No Merchandising. Editorial Use Only. No Book Cover Usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Moviestore/REX Shutterstock (1598174a) Flashdance, Jennifer Beals Film and Television
The Best Movie Soundtracks—From the Past Four Decades
A killer movie soundtrack wields the power to transport to a place and time—not to mention, catapult a film from good to great. In an effort to keep this list manageable, we worked within the parameters of the last four decades.
Blues Brothers
John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd sing the Blues. Plus, hits from Aretha Franklin and James Brown to name a few.
Flashdance
GP’s favorite.
Purple Rain
All Prince, all the time.
Reality Bites
M-M-M-My Sharona!
Friday
Content very much explicit (but so good).
Trainspotting
Iggy Pop, Blur, Underworld–it’s the best of 90’s punk/britpop all in one place.
Romeo + Juliet
As relevant now as it was 20 years ago. Yes, that was 20 years ago.
Los Highway
Because David Lynch and Trent Reznor are a match made in noir heaven.
Rushmore
Just try not to sing along.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Produced by T-Bone Burnett. ‘Nuff said.
Garden State
The record responsible for taking indie music mainstream.
The Virgin Suicides
Original score by French duo, Air.
Slumdog Millionaire
An addictive compilation of Bollywood pop.
Where the Wild Things Are
Karen O and The Kids did a beautiful job bringing the beloved book to life.
Country Strong
We kind of twisted GP’s arm to let us add this one to the list.
Drive
There’s a dreamy ’80s vibe to the whole thing that really works.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
This is what the perfect mix tape sounds like.
The Great Gatsby
On repeat all of 2013 (and 2014…and 2015 for that matter).
Inside Llewyn Davis
Original songs performed by Oscar Isaac himself, and a few by Justin Timberlake, too.