10 Greatest Movie Soundtracks by Famous Bands
We often observe movies for how well they were written, directed, and acted. These are the foundations that distinct bad movies from the good, and the good movies from great ones, but we can’t say that they’re the only moving parts in a massive production. For example, the one thing that could elevate a good movie into a great one is its original soundtrack.
Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Ludwig Goransson—the list of famous and iconic film composers is long. However, some of the best movie soundtracks, maybe ever, weren’t created through these “classic” channels; there are some that were composed by famous bands and often elevate the movies into something more than just a feature film. These are the ten best movie soundtracks by famous bands.
10
Mogwai – ‘The Fountain’ (2006)
Technically, Clint Mansell is the official composer of The Fountain‘s musical score, but he worked with Mogwai on most of the songs and compositions, and the score definitely sounds like them more than anything. Mogwai is a Scottish post-rock band, and a lot of their music is moody and ambient; for The Fountain, the soundtrack turned out orchestral and swelling, with loads of emotional waves, crescendos, and depth. Like the movie, the musical score is cosmic and grandiose but intimate and moving.
The Fountain is an epic sci-fi film about love, fate, and spirituality; it follows Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz portraying three different characters each across three timelines, connected by their love for each other. In one timeline, they’re a conquistador and a queen; in the other, a scientist and his sick wife; and in the third, a 26th-century traveler and a vision. Mansell composed the soundtrack with Kronos Quartet and Mogwai, and the standout track, “Death Is the Road to Awe,” is a logical and the most beautiful example of this collaboration.
9
Popol Vuh – ‘Aguirre, the Wrath of God’ (1972)
Werner Herzog‘s Aguirre, the Wrath of God, is undoubtedly a notorious movie. Not only is it a feverish jungle adventure full of intense and grim moments, but it also became a bit more famous for its behind-the-scenes drama between Klaus Kinski and, well, everyone else. In particular, Herzog spoke about a moment in which he stunned Kinski with a piece of Toblerone, since Kinski foamed at the mouth for an hour about how his coffee was lukewarm on set. Aguirre, the Wrath of God is set in 1560 and is a story about a historical Spanish conquistador, Lope de Aguirre, who led an army of soldiers down the Amazon River in South America.
The movie was filmed on location, and the soundtrack was done by a very popular band of the 1970s, the German kosmische musik band Popol Vuh. Their musical style might best be described as ambient/spiritual rock, and the ethereal and choral sounds of the soundtrack mirror Herzog’s film to a T. The music increases the movie’s vibe into a hallucinatory jungle epic, with the standout track, “Aguirre I,” consisting of haunting vocals, keys, and strings flowing through. Popol Vuh composed music for many other of Herzog’s films, including Nosferatu and the epic Fitzcarraldo.
8
Simon & Garfunkel – ‘The Graduate’ (1967)
The Graduate is one of the first movies in Hollywood to feature a band’s existing music to accompany the visuals, and the songs featured by Simon & Garfunkel function as the film’s emotional and structural foundation. So, while Simon & Garfunkel didn’t technically compose the movie’s entire soundtrack, plenty of their work was used in the film, and Paul Simon even wrote an additional song, titled “Mrs Robinson,” to accompany The Graduate‘s story. The songs that Paul Simon didn’t have time for were composed by jazz artist Dave Grusin.
The Graduate follows Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate who meets and gets seduced by an older married woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). Over time, Benjamin falls for Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross), whom his mistress disapproves of. It’s one of the most famous coming-of-age movies set in college rather than high school—it’s all about growing up as a man for Benjamin. The standout track is, of course, “The Sound of Silence,” which was used for the purposes of editing but ended up being the perfect emotional driver of the scene it was featured in.
