Soundtracks that define an era/genre

[GulDukat]

What would your picks be?

I'd go with:

Easy Rider (1969)--hippie drug culture
Saturday Night Fever (1977)--disco, duh
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)--Only a handful of hits, but seems to have the real feel of the early 80's
Footloose (1984)--80's cheese
Top Gun (1986)--more 80's cheese
Singles (1992)--With the exception of Nirvana, all the major grunge bands are here, along with some alt.rockers of the time. Has a very early, dawn of the grunge/alt. rock feel. I absolutely love this album.
Reality Bites (1994)--Nice mix of 90's college/alt. rock
The Crow (1994)--Good mix of industrial/grunge from the early/mid 90's.
End of Days (1999)--Not very good, but definitely, very 1999. Limp Bizkit, Creed, Powerman 500, etc.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)--Gives you the feeling that you're listening to rock radio on some shitty car stereo in 1969. Great soundtrack without all the usual suspects.

[deadwinterskies]

The Big Chill.
Empire Records.
SLC Punk.

[SM Rollinger]

Agree with SLC Punk, End of Days and The Crow.

What about the first Matrix? Manson, Ministry, Rammstein, Rage, ect (Plus that AWESOME Clubbed to Death song)

edit: Forgot about Mindfields and My Own Summer being on there! Classic!

[Krazy]

Don’t know if it’s “definitive”, but I love the Judgement Night soundtrack. Rap rock done properly.

(Plus that AWESOME Clubbed to Death song)

That song is amazeballs. I think it’s the only thing I really go back to for that soundtrack. Not that there’s anything wrong with the other stuff, but that one sticks out for sure.
EDIT: don’t know if they’re comparable or what not but that song always reminded me of NIN’s Just Like You Imagined, and vice versa. Clubbed to Death sounds a bit more like something you might’ve heard in, well, a downtown night club in that time period. For those who never heard it or don’t remember definitely check it out.

[neorev]

WIPEOUT XL aka WIPEOUT 2097

For fans of 90s electronica
CD with artwork by The Designers Republic
Also, if you put the Wipeout XL PS1 game disc in your CD player, it has other tracks featured in the game, but not on the CD soundtrack.

[versusreality]

Hackers- mid 90's electronic awesomeness
Trainspotting- mostly mid 90's electronic but some other great tracks thrown in there like Iggy Pop and Brian Eno

[versusreality]

WIPEOUT XL aka WIPEOUT 2097

For fans of 90s electronica
CD with artwork by The Designers Republic
Also, if you put the Wipeout XL PS1 game disc in your CD player, it has other tracks featured in the game, but not on the CD soundtrack.

oh yes, as a kid Wipeout XL was amazing and really got me in to so many of those artists. my dad used to play it too as he was a fan of electronic music.

[neorev]

SPAWN: THE ALBUM


When 90s electronica was influencing everything, including rock music. One of the greatest periods for music.

https://open.spotify.com/album/7vMw4...TL-9INwLGF9XeQ

Props for Hackers and Trainspotting soundtracks, also faves of mine.

[neorev]

oh yes, as a kid Wipeout XL was amazing and really got me in to so many of those artists. my dad used to play it too as he was a fan of electronic music.

Oh, another cool tidbit, The Designers Republic who did all the artwork for the Wipeout soundtrack, also did the artwork for Fluke's album Risotto and single Atom Bomb, which an exclusive more stripped down mix appears on the Wipeout XL soundtrack. Fluke's album and single share artwork/themes with Wipeout XL, such as little characters that appear in the booklets and certain design aspects like font and such. The Atom Bomb music video also featured footage from the game and acted as a single to the soundtrack as well as Fluke's album. Fluke has another exclusive track on the XL soundtrack, not available anywhere else, called V Six.

I'm also a big lover of electronic music and their album Risotto is in my top 5 albums of all time. I highly suggest albums from any of the artists featured on Wipeout. You pretty much can't go wrong.

Don’t know if it’s “definitive”, but I love the Judgement Night soundtrack. Rap rock done properly.

Happy Walters Jr. was behind the Judgment Night soundtrack. He also was behind the Spawn and Blade 2 soundtracks.

Judgment Night = rap/rock
Spawn = rock/electronic
Blade 2 = rap/electronic

If you like these mashing up of styles, I highly suggest these 3 soundtracks.

[neorev]

MORTAL KOMBAT!!!

duhduh duh duh duh duhduh duh


Sorry...

RUN LOLA RUN


PI


THE SAINT


THE JACKAL


THE CROW

[brotha52]

The Boomers turned 30 to the Forrest Gump soundtrack in 1994.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3LP0j...QGKeBWDDnCrHkQ
Xennials went to Romeo+Juliet for their first date in 1996.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6WOqY...Si6mH6-VQ9aGdg
Gamers did 360 nollie heelflips to the THPS2 soundtrack in 2000.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2E...R8itBGTysZ0Shg
Gamers killed hookers to the GTA: San Andreas soundtrack in 2004.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6o...QMSGUjiF3XAx6A
Millennials moved into their college dorms to the Garden State soundtrack in 2004.
https://open.spotify.com/album/24mCi...SOi3F0DXi9nIKA

[Jon]

The first one got mentioned, but also, the soundtrack to Matrix: Reloaded.

