Awesome Music / Film

"I guess you guys aren't ready for that, yet. But the audience loved it, and so will their kids!"

"If our music survives, which I have no doubt it will, then it will be because it is good."

— Jerry Goldsmith

Drumroll, please…

Examples of Awesome Music in films.

Some of these are awesome enough to be played in actual concerts! Of the orchestra kind! How cool is that? Here's a short preview for what you will see and hear on this page.

Awesome Music pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.

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Composers

• David Arnold
• John Barry
• Elmer Bernstein
• Charlie Chaplin
• Danny Elfman
• Michael Giacchino
• Jerry Goldsmith
• Bernard Herrmann
• James Horner
• James Newton Howard
• Maurice Jarre
• Henry Mancini
• Ennio Morricone
• The Newmans
• John Powell
• Miklós Rózsa
• Alan Silvestri
• Max Steiner
• Tangerine Dream
• Vangelis
• John Williams
• Hans Zimmer

Films/franchises:

• 28 Days Later
• Absurd (1981)
• Aladdin (2019)
• Alien
• Anastasia
• Anna and the Apocalypse
• Assassin's Creed (2016)
• Batman
  • Batman Film Series
  • The Dark Knight Trilogy
  • Joker
• Beau Travail
• Big Hero 6
• BIONICLE
• Black Dynamite
• Blade Runner
• Bo Burnham: Inside
• The Book of Life
• Carrie
• Carry On
• Cats Don't Dance
• The Craft
• The Chronicles of Narnia
• Climax
• Coco
• Daredevil (2003)
• DC Extended Universe
• Dinosaur
• Duma
• Dumb and Dumber
• Dune (Denis Villeneuve)
• Encanto
• Fantastic Four (2005)
• Fifty Shades of Grey
• Friday the 13th
• Frozen
  • Frozen II
• Godzilla
• GoodFellas
• Halloween (2018)
• Hanna
• Harry Potter
• How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
  • How to Train Your Dragon 2
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney)
• The Hunger Games
• Indiana Jones
• Interstellar
• It
• James Bond
• John Wick: Chapter 4
• Jumanji
• Jurassic Park
• Kiler
• Kingsman
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Kung Fu Panda 3
• La La Land
• The Land Before Time
• The LEGO Movie
• The Lion King (1994)
• The Little Mermaid
• Little Nicky
• The Longest Day
• The Lord of the Rings
• Lord of War
• Madagascar
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
• Marvel Cinematic Universe
  • MCU Phase 1 and 2
    • The Avengers (2012)
    • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • MCU Phase 3
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
    • Black Panther (2018)
    • Avengers: Infinity War
    • Avengers: Endgame
  • MCU Phase 4
  • MCU Phase 5
• The Matrix
• Matewan
• Midway (2019)
• Mission: Impossible Film Series
• Moana
• MonsterVerse
• Monster High: The Movie
• Monty Python's Life of Brian
• Moulin Rouge!
• The Muppet Christmas Carol
• Napoleon Dynamite
• The Neon Demon
• Over the Moon
• Pacific Rim
• Pixar
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Pocahontas
• The Prince of Egypt
• Quest for Camelot
• The Road to El Dorado
• RoboCop 2
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
• Shark Tale
• Shrek
  • Shrek 2
• Sing
  • Sing 2
• The Social Network
• The Sound of Music
• Space Jam
• A Star Is Born (2018)
• Spider-Man
  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  • Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
  • Sony's Spider-Man Universe
• Star Trek:
  • Star Trek: The Films
• Star Wars
  • Star Wars: The Films
• Streets of Fire
• Superman
  • Supergirl
• Terminator
• Transformers
• TRON: Legacy
• Trolls
  • Trolls World Tour
  • Trolls Band Together
• Turning Red
• The Twilight Saga
• Watchmen
• X-Men Film Series

