Take a look below for our list of 10 of the best movie sountracks.
1. The Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore
The music of The Lord of the Rings film series was composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by Howard Shore. The scores are often considered to represent one of the greatest achievements in the history of film music in terms of length of the score, the size of the staged forces, the unusual instrumentation, the featured soloists, the multitude of musical styles and the number of recurring musical themes used.
2. Star Wars, John Williams
Star Wars (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 1977 film Star Wars, composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Williams’ score for Star Wars was recorded over eight sessions at Anvil Studios in Denham, England on March 5, 8–12, 15 and 16, 1977. The score was orchestrated by Williams’s frequent associate Herbert W. Spencer, who also later orchestrated the scores for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The score was recorded by engineer Eric Tomlinson and edited by Kenneth Wannberg, and the scoring sessions were produced by Star Wars director George Lucas and supervised by Lionel Newman, head of 20th Century Fox’s music department.
3. The Dark Knight, Hans Zimmer
The Dark Knight: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 2008 film of the same name, which is a sequel to Christopher Nolan’s 2005 film Batman Begins. The soundtrack was released on July 15, 2008, in three editions: CD, limited edition CD digipak, and digital download. The 2-CD Special Edition was released on December 9, 2008, along with the DVD. A limited edition 180-gram vinyl LP was released on August 12, 2008. The soundtrack was composed by Batman Begins collaborators Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard and recorded in April 2008.
4. Titanic, James Horner
Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the film of the same name composed, orchestrated, and conducted by James Horner. The soundtrack was released by Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax on November 18, 1997.
5. Gladiator, Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard
Gladiator: Music From the Motion Picture is the original soundtrack of the 2000 film of the same name. The original score and songs were composed by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard and were released in 2000, titled Gladiator: Music From the Motion Picture. The Lyndhurst Orchestra performing the score was conducted by Gavin Greenaway.
6. Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End, Hans Zimmer
The following list shows the music tracks that were featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End, On Stranger Tides, Dead Men Tell No Tales) and other media created by the same team. The music was composed by George Bruns (attraction soundtrack), Klaus Badelt (film 1), Hans Zimmer (films 2-4) and Geoff Zanelli (5).
7. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Ennio Morricone
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in 1966 alongside the Western film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, directed by Sergio Leone. The score is composed by frequent Leone collaborator Ennio Morricone, whose distinctive original compositions, containing gunfire, whistling, and yodeling permeate the film. The main theme, resembling the howling of a coyote, is a two-note melody that is a frequent motif, and is used for the three main characters, with a different instrument used for each one: flute for Blondie (Man with No Name), arghilofono (Ocarina) for Angel Eyes, and human voices for Tuco.
8. Jaws, John Williams
Jaws: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for Jaws was released on LP by MCA in 1975, and as a CD in 1992, including roughly a half-hour of music that John Williams redid for the album. In 2000, two versions of the score were released: one in a re-recording of the entire Jaws score by Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Joel McNeely, and another to coincide with the release of the 25th anniversary DVD by Decca/Universal, featuring the entire 51 minutes of the original score. The score was reissued again in 2015 through Intrada Records containing the full film score along with alternates, source music and a remaster of the 1975 album. In 2005, it was ranked No.6 in AFI’s 100 Years of Film Scores, a list which compiles the greatest American film scores.
9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, John Williams
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film score for the 2004 film of the same name, the third and final score in the series to be composed and conducted by John Williams. It introduced two major themes: “Window to the Past” and “Double Trouble”. Two other notable themes were used to represent the Time-Turner and Sirius Black’s hunt for Harry. The soundtrack was performed at Abbey Road Studios in London. It was released on 25 May 2004 and charted at No. 68 on the Billboard 200 and also charted at No. 3 on the Top Soundtracks Chart.
10. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, John Williams
The score from The Empire Strikes Back, composed by John Williams, was recorded in eighteen sessions at Anvil Studios over three days in December 1979 and a further six days in January 1980 with Williams conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Williams had also worked with the London Symphony Orchestra for the scores to the films The Fury, Superman and Dracula. The score earned another Academy Award nomination for Williams. Again, the score was orchestrated by Herbert W. Spencer, recorded by engineer Eric Tomlinson and edited by Kenneth Wannberg with supervision by Lionel Newman. John Williams himself took over duties as record producer from Star Wars creator George Lucas.
