Top Gun (soundtrack) |
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Released: May 20, 1986 Peak: 15 US, 4 UK, 2 CN, 3 AU Sales (in millions): 10.3 US, 0.6 UK, 19.9 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop |
Tracks:Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts.
Total Running Time: 38:38 |
Rating: 4.172 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings)
Quotable:-- “A quintessential artifact of the mid-‘80s.” – Chuck Donkers, AllMusic.comAwards:(Click on award to learn more).
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About the Album:Top Gun was “one of the most influential movies of the 1980s.” AZ It was “a highly macho film about wannabe fighter pilots.” AB Its “military posturing and gung-ho heroics blazed a trail through cinemas around the world…snaring the public’s imagination, particularly in America, where the air of invincibility and stunning aerial photography meant the movie pretty much became a two-hour recruiting vehicle for the US Air Force.” ABIt propelled Tom Cruise to superstar status, and jetted director Tony…Scott’s career into the stratosphere.” AZ Tim Robbins and Meg Ryans received big career boosts as well. AB It also allowed producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer to perfect their multiplex-friendly blockbuster formula of join-the-dots plot, MTV-inspired visuals and rapid-fire action.” AZ However, the music may have become bigger than the movie. The soundtrack “remains a quintessential artifact of the mid-‘80s.” AM While the movie has no tie to 1984’s Footloose it’s hard for the Top Gun soundtrack not to feel like a sequel to Footloose’s. Both led off with Kenny Loggins’ smashes; his “Footloose” went to #1 on the pop charts while Top Gun’s Danger Zone got to the runner-up spot. Both soundtracks featured multiple follow-up hits, including a second Kenny Loggins’ hit from each soundtrack, although Playing with the Boys stalled at a much less impressive #60, compared to the #22 peak of Footloose’s “I’m Free.” As if those parallels weren’t enough, each soundtrack featured a #1 hit with a female-led vocal – Deniece Williams’ “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” from Footloose and Berlin’s Take My Breath Away from Top Gun. The latter serves as “the centerpiece of the film” AB and the “ninth best-selling single in British chart history.” AB It also won an Oscar for Best Song. Both soundtracks also featured a power ballad with Mike Reno on vocals (the #7 “Almost Paradise” duet with Ann Wilson from Footloose) and his band Loverboy on Top Gun’s #12 Heaven in Your Eyes. Both soundtracks flirted with the 10 million mark for U.S. sales and 20 million worldwide. Ultimately, you have two soundtracks cut from the same cloth that “define the bombastic, melodramatic sound that dominated the pop charts of the era.” AM One of the specific players who made Top Gun huge was Giorgio Moroder, who co-wrote “Take My Breath Away” and “Danger Zone,” after previously writing Blondie’s #1 hit “Call Me” for 1980’s American Gigolo and scoring 1978’s Midnight Express. Harold Faltermeyer, “the man behind ‘The Heat Is On’ from Simpson and Bruckheimer’s previous box-office bonanza, [1984’s] Beverly Hills Cop,” AZ turns in “the electro-instrumental Top Gun Anthem.” AZ It won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. Then there’s the presence of “up-beat, energetic American AOR stadium pop-rock by bands like Cheap Trick and [the aforementioned] Loverboy, huge names at the time of the film’s release.” AZ “All in all, a landmark soundtrack.” AZ There were a few notable songs that didn’t get included in the soundtrack or movie. The Cars’ “Stranger Eyes” was used in an early trailer for the movie and Bryan Adams was contacted about the use of his song “Only the Strong Survive.” He said no because he thought the film glorified war. AB |
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First posted 1/31/2009; last updated 12/7/2024. |
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