This summer saw the release of Suicide Squad, which has a killer soundtrack (if you pardon the pun). Therefore it seemed fitting to count down the best soundtracks in film and television as the next instalment in our top 10 feature. We counted down from 10-6 in this month’s issue (which is out now!) so here is the complete top 10:
10. Game of Thrones
The score played over the first scenes in the season six finale is enough on its own to justify this soundtrack being on this list. Then there’s the classic theme tune (albeit I can’t listen to it without singing “death and boobies” to the tune – thanks Maisie Williams!).
9. Straight Outta Compton
With the classic album of the same title providing the basis of the soundtrack, it is bolstered even further with the inclusion of tracks by the likes of Eazy E, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg. This is rap with real bite and makes the film as good as it is, without it this would’ve just been another generic rags to riches Hollywood movie.
8. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
It would be a crime not to include this soundtrack when it includes classic songs like the ‘Time Warp’, which is still played at family discos to this day, and ‘Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me’. The film itself would have just been rather grubby and revolting without such catchy and memorable songs to splice some fun into it.
7. Stranger Things
This Netflix original series has taken the world by storm this summer, and deservedly so. The soundtrack adds to the 80s throwback vibes with classic songs, such as ‘Africa’ by TOTO and ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ by The Clash, as well as a synth score by the US band S U R V I V E.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
The Awesome Mix vol. 1 is a soundtrack and a half! It is full of old school disco and rock anthems including ‘Spirit in the Sky’, ‘Escape (The Pina Colada Song)’, and ‘Hooked on a Feeling’. Most of these songs are used rather inventively throughout one of the best Marvel movies to date thanks to the mixtape itself playing an integral part in the plot.
5. The Great Gatsby
The first of two Baz Luhrmann soundtracks on this list, a director who certainly doesn’t underestimate the power of a good soundtrack. Here the classic story is brought to life with the help of a modern hip-hop soundtrack, featuring the likes of Kanye West, Beyoncé, and Lana Del Rey, and curated by Jay-Z. You’d think it would be jarring to have such a modern soundtrack over a period piece but instead it serves to be very atmospheric given the lavish parties and lifestyles that form the basis of the storyline.
4. Juno
This is the epitome of an indie movie with a toe-tapping indie soundtrack. It mostly consists of songs by Kimya Dawson but also features the likes of Belle and Sebastian, The Kinks, and Michael Cera and Ellen Page themselves with their beautiful cover of ‘Anyone Else but You’.
3. Wayne’s World
Think of the biggest rock songs of all time and they will most likely be on the soundtrack for this hilarious 90s comedy. From Queen and Jimi Hendrix to Alice Cooper and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, this soundtrack is full of some of the best rock stars of all time and therefore deserves to be this high up on the list.
2. Drive
This is a modern classic of a soundtrack, which has since been mimicked with lesser results by action films such as Taken 2 (its use of ‘Tick of the Clock’ by Chromatics was far less memorable than it was here). The synth score by Cliff Martinez is just as memorable as some of the grim violence in this underrated gem of a film.
- Moulin Rouge!
Another Baz Luhrmann soundtrack and it is up there with some of the best of all time. Who can say that they don’t start at least hum along to ‘Lady Marmalade’ whenever it comes on? As well as songs by some of the biggest pop stars in the world, this is a musical so some of the more atmospheric songs are sung by the cast themselves. The most notable of these is the ‘Elephant Love Medley’, which features Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor singing some timeless love songs in what is one of the grandest scenes in this elaborate romance.
Music editor
