What happened to awesome soundtracks?

[randy]

Remember awesome soundtracks? The things that made good movies classics? (Blade Runner, Breakfast Club, Manhunter, etc) Nowadays-soundtracks are loaded with hip hop crap and thus...the end of classic movies!!!
Just my opinion , but how can I be wrong?

[Frau_Blucher]

It's funny 'cause I've been thinking that a lot lately. I used to love soundtracks. I don't mean just New Wave ones but all sorts - classical, new age-ish, pop, etc). There's been no great ones that've turned my head at all. Certainly no Last American Virgin, Excaliber, Legend, The Mission or even Out of Africa. Hmm, maybe a few...

I liked the one for Billy Elliot - lots of Tchaikovsky plus the Clash and the Jam mixed in to great effect.

About a Boy was good but really only because Badly Drawn Boy scored it.

The Matador with Peirce Brosnan was actually pretty good too, starting out with Town Called Malice and ending PERFECTLY with The Killers' All These Things That I've Done.

[design_femme]

I think Lisa Gerrard/Hans Zimmer do great stuff, but I'm also a bit sick of seeing their stuff recycled in every upcoming trailer. Maybe they're the last of the great movie music composers?

I do love the Fight Club soundtrack, but I think that's the only movie soundtrack I've bought in the past… 10 years maybe?

[i_like_lectric_motors]

The only recent one I can remember enjoying was "Murderball". "The Three Trials" has great music but it's about as underground as you can get and I doubt a soundtrack will ever be released. [:(]
http://www.thethreetrials.com

[Spaz]

I've never been a fan of soundtracks per say.....I don't think I ever owned anything apart from maybe the Jaws soundtrack (brilliant John Williams, Twin Peaks and a few of the John Hughes films....

But I will say that I was watching Dark Water on cable a few weeks ago and was really impressed by Angelo Badalamenti's (sp) music. I went straight to iTunes to download the ending theme until I actually buy the whole soundtrack. It's haunting and pretty....


SPAZ
Born of innocence. Free of ignorance.

[Bitter Almonds]

The fact this thread decries the whereabouts of awesome soundtracks and then members go on listing John Hughes song compilations as the "awesome soundtracks" is the reason why real film scores have gone the way of the dodo. When people talk "awesome soundtrack", I expect to hear about songs composed exclusively for the movie, not songs that existed before the movie was made[V]

[Frau_Blucher]

There's a big difference between a simple gathering of pop or rap songs tossed into a movie for no good reason whatsoever and a collection of great songs that fit the time and place of a movie, relate to its scenes and emotions, and even become essential part of that movie's memories for many many people. Whether the songs existed before the movie or not seems immaterial if they help shape and drive that movie. It's like saying an addapted screenplay is bogus.

[design_femme]

Angelo Badalamenti! How could I forgot him?

Also: I realized there was another soundtrack (or more correctly, score) that I picked up in the past 10 years: Fifth Element. I rather like Eric Serra's work.

[WolverineSyr]

I was just thinking about the soundtracks for Johnathan Demme's "Something Wild" and "Married to the Mob" today. Both of them great, eclectic and totally fit the movie. I especially love Sister Carol's version of Wild Thing from the Something Wild soundtrack.

I don't listen to much current music, and I assume most of the current soundtracks are full of rap and Beyonce styled crap.

[hexicon]

[quote][i]Originally posted by WolverineSyr[/i]
<br>I was just thinking about the soundtracks for Johnathan Demme's "Something Wild" and "Married to the Mob" today. Both of them great, eclectic and totally fit the movie. I especially love Sister Carol's version of Wild Thing from the Something Wild soundtrack.

[/quote]

Wolvie, those are exactly the two I think of when I remember great soundtrack compliations. I had them on cassette circa 1988 and now they're OOP.

IMHO (don't laugh) the soundtrack to "Something About Mary" is really good, not just Jonathan Richman as the musical commentator but the whole thing.

[hexicon]

[quote][i]Originally posted by design_femme[/i]
<br>Angelo Badalamenti! How could I forgot him?


[/quote]

Did you ever hear his soundtrack for the creepy "The Comfort of Strangers"? Middle-Eastern inspired and hard to find for a long time. I actually prefer it to "Twin Peaks."

P.S. Design Femme, I'll let you have back that other half of Scarecrow. I want Superman now.

[hexicon]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]
<br>Certainly no Last American Virgin, Excaliber, Legend, The Mission or even Out of Africa. Hmm, maybe a few...

[/quote]

Excalibur was my first exposure to Wagner. Can you believe my high school let us watch that movie in British Lit class? One of the few movies where a selection of classical works was used in context to further the action . . . even the now-cliche "O Fortuna." "The Mission" also had an amazing score.

Nowdays you hear the same classical stuff over and over again. (Creepy villain loves opera--well then he's gotta listen to the Lakme flower duet.[xx(])

[design_femme]

Hexicon: I never heard of "The Comfort of Strangers". I'll have to check it out.

ps You can take your pretty boy Clark Kent (who is totally hot in glasses, btw) and do whatever rude things you'd like to do to him to the trills of [i]Lakme.[/i] I'll get properly nasty with Scarecrow to [i]O Fortuna[/i] until he begs for mercy, taps out, or gets parched. Or until I sprain something. So it's a deal then, between you and me?

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by hexicon[/i]
<br>Excalibur was my first exposure to Wagner. Can you believe my high school let us watch that movie in British Lit class?
[/quote]
Holy crap! Even the creepy scene where director John Boorman films his real-life daugter getting raped by Uther? Eew.

And I didn't know Something Wild was out of print. It's a great one...my pristine CD getting ready to played as I type! Forgot about 5th Element...definitely one of the better ones along with most Luc Besson movies like Le Grand Bleu and La Femme Nikita.

[obs]

The last original score soundtrack I picked up was Gattaca, which I really liked.


[i]Angelo Badalamenti! How could I forgot him?[/i]

The Beach theme is great! Even better than the version done by Orbital.