Directors

• Quentin Tarantino

Trailers

• Movie Trailers

Other Awesome Music

• The 20th Century Studios Fanfare. Perhaps the most famous 10 bars of music in film history.
• TriStar Pictures also has a memorable fanfare during their Vanity Plate (there's also the original version with more blaring horns).
• Mel Brooks' films have become (in)famous for their outrageously zany and unpredictable comedic performances, but they also contain some absolutely glorious, showstopping, catchy tracks, most of which are written and sung by the man himself. Notable tracks include:
  • From History of the World Part I, the show-stoppingly delicious "Spanish Inquisition".
  • Frankie Laine's title song for Blazing Saddles.
  • The Ur-Example, the grandiose and hilarious "Springtime for Hitler" from The Producers.
• Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler wrote some of the 1980s' most memorable film scores.
  • His heartstring-tugging ending theme song for The Princess Bride.
  • His work on the British independent film, Local Hero, exemplified by the main theme Going Home, which became Dire Straits' preferred finale for their concerts in their last decade as a band.
• The title music of A Clockwork Orange is an electronic synth-y version of Henry Purcell's "Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary" by Wendy Carlos. It is absolutely MAJESTIC and adds an eerie atmosphere to the opening scene.
• Regardless of what you thought of Final Destination 5, it's hard to deny that its opening theme is insanely epic, which isn't surprising when you realize that Brian Tyler composed the music for this one and The Final Destination after Shirley Walker's untimely demise. Its Dark Reprise Infinite Finale, which plays when Sam and Molly die on Flight 180, is awesome and heartbreaking.
• The Final Destination may be So Bad, It's Good, but it has a heck of an opening theme, along with other good Brian Tyler compositions:
  • "The Raceway", which plays during the raceway premonition and almost comes close to saving it.
  • "The Final Destination Suite", a thirteen minute long tribute to the series played over the credits.
• Is John Carpenter directing the movie you are watching? Good, it's most likely worth your time. Is he responsible for the soundtrack? Good times all around.
• The Bourne Series:
  • The series has a very tense, recognizable, and charming score usually from John Powell, most fans know the theme of these movies to be the single from Moby, Extreme Ways. While not explicitly about Jason Bourne himself, the song has become iconic with the character, and has been present during the end credits all five films. It was redone during The Bourne Ultimatum.
  • The Bourne Legacy may not exactly be a fan favorite, but admit it, you loved how they added an entire symphony for the song at the end.
  • Fitting the tradition, the fifth film Jason Bourne also remixed the iconic single which comes across like it took an element from all previous renditions and combined it into one. The result is nothing short of badass.
• Basil Poledouris examples:
  • The whole score for the Conan the Barbarian (1982) movie is listed on many top-ten film score lists.
  • "Anvil of Crom" or "Riddle of Steel." With so little dialogue, John Milius asked him to write a Wagnerian operatic score that would carry the whole movie, including the nearly-wordless first half-hour. "Riddle of Steel"'s later middle section was slightly reworked into no less than three trailers for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Ocarina of Time 3D, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess).
  • "Klendathu Drop" from Starship Troopers. It was the perfect piece for the accompanying scene.
  • RoboCop's main theme with its epic chants, which only really comes in about half-way through the first film.
• Cloud Atlas has some amazing music. For example, the Credits Theme.
• Kick-Ass has incredible music. Examples:
  • Showtime Pt. 2 (It's Only The End Of The World), Nightvision, Strobe (Adagio in D Minor), and Big Daddy Dies lead into each other amazingly: an atmospheric, tense song, a minute or so of slow buildup, then 2 minutes of pulse-pounding awesome... slowing down into a horrible, heartwrenching Tear Jerker.
    • Fridge Brilliance kicks in when you realize that Big Daddy Dies is an altered version of Big Daddy Kills, his fight music.
    • "Big Daddy Kills" is actually a version of John Murphy's "In The House - In a Heartbeat" from the movie 28 Days Later. Oddly the original is likely the song used in the film, not the one "covered" on the released score.
  • As far as music that wasn't created specifically for the movie goes, you have "Omen" by The Prodigy, accompanying Kick Ass' first Moment of Awesome in the parking lot.
    • And as a tribute to this movie's musical genius, if you listen closely during Kick-Ass' first, less successful outing, you can hear a watered-down version of, you guessed it, Omen.
    • "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us" by Sparks. So freakin' epic.
    • When Hit-Girl runs along a hallway in D'Amico's shooting all of his mooks to "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.
    • More epic music for Hit-Girl, how about a re-done verison of a theme song children's show while kicking the ever-living hell out of a bunch of thugs and impaling the lot of them? Ladies and gentlemen, The Banana Splits as done by The Dickies.
  • The epic credits song, Mika is awesome enough, but Kick Ass just cranks his epicness to 11!
• "To Be A Hero", the heart-stirring theme song of the Once Upon a Time in China franchise (starring Jet Li), based on the traditional Chinese Ballad "Jiang Jun Ling" ("General's Orders"). Unfortunately, every single kungfu clip on Youtube uses this song. In Hong Kong, this song is pretty much the default theme song to anything related to Chinese martial arts. It's that iconic.
• Randy Edelman is so good at making awesome music that even though he hadn't won any Oscars, his music was being used at the Oscar ceremonies. Some of his famous works include the Dragonheart theme (another track was even used in the trailer for Disney film Mulan), and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story among others.
  • The classic example is in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story where Lee whups the bully who previously paralyzed him by kicking him in the back. At that moment of victory, there is a memorable swell of orchestral music that has been used in multiple trailers ever since.
  • He also composed the main theme for The Indian in the Cupboard.
• Last of the Mohicans finale "Promontory" makes the (dialogue-free) last 10 minutes of the film breathtaking. It's also a Dark Reprise of two other pieces in the soundtrack, "The Gael" and "Main Theme", both of which are Awesome Music from the beginning and middle of the film; composed by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman so you get two major composers for the price of one. The more lyrical music for the film (including the theme) is by Jones solo; Edelman does the more synth-overlaid cues. "Fort Battle"; "Elk Hunt"; "The Courier"; and "I Will Find You" by Clannad, which is played over the Stern Chase montage towards the end of the film. You may be noticing an energetic theme here...
• The live-action remake of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, for an okay film, has a surprisingly beautiful and awesome use of One Republic's "Secrets". It's made even more awesome by the fact that there's synchronized Tesla coils shooting out bolts of electricity in tandem with the beat of the song.
• Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny:
  • Kage and Jables fight the Devil, with rock. Hilarious for its frequent and creative use of the f-word.
    You hold the scepter
    We hold the key
    You are the Devil
    We are The D!
  • Master Exploder from the same movie. So epically awesome it will blow your mind. Extra fun trying to play it in Rock Band 2 and realizing just how hard it is.
• Also from Howard Shore: The Silence of the Lambs theme. And The Fly (1986) theme; decades later Shore wrote an almost completely original score for an opera adapted from that film, the world premiere staging of which was conducted by Placido Domingo!
• The Queen of the Damned movie would not be a tenth as good without the soundtrack, which was done by Johnathan Davis of Korn. Although he only sings in the movie as Lestat's voice, he wrote all the songs which were performed by several rock musicians, such as Chester Benington and Marilyn Manson. The best songs are Forsaken, System, and Redeemer.
• Silver Linings Playbook has the dance-off scene where Pat and Tiffany dance to Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing", then proceed to rock out to The White Stripes' "Fell in Love with Girl".
• Short Circuit 2- "Holding Out For A Hero" during Johnny 5's epic chase scene, making this both an Awesome AND Funny Moment.
• Red Rider's "Lunatic Fringe" was used as the theme for Vision Quest. From the same film, "Louden Versus Shute" by Tangerine Dream. Pure big game music.
• Gettysburg:
  • The starting theme of the movie has become so iconic most film trailers involving the Civil War use it.
  • Randy Edelman. Huge mention goes to "Over the Fence", during Pickett's Charge sequence. So epic, Iced Earth copied the melody for their epic song trilogy "Gettysburg 1863" on Day Three.
• Richard Kelly faced a problem when scoring the final sequence of Donnie Darko, a montage of characters visibly shaken by a disturbance in the space-time continuum: there was a song with haunting, bittersweet lyrics which summed up the entire film wonderfully, but musically...well...it sounded like this. After bringing in Gary Jules and Michael Andrews, there was no longer a problem. Under the Milky Way by the Church goes so unbelievably perfect with the party scene.
• The use of Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" at the beginning of the film Trainspotting. And "Perfect Day" by Lou Reed in the overdose scene.
• Every single song in the 1972 film adaptation of 1776! A special note goes out to "The Lees of Old Virginia", in all its hammy glory.
• Without Philip Glass's scores, the "Qatsi trilogy" (Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Naqoyqatsi) would be a mildly interesting series of images, at best. With them (complete with Ominous Hopi Chanting), they're masterpieces.
  • The opening theme from Mishima A Life In Four Chapters. You may never have heard of the movie, but you've probably heard the soundtrack in trailers... and it is awesome.
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005). Earth just exploded. Pan up into the nothingness of space. The Guide sweeps across the screen. "Journey of the Sorcerer" starts playing. The opening music of the movie (So Long and Thanks for All the Fish) was already an ear catcher, but it was made infinitely more awesome when Neil Hannon reprises it in the credits.
• At the end of The Wicker Man (1973), all the villagers start singing "Sumer is Icumen In", led by the mighty basso of Christopher Lee, while they burninate Sgt. Howie. But what's really awesome is when Sgt. Howie drowns them all out by reprising his earlier musical version of the 23rd Psalm.
