We’ve looked at the best movie scores, and now it’s time to turn our attention to the best movie soundtracks. Getting it right is about more than just picking your favourite songs. A good soundtrack comments on the action and helps to move the story along. When a soundtrack really works, it becomes iconic. Here are ten of the best (with apologies to Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction, which just missed the cut, and The Bee Gees for Saturday Night Fever, but I’m a woman’s man, and there’s no time to talk).
1. The Harder They Come (Perry Henzell, 1972)
This legendary soundtrack album to Perry Henzell’s drama played a huge part in popularizing reggae music around the world. Most of the songs were sung by Jimmy Cliff, the star of the film, but others, including Desmond Dekker and Toots and the Maytals, contributed too. ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’, ‘Rivers of Babylon’, ‘Many Rivers To Cross’, ‘Pressure Drop’. Well, the classics just pile up. Essential listening.