7
Tangerine Dream – ‘Sorcerer’ (1977)
Sorcerer is one of William Friedkin‘s most underrated movies, but it’s a relentless and brilliant thriller that deserves more love and appreciation. Not only famous for its greatly filmed and executed action scenes, Sorcerer stands out for its haunting musical score composed by the German electronic music pioneers, Tangerine Dream. The tense, hypnotic soundscape redefined what a film score could sound like; it almost feels like it inspired many electro/synth artists of the 1980s to make similar music. “Sorcerer Theme,” in particular, gives off a haunting vibe filled with beautiful and deep synth notes that are pulse-raising within context.
Sorcerer follows four men from different parts of the world gathering together in the jungle to deliver explosives in a time crunch. The movie opens with four vignettes describing who the men are and where they’re from; the lead is Roy Scheider, who portrays the getaway driver for the Irish mafia in NYC, Jackie Scanlon. The ambient soundtrack completes the movie beautifully, and Sorcerer itself is mightily worth watching, not just because of the music, but for the overall vibes.
6
The Chemical Brothers – ‘Hanna’ (2011)
An underrated action flick that doubles as a coming-of-age story of a little girl, Hanna is a movie by Joe Wright that somehow perfectly captures the zeitgeist and is simultaneously a pretty timeless story. The best way to tell this is a 2010s movie is the original soundtrack composed by The Chemical Brothers, one of the UK’s most iconic and game-changing electronic groups. The soundtrack they created for Hanna is visceral; it has all the elements of a typical Chemical Brothers sound, an industrial electro vibe, but it also refers to a lot of the film’s elements by using amusement park motifs. It’s a pretty sick score.
Hanna follows the young girl, Hanna (Saoirse Ronan), who was raised in the wilderness by her father, a paranoid ex-CIA operative, Erik (Eric Bana). After Erik disappears and tells her to meet him in Berlin, Hanna is forced to employ everything he trained her in so far to find him; while doing so, she experiences glimpses of a normal childhood and even meets a girl she kisses later on. The musical score accompanies the film’s intense events really well, delivering rhythmic chaos to the screens; the standout track, “The Devil Is In the Details,” is a one-of-a-kind mix of amusement park tunes and haunting vocals, establishing a rising rhythm over the course of the track. Another standout is “Special Ops,” which you could easily hear in a club.
5
Toto – ‘Dune’ (1984)
David Lynch‘s Dune is one of the most hated, yet, at the same time, respected adaptations of a beloved novel. Lynch himself kind of felt like it wouldn’t work but still committed to creating it; after Alejandro Jodorowsky jumpstarted the project, it later went to Lynch, and the original soundtrack was composed by Toto. It might sound odd, but yes, the band Toto, whose most famous song is “Africa,” composed the soundtrack for the sci-fi epic Dune, based on Frank Herbert’s Dune. Dune is somewhat controversial, and the choice of Toto for the epic musical score feels like a part of that controversy.
Dune follows Paul Atreides (Kyle McLachlan) and his arrival to Arrakis, the home planet of the Fremen, who live without water and possess a highly coveted drug they call “spice,” with many rulers of great houses fighting for dominion over their planet. The score by Toto is (unexpectedly) epic and orchestral; for example, “Paul Meets Chani” is a beautiful and gentle string composition, while “Dune (Desert Theme)” is a little more in tune with the decade it was composed in. The symphonic rock/electronic moods of the soundtrack were assisted by Brian Eno, who worked with Toto on parts of the score.
4
Queen – ‘Flash Gordon’ (1980)
“Flash! Ah-aaa-aaah!” is such an iconic piece of music that it’s hard to relate the movie Flash Gordon to anything other than this brilliant theme tune. The symphonic, glam rock score is gloriously camp and fits the movie’s visuals and themes perfectly. Freddie Mercury‘s vocals shine throughout the Queen original soundtrack, though we can’t only credit them; the synths and the guitar riffs composed by the band were accompanied by some orchestral tunes by composer Howard Blake. Flash Gordon is an incredibly campy movie with a lot of iconic imagery, and it’s a film with a cult following that inspired numerous directors of today.