  • A dissapointingly short but nonetheless good example was also Christopher Lee singing basso at the piano. Christopher Lee should really have sung in movies more often.
  • "I put my hand on her knee/She says to me do you want to see...?" How can a song be so erotic and so sad at the same time? Most of the musical numbers qualify, mind you.
• The soundtrack for Trinity And Beyond is unbelievably epic and horrifying at the same time. The most jaw-droppingly amazing songs, however, have to be Hiroshima and Nagasaki Requiem and its reprise China Gets The Bomb.
• The opening theme for Freaks. Incredibly creepy.
• Dr. Strangelove: "We'll Meet Again", and Laurie Johnson's "Bomb Run Theme". The tune sung by the chorus is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", which is ironic considering what's happening at the time...
• Zulu has a great main theme but the awesome is when to respond to the Zulus' war chants the redcoats start singing 'Men of Harlech'. Found, in all its glory, at the end of this finely crafted link.
• "Ride of the Valkyries" in Apocalypse Now (starts at 3:15 here.) And of course, The End, by The Doors.
• Also sprach Zarathustra, the 2001 opening theme. And by a different Strauss, the "Blue Danube" Waltz is awesome in its own right, but when played over futuristic space stations and spaceships travelling to the moon it cranks up another few notches of awesome!
• For an awesome theme...in a movie film...who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!!
  • Not quite as iconic, but the use of Mick Smiley's "Magic" as the spirits released from the Ghostbusters' containment facility float through the Manhattan skyline and wreak havoc throughout the city sets a high standard of creepy awesomeness for the film. And Alessi's "Saving The Day" gives the Big Damn Heroes moment just that little bit extra 'umph' of awesomeness.
  • "Cleaning Up The Town" off that CD. Not just appropriate, but a nice little piano-led stomp to tap your feet to.
  • "Dana's Theme", composed by Elmer Bernstein, added a sense of class and yet otherworldness to the main female protagonist of the picture.
• What was that other famous movie that opened the same weekend as Ghostbusters? Gremlins! And that gave us the "Gremlin Rag".
• Neil Young's Opening Credits "Freight Train" Theme for Dead Man by Jim Jarmusch (w/ Johnny Depp).
• Rodrigo's "Concierto De Aranjuez, originally written for classical guitar, is brilliant of itself - but when rearranged for flugelhorn and full silver band in Brassed Off and set against the failing negotiations to save the mine, becomes something even more transcendent. Also the famous "William Tell Overture" in the finale.
• Klaus Badelt's work for this scene from The Time Machine.
• "Hello Zepp", a.k.a. "The Shithole Theme," the main theme of the Saw films.
• Tubular Bells, probably best known as the creepy song from The Exorcist. Although, if you actually manage to listen to the entirety of its roughly 48 MINUTE runtime, it turns out to be a bunch of Moments of Awesome played one after the other.
• Twilight: "Decode" by Paramore and "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse.
  • Bella's Lullaby is beautiful, as is the rest of the score composed by Carter Burwell.
  • Iron & Wine's "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" and the wedding version used in the fourth film.
• Just Like Honey by The Jesus and Mary Chain at the end of Lost in Translation. In fact, most of the Lost in Translation soundtrack (see also: Girls by Death in Vegas at the start of the film).
• Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. End of the movie, at the Battle of the Bands. "The best place is here. The best time is now. And all's we can say is... LET'S ROCK!!" Cue the epic guitar intro^note recorded by Steve Vai — it can be found in his album The Elusive Light and Sound, Vol. 1 as "Final Guitar Solo" leading into "God Gave Rock And Roll To You" by KISS.
• The Back to the Future theme. So awesome you can hear the DeLorean shifting up gears and acceleration as the full piece proceeds. Put this one in your CD player and find an accommodating freeway somewhere.
  • The iconic performance of "Johnny B. Goode" at the end was awesome, too. Not only were the vocals provided by Mark Campbell brilliant (contrasting with Michael J. Fox's speaking voice just enough to create a realistic case of Singing Voice Dissonance), but that face melting guitar solo...which, unfortunately, the teenagers of the 50's were not ready for. But their kids would love it.
  • The complete score is an essential buy, particularly for the entire clocktower scene.
  • "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News. The 80's keyboard and the smooth guitar riff used throughout are just cool. It WAS nominated for "Best Original Song" at the Oscars, after all.
  • There's also "Back in Time", also by Huey Lewis and the News, which sums up the movie's main themes extremely well.
• From the 1984 cult noir film Streets of Fire, the opening song, sung by the main damsel in distress Ellen Aim, is one of Jim Steinman's best songs ever: "Nowhere Fast". Topped only by "Tonight is What It Means to be Young". An epic conclusion to an otherwise forgettable movie.
• Fans of George Romero's zombie films generally consider John Harrison's score for Day of the Dead (1985) to be the best of the series. Like the songs "Breakdown" and "Escape Invasion".
• The opening to Olympia set to the music from Alexander.
• Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno features a very moving use of the unpublished Live song "Hold Me Up", which inexplicably was not included on the soundtrack.
• Men in Black already had a great Danny Elfman score, and Will Smith stepped up and provided a very fun rap theme backed by the bassline of "Forget Me Nots". It worked so well that his contribution to the sequel couldn't live up to it.
• The Dust Brothers provided an energetic electronic score for Fight Club, highlighted by the opening credits. It also makes excellent use of The Pixies' 'Where is My Mind' in the final scene.
• The Mission: Impossible theme by Lalo Schifrin was awesome enough as it was. Add Danny Elfman's slight reworking (and score) for the 1996 movie AND the remix by U2...it's damn near the most iconic theme in the world.
  • The Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit version for the second movie is pretty awesome.
  • Say what you will about the third installment, but a permanent point in its favor is that it has the Mission Impossible theme redone by Michael Giacchino. The fourth. "Light the Fuse" is just perfect.
  • Lalo Schifrin also composed the insanely cool title theme for the Rush Hour series. He wins. While we're in Rush Hour, "War". (What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!)
  • And while we're on Lalo Schifrin... Enter The Dragon. With backup vocals by Bruce Lee. Then there's the live version, where he and a gigantic orchestra raise this theme from "utterly awesome" to "Godlike uber-awesome".
  • Lalo Schifrin's Dirty Harry score is excellent. Particularly Scorpio's theme. Later in the series, the title theme of Magnum Force was so nice that Valve used it as the theme music of Meet the Sniper.
  • Schifrin's theme for the Tiger tanks in Kelly's Heroes, titled simply "Tiger Tank" on the soundtrack, really amps up the tension and helps underscore the power of the Nazi tanks, particularly when it kicks into high gear during Tiger 113's reverse through the building after smashing through the wall. Quentin Tarantino like it enough that the theme was reused in Inglourious Basterds.
• The Godfather. Nino Rota's gonna make youse guys sleep with da fishes if youse don't listen to some of his excellent music.
  • Slash from Guns N' Roses performed a version of it on electric guitar. Badass.
  • Nino Rota's passionate score for Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968)! Here's the love theme on violin, and arranged by Henry Mancini for piano. It inspired John Williams's "Across the Stars" from the Star Wars prequels.
• Henry Mancini was a goldmine of those.
  • His Signature Song in film (in TV, it's Peter Gunn), the smooth and jazzy Theme of The Pink Panther.
  • The indecently sexy theme for the movie Arabesque.
• The Halloween (1978) theme. Also Nightmare Fuel Music. In many ways Carpenter's theme to The Fog (1980) is even better. But Carpenter's best is probably the main theme to Escape from New York.
• Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" blasting across the launch base as Zefram Cochrane goes to make Earth's first contact with aliens possible in Star Trek: First Contact. Screw Easy Rider, THAT is the greatest use of the band's music ever.
• The Rocky series gave us "Gonna Fly Now" one wonderful anthem and also "Eye Of The Tiger" (Rocky III) and "There's No Easy Way Out" (Rocky IV).
• Tarawa from Snow Falling On Cedars. Just... wow.
• Jerome Moross's ''The Big Country'' theme predates The Magnificent Seven (1960) by a few years, and is officially the first real Western film score.
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold's theme for King's Row, which should sound familiar. Apparently, when John Williams was writing the Star Wars soundtrack, George Lucas specifically asked him to emulate this.
  • Korngold was accused of "sounding to much like Hollywood", the truth is Hollywood sounded like Korngold
  • The opening theme of Captain Blood has never been topped for sheer joyous, swashbuckling panache and awesomeness.
  • The "Love Scene" from The Adventures of Robin Hood and the "Reunion" music from The Sea Hawk.
• V (of V for Vendetta fame) blows up the Old Bailey and the Houses of Parliament to the stirring strains of the 1812 Overture. Never has classical music been so incredibly badass.
  • The 1812 Overture is badass enough on its own. What other piece requires an artillery section and the church bells of a city?
  • Evey Reborn.
• The Fifth Element with Lucia di Lammermoor/The Diva Dance.
  • While the original performance by Inva Mula has contradictory sources as to whether it was digitally manipulated (it appears to be); but the semi-professional singer Laura Workman was able to do the piece for real.
  • Also, the bit that plays as Leeloo escapes containment and gives us our first look at Future!New York. Absolutely mesmerizing.
  • The song that plays over the credits: "The Little Light of Love", by Eric Serra, is laid back, exotic, and romantic.
• From Sunshine, "Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor)" is likely to get more exposure on trailers than it did in the movie, but it was a perfect accompaniment to the scene, and made it the emotional climax that it was meant to be.
  • Mercury is strange, short, and incredibly beautiful and relaxing.
  • It's all about Cappa's Jump.
  • Freezing Inside: Mace His death was the hardest to watch.
• Queen's theme for Flash Gordon. Viewable here.
  • HE'S FOR EVERY ONE OF US! STANDS FOR EVERY ONE OF US! HE STANDS, WITH A MIGHTY HAND, F' EVERY MAN, EVERY WOMAN, EVERY CHILD, HE'S THE MIGHTY FLAAAA-ASH!
