Friday, 27 Aug 2010
The 90′s were the age when the soundtrack exploded. It seemed like every movie, no matter the quality of the film, got itself quite the roster of artists to contribute, and of course, cash checks. I’m not sure if it was because I grew up in a small town, but a lot of these soundtracks were my initiation to great artists that were, until that point completely unknown to me. I was introduced to Paul Westerberg, The Cure, Dinosaur Jr., Crowded House, De La Soul, Sonic Youth and many more all because of soundtracks from this decade. Granted, not always the best way to be introduced by a collaboration with Cypress Hill, but it was an introduction nonetheless.
When the Singles Soundtrack
I still feel that Westerberg’s “Dyslexic Heart” and “Waiting On Somebody” hold up pretty well almost twenty years later. The Smashing Pumpkins closing number of “Drown,” remains one of my favorite songs ever penned by the group. Pearl Jam delivered in a big way with “Breathe” and “State of Love & Trust,” which in my opinion remain two of the best in their catalog. My favorite song though? That goes to Screaming Trees “Nearly Lost You.”
Before closing and opening up this topic in the comments, it’s worth noting some of the other soundtracks from this decade. The Crow Soundtrack
Discuss: What are your favorite soundtracks? What stood out in the 90′s?
August 27th, 2010 at 10:11 am
I remember my parents buying a whole pile of soundtracks back then. Four Weddings & A Funeral, Peter’s Friends, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert….
August 27th, 2010 at 10:16 am
Trainspotting was a killer soundtrack. Same with Pulp Fiction. Listened to those a ton back in the day.
I have to give it up to Boogie Nights for introducing me to some amazing tunes. Rarely was there a party in college where my roommate and I didn’t do our choreographed dance to “Brand New Key”.
Also dug a lot off of Empire Records and Clerks soundtracks.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:24 am
As far as 90′s soundtracks go, nothing can touch Pump Up The Volume for me. I stole the cassette from my older sister when I was 10 and that tape exposed me to a ton of great bands all at once: Concrete Blonde, Pixies, Bad Brains, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth and Cowboy Junkies.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Dead Man Walking – songs by Tom Waits, Steve Earle, Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen
Magnolia – basically a great Aimee Mann album
Rushmore – the Kinks, the Who, John Lennon, the Faces (I guess not music from the 90′s but still a killer soundtrack that came out in the ’90s)
Clerks – Jesus Lizard, Soul Asylum, Golden Smog, Girls Against Boys, etc.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:30 am
I can’t agree more.
This was my introduction to Westerberg and has lead to a 20 year love affair with the Replacements…and I still listen to the Screaming Trees “Sweet Obilivion” on a fairly regular basis.
I know the movies sucked, but the two Alice In Chains songs on Last Action Hero kicked ass.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:32 am
Like all Linklater movies, subUrbia has a GREAT soundtrack: Elastica & Stephen Malkmus (!!!), Sonic Youth (x2), Girls Against Boys, Beck, U.N.K.L.E., Boss Hog, Skinny Puppy, Superchunk, Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, Flaming Lips, Thurston Moore, and Gene Pitney.
A real gem if people haven’t heard it!
August 27th, 2010 at 11:56 am
A few not mentioned:
Run Lola Run
Good Will Hunting – Elliott Smith
Grosse Pointe Blank – Clash, ‘Femmes, Jam, Specials
Night on Earth – Tom Waits
Natural Born Killers – Leonard Cohen to NIN
August 27th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Totally agree on the Screaming Trees song from the Singles soundtrack. That was also my favorite. I also liked the Hendrix song and the Lovemongers live version of “Battle of Evermore”.
A few other good soundtracks from crappy movies were The Saint, Johnny Mneumonic and even parts of the Spawn soundtrack were bearable.
The Crow soundtrack was in heavy rotation when it came out, especially the songs “Time Baby III”, “Dead Souls” (cool Joy Division cover) and Helmet’s “Milktoast” which was heavier than the original off of Betty.
August 27th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Empire Records was an awesome soundtrack.
August 27th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
I second The Crow Soundtrack. The Crow 2 soundtrack, though I didn’t see the film, was also decent with a bunch of bands that were relevant in ’96 including Hole, White Zombie, Filter, Bush, Seven Mary Three, Korn, Deftones and a Toadies song, ‘Paper Dress’, which was also on the Escape from LA soundtrack in 1996. That album included songs from Tool, Stabbing Westward, White Zombie (Again), Butthole Surfers, Ministry, Clutch and Derftones again.
August 27th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
I love this record. Agreed that “Nearly Lost You” is my favorite too. Actually the soundtrack to ‘Pump Up The Volume’ is pretty good. It’s even got Henry Rollins singing ‘Kick Out The Jams’ with MC5. Classic ’90s. Just saw that someone already mentioned this from above. Hey, I also LOVED the soundtrack to ‘She’s Having a Baby’. Kate Bush and Jean Loves Jezebel. Come on…good stuff.
August 27th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
One of the first two cds I bought was a soundtrack. Batman Forever was killer! I bought it for the U2 and Method Man tracks but wound up getting into Nick Cave, The Flaming Lips, Sunny Day Real Estate and Massive Attack because of it. The other disc was Mad Season-Above.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:51 pm
You know what sucked, though? When a soundtrack came out that had an unavailable song from one of your favorite bands but nearly every other song on the record sucked. I’m thinking of you, _Angus_ Soundtrack. I paid full price for you in 1995 (which, then, was like $15) for exactly one 2 minute song: Weezer’s “You Gave Your Love To Me Softly.” It was a great song, but not $7.50 a minute good.
August 28th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
A million times yes — “Nearly Lost You” is a CLASSIC. The rest of the soundtrack is fantastic. I had a chance to watch the rockumentary Hype! recently — I think it would make for a great film event to watch SINGLES and HYPE! back-to-back, especially since a lot of the same music celebs are featured in the films.
Always found it interesting that Nirvana had no part in SINGLES. I don’t really know why, but it seems like they were even outsiders (at first) with the Seattle scene itself.
Good stuff…
August 31st, 2010 at 11:59 pm
jwstone:
I’d suggest revisiting the “Angus” soundtrack. It’s still one of my favorites. Ash, Smoking Popes, The Muffs, Dance Hall Crashers. So many good songs on there.
September 1st, 2010 at 12:01 am
I also was a big fan of the Spawn soundtrack back in the day. It mixed rock bands of the time with electronic artists. Filter & The Crystal Method, Butthole Surfers & Moby, Tom Morello & Prodigy, Silverchair & Vitro, etc.
September 1st, 2010 at 12:29 am
I definitely owned the Spawn soundtrack. Forgot about that one. Thanks.
September 1st, 2010 at 8:59 am
I still give the Mallrats a spin every now and then. That’s the one that’s behind Singles for me. A little more 2nd wave 90′s alternative, but I’ll take anything I can listen to start to finish.
September 16th, 2010 at 4:01 am
Singles was definitely top of the pile, and weirdly i think i’ve got all of the soundtracks mentioned in the comments. One other one that i always liked was Mad Love. The film was nonsense, but Rocket From The Crypt, Madder Rose, Head Candy on the CD were all great. No Love Buzz by Nirvana though even though it opens the film
December 8th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
I’ve been catching up on your site and got a good chuckle at this! I recently digitized a ton of my cds but could not bring myself to pass on my Singles soundtrack. What a fantastic capsule of a great time in music! My other favorite is a little known one called Boys which featured Sparklehorse, Paul Weller w/ Portishead, Stone Roses and Smoking Popes, to name a few. The Crow comes in third with Empire Records and Reality Bites not far behind. Great post!