Flash Gordon is about a high school football player, “Flash” Gordon (Sam J. Jones), and a travel agent, Dale Arden (Melody Anderson), who accidentally end up on a spacecraft bound for planet Mongo. Mongo is ruled by the ruthless Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow), who is intent on destroying Earth and overtaking it. Flash, Dale, and their allies must stop Ming before it’s too late. If you want to hear some typical Queen tunes on the OST, check out “The Hero” and, of course, “Flash’s Theme” (including “Reprise”).
3
Air – ‘The Virgin Suicides’ (1999)
Sofia Coppola‘s The Virgin Suicides is a cult film that awakens the 1970s nostalgia in both those who were and those who weren’t alive during those times. It was done with such great attention to detail and atmosphere that people often praise just how beautifully it encapsulates adolescent angst and the mix of swirling emotions in teenage girls. The Virgin Suicides is made complete by its iconic original soundtrack, which was composed by the French electronic band Air; it’s very likely that you’ve heard “Playground Love” and “Highschool Lover” outside the film, too.
The Virgin Suicides is set in Detroit in 1975, and follows the five Lisbon sisters, aged between 13 and 17. The movie opens with several men remembering their time as boys and growing up with the girls, and the story about them is a flashback. The girls are enigmatic and appealing because their parents, who are strict and religious, don’t allow them to spend time with their peers, especially boys. The performances are great, but some may argue that Air’s powerfully nostalgic soundtrack completes and shapes the story’s emotional core. They were the perfect choice for the creation of a hazy, teenage dream type of soundtrack; you can listen to it any time, regardless of the movie’s context, which is another reason it’s so iconic and great.
2
Goblin – ‘Suspiria’ (1977)
One of the most iconic original soundtracks of all time belongs to Dario Argento‘s feverish horror movie Suspiria. The musical score was composed by the Italian progressive rock band Goblin, which earned the movie particular praise, considering it’s a story heavily reliant on atmosphere and energy rather than just performances. In this case, Goblin did an incredible job—the rhythmic and almost hypnotizing score is filled with an intoxicating mix of whispers, bells, and synths. The band’s sound design revolutionized horror soundtracks overall. Suspiria is one of the most famous cult horror movies of all time, partly due to the music.
Suspiria follows an American arrival, Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), to a prestigious dance academy in West Germany. After several mysterious and gruesome murders happen at the school, Suzy becomes worried about her safety and stumbles upon a greater conspiracy that terrifies her. The unsettling music follows Suzy’s realizations throughout the film and the movie’s weirder and more unsettling parts. It’s quite an incredible listen—if you do live with someone and listen to it on speakers, they might think you’re performing a strange ritual.
1
Daft Punk – ‘Tron: Legacy’ (2010)
When talking about iconic movie soundtracks, people often refer to the Tron: Legacy soundtrack composed entirely by the French electronic band Daft Punk. The sequel to 1982’s Tron, starring Jeff Bridges, was directed by Joseph Kosinski, and though it wasn’t the critically accepted sci-fi action film it had hoped to be, Tron: Legacy is a pretty decent film that continues the legacy of a longtime cult film and fan favorite. Maybe the greatest part of the movie is Daft Punk’s orchestral electronic soundtrack that echoes throughout the film.
Tron: Legacy is set after the events of Tron but follows the old protagonist, Kevin Flynn (Bridges); Flynn is the former CEO of ENCOM, a software company, and the inventor of an immersive virtual world called Grid. After Flynn disappears, his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) inherits ENCOM, but prefers to go look for his father instead. He ends up entering the Grid in his pursuit and joins Kevin’s battle against a malicious program that threatens to overtake the real world. Daft Punk’s sweeping soundtrack is cinematic and immersive; it blends analog synths with full orchestration, giving the movie an extra dimension of warmth and emotion that makes the entire story feel more complete.