  • The battle between the Hawkmen and War Rocket Ajax is four-and-a-half minutes of entirely uninterrupted awesome, even discounting the presence of BRIAN BLESSED and his signature DIIIVVVEEE!!!: The triumphant, rollicking synths and rumble-tumble drums of the first theme (starting at :52 in the following clip) segue into an all-out CMOA around 2:25 as Queen just goes for it. Ready?
• The songs for Highlander (which led to their own album) as well. "Born to be kings, we're the princes of the uuuniverse!" Special mention to an insane guitar solo from Brian May at the beginning of "Gimme the Prize" that did not make it into the movie but which quite possibly broke time.
• Love Actually has the triumphant-in-the-face-of-adversity PM's Love Theme. And pretty awesome cover of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas" by then 10-year-old Olivia Olson. She actually had to not sing as good as she could for the movie because the producers were worried that if she sang at full strength, the audience might not think it was actually her singing. For reference, here's how she sounds on the ''Love Actually'' soundtrack.
• Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone from Top Gun.
  • And the Top Gun Anthem is even more awesome.
• Easy Rider brought in many of the best rock artists of 1969 (The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, a Bob Dylan cover), and above all starts off epically with "Born To Be Wild", turning that into a Standard Snippet for bikers.
• Jan A.P. Kaczmarek's Oscar-winning theme from Finding Neverland.
• "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It's easy to hear (and see) why.
  • The song "O Saya" was equally awesome and used perfectly during the chase scene at the beginning.
  • "Mausam & Escape" reeks of epic.
  • Aaj Ki Raat, an astonishingly trippy remix of a disco tune almost sounds like Matrix music.
  • Really, any work by A. R. Rahman would count as CMOA. The man is prolific. Some of the work he did in India is [gasp] as good as Slumdog, though not always as showy or...techno-sounding. Even his debut became a classic.
• Casablanca: "Play 'La Marseillaise.' Play it." Prefigured five years earlier by the rousing performance of 'La Marseillaise' in The Grand Illusion. Here the Germans celebrate the taking of Fort Douaumont during the Battle of Verdun, ringing the church bells and singing 'The Watch on the Rhine' (sung by Major Strasser and his henchmen in Casablanca, even though this song was no longer the 'hit' it had been during the Franco-German War of 1870/71 and, to a lesser extent, World War I), but the Allied officers in the POW camp decide to put on their variety show anyhow. Then that show is interrupted by the news that the French have retaken Douaumont, and the performers just on stage - a group of British officers in drag - lead the audience in 'La Marseillaise' to the fury of the camp commandant and his officers, who are sitting in the front row. (Marcel Dalio, one of the stars of The Grand Illusion, had a bit part in Casablanca as one of Rick's employees).
• Some highlights from Repo! The Genetic Opera include Zydrate Anatomy, Chromaggia, Seventeen, and ''We Started This Op'ra Shit''.
  • "Chromaggia" also counts as an in-universe example. Particularly the line "I would rather be blind".
  • "Let the Monster Rise". Anthony Stewart Head holds his last note like nobody's business.
  • "21st Century Cure", on the grounds of Terrance Zdunich's amazing low note on "concrete beloooooow..."
  • "Legal Assassin" does a great job of portraying Nathan's inner conflict while sounding awesome.
  • "Gold" gives Paul Sorvino a chance to show off his pipes.
  • "I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much" is tender and tearjerking.
• Michael Mann has a knack for choosing Awesome Music to cap his films. To wit:
  • Heat, while Lt. Hanna stands vigil as McCauley dies: "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters" by Moby.
  • Miami Vice, while Crockett watches Isabella leave, Tubbs watches Trudy wake up, and Crockett goes back to hospital where Trudy is recovering: "Auto Rock" by Mogwai.
  • Ali, while Ali defeats George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle: "Tomorrow" by Salif Keita.
  • "Shadow on the Sun" by Audioslave in Collateral.
• Clint Mansell:
  • "Lux Aeterna", made for Requiem for a Dream, was subsequently recut for the trailers to The Two Towers and Sunshine, as well as adapted for electric guitar to be used in Smokin' Aces. This is because it is awesome.
  • "Death is the Road to Awe", from the soundtrack of The Fountain, is at least equally amazing. Builds up till about 7:41 and then - well, it's the score to an exploding sun. It's epic. "Xibalba" / "Tree of Life" and "Stay With Me" are pretty epic too.
  • The reception to Smokin' Aces might have been... mixed, to say the very least. However, no one can deny the awesome that is Mansell's score, most particularly Dead Reckoning.
  • This little piece of insanity, the main theme of π.
  • Appropriately for the film, the soundtrack of Black Swan has a million different ways to play the music from Swan Lake.
  • Many of the soundtracks from Noah are impressive, but the track The Judgement of Man stands out the most, being awe-inspiring yet chilling.
  • And from a director that is not Aronofsky, we have Welcome to Lunar Industries from Moon.
• Tuck Everlasting's ominously epic "Jail Break" and hauntingly lovely music box whistling.
• The theme to StarGate is so awesome that trailers can't help but use it to make ''their'' movies look awesome.
• The use of Brian Eno's "Ending (An Ascent)" at the end of Traffic (2000) was pretty inspired, especially considering the final scene is of Javier finally getting to watch kids play baseball at night.
• The live action adaptation of Twentieth Century Boys already has one in the first film, with the classical Golden Age superhero inspired theme for Kenji and the rest of the gang joining together again. When we finally get to hear the whole thing as they prepare for the climactic battle against Friend's giant robot, it makes what was already an incredibly emotional scene in the manga even more of a Tearjerker, Heartwarming Moment, and Moment of Awesome all rolled into one. Starts at 2:30 here.
• The resurrection scene in Casshern is elevated to ridiculous levels of epic thanks to Sagisu Shiro. And then the choir kicks in at 4:22, and it's elevated even higher. The song "Requiem" from the Back Horn was quite epic as well, if not for the awesome ass kicking that goes along with it. When Casshern gets pissed, EVERYTHING pays.
• The entire shootout scene from In Bruges had absolutely wonderful music.
• When R.E.M. stepped in to score Man on the Moon, a film named after one of their songs, they delivered a lovely instrumental soundtrack plus the new song "The Great Beyond". It's a companion piece that manages to be poignant yet triumphant, wistful yet joyful, and more than worthy of the original (to say nothing of its subject).
• Kenneth Branagh's Henry V's "Non Nobis Domine." It's a bit of Soundtrack Dissonance with the soft single voice starting the song and the voices that join it to finish in triumph as a bloodied Henry walks the muddy battlefield with a dead boy (a young Christian Bale) on his shoulder. It's still a great piece of music for a great film. The fact that the scene is a single shot is pretty awesome too. Trivia: the single voice that begins "Non Nobis Domine" is the composer Patrick Doyle.
  • The music for the St. Crispin's Day speech is also magnificent.
  • Walton's "Death of Falstaff" is so. effing. depressing.
• Again in a Kenneth Branagh film: the music for the opening titles of Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
• The beats from the final fight in Jackie Chans Georgeous will mesmerise you. Part of why it's one of the most glorious fight scenes ever.
  • Right after the sheer awesomeness of The Punisher being beaten to pulp to the sound of Verdi's 'La donna e mobile'.
• Cinema Paradiso's main theme is nothing short of amazingly beautiful. Bonus points for a nostalgic feel.
• Trevor Rabin's HANDS-DOWN greatest work (it's a travesty the entire score hasn't been released) is the music for Remember the Titans. The only official release of music from the score (found in the last track of the CD) combines all the movie's main pieces into seven-and-a-half minutes of music that alternately makes you want to sprint up Mt. Everest, beat the living daylights out of opponents, cry, and, well, outrun a football team to win the state championship.
  • The Deep Blue Sea score is probably Rabin's finest achievement. In "Anarchy" he takes all of the pieces from the movie and puts them together similarly. But even more specifically, the point when the music climaxes is easily the most badass music ever made. Period.
  • His score for National Treasure wasn't too shabby either.
  • Yet more awesomeness: his score for Armageddon (1998), particularly Evacuation, Launch and Long Distance Goodbye/Landing.
• "Big Boots" by Hello Stranger. The opening song of Good Dick, and you won't even find the lyrics online.
• "It's not. Going to stop. 'Til you wise up." Magnolia was partly based on Aimee Mann songs, and one is actually sung by the characters in a key (and iconic) scene. It was also hilariously parodied by Flight of the Conchords.
• The title theme of the film Blue Thunder is a classic, unforgettable riff that shows up whenever the titular helicopter appears.
• Arthur Benjamin's Storm Clouds Cantata with words by D. B. Wyndham-Lewis, as used in the climactic Albert Hall sequence of both versions of Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, where it effectively becomes a silent film for several minutes, no dialogue, only music. Bernard Herrmann, given the option to compose his own piece for the 1956 remake, stated that the original piece was perfect for the scene, and only expanded it. Have a listen.
• The Passion of Joan of Arc. Yes it's a silent movie, but Richard Einhorn released a definitive score, "Voices of Light" in 1994. Have a listen to a bit, read the libretto.
• Thomas Newman. He scored The Shawshank Redemption, for goodness' sake! In the same movie, you KNOW you choked up when that aria from The Marriage of Figaro swelled on the loudspeakers and all over the prison.
• Dune (1984):
  • Whatever its issues, the film has an epic main theme. Especially when it's reprised to scenes of Fremen mounting giant SandWorms into battle!
  • "Paul Meets Chani" by Brian Eno is truly haunting. It definitely makes you think of a desert fortress on some lost planet. Tell me of your homeworld Usul...
• Brian Tyler's soundtrack for SciFi's Children of Dune is sheer, unmitigated awesome from start to finish, but here are some of the highlights.
  • "The Arrival Of Lady Jessica" (click "Prelisten Track").
  • "The Jihad". Also, "Summon the Worms" In context, Fremen leader Stilgar has just declared war, followed by a scene where the Fremen tribes are riding off to war on sandworms.
  • "Inama Nushif".
• Brian Tyler's entirely self-performed (he not only wrote the music but did all the instrumental work on his own in the DVD footage) score from Bubba Ho Tep.
