Soundtracks You Like

[Bernkastel]

Right, this is what you'd expect from the title. Well, I assume so. If for some reason, you deduced from the title that this was going to be a thread for the appreciation of cute kitties, I'm sincerely sorry to have disappointed you.

Anyway, if there is a soundtrack you like, please feel free to put it forward. However, this meant to be about soundtracks you like as a whole, rather than soundtracks you happen to really like a few parts of. Do try to keep that in mind when posting. Also, it would be appreciated if you try to talk about why you like a soundtrack or share any thoughts you have on it.

Noting individual tracks in terms of noting highlights or where it does this or that and providing links is certainly encouraged. But I have witnessed a soundtrack related thread in another forum die thanks to too many embedded links making it hard for people to access it, so please try not to overdo it.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Right, this is what you'd expect from the title. Well, I assume so. If for some reason, you deduced from the title that this was going to be a thread for the appreciation of cute kitties, I'm sincerely sorry to have disappointed you.

Anyway, if there is a soundtrack you like, please feel free to put it forward. However, this meant to be about soundtracks you like as a whole, rather than soundtracks you happen to really like a few parts of. Do try to keep that in mind when posting. Also, it would be appreciated if you try to talk about why you like a soundtrack or share any thoughts you have on it.

Noting individual tracks in terms of noting highlights or where it does this or that and providing links is certainly encouraged. But I have witnessed a soundtrack related thread in another forum die thanks to too many embedded links making it hard for people to access it, so please try not to overdo it.

A favorite soundtrack of mine is the one from O Brother, Where Art Thou, for all the old-school country/bluegrass songs on it. Which may not be everyone's cup of tea, but this is one the rare occasions where I've enjoyed a movie and its soundtrack.



And, from earlier in the movie:

[Eternal_Freedom]

There is one soundtrack I absolutely love despite never seeing the film, and that's the one from 1492: Conquest of Paradise. It was done by Vangelis and it's majestic.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

There is one soundtrack I absolutely love despite never seeing the film, and that's the one from 1492: Conquest of Paradise. It was done by Vangelis and it's majestic.

The dude who did the Chariots Of Fire soundtrack, though this is much, much better.

[Bernkastel]

I'd say I'd prefer what Eternal Freedom posted, though that's a matter of not being into country. It does seem good. But the style of the 1492 soundtrack is more to my liking. In fact, I'm going to check out more of it. Thank you.

I have quite a few soundtracks that I like. In fact, soundtrack music is what I primarily listen to. So, I have plenty I can put forward. For now, I'll mainly limit myself to one of my favourites, the soundtrack of the visual novel Umineko. It always matches the mood of the scenes it accompanies very well and there's quite a lot of bits in that I consider good or amazing. Now, here are some pieces from it.

Opening 1: Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Ending 1: Bring the Fates

While there is other opening and ending music, these are the ones that best matches the mood of the VN. Now for some other examples. It might seem like a lot, but the soundtrack to this is massive. I could throw a lot more forward if I wanted to.

Hope
Witch in Gold
Goldenslaughterer
Worldend (solo)
Moon
Suspicion
Song without a name
Happiness of Marionette
Fishy Aroma
Ridicule

Now, there is another soundtrack I'd like to mention, that of the Danganronpa video game series. This time, I'll just put forward one piece, since I put so much forward for Umineko. This plays during the murder investigation segments of the second game.

Ikoroshia

[The Romulan Republic]

I have said before, and will say again, that their are two television series whose' soundtracks surpass all others. Those being Doctor Who, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Who (new series, specifically) wins for instrumental music, Buffy for songs/lyrics.

Favourite Buffy piece:

"Pavlov's Bell": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPkR7VEffDQ

Favourite Who piece:

"This is Gallifrey": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7C0mGSPTnE

For movies, my top two is probably Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Favourite Star Wars piece:

"The Imperial March": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvsJk6Dve3A

Favourite Pirates piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27mB8verLK8

Edited to replace link.

[TithonusSyndrome]

Those are pieces of a film's score. I don't know if OP is making this distinction, but I read this as being specifically interested in a film's soundtrack, which is to say popular music composed and performed by groups other than orchestral arrangements and featured in the film, and with the exception of movies whose plot very specifically focuses on music like the Pitch Perfect or Magic Mike films a lot of studios no longer bother.

In fact, the last movie I can recall standing out in my mind with a great soundtrack was a couple of years ago, namely, Drive:

[Dragon Angel]

I am huge into video game soundtracks, and someone I really like is Yoko Shimomura. Some of her works:

Kingdom Hearts (entire series):
Adventures in the Savannah
Darkness of the Unknown
Forze del Male
Guardando nel Buio
Hikari (Orchestral Version)
Lazy Afternoons
Scherzo di Notte
Waltz of the Damned

Legend of Mana:
Cliff Town Gato
Song of Mana

Radiant Historia:
Blue Radiance
Memories of the World
The Edge of Green

These are just selections; I really, really recommend the whole soundtracks. FYI though the Kingdom Hearts collection of soundtracks is titanic so, um, enjoy.

