Behind every great film lies an equally great soundtrack. Finding the perfect soundtrack can be as important as casting the right lead actor. In a soundtrack, the emotion felt in the story is projected through the songs played in the scene.
A truly great soundtrack is remembered years later, such as the “Top Gun” soundtrack with Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” and Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away.” These tracks are still associated with “Top Gun” today. Some soundtrack compilations are of popular artists of the time, or selected to complement the era the film is set in. Others are composed strictly for the film, as seen in “The Social Network” with Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor’s fragile instrumental work. Here are the top five movie soundtracks of this year:
“SOUL SURFER”
Embodying the spirit of surfing and island life, this soundtrack fulfills the heartwarming true story in the film “Soul Surfer.” Two Door Cinema Club and Mat Kearney are two of the artists featured, keeping the soundtrack young and free. It’s a creative mix of artists that spans a few different genres including Britpop and traditional island music. The only song that seems ill-suited is Chris Sligh’s cover of Katy Perry’s “Firework.”
“THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED”
This film, released in March, relies strongly on its soundtrack. Centered around the rediscovery of Grateful Dead to aid in a son’s musical therapy to treat brain damage, the soundtrack embodies the emotional roller coaster of the story. While just about half are Grateful Dead songs, Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow” and the classic from Crosby, Stills & Nash “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” also make the cut. It’s a graceful compilation of songs that complements the film tremendously.
“CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE”
Yes, this is a romantic comedy. But it also has a soundtrack chock full of little indie treasures. Firstly, Say Hi’s “Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh” is track number nine, which is perfect. Also the Mark Ronson remix of Miike Snow’s “Animal” is also featured. The overall flow of the soundtrack is fantastic, intermixing tracks from Thievery Corporation into a track from Goldfrapp and diva Nina Simone. Needing an easy mix for cooking that special someone dinner at home in candlelight? This would be it.
“TRON: LEGACY”
First off, the original soundtrack released last year was a forward-thinking album from electronic wonders Daft Punk. Then, earlier this year Daft Punk took the original and collaborated with 16 of today’s biggest electronic / dance artists to remix and put a new spin on all of the songs, incorporating each collaborating artist’s personal style. Moby, Paul Oakenfold, M83 and Pretty Lights are just a few included on this soundtrack. The Chemical Brothers, who also followed Daft Punk’s lead and single-handedly composed the soundtrack to “Hanna,” also worked on this album for “The Grid.” M83 and Big Black Delta worked together to create “Fall,” which is one of the best remixed tracks on the album, incorporating vocals and cool melodica.
“THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1”
Being a fan of sparkly vampires and shape-shifting teenagers is not a requirement to be able to fall in love with this soundtrack. For all of the Twilight movies, inspiration for the soundtrack has come from author Stephanie Meyer’s personal playlists while writing the novels. Most, if not all, of the songs on each album are specifically written and recorded for the soundtrack from some of the most popular artists in the music industry. Tracks include Paramore’s “Decode” and The Black Keys’ “Chop and Change.” This time around the album includes tracks from The Joy Formidable, The Features and Theophilus London. The songs also portray the emotion and events from the film well and all magically keep a tone to them that match and flow from the beginning to end. The album itself is out this month.
— Courtney Rogin is a history senior.