• Public Enemies slots nicely into So Okay, It's Average, but Otis Taylor's music on the soundtrack is grade A awesome.
• Sister Act has two holy songs that will make you think that you are in heaven:
  • Hail Holy Queen & Oh Maria.
  • I Will Follow Him.
• Christopher Guest's music-based films — This is Spın̈al Tap, Waiting for Guffman, and A Mighty Wind — abound with music and musical moments which practically define Funny Moments.
• The Rock-Comedy The Rocker has the cast perform an incredible cover-version of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes", which prompts the band's drummer to lose it and fire off an AWESOME and completely mood-killing drum-solo. The song isn't to be found on the OST or anywhere at all.
• While Stranger Than Fiction has one of the best scores of all time, one moment which is particularly awesome is at Ana's apartment, when Harold begins playing and singing the only song he knows on the guitar - Wreckless Eric's "Whole Wide World". When he gets interrupted, the soundtrack cuts in with the original track. Rock.
• Amélie's main theme, "La Valse D'Amélie" and "Comptine d'un autre été: L'après-midi", which was also used in Good Bye, Lenin!. La Valse D'Amélie is so popular Yann Tiersen performs them at most of his concerts.
• City of Ember's "One Last Message", perfectly fits over the credits and end sequences.
• The theme from Fargo.
• Ladies and gentlemen, Masaru Satō, composer of some of Akira Kurosawa's greatest films, including The Hidden Fortress (a major influence on a little film you may have heard of), Yojimbo (a version of the protagonist's Swaggering Brass Theme of Awesome starts at the 2:00 mark) and Sanjuro.
• TT-34's "Jack" in Night Watch (Series) when Anton fights an invisible vampire, and Simeon carelessly drives his huge truck alongside with Tiger Cub and Bear to save him. So awesome it was back in Day Watch, its sequel, when Olga (actually Anton in Olga's body) is running away from an enraged Zavulon with cars blowing up behind her.
• Simon and Garfunkel's contributions to The Graduate. All of them.
• Grosse Pointe Blank had an great retro soundtrack, but the awesome point was hit during the kickboxing fight scene to Mirror in the Bathroom by The English Beat.
• The performance of The American Symphony at the end of Mr. Holland's Opus. The whole movie covered the creation of this piece of music, and it did NOT disappoint.
• Serenity. The music that plays as River Tam says "My turn." and charges down the hall to decimate the Reavers and close the blast door is just epic.
  • The end credits music is good too.
  • The Serenity theme. When we first see the ship the music starts out so soft and melancholic and then turns into this energetic and cheerful ode to freedom... Awesome!
• In The Devil's Rejects, the Allman Brothers "Midnight Rider" over the opening credits.
• The Disney movie Hocus Pocus is nothing particularly special, but in one sequence Bette Midler does a performance of "I Put a Spell on You" that has to be heard to be believed. As does Sarah Jessica Parker singing Come Little Children.
• Peter Murphy singing 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' in the opening sequence in The Hunger, a scene that is more or less the orgasm of goth culture.
• From The Blues Brothers:
  • "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" and its immediate follow-up, "Sweet Home Chicago" are the eleven o'clock numbers to end all eleven o'clock numbers.
  • Cab Calloway, kicking it as cool as he'd done fifty years earlier.
• Blues Brothers 2000 had its faults. "How Blue Can You Get" featuring B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Bo Diddley, Travis Tritt, Paul Schaffer, Koko Taylor, Jimmie Vaughan, Steve Winwood, Isaac Hayes, Charlie Musselwhite, Clarence Clemons, Lou Rawls, and every major living blues performer from the past 50 years, is not one of them.
• From the movie Enchanted comes Ever Ever After.
  • The affectionate parody of Disney Classics, Happy Working Song.
  • The Central Park dancefest, That's How You Know.
  • The genuinely emotional song So Close.
  • The over-the-top villainy of Narissa Arrives.
• Georgi Sviridov's waltz from the Russian movie The Blizzard. It's way more famous than the movie itself. The same goes for his fast-paced, aggressively awesome orchestral tune for the film Time Forward, which even ended up becoming the ident of the Soviet Union's Vremya news.
• Eugen Doga's wedding waltz from A Hunting Accident is so popular it's often played at real weddings.
• The Soviet-French film Teheran 43 has the beautiful Une vie d'amour.
• Charles Aznavour's Et pourtant is a classic now though the movie it was written for, Cherchez l'idole, seems to be completely forgotten.
• Bob Fosse's All That Jazz gives us this climactic cover of "Bye Bye Love".
• The both upbeat and haunting theme from Das Boot. Good movie, too.
• Although most of The Passion of the Christ is extremely sad, the "Resurrection" ending theme can just blow you away.
• Say what you will about its overuse in film trailers, but Craig Armstrong's "Escape" from Plunkett & Macleane more than deserves its awesome status, particularly with the truly awesome Big Damn Heroes moment that it's used for in the movie.
• The thunderous "O Verona" from the Baz Luhrmann William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet movie, as well as its reprise later in the movie. The all-male choir Only Men Aloud has covered this awesome track.
• In Zombieland, after the main characters have just kicked a metric ton of zombie ass in the theme park, the Raconteurs' "Salute Your Solution" plays as they ride off and the credits roll. AWESOME.
  • Also, Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" plays over the opening credits set to slow-mo zombie attacks.
  • Also, The song "Ecstasy of Blood" by David Sardy which is played at Tallahassee's amazing zombie stand off. Where it is implied that he is sacrificing himself, when in reality he ends up killing all the zombies that chase him.
• The song "Axel F" from Beverly Hills Cop is incredibly catchy. Even though it is two decades old, it was featured on an episode of Family Guy and also used in a scene in Monsters vs. Aliens. According to The Other Wiki, it topped musical charts in 1985, and remixes of it topped European musical charts in 2003! Also awesome are "The Heat is On", the opening theme of the first movie, and "Shakedown", the opening theme from the first sequel.
• The theme from the teasers for the still-in-production movie Iron Sky, a comedy about Nazi spacemen.
• Shoot 'Em Up takes very little time to bust out the guns and high octane action sequences. "Breed" (by Nirvana) kicks in and sets the tone for the movie: super awesome.
• The Villain Song "Choose Your Poison" from The Return of Captain Invincible gets bonus points for being sung by none other than Christopher Lee.
• Paint Your Wagon has They Call the Wind Maria.
• Oldboy (2003) has a lyrical and creepy theme, epecially if you picture Oh Dae-Su as he walks, smiling when the suicidal guy hits the ground behind him. And the words in his head: "Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone." AWESOME!
• Steven Soderbergh's movie The Informant! is awesome enough to begin with, but the music by Marvin Hamlisch is even better. Especially "Car Meeting."
• The Jam's "A Town Called Malice" in Billy Elliot, when Billy just explodes from his Small Town Boredom and goes dancing thorugh the streets.
• Brandon Lee's transformation scene in The Crow (1994) — set off to The Cure's "Burn."
  Oh, yes....
• From Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, we have the songs Decimation Proclamation, Requiem Overture, and the end credits, which combine both.
• At the end of Xanadu, Kira and the other muses perform a montage of random songs. And after a truly godawful stereotypical country debacle the movie X wipes and the muses dance to a low key instrumental humming accompanied by a choir. Suddenly the music takes a turn for the best and violins chime in heralding a reprise of the title song. And... it... is... awesome!
• School of Rock. "And if you wanna be the teacher's pet..." Also, "The legend of the rent was WAY HARDCORE!!!"
• 1969's Battle of Britain was scored mostly by fairly standard martial music — a bombastic march for the Germans, and a heroic theme for the British. Then they reached the final air battle, turned off the sound effects, and let William Walton's music take over. No machine-guns, no explosions, no dialogue, just amazingly, hauntingly awesome music as two air forces fight tooth and nail in the skies of southern England.
  • This nearly didn't happen - the producers had planned to completely throw out Sir William's score in favour of a Ron Goodwin replacement. The film's star (and friend of the composer) Laurence Olivier was furious when he found out, and he threatened to take his name off the film if some of Walton's music wasn't retained. (The soundtrack CD features both composers.)
  • On the subject of Ron Goodwin, the composer for Battle of Britain, the theme from Where Eagles Dare.
  • Goodwin also wrote the music for the four Miss Marple movies starring Margaret Rutherford and the rollicking theme for Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.
  • His epic 633 Squadron theme.
• The famous Dambusters March, which has arguably become more famous than the movie it is from. It's even more awesome because (according to the composer's son), the piece was not actually written for the film, but as a stand-alone, Elgarian style march, as the march's composer Eric Coates disliked writing film music.
• The Departed has an amazing soundtrack, but the greatest song in the set is undoubtedly Dropkick Murphys' "Shipping up to Boston". You know, the punk rock song with bagpipes.
• Office Space "Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!!" Especially with Peter's stone cold indifference in that scene, as well as "Still" by Geto Boys, the music in the copier scene.
• "Vocalise" from The Ninth Gate is exquisitely haunting, and easily the best part of the soundtrack.
• Another from Michael Giacchino: The soundtrack of the Speed Racer film was amazing at all times, but the piece entitled Reboot, which plays as Speed goes from dead last to first place after jump-starting his car, is just beautiful. Quite a few of the other pieces are worth a listen.
• Andrew Lloyd Webber's Overture from The Phantom of the Opera (2004).
• Mongol is packed with an immense amount of awesome songs, featuring legitimate throat singing. Does this not shriek bad-assitude? What about with METAL?
• "Sacrifice" by Motörhead, from Tromeo and Juliet.
• The main theme from Out of Africa.
• Hudson Hawk: Would you like to swing on a star...
• "A Man of Determination" from Once Upon a Time in China has gone down as one of the most iconic kung fu themes ever.
• Ilan Eshkeri and his Stardust score. Septimus in particular is excellent (so much so that it was used on Top Gear during the diesel BMW race when the Stig was at the wheel), but there's also a short bit of music similar to that which plays as Septimus and Lamia use the runes to search for Yvaine and which - woes! - isn't included in the official soundtrack. Other standouts from that soundtrack include "Shooting Star" and "Coronation".
