A good soundtrack can make a movie. A great soundtrack will have you wanting to listen to it long after you leave the theater. But what makes a soundtrack stand out? It must be the right collection of songs that both captures the mood of the movie and is memorable enough to stay with you. If all else fails, just throw together some hits from the ‘70s and ‘80s — that always makes a great soundtrack. Here’s five movie soundtracks from 2016 that we can’t stop listening to.
“La La Land” (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Appealing to the musical theater fan we all have inside of us, this collection draws you in with its two upbeat opening songs, “Another Day of Sun” and “Someone in the Crowd”. The rest of the soundtrack weaves jazzy instrumentals with more great songs including the lovely melancholy of “City of Stars”, sung by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, and the rousing “Start a Fire”, sung by John Legend. Both the score and “City of Stars” won for Best Original Score and Best Original Song respectively at the 2017 Golden Globe Awards, so there should be no doubt as to the quality of this music.
Courtesy of Atlantic Records and Warner Bros. Records
“Suicide Squad: The Album” (Collector’s Edition)
This soundtrack features some musical team-ups that many people might not have thought could work out, yet it did. Skrillex and Rick Ross open the album with a bang on their track “Purple Lamborghini” which is followed by the weird, trippy but thoroughly enjoyable combination of Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa and Imagine Dragons on “Sucker For Pain”. The rest of the album plays out these same feelings as to why they put all these songs together, and why do they all work so well? The collector’s edition adds a few songs to the base soundtrack including Rick James’ “Super Freak”, a welcomed addition to the musical chaos, and Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind”, a slower soul number which, coming near the end of the album, can help ease you back into reality.
Courtesy of Sony Music
“Bad Moms” (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
A light and fun album with some great songs to get the night started. The trio of Icona Pop’s “I Love It,” DNCE’s “Cake by the Ocean” and Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance” are almost enough on their own for a great party playlist. In case the party gets too crazy, there is the obligatory slow song as well with Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
Courtesy of Lakeshore Records
“The Nice Guys” (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Like what’s mentioned earlier, a soundtrack pulling from the 1970s is bound to be good. Here we get a collection that leans more to the funk and disco side of the decade with classic tracks like “September” and “Boogie Wonderland” from Earth, Wind & Fire and “Get Down On It” by Kool & The Gang. But rock fans aren’t completely left out with tracks like Kiss’s crowd-pleaser “Rock and Roll All Nite”. And can anyone tell that they wouldn’t be singing along to Rupert Holmes’ “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)”?
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records
“Everybody Wants Some!!” (Music from the Motion Picture)
Another great mix from the ‘70s and ‘80s tracks. This album has more of a new wave and pop rock selections, with songs from The Knack’s “My Sharona,” Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me” and Blondie’s “Heart of Glass.” Even songs that don’t fit into those genres still feel like they belong in the soundtrack – such as the album’s perfect closing track from The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.”
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Soundtracks We Are Playing on Repeat. Featured image courtesy of Interscope Records.
