Top 10 Movie Soundtracks
Music can be one of the most important parts of a film. I don’t claim to be a music expert. I’m not even a music novice. I have my songs I listen to and that’s pretty much that. For someone like me, a great way to be introduced to new music is through film. I compiled this list of my top 10 favorite movie soundtracks and that’s what I have for you here! I’m keeping this to live action movies because animated films deserve a list of their own (coming soon!). I also won’t have any musician biopics on here, because that just feels like cheating.
Barbie- The most recent addition on this list, ‘Barbie’ won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for ‘What Was I Made For?’ by Billie Eilish & Fineas O’Connell. The song also won the Grammy for Song of the Year and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Other heavy hitters from this album include ‘Pink’ by Lizzo, ‘Dance the Night’ by Dua Lipa, ‘Barbie World’ by Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice, & Aqua, and of course, ‘I’m Just Ken’ by Ryan Gosling. The kenergy exuded by Ken’s power ballad is my personal favorite and a song I often find playing in my car. P.S. go watch the live performance of this from the Oscars.
Black Panther- With this soundtrack being curated by Kendrick Lamar, it has some pretty great rap/hip-hop songs that they manage to use perfectly to fit the Wakandan setting of ‘Black Panther.’ The soundtrack of this movie really stands out from other MCU movies and the standout song is ‘All the Stars’ by Lamar & SZA.
Dirty Dancing- One of the older films on this list, ‘Dirty Dancing’ is an extremely timeless movie with even more timeless music. There are many notable tracks, though my personal favorites are the climactic ‘(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life’ by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes and ‘She’s Like the Wind’ by Patrick Swayze himself.
The Greatest Showman- Naturally some musicals had to make this list and this is my personal favorite movie musical. Every song from start to finish is incredibly catchy and the tracks include: ‘The Greatest Show,’ ‘A Million Dreams,’ ‘Come Alive,’ ‘Never Enough,’ ‘This Is Me,’ ‘Rewrite the Stars,’ ‘Tightrope,’ & ‘From Now On’ which are performed by the ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Keala Settle, & Michelle Williams. My personal favorite is Efron & Jackman’s ‘The Other Side.’
Guardians of the Galaxy- The greatest movie soundtrack of all-time. ‘The Awesome Mix’ features some iconic, nostalgic songs (coming from someone born in ‘01) that fit the movie perfectly. Vol. 2 & Vol. 3 also have out of this world soundtracks, but the original stands alone. I’m not even going to list the songs, if you’re not familiar, I want you to go familiarize yourself.
High School Musical- During my research for this video, I learned that the soundtrack is certified quadruple platinum. That’s so crazy. I’m sure you all know all the hits featuring the cast of Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, & Drew Seeley (not Zac Efron). You can take your pick at the first, second, or third film’s soundtrack. While the 3rd film is my favorite, the 1st has the best songs.
Mamma Mia!- All the bops of ABBA, but song by the likes of Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, & friends. Now I’m going to say something that may cause some tension. I actually prefer both the second film and it’s soundtrack. The addition of Lily James & the rest of the young actors make it that much more fun.
Rocky III- The third installment of the Rocky franchise features the great song from the first 'Gonna Fly Now’ and also what is quite possibly the best song to come from any movie, ‘Eye of the Tiger.’
Top Gun- I wasn’t alive for the 1980s, but I believe nothing is more 80s than Top Gun. And that goes for music too. Featuring the likes of ‘Great Balls of Fire,’ ‘Take My Breath Away,’ & ‘Danger Zone,’ every track perfectly encapsulates the scene intended.
Twilight- The first movie features extremely underrated songs like ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ and ‘Flightless Bird, American Mouth,’ but for me the final entry, Breaking Dawn- Part Two, takes the cake with hits like ‘Where I Come From’ & of course, ‘A Thousand Years.’