• From Mr. and Mrs. Smith, El Tango de los Assassinos.
• Kenji Kawai's masterpieces from the Kung-Fu movie Ip Man, one of the best and most memorable being "Battle for Righteousness".
• Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure:
  • 'In Time', the song heard in the background when the malfunctioning booth sends Bill and Ted into the enlightened future to a pre-emptive heroes' welcome. It underpins perfectly a sequence that shows the value of what they've been asked to protect.
  • Bricklin - Walk Away? It's the music that the report begins to and it gets better if you listen to the whole song.
• Spaceballs: 'Cause what you got is what we need, and all we do is dirty deeds...
• The opening theme from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
• Moulin Rouge! and all its epic remixes. Special mention goes out to "El Tango de Roxanne" for being both a great cover AND a fantastic climactic moment.
• "It's our secret of survival in a very nasty world!"
• Say Anything.... John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler. A boom box. Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". All adds up to one of the most memorable romantic moments from any film of The '80s.
• From Unbreakable, "The Orange Man" makes your hair stand on end.
• Amazingly, Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London spawns a pretty epic cover of Edwin Starr's "War", especially combined with the fight going on behind it. It's still chill-inducing even over 10 years later. 'War! Hurrghh! Was is is gut for?' MADE. OF. WIN.
• From 3:10 to Yuma (2007), this.
• The original 3:10 to Yuma (1957)'s opening song is pretty awesome too.
• MOOOOOOORTAAAAAAAAL KOMBAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!! "Control", which underscores the fight between Liu Kang and Reptile is also blood-pumping and awesome.
• The main title theme from Cutthroat Island.
• Barbra Streisand's finale at the end of Funny Girl. Her amazing vocal power and emotion in that scene was most certainly a key factor for her to win the Oscar for best performing actress-the only Oscar ever that was a tie.
• Isaac Hayes and his theme for Shaft; badass personified.
• The wrenching scene in Hotel Rwanda which finds a priest and several nuns escorting orphans to the hotel, where they and other foreigners are to be safely evacuated while the Rwandans are left behind is accompanied by a beautiful piece of African choral music that just makes the scene all the sadder—but the same music is played over the ending, where having escaped the slaughter, the main character and his wife reach a refugee camp where they are reunited with his brother's children.
• Drive Faster from the movie Transporter 3, especially from 1:06 onwards. (Thanks, The G Mod Idiot Box!)
• "The Boys are Back in Town" by Thin Lizzy playing over the end credits of The Expendables. The Extended Cut excises the song to make room for Shinedown's "Diamond Eyes", a song that Sylvester Stallone commissioned for this very movie. What it loses in classic cool it gains threefold in sheer badass. Boom-lay, boom-lay, BOOM!
• Seven Pounds: Muse's version of "Feeling Good" during the scene where Tim fixes The Beast for Emily qualifies for this trope.
• "Feeding Time" from Beethovens Second, composed by Randy Edelman.
• "Chaiyya Chaiyya Bollywood Joint" by A.R. Rahman / Punjabi MC over the closing credits of Inside Man.
• A very early CMOA - "Battle on the Ice" from Alexander Nevsky, scored by Prokofiev. Inspired many a dramatic battle theme, and may have even introduced Ominous Latin Chanting to cinema audiences.
• Camp Rock 2's "I Wouldn't Change A Thing" is just awesome.
• Holes. "If Only, If Only." For pure fun, you really can't beat Dig It. Now, if only it didn't get stuck in your head like there's no tomorrow...
• Suspiria (1977) has a truly epic theme by Goblin. The full version is six minutes of Creepy Awesome. Listen here.
• The moment from Almost Famous where they all sing "Tiny Dancer" on the bus. It's the highlight of the film.
• The Other Guys has the criticism on its Creative Closing Credits enhanced by some Rage Against the Machine in the background. Although it eventually becomes hilarious once the music changes to "Pimps Don't Cry"...
• Sure, everybody loves Disney tunes, but when it comes to family movies with awesome songs, consider the big screen output of Jim Henson and company:
  • "The Rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie, especially the Triumphant Reprise when they actually find it.
  • "Hey! A Movie!" from The Great Muppet Caper is Fourth Wall-smashing fun that celebrates what the movies are all about:
    There'll be mystery
    And catastrophe
    But it's all in fun
    You paid the money
    Wait and see!
  • "Together Again" from The Muppets Take Manhattan.
  • "The Grouch Anthem" from Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird, though "Ain't No Road Too Long" gives it a run for its money.
  • While The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland isn't as fondly remembered as its predecessor, it still has some seriously good songs, the standout being "I See A Kingdom," sung by the Queen of Trash (played by Vanessa Williams).
  • When it comes to the Pop-Star Composer trope, no Disney effort can collectively touch the tunes David Bowie wrote and performed for Labyrinth. Playful ("Magic Dance", "Chilly Down"), wickedly tender ("As the World Falls Down"), thunderous ("Within You"), exhilarating ("Underground")...oh so Eighties, oh so right.
  • From the 2011 movie we have "Life's a Happy Song" and Man or Muppet which is an Award-Bait Song done right.
  • "Shiver My Timbers from Muppet Treasure Island.
• The theme from Yor: Hunter from the Future.
• It's the mid-1980s. Some bright spark decides to adapt the The Destroyer series for cinema. It's not a financial success, so sadly no follow-ups are made. But it has more than its fair share of awesome moments...and Craig Safan composes a bitchin' good, none-more-80s top-notch action hero theme for Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.
• TRON. The Wendy Carlos music is brilliant (the fact that the real-world music is mainly orchestral while the computer-world music is mainly electronic, was a brilliant touch), but the two Journey tracks are also great.
• "Battle of Kerak" from Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, another Harry Gregson-Williams piece; medieval and operatic, it's the most energetic and diverse theme on the soundtrack, with a helping of Mood Whiplash... along with the Arabic end credits, "Ibelin/Light of Life" also by Gregson-Williams.
• Bizarre, but Georgio Moroder's uber-80's 1984 soundtrack to the classic silent film Metropolis contains several pieces of Awesome, e.g. "Cage of Freedom" which accompanies The Reveal of the Tower of Babel skyscraper. This in turn inspired at least one enterprising Netizen to recut the Metropolis trailer to the "Bladerunner theme" by Vangelis.
• Master and Commander's soundtrack has some of the most exceptional quality records of the existing songs it 'covers' like the La Musica Notturna Delle Strade and portion of Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3, as well as some amazing battle scores.
• In Demolition Man, Sting's rockier remix of The Police song "Demolition Man" is really quite kickass. Don't mess around with the Demolition Man!
• Just when you think everything's going to be okay in Dead Friend (aka The Ghost), an epic rock track starts playing just as the final twist is revealed...then the credits roll.
• The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) has this little gem.
• 127 Hours, Festival by Sigur Ros. While awesome on its own, the song's awesomeness is amplified by the thousands in context of the scene that it's in. You know which.
• "Welcome Home" by King Diamond, from Clerks II.
• For some strange reason the soundtrack of the Ewan McGregor movie The Serpent's Kiss never was released. It's a shame, since it featured rare gems like this one.
• For people who like Folk, Bluegrass, and old-time country, O Brother, Where Art Thou? is 107 minutes of awesome.
• Don't change your channel! Don't touch that dial! We got it all on UH! F!
• The opening theme to Cecil B. Demented, by Moby. Awesomely distorted. And from the same film, Basil and Zoe Poledouris's "Dying To Meet You".
• Nick Glennie-Smith's score to We Were Soldiers. It is an incredible soundtrack that really fits the story. But the part that sticks out the most is the piece that plays during the end credits. It is entitled Mansions of the Lord, and it is so unbelievably beautiful.
• The Eurythmics Concept Album / Soundtrack to Nineteen Eighty-Four. The whole album oozes despair and paranoia - completely fitting to the subject matter. "Doubleplusgood" is as high-energy and paranoid as a cocaine binge. "Room 101" is horror in soundtrack form. Samples from all the tracks here.
• In Good Bye, Lenin!, the national anthem of former East Germany is used awesomely in a rousing (if fake) news broadcast.
• "Let the River Run" by Carly Simon from the Working Girl soundtrack. Powerful, uplifting, and the musical embodiment of the American Dream.
• The "Jungle Dance" from the original King Kong (1933). So awesome, they re-used it as the in-world music in the theatre scene.
• Carter Burwell's incredible score for Miller's Crossing. Also, the Momentof Awesome attempted assassination to the tune of "Danny Boy."
• Riz Ortolani's main theme to Cannibal Holocaust is utterly beautiful in spite of its gruesome subject matter. A fantastic textbook case of Soundtrack Dissonance.
• "Prawnkus" from District 9.
• Mean Green Mother and Dentist from Little Shop of Horrors.
• Patrick Doyle's score for Rise of the Planet of the Apes ought to be included here. Check it.
• More Doyle! You would expect it from a kid movie called A Little Princess but there are some breathtaking pieces, particularly "The Trenches", "Captain Crewe and the Solider", "The Escape", and "Papa" (the last of which is also part Tearjerker turned Heartwarming Moment).
• Sweet Dreams running through the opening sequence of Sucker Punch. Both haunting and simply breathtaking. Sung by Lead Actress Emily Browning herself no less.
  • From the trailer we have "The Crablouse" by Lords of Acid.
  • Another trailer features "Panic Switch" by Silversun Pickups.
  • An amazing cover of "Where Is My Mind" by The Pixies performed by Yoav and Emily Browning.
  • The "I Want It All/We Will Rock You" mash up.
  • The "Tomorrow Never Knows" cover.
  • The "Asleep" cover by Emily Browning is beautiful.
  • Emiliana Torrini's version of "White Rabbit" combines psychedelia and pure badassery to make one epic cover.
• Guy Ritchie knew how to add some music cues. Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels makes great use of The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" to highlight Soap's confusion after the rigged card game.
• Wong Chia Chi's Theme by Alexandre Desplat in Ang Lee's Lust, Caution. It's such a sublime and beautiful score, you will want to cry.
• The Big Lebowski. YEAH! YEAH! OH YEAH!