[BRoswell]

I'll pick two from 1994: Pulp Fiction and Natural Born Killers. Not only did EVERYONE buy them, but they also influenced the structure of soundtracks going forward by including special edits and snippets of dialogue.

[onthewall2983]

The Breakfast Club soundtrack really defined that one episode of Futurama for me

[mfte]

Judgement Night - popularization of rap-metal
Spawn - popularization of "electronic" elements in rock/metal

[Shadaloo]

Mortal Kombat: mid-90's industrial rock and metal says hi

[GulDukat]

@Shadaloo , wouldn't you agree that "Drown" is the perfect closer to the Singles soundtrack?

[Shadaloo]

Completely. One of my very favorite SP tunes, love the dreamy e-bowed out extended outro on the full version!

[r_z]

Batman Forever OST ('95) represents mid 90s music 'cause it got exclusive songs by PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Wu-Tang, Mazzy Star, Massive Attack, Brandy, The Flaming Lips, U2, Sunny Day Real Estate, Offspring a. o.

[GulDukat]

Batman Forever OST ('95) represents mid 90s music 'cause it got exclusive songs by PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Wu-Tang, Mazzy Star, Massive Attack, Brandy, The Flaming Lips, U2, Sunny Day Real Estate, Offspring a. o.

We could start another thread that Batman Forever could be named in: Name a shitty movie or box office flop with a good soundtrack. I'd add Last Action Hero, which I did enjoy (film and soundtrack).

[SM Rollinger]

Kiss From a Rose, love that song!

[kas23]

Singles - 90s Alternative

[neorev]

We could start another thread that Batman Forever could be named in: Name a shitty movie or box office flop with a good soundtrack. I'd add Last Action Hero, which I did enjoy (film and soundtrack).

I'd add the Spawn soundtrack to that list. Fucking terrible movie, but great soundtrack.

[onthewall2983]

Batman Forever OST ('95) represents mid 90s music 'cause it got exclusive songs by PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Wu-Tang, Mazzy Star, Massive Attack, Brandy, The Flaming Lips, U2, Sunny Day Real Estate, Offspring a. o.

It has been a long time since I've seen it but I seem to remember that nearly none of those songs are in the movie, or if they are it's just very briefly in the background. The Seal song is prominent at one point and the U2 track is over the end credits, but otherwise those songs were just filler for the actual film or the soundtrack itself.

The 90's had probably more big movies with either similar or greater impact on the charts as it did the box office. The synergy of studios and record companies being housed within the same corporation helped greatly too, as did MTV, where videos suddenly could become 4-5 minute TV spots. The trend wore off pretty much by the mid-2000's.

I love the Last Action Hero soundtrack too. It's as bonkers as the movie in terms of the choice of groups/artists. Grunge and hair metal on the same disc, entwined with prog metal, thrash metal, hip hop.

[GulDukat]

I love the Last Action Hero soundtrack too. It's as bonkers as the movie in terms of the choice of groups/artists. Grunge and hair metal on the same disc, entwined with prog metal, thrash metal, hip hop.

Only in '92/'93 could a soundtrack like that exist--Def Leppard and Alice In Chains.

[Magnetic]

Oh holy shit, I totally forgot I had this soundtrack. Aside from NIN, I was a big AIC fan, so I got this before seeing the film, just because. My 13 yr old inner child is revisiting this.

[Magnetic]

For the grunge era, definitely the Singles soundtrack.
Later, the Hackers soundtrack was big.

[versusreality]

Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey- the end of hair metal, with a hint of other things, including the awesome Faith No More track "The Perfect Crime"
Enicno Man- I don't care if this 1992 films is a corny film (a guilty pleasure of mine) but to have something like Jesus and Mary Chain, club music, and "I'm too Sexy" all on the same soundtrack is pure early 90's.

[neorev]

The synergy of studios and record companies being housed within the same corporation helped greatly too, as did MTV, where videos suddenly could become 4-5 minute TV spots. The trend wore off pretty much by the mid-2000's.

MTV's Amp was an amazing show for electronic music. They put out two compilations for the show that Hackers fans would probably love. Electronic music was so diverse back in the mid to late 90s with these compilations covering so many styles. Everything is so heavily genre based now, just dubstep or just trance or just IDM. I miss the old days.

[versusreality]

I am still discovering digging deep into early to mid 90's electronica. I constantly find amazing songs.
for instance, last year I discovered the song "Rockin' for Myself" from Motiv8. the song really dug me out of a dark place and it's a go to when I want my spirits uplifted. a feel good song with seriously excellent composition.

last week, came across a song by the Bassheads called "Is there anybody out there" which samples Pink Floyd, the Osmonds, Talking Heads, and Afrika Bambatta all in one track. how cool?

another track I came across last week, Hope- Tree Frog, which samples frogs in rhythm, with some feel good synths. sounds weird but it works!
I'll watch club, warehouse , and outdoor rave videos from late 80's/early 90's to discover tracks. so much good stuff.