While the very best movie soundtracks vary considerably in their style and scope, what they share is the power to translate a film’s messaging and atmosphere into song. Whether the work of an inventive original score, a careful curation of existing material, or some sophisticated combination of the two, at their most memorable, movie soundtracks are so finely crafted that it’s both impossible to imagine the story without them, and hard to resist cueing them up after the credits roll.
Here, we round up some of the best movie soundtracks ever, with one important proviso: the movies that produced them could not be adaptations of stage musicals. That means—love them as we do—no The Sound of Music, no Grease, no Annie. (Those are largely accounted for on a different list.)
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie had a lot to recommend it: an all-star cast, eye-popping sets and costumes, a delightfully madcap premise. Add to that a compilation soundtrack overseen by Mark Ronson, and it’s no wonder the film became such a phenomenon. Among the highlights of Barbie: The Album? Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s spin on Aqua’s “Barbie Girl,” and Billie Eilish’s Oscar-winning ballad “What Was I Made For?.”