• Ghost Rider (2007): The cover of the song "Ghost Riders in the Sky" by the band Spiderbait in the ending credits (and also an instrumental of the same song while the two ride) is simply awesome. Listen to it here.
• The Joshuu Sasori series has two haunting, highly emotionally charged, slightly surreal and all-round incredible songs across the four first films. The fourth film is named after the more famous one. Both are beautifully sung by Meiko Kaji, the main actress, who is also a respected enka singer in her own right, and is known for doing songs for her films.
• Trevor Jones's score for Cliffhanger is made of awesome, particularly the seven-minute plus end credits.
• Tan Dun has done some very impressive work. Prime examples: the Overture to Hero and 'For the World'. See also the quiet heartbreak of 'Gone with Leaves', and feel the Wuxia badassitude of two assassins storming the King of Qin's palace. By themselves.
• "What Are We Made Of" from The Adventures Of Pinocchio, composed by the one and only Brian May.
• "Darkest Side Of The Night" from Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan.
• Monty Python's music tends towards the silly rather than the awesome, but there is no denying that "Brian" (from Monty Python's Life of Brian) has a suitably epic and awesome feel even if the lyrics are things like "And he started to shave / And have one off the wrist / and want to see girls / And go out and get piiiiiiiiissssed!" Gilliam's animation doesn't hurt the sequence any.
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail's main/Arthur theme is stock music. Nonetheless, it's so bombastic it would have worked well in a straighter treatment of the Arthurian mythos.
• Many Wu Xia movies and TV series use music that can stir you up inside, even if you have no idea what they're saying. Examples:
  • From the Kungfu Master TV series. It gets better if you actually understand what it's saying.
  • Ip Man's theme song and its sequel.
  • Shaolin Soccer's opening.
• Christopher Young's entire score for the original Hellraiser film is dark, foreboding, mysterious, and imposing. Awards must be given for his "Resurrection" track, which played during Frank's fleshy resurrection as a skinless monstrosity back into the earth from the world of the cenobites.
• The Elusive Avengers has the Chase Song.
• Mary and Max's theme song, "Perpetuum Mobile", is not only a memorable track, but it also counts as Heartwarming Music.
• The music from The Artist is integral to this beautiful silent film, from its wonderfully melodramatic opening to the swingtastic climax, all scored by Ludovic Bource.
• The song that plays over the start of the end credits for Snow White & the Huntsman is the absolutely epic Breath of Life by Florence + The Machine.
• In the French film Le Concert, the main orchestra is going to play Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, and they haven't rehearsed at all. The start is a bit wobbly due to the lack of rehearsing, but after Anne-Marie begins her solo, the orchestra manages to reach spontaneous harmony. See the concert here (all speaking in Spanish).
• From Millions, "House Building", which combines a serene, beautiful, heavenly choir with something truly badass.
• Silent Hill: Revelation 3D has some music based off of tracks from the original games. "Vincent Condemned" is a pretty awesome and heavy piece of music that sounds like one half Terminator theme, with the other half being "Memory of the Waters" from Silent Hill 3.
• Several performances from Velvet Goldmine could qualify, but a particular standout is Ewan McGregor's rendition of Iggy Pop's "Gimme Danger." Sadly, it was not included on the soundtrack. The instrumental section in the middle featuring two different lead guitar solos being played simultaneously is an incredible trip!
• From Elizabeth: The Golden Age we have "Storm". It's even used in a trailer of Man of Steel and it worked well.
• The credits theme of Pacific Rim. It's yet another electrical guitar-fest from Iron Man composer Ramin Djawadi, and like the movie itself it is AWESOME.
  • "Drift", the end credits theme by Ron Perlman's daughter Blake and RZA.
  • The music that plays during Mako's childhood trauma and when Otachi spreads her wings and carries Gypsy Danger into the sky sound very influenced by Akira Ifukube, quite possible the greatest Godzilla composer ever, and are riveting.
• Kick-Ass 2:
  • Jessie J's "Hero".
  • The rock version of Tetris that plays while Mother Russia kills 10 cops.
• The theme from Homeward Bound.
• Beasts of the Southern Wild is somewhat sparse with its music, but when it does come in we get beautiful pieces such as this and this.
• Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence has its theme music. Much like the film, it is both simultaneously sad and heart-wrenching as well as uplifting and beautiful.
• The ending credit music to the little known film Pass the Ammo. It's a catchy criticism of Televangelism done in the style of Gospel.
• The soundtrack for the original Emmanuelle film was done by the legendary Pierre Bachelet and includes such great songs as "Emmanuelle in the Mirror" (warning: the link contains the soundtrack's mildly NSFW cover art), which perfectly encapsulates the quiet unhappiness that drives the title character throughout the film, and the trippy "Emmanuelle Swims".
• In Maleficent, Lana Del Rey's cover of "Once Upon A Dream".
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has so many different genres of good tunes, you'd swear The Backyardigans were involved. Considering that Deep Roy (the actor for all the Oompa Loompas) comes from and is quite famous in Bollywood, this is not in the least surprising. He was an inspired casting choice, and not only did composer Danny Elfman work from Dahl's original text for the lyrics, he used a different musical genre for each song and made each into a production — and satire — worthy of the original book. That part, at least, was dead-on.
• In Astro Boy: The title theme (played in variation the first time Astro flies, over the end credits, and a few other times) is truly gorgeous.
• Chronicle:
  • "The Chronicle," by Cuzzy Capone.
  • "This Bright Flash" by M83.
• The film adaptation of The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, scored by Matti Bye, has a lot of great music, most of it epic with a little hint of whimsy. Most of it isn't available on YouTube, with the exception of the main theme.
• The Last Airbender: James Newton Howard's score is quite possibly the best thing in the entire film.
• The LEGO Movie:
  • "Everything is Awesome!!!"
  • DARKNESS! NO PARENTS! SUPER-RICH!
  • From Mark Mothersbaugh's score, we have "Saloons & Wagons", "Emmet's Plan", "Wyldstyle Leads", and "My Secret Weapon".
  • The trailers' music: "Feel This Moment" by Pitbull feat. Christina Aguilera, in the 1st & 2nd trailers, and Avicii's "Wake Me Up" in the 2nd.
  • Even the "Double Dare" fanfare makes an appearance. Hell, let's just say the entire soundtrack and leave it there.
  • "Jag in a Jungle" by Brite Futures, used as the theme for Cloud Cuckooland.
• RoboCop (2014):
  • The "Field Test" scene with Murphy against the Omnicorp drones and Mattox makes use of the rock instrumental "Hocus Pocus" by Dutch progressive rock band Focus, with great effect.
  • I Fought the Law (and the Law Won), during the credits.
• Bridge to Terabithia: Anna Sofia Robb's "Keep Your Mind Wide Open" from the movie. Could be seen as an anthem for Cloudcuckoolanders everywhere and is just so serene and sweet sounding.
• Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai has a soundtrack produced by RZA and it is prime RZA material, probably some of his best work.
• The credits music of As Above, So Below, a very slick, well-fitting French rap piece (Hypsoline, by La Femme).
• The film One Night with the King, based on the Biblical Book of Esther, got mixed reviews — but its soundtrack is so damn good that it has an undisputed five-star rating on Amazon. Highlights include "For Such a Time as This", "Unsummoned Before the King", "A Season of Feasting", "Esther's Petition", and "Kingdom of Love".
• Fittingly for a film about a superhero with enhanced hearing, the music for Daredevil is just as big a part of this movie as the costumes or the background sets.
  • Drowning Pool and Rob Zombie's "Man Without Fear", which was written especially for the film (although the title being Daredevil's Red Baron probably gave it away) and was Drowning Pool's first song to be released following the death of original frontman Dave Williams in 2002.
• Whiplash: Being a film about jazz and the perfection of executing, this is to be expected. The sound mixing goes a long way to immersing the viewer in the characters' main performance showcase, with the climactic drum solo standing out.
• "Prologue: Into the Woods" is amazing in the stage version of Into the Woods, but the film version is really something special. Especially at the very end, where all the different voices and lyrics come together and flawlessly harmonize and flow with each other... it's enough to drive you to tears, and for fans of the stage show, this was the first major sign that all their worries about the adaptation were for naught, and that this was going to be a good movie. Also "Hello, Little Girl" is a One-Scene Wonder for a seductive Villain Song. Who knew Johnny Depp could sing so well?
• Although this tends to fall under Recycled Trailer Music (but still a good movie trailer song), probably the most awesome usage of the Zack Hemsey song "Vengeance" was in the final battle of The Equalizer, when McCall gruesomely dispatches Teddy and his men at the Home Mart that was taken over by them, as well as the Moby song New Dawn Fades, and the ending theme, the Eminem song Guts Over Fear.
• The first Blade film had a techno-based soundtrack. "Confusion (1995 Pump Panel Remix)" by New Order is the most noteworthy example (interestingly, it's one of the few songs in the movie that made it to the soundtrack album, which mostly kept to hip-hop songs not in the movie).
• American Pie: After two naffy cover versions in Wedding and two of the spinoffs, the series theme song "Laid" finally appears in the original James form for Reunion's end credits.
• Strange Magic: The title song "Strange Magic" sung by Marianne and the Bog King is the best song in the film. It does a fantastic job of selling a fairly compact romance and shows a softer side to both characters. It really conveys how they are unable to stop themselves from falling in love, no matter how much they'd want to otherwise.
• Composer John Ottman's contributions to the two Fantastic Four (2005) movies, particularly the "Main Title" piece in the 2005 movie and the "Silver Surfer Theme" in Rise of the Silver Surfer. The first movie had an eclectic soundtrack album featuring the likes of Velvet Revolver, Chingy, Taking Back Sunday, and Lloyd Banks, to name a few. Highlights include Joss Stone's "Whatever Happened to the Heroes" and "New World Order" by Miri Ben-Ari.
• "In the Music" by The Roots for Stomp the Yard. The song feels like a climactic showdown. And "Come On" by rapper Bonecrusher and his band Onslaught open up the film with a burst of energy.
