The 10 Best Movie Soundtracks of the 2000s
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been posting a series of lists based on what I think are the best movie soundtracks of all time. I’ve already done the eighties and the nineties, so now it’s time to complete the trilogy with the best soundtracks of the 2000s.
Bear in mind, this has nothing to do with film scores. Those will be covered in another list. Rather, this is dedicated to soundtracks packed with licensed music. They aren’t listed only based on how good the songs are, but also on the impact they had within the films themselves. So, here we go with our list (ranked chronologically).
Almost Famous
No one knows how to compile a soundtrack like director Cameron Crowe and his former music supervisor, Nancy Wilson (of Heart). Since the movie was based on Crowe’s real-life experiences on the road as a teenage rock critic in the seventies, you can imagine the track list is impeccable. Crowe made sure to throw in some all-time bangers (like Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer”), but most of the soundtrack is meant to evoke the era rather than serve as a non-stop barrage of hits. Hence the deep cuts, like The Beach Boys’ “Feel Flows,” as well as original songs from Stillwater, the fictional band within the film, such as “Fever Dog,” written by Wilson.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Of all the albums on this list, T Bone Burnett’s bluegrass- and gospel-filled soundtrack for the Coen Brothers’ masterpiece may be the most unlikely hit. It went eight times platinum, while The Soggy Bottom Boys’ “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” became one of the coolest karaoke songs of the decade.
Snatch
Guy Ritchie’s crime caper sported one of the most iconic soundtracks of the 2000s. In fact, some of the songs became so closely identified with the crime genre—such as “Diamond” by Klint and Massive Attack’s “Angel”—that they eventually became clichés.
Moulin Rouge
This was certainly the decade of the jukebox musical, and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! was among the most iconic. The medleys of pop classics, sung by stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, became so popular that both actors ended up cutting singles shortly after release—McGregor with the theme song of his movie Down With Love, and Kidman with a duet alongside Robbie Williams on a cover of “Something Stupid.” Neither had anywhere near the impact of their singing here, though, with a highlight being the baroque cover of The Police’s “Roxanne” (“El Tango de Roxanne”). Plus, Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, and Pink’s “Lady Marmalade” topped the Billboard charts.
Donnie Darko
Some may object to me listing this soundtrack, as the movie barely made a dent in theaters and the album initially sold poorly due to being released by a tiny indie label. Yet, as the movie’s cult fame grew, so too did album sales. Much of the record is dedicated to Michael Andrews’ score, but it also contains the now-iconic cover of “Mad World” by Gary Jules, which hit #1 as the UK Christmas single in 2003 (two years after the film’s release) and has since become a standard.
Lost in Translation
Another ultra-hip soundtrack from Sofia Coppola, this one featured five songs from Kevin Shields (of My Bloody Valentine), plus tracks from Phoenix, Air, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. All of them became instantly tied to the imagery of Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson (in a star-making part) wandering through a dreamlike Tokyo. When I was in university, this was the record the cool kids played at their parties.
Shaun of the Dead
Edgar Wright’s feature directorial debut had one of the hippest soundtracks of the decade, packed with retro hits like Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” library cuts like “The Gonk” (from Dawn of the Dead), and remixed Goblin tracks. Plus, our leads rap along to “White Lines.” The track that inspired it, Liquid Liquid’s “Cavern,” also served as the centerpiece of another iconic 2000s movie—Spike Lee’s 25th Hour.
Kill Bill: Volume 1
Like Snatch, many of the songs Tarantino included here became overused to the point of cliché. I cringe whenever someone drops Tomoyasu Hotei’s “Battle Without Honour or Humanity,” though that’s hardly QT’s fault (he lifted it from a Japanese film himself). Other iconic tracks from these albums include Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” Bernard Herrmann’s whistled “Twisted Nerve” theme, and Santa Esmeralda’s epic cover of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.” Volume
Garden State
You can’t write a serious list of the best soundtracks of the 2000s without including Zach Braff’s Garden State. It helped push indie rock into the mainstream, went platinum, and gave bands like The Shins and Iron & Wine their big break. It also paved the way for TV’s The O.C., which had a similar vibe and helped launch bands like Death Cab for Cutie into stardom.
Once
Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová’s achingly romantic ballad “Falling Slowly” won an Oscar and made the duo breakout indie stars in the second half of the decade. Nearly a musical, John Carney’s masterful film is filled with soul-crushing ballads, and both the movie and soundtrack remain beloved almost twenty years later.
Well, that’s my list—though almost all the selections come from the first half of the decade, as thoughtfully crafted soundtracks stopped selling in the second half thanks to the rise of streaming music and the decline of the record industry. What other ones do you think belong here? Let us know in the comments!
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