The Top 100 Soundtracks of All Time

Soundtracks: The Top 100 of All Time

This list was first posted on April 17, 2011, as a note on the Dave’s Music Database Facebook page. It has been revised a few times since then. As with most DMDB lists, this was created based on sales, chart peaks, awards, and an aggregate of lists, in this case more than 100 best-of lists focused on cast albums, musicals, soundtracks, and music-themed movies. You can click on the titles of the soundtrack for more detailed pages at DavesMusicDatabase.com. Unless noted otherwise, soundtracks are recorded by various artists. Check out other best-of-genre/category lists here. 1. Prince & the Revolution Purple Rain (1984) 2. Bee Gees et al Saturday Night Fever (1977) 3. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (composers) (1965) The Sound of Music 4. Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim (composers) West Side Story (1961) 5. Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, et al Grease (1978) 6. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (composers) South Pacific (1958) 7. Whitney Houston et al The Bodyguard (1992) 8. Dirty Dancing (1987) 9. O Brother Where Art Thou (soundtrack, 2000) 10. Curtis Mayfield Superfly (1972) 11. Richard and Robert Sherman (composers) Mary Poppins (1964) 12. Elton John and Tim Rice (composers) The Lion King (1994) 13. James Horner Titanic (1997) 14. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (composers) The King and I (1956) 15. American Graffiti (1973) 16. Frozen (2013) 17. The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night (1964) 18. Jimmy Cliff et al The Harder They Come (1972) 19. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (composers) Oklahoma! (1955) 20. Al Jolson Songs He Made Famous (1946) 21. Eminem et al 8 Mile (2002) 22. High School Musical (TV soundtrack, 2006) 23. Footloose (1984) 24. Woodstock (recorded live 1969, released 1970) 25. Whitney Houston et al Waiting to Exhale (1995) 26. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (composers) My Fair Lady (1964) 27. Talking Heads Stop Making Sense (live, recorded 1983, released 1984) 28. Mario Lanza The Student Prince (1954) 29. George & Ira Gershwin (composers) An American in Paris (1951) 30. Madonna et al Evita (1996) 31. Flashdance (1983) 32. Elvis Presley Blue Hawaii (1961) 33. Henry Mancini The Music from Peter Gunn (1959) 34. Top Gun (1986) 35. Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, & Herbert Stothart (composers) The Wizard of Oz (1939) 36. Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II (composers) Show Boat (1951) 37. Pulp Fiction (1994) 38. The Band The Last Waltz (live, recorded 1976; released April 1978) 39. Earth, Wind & Fire That’s the Way of the World (1975) 40. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (composers) Gigi (1958) 41. John Kander & Fred Ebb (composers) Chicago (2003) 42. Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (composers) Beauty and the Beast (1997) 43. Simon & Garfunkel The Graduate (1968) 44. Forrest Gump (1994) 45. Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick (composers) Fiddler on the Roof (1971) 46. Elvis Presley G.I. Blues (1960) 47. Moulin Rouge (2001) 48. John Kander & Fred Ebb (composers) Cabaret (1972) 49. Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II (composers) Carousel (1956) 50. Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, & Richard Stilgoe (composers) Phantom of the Opera (2004) 51. High School Musical 2 (TV soundtrack, 2007) 52. Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed (composers) Singin’ in the Rain (1952) 53. Isaac Hayes Shaft (1971) 54. The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers (1980) 55. Irving Berlin (composer) Annie Get Your Gun (1950) 56. Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice (composers) Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) 57. Meredith Willson (composer) The Music Man (1962) 58. The Beatles Help! (1965) 59. Jane Froman With a Song in My Heart (1952) 60. Prince & the Revolution Parade (Under the Cherry Moon soundtrack, 1986) 61. Henry Mancini Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) 62. Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus (composers) Mamma Mia! (2008) 63. Cole Porter (composer) Kiss Me, Kate (1954) 64. Spinal Tap This Is Spinal Tap (1984) 65. Richard O’Brien (composer) The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) 66. Elvis Presley Loving You (1957) 67. Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, & James Rado (composers) Hair (cast album, 1967) 68. Frank Churchill (composer) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938) 69. John Williams (composer) Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977) 70. Al Jolson Souvenir Album (1947) 71. Lionel Bart (composer) Oliver! (1968) 72. The Commitments The Commitments (1991) 73. Miami Vice (TV soundtrack, 1985) 74. Almost Famous (2000) 75. Stephen Sondheim (composer) Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2008) 76. Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, & Tim Rice Aladdin (1992) 77. Jonathan Larson (composer) Rent (2005) 78. Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman Hairspray (2002) 79. Jule Styne & Bob Merrill (composers), Barbara Streisand (performer) Funny Girl (1968) 80. Prince Batman (1989) 81. Exodus (1961) 82. Elvis Presley King Creole (1958) 83. Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra Xanadu (1980) 84. Doris Day Love Me or Leave Me (1955) 85. Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova as The Swell Season Once (2007) 86. Around the World in 80 Days (1957) 87. Glee Cast Volume 3 Showstoppers (2010) 88. Barbra Streisand & Kris Kristofferson A Star Is Born (1976) 89. Danny Kaye Hans Christian Andersen (1953) 90. Baz Luhrmann (composer) Romeo + Juliet (1996) 91. Bad Boys II (2003) 92. Coyote Ugly (2000) 93. Mario Lanza The Great Caruso (1951) 94. Garden State (2004) 95. Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart (composers) Pal Joey (1957) 96. Three Little Words (1950) 97. Madonna I’m Breathless (1990) 98. Neil Diamond The Jazz Singer (1980) 99. Maurice Jarre Doctor Zhivago (1966) 100. Harry Warren & Al Dubin (composers) 42nd Street (1933) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: other best-of-genre/category lists Facebook (4/17/2011). “The Top 50 Soundtracks Dave’s Music Database: “The Top 50 Musicals/Cast Albums of All Time” Dave’s Music Database: “Top 50 Music Movies of All Time” Dave’s Music Database: “The Top 1000 Albums of All Time” First posted 4/17/2011; last updated 12/19/2021.

Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly hit #1

Superfly Curtis Mayfield

Released: July 11, 1972 Charted: August 26, 1972 Peak: 14 US, 16 RB, 26 UK Sales (in millions): 2.0 US Genre: R&B

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Little Child Runnin’ Wild Pusherman Freddie’s Dead (8/12/72, 4 US, 2 RB, sales: ½ million) Junkie Chase [instrumental] Give Me Your Love (Love Song) Eddie You Should Know Better No Thing on Me (Cocaine Song) Think [instrumental] Superfly (11/25/72, 8 US, 5 RB, sales: ½ million) Total Running Time: 37:05

Rating: 4.690 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “The choice of Curtis Mayfield to score the blaxploitation film Superfly was an inspired one. No other artist in popular music knew so well, and expressed through his music so naturally, the shades of gray inherent in contemporary inner-city life. His debut solo album, 1970’s Curtis, had shown in vivid colors that the ‘60s optimist (author of the civil-rights anthems ‘Keep on Pushing’ and ‘People Get Ready’) had added a layer of subtlety to his material; appearing on the same LP as the positive and issue-oriented ‘Move on Up’ was an apocalyptic piece of brimstone funk titled ‘(Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go.’” AMG “For Superfly, Mayfield wisely avoids celebrating the wheeling-and-dealing themes present in the movie, or exploiting them, instead using each song to focus on a different aspect of what he saw as a plague on America’s streets. He also steers away from explicit moralizing; through his songs, Mayfield simply tells it like it is (for the characters in the film as in real life), with any lessons learned the result of his vibrant storytelling and knack of getting inside the heads of the characters. Freddie’s Dead, one of the album’s signature pieces, tells the story of one of the film’s main casualties, a good-hearted yet weak-willed man caught up in the life of a pusher, and devastatingly portrays the indifference of those who witness or hear about it.” AMG “Pusherman masterfully uses the metaphor of drug dealer as businessman, with the drug game, by extension, just another way to make a living in a tough situation, while the title track equates hustling with gambling (‘The game he plays he plays for keeps/ hustlin’ times and ghetto streets/ tryin’ ta get over’).” AMG “Ironically, the sound of Superfly positively overwhelmed its lyrical finesse. A melange of deep, dark grooves, trademarked wah-wah guitar, and stinging brass, Superfly ignited an entire genre of music, the blaxploitation soundtrack, and influenced everyone from soul singers to television-music composers for decades to come. It stands alongside Saturday Night Fever and Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols as one of the most vivid touchstones of ‘70s pop music.” AMG Notes: “The 2001 British reissue includes a 13-track bonus disc filled with several alternate versions and other bonus material.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Curtis Mayfield AMG All Music Guide review by John Bush First posted 4/9/2008; last updated 2/28/2024.