It is well known that I love music, especially hard rock/heavy metal music. Perhaps someday I’ll compile a list of my favorite heavy metal songs, but today I’m making a list of the movies that have soundtracks that truly rock. Most of these movies have objectionable content for kids, and some of the movies I watched in my heathen days, so if you are cautious about what you view, you probably want to just check out the soundtrack. Fair warning, is all I’m saying. (All photos courtesy http://www.imdb.com/)
To the list!
I could tell that this movie was totally gonna rock when it opened with “People Are Strange” by The Doors. My friend, Robin, and I used to listen to this soundtrack on cassette constantly. I thought I had real vocal chops when I could hold the notes to “Cry Little Sister”. Those were the days. The movie is pretty awesome, too. I had a wicked crush on Kiefer Sutherland when this movie came out, and I had this poster on the wall of my dorm at Baylor.
Every time I think of this movie, I think of two old friends: Nichole Brooks and Calvin Madewell. I saw this movie for the first time at Nichole’s house, and when we would go visit Calvin while we were in college, he was into Pink Floyd BIG time. If he wasn’t playing The Wall, then it was some Pink Floyd concert video or Legend of Zelda. Nichole and I were at his house the night that he got the crossed hammers from the movie tattooed on his upper arm by a friend. At any rate, this is an excellent soundtrack, and the movie is filled with surreal imagery, straight