (Re-recording of “Time Baby II”) - Medicine, featuring guest vocalist Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins
  • “It Can’t Rain All the Time” - Jane Siberry 

What’s yours?