As far as anime soundtracks go, you've probably heard of Yuki Kajiura already. There is one soundtrack that I think is underrated (not by Kajiura): Haibane Renmei's. It's nice and subdued, but not so much as to make it too "atmospheric" and sleepy to listen to.

Ailes Grises
Free Bird
A Little Plate's Rondo
Refrain of Memory
Starting of the World
Free Bird (with vocals; not within of the anime, but still good)

Again, only a selection, but definitely recommended. Also recommended: watching Haibane Renmei itself! It's a pretty good anime in my opinion.

[Bernkastel]

I'd second the Kingdom Heart soundtrack recommendation. The game series was one I avoided, but was introduced to this year via a let's player. The soundtrack was one of a number of elements that made it surprisingly impressive. In fact, here are a couple more items from it.

The Other Promise
The 13th Struggle

[U.P. Cinnabar]

I didn't care much for the movie, but Strange Days has a damn good soundtrack.

[LadyTevar]

Still have this LP, can't remember when I got it, it was just always in my room and one of my go-to-records. Could sing every song on it before I ever saw the movie (on TV).

[Khaat]

Gotta say Master and Commander.

And Tron Legacy.

[TheFeniX]

Hans Zimmer actually gets some shit in certain circles for "generic military sounds" which I think is a hilariously simplistic explanation of his music. With a few exceptions, I've always found his soundtracks additive for a given movie and the scenes they are used in. Gladiator has to be one of the best examples. A joke I heard about it was "Gladiator's soundtrack was so good, we forgave Zimmer for reusing it in Pirates of the Caribbean."

I've also found the soundtracks are the best when there's not a lot of "modern" vocalized music to lean on. So, your "historic" or fantasy/Sci-Fi movies are your best bet in that area. But you could make a list out of Zimmer and Williams movie soundtracks alone.

I'll rant about some video game soundtracks for a bit. For an MMO, FFXIV has the best soundtrack out of any game I've played, much less just the MMO genre. World of Warcraft does a really good job here as well. Out of any expansion, the soundtracks would almost always be worth grabbing. They are great, but they end up more as background noise sometimes, but I've still found many are appropriate. Such as Garrosh's fight theme in MoP. There's an Orcish tone to it, but there's a mix of discord brought on by the corruption of the Sha. They at least understand what and where they are composing music for, and I find that's ignored in many games with forgettable soundtracks.

But FFXIV really takes it to another level, where the music seems to be the emphasis at times. Could you imagine fighting anything BUT Shiva with this music going? The Phase transition song is way to J-pop for my taste, but actually isn't terrible. It grows on you. There are so many Boss Themes that are stellar.

A different type of song I'll post up because I used to farm in certain areas just to hear it. This part of Westerly Winds will loop in one area of the map. The entire soundtrack was easily worth the money. It's like 120 songs just for the original OST. Heavensward is pretty good too.

You also couldn't go wrong with any Elder Scrolls soundtrack. I personally enjoy the Fallout 3/NV/4 soundtracks, but I can see why people don't.

[Eternal_Freedom]

It's a less noticeable part than the rest of the two (excellent) films, but the soundtracks for "Doctor Strangelove" and "WarGames" are pretty fine.

I will second "Master and Commander" as being a very impressive soundtrack as well. For TV, Doctor Who (the new series) has excellent music. TRR wasn't kidding when he said "This is Gallifrey" is a brilliant piece. I would also add the soundtrack for the revamped BSG series as well.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

Now, there is another soundtrack I'd like to mention, that of the Danganronpa video game series. This time, I'll just put forward one piece, since I put so much forward for Umineko. This plays during the murder investigation segments of the second game.

Ikoroshia

Ikoroshia (and Ekoroshia) definitely grew on me after a while, but I still prefer Box 15 myself. Also got to show some love for Box 16 as well.

[The Romulan Republic]

Ugg, how could I forget 1776?

The awesome musical about the American Revolution before Hamilton.

[Bernkastel]

Ikoroshia (and Ekoroshia) definitely grew on me after a while, but I still prefer Box 15 myself. Also got to show some love for Box 16 as well.

While I prefer Ikoroshia/Ekoroshia, I agree that Box 15 and Box 16 are pretty good too. Well, here's some more from the DR soundtracks.

Mr. Monokuma's Extracurricular Lesson
New World Order
Tropical Despair
All All Apologies
Distrust

[Khaat]

Ugg, how could I forget 1776?

The awesome musical about the American Revolution before Hamilton.

John, you're a bore; we've heard this before
Now for God's sake, John, sit down!

[applejack]

I'm a big John Williams fan. I'm not going to bother putting down anything for Star Wars because I think it goes without saying that stuff is great.

Jurassic Park soundtrack

Hook soundtrack

I was a kid when I saw these films and they were the the first CDs I actually bothered purchasing. There really isn't any part of the two above soundtracks that aren't interesting or engrossing, though there are a couple of tracks in the JP album that sort of devolve into action noise. And the two "modern" tracks in Hook (2 & 3) are fast-forwardable.