• Both the soundtrack and the pre-existing songs used for Kingsman: The Secret Service are not only pretty good and/or catchy; but they are all on-point and fit the movie perfectly. Some examples:
  • "The Medallion", going from a slow, somber rhythm while Galahad is telling about Eggsy's father's death to his family, to a raising, epic tune in time for the title card.
  • "Bonkers", every time pre-training Eggsy does something cool.
  • And, of course, "Free Bird" as the backdrop for the church melee.
  • "Get Ready For It" by Take That. Definitely not what you'd expect for a gory spy action thriller, but perfectly fitting as the theme for stereotypical Lower-Class Lout Eggsy becoming his generation's James Bond expy.
• National Lampoon's Vacation has Lindsey Buckingham's "Holiday Road", a cheerful tone that sets the mood for a road trip.
• Fantastic Four (2015):
  • The score by Philip Glass and Marco Beltrami is considered to be the movie's highlight.
  • "Another Body", an instrumental composed by El-P played over the end credits.
• Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome had Tina Turner in the cast, and sure enough, she goes all-in to deliver a memorable credits song, "We Don't Need Another Hero".
• Divergent:
  • Woodkid's "Run Boy Run", an instrumental version of which essentially becomes the Dauntless theme music in the first movie. Additionally, the lyrics relate to the story of the series.
  • Ellie Goulding contributes a few songs like "Beating Heart" and "Dead in the Water" to the soundtrack. The film makers said she was "the voice for our film."
• Mad Max: Fury Road:
  • Immortan Joe constantly (i.e. for practically the entire film) pumps up his forces with The Power of Rock... As has never been seen before! "Blood Bag" is a good example. And then there's "Claw Trucks" and "Chapter Doof" which play in the Final Battle.
  • Not included in the soundtrack album but still epic, the "Dies Irae" from Verdi's Requiem, heard in the trailer and during the Bullet Farmer's rampage definitely qualifies. It was also sampled in some of the tracks, such as "Brothers in Arms".
  • On the Tear Jerker side, we have "Many Mothers", "Valhalla Awaits" from the extended soundtrack, both of which will bring you to your knees, and "My Name Is Max".
  • And finally there's the triumphant "Let Them Up" used in the finale.
  • The Japanese version has Man With a Mission's "Out of Control".
• All opinions you may have about Pixels, it should be said that its score by Henry Jackman is excellent, it has the right breathtaking visuals to go with it, and it's one of the few genuinely good things to come out of the movie. Special mention has to go to the version of "We Will Rock You" featured in the film - the signature backbeat with an orchestral accompaniment that rises to a crescendo, well suited for the two scenes it's featured in.
• Both of The Addams Family theatrical films get their own.
  • The Mamushka, of course; Gomez in a Cossack hat, dancing to a Hungarian Czardas, with Morticia on violin, and knife-juggling.
  • The tango scene in Addams Family Values, where both the waltz theme from the first movie AND the theme music from the TV series are strung together to make a thoroughly incredibly piece of Latin dance music. The fact that Morticia gets spun about fast enough to become a blur, not to mention literally setting fire to the dance floor, makes it all the better. Ending, naturally enough, with a symbolic popping of every last champagne cork in the building.
• In The Last Witch Hunter, there's Ciara's cover of Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black", a really climactic and hypnotic piece of music used in most of the trailers.
• The title music from Five Weeks in a Balloon perfectly encapsulates the feeling of lighthearted, whimsical adventure central to the film.
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie:
  • The "Go Go Power Rangers" theme song was somehow made more awesome, courtesy of the Power Rangers Orchestra.
  • Masaki Endō based his cover on this version of the song.
  • Likewise, the film score by Graeme Revell, especially the "Great Power" leifmotif.
• Les Misérables (2012): A new technique of the film that was well publicized before its premiere was that the actors' vocals were recorded live on the set, in order that the music would be synched to them rather than the other way around. The result created a very natural performance, averting off-cue lip synching, and restored believability to some scenes, such as Éponine's death, which now could sound like one was actually in pain rather than continuing to project strong tones when one was supposedly dying.
• The Bollywood film Ghatak: Lethal has "Koi Jaye To Le Aaye", a high-energy dance number.
• The main theme of Steel. Say what you want about the rest of the movie, the main theme is an epic and triumphant anthem greatly suited to Steel, even if we're talking about the comics. If the movie had done better, the main theme might have been remembered as one of the great superhero themes of cinema, up there with the John Williams Superman theme and the Danny Elfman Batman theme.
• The End Titles theme from the 1981 Michael Mann film Thief, titled "Confrontation" on the soundtrack, performed by Craig Safan. It features an awesome Pink Floyd-like guitar playing throughout the song.
• The main theme for the Indian movie Singham. Considering the title character and the dance during the opening credits, it still comes off as a sort of Rocky theme for India.
• The Fault in Our Stars's soundtrack is very well-chosen. "Boom Clap" is incredibly catchy and upbeat, while "Not About Angels" and "All of the Stars" are appropriately tearjerky and emotional pieces for the film's third act.
• John Wick has plenty of tracks to choose from.
  • First, to get you in the mood to watch a 50-year-old Keanu Reeves kick some ass, here's Story of Wick. The inclusion of an actual candle being lit marks the song building up just like John's emotions as of late.
  • What better to underscore the relationship between Marcus and John, and how the former will betray Viggo for John's sake? Why, just let Marilyn Manson do it for you, with Killing Strangers.
  • John makes a badass entrance to the Red Circle's dance floor as LED Spirals plays, one of four contributions to the soundtrack by Le Castle Vania. It's followed by the shootout itself, set to Shots Fired. An energetic dance beat fits John's fast, precise Gun Fu style.
  • One from the sequel: John Wick Mode accompanies the Rome Catacombs shootout. Mixing cues from LED Spirals with its own musical progression, it really fits the increased tension and pace of the gunplay for the sequel.
• Wang Chung's uber-80s score to William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A. is epic as hell, especially the theme song and "City of Angels".
• 1981's Arthur is one of the great Romantic Comedy films, and it cannot be discussed without bringing up "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)", performed and co-written by Christopher Cross and one of the best Soft Rock songs ever. Warm piano, sweeping strings, tender verses (particularly the second), a glorious saxophone solo, the singularly wonderful lyric "When you get caught between the moon and New York City"...it's all the heart and fun of Dudley Moore's most beloved character distilled into less than four minutes.
• C.W. McCall's "Convoy" is a pretty cool song by itself already. But then Sam Peckinpah loosely based a movie on it, Convoy. And McCall made two very similar new versions for the film which retell what happens on screen, one which is somewhat closer to the original lyrics-wise can only be heard in the film, one ended up on the soundtrack. Both, however, sound much more polished than the original version from Black Bear Road with a bigger vocal group singing the chorus, and they transcend genre borders even further (it's basically country meets rap when it was still underground and when there were no white rappers in side, but now spruced up with Hollywood-esque orchestra and a thrown in bit of banjo-pickin' bluegrass as if to Shout-Out to Smokey and the Bandit), not to mention the mental images from the film that come with listening to the song.
• Kikujiro has the beautiful, soulful "Riverside" that plays toward the finale, courtesy of Joe Hisaishi. (Certain Netizens may know it better for its memetic status or appearance in AMV Hell 4, where the very fact that it's such a beautiful track is used ironically.)
• The main theme of Ilya Muromets fits the epic tone of the movie, as does the song played to cure Ilya of his paralysis. Other themes, like those played during the Corpse Land scene and the battles, are also a good match for the mood.
• The catchy After the Fox theme by the Hollies, and accompanied by Peter Sellers, establishes what "the Fox" is, why he steals, and the consequences for him, all in a jingly manner.
• Christopher Young is an expert in horror scores, with the chilling violins of Hellraiser and Species helping said movies' creepy atmosphere.
• Moonfall might be an astoundingly dumb disaster movie, but at least it ends in a sweet ethereal pop track with "One More Time".
• That Thing You Do! has the eponymous song by the fictional One-Hit Wonder band the "Oneders", which is a Beatles-esque pop rock tune that genuinely sounds like a hit from The '60s.
• Terrifier 2 has the "Clown Cafe" song during the Nightmare Sequence, combining a catchy melody and ironic lyrics twisting the typical jingle to invoke the disgusting things Art the Clown does to his victims.
• The Cult Classic satirical comedy But I'm a Cheerleader uses Tattle Tale's "Glass Vase Cello Case" for the climactic Love Confession scene at the graduation to great effect. A hard-hitting and achingly soulful folk punk track, it still makes many fans of the film teary-eyed to this day. The film is also the primary reason Tattle Tale (a sadly short-lived indie band who were otherwise mostly unknown outside the 1990s Seattle punk scene) didn't fall into complete obscurity after they broke up in 1995 after just three years.
  Breathe into my hands are cupped,
  And like a glass to drink from.
  Are you still,
  Still breathing?
  Are you still breathing?
  Are you still,
  Still breathing?
  Are you still breathing?
  Breathe into my hands are cupped,
  And like a glass to drink from.
• Dazed and Confused has possibly the most epic soundtrack of all time. The fact that they had to release it over two albums and still didn't get all the songs included (mostly due to licensing rights, one would suspect) says something. Kiss, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Foghat, ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, War, Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, Peter Frampton, The Runaways and more... Put the discs (or flash drive or Spotify playlist) in your car stereo, roll down the windows, crank the volume and hit the road!
• "Quiero la Noche," the title track of Bananas, takes a fun and pretty Latin American-style love ballad, works in gunfire percussion and an action movie hook, and turns out fun and hilarious.

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