I also like what Brian Tyler did with the Children of Dune soundtrack. It was a big improvement over what Graeme Revell did in the first Dune miniseries. Tyler managed to get the ethnic quality of the fremen as well as the epic scale of the Dune universe and some really good themes ("Dune Messiah," "House Atreides," and "Inama Nushif").

[phred]

The Ghost World Soundtrack is pretty cool. Old timey blues, big band jazz stuff, and an old Bollywood dance number thrown in for good measure.

Also, Cowboy Bebop, or anything else Yoko Kanno does music for, is going to sound good.

Tank!
Green Bird
The Real Folk Blues

[Lord Revan]

Hans Zimmer actually gets some shit in certain circles for "generic military sounds" which I think is a hilariously simplistic explanation of his music. With a few exceptions, I've always found his soundtracks additive for a given movie and the scenes they are used in. Gladiator has to be one of the best examples. A joke I heard about it was "Gladiator's soundtrack was so good, we forgave Zimmer for reusing it in Pirates of the Caribbean."

I've also found the soundtracks are the best when there's not a lot of "modern" vocalized music to lean on. So, your "historic" or fantasy/Sci-Fi movies are your best bet in that area. But you could make a list out of Zimmer and Williams movie soundtracks alone.

I'll rant about some video game soundtracks for a bit. For an MMO, FFXIV has the best soundtrack out of any game I've played, much less just the MMO genre. World of Warcraft does a really good job here as well. Out of any expansion, the soundtracks would almost always be worth grabbing. They are great, but they end up more as background noise sometimes, but I've still found many are appropriate. Such as Garrosh's fight theme in MoP. There's an Orcish tone to it, but there's a mix of discord brought on by the corruption of the Sha. They at least understand what and where they are composing music for, and I find that's ignored in many games with forgettable soundtracks.

But FFXIV really takes it to another level, where the music seems to be the emphasis at times. Could you imagine fighting anything BUT Shiva with this music going? The Phase transition song is way to J-pop for my taste, but actually isn't terrible. It grows on you. There are so many Boss Themes that are stellar.

A different type of song I'll post up because I used to farm in certain areas just to hear it. This part of Westerly Winds will loop in one area of the map. The entire soundtrack was easily worth the money. It's like 120 songs just for the original OST. Heavensward is pretty good too.

You also couldn't go wrong with any Elder Scrolls soundtrack. I personally enjoy the Fallout 3/NV/4 soundtracks, but I can see why people don't.

IMHO a good soundtrack adds to the mood of the work be it game, movie or play, where as a bad one takes away from it. It can be as simple as a poor choice of music for the scene, even if the music in and of itself isn't bad, this is especially bad if the producers want to cram in hit songs for no logical reason, as it can break the mood of the scene and take player/audience out of the piece.

[The Romulan Republic]

I prefer a certain level of realism in film/television, and a constant background soundtrack... isn't. There are soundtracks of that sort that I love, and indeed if you're going for that route, I much prefer a noticeable, memorable, even bombastic soundtrack to one that's just background noise (if you're going to go that route, go big and all-out). And yes, it should fit the mood of the work (like the new Who soundtrack- it can be ridiculously over the top at times, but it fits the often campy and over the top tone of the series). But I also like soundtracks where the music exists in the setting of the story (i.e., a band playing in the background) rather than an artificial soundtrack imposed over "reality". Buffy did this a lot (incorporating the music into the story).

I've also seen music used to contrast with what's on screen for ironic effect, which is interesting (I've believe I've seen Kubrick's work do this at times), which is another interesting approach.

Musicals, of course, tend to throw realism out the window anyway, so all that matters is that the music capture the mood of the work.

[TithonusSyndrome]

'Well if film scores are fair game here, then I'm just going to go whole hog and include some of the bigger, more obvious ones like Preisner's "Dekalog" score, Glass' "Koyaanisqatsi" score, DeSica's "Umberto D" score and Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky" score. Vangelis is the only other composer I can think of named here who has a career outside of film scoring, so presumably if they're making an impression without any visual aids to give them a leg up, they must be doing something right.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

And, who can possibly forget the incredible work Ennio Morricone did for Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns? Particularly, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly:







And, just so know, it's no joke. It's a rope, Tucco:

[TheFeniX]

I bit the bullet and paid the cash for the Heavensward soundtrack. While they do a sort of "Left 4 Dead" retread of a single song into multiple different versions. It works quite well.

Such as here and here. The one thing I miss about this game is it's one of the few I crank the music slider up to 11 constantly. I don't care if it drowns out the other gameplay noises or even people on Teamspeak.

This kind of music starts playing, you get "DUTY COMMENCED," and you get pumped.

Kyle had no idea why Matoya's cave theme had me wanting to hang around there for a bit. If you're going to take a 30 year old theme and update it, this is pretty much a primer on how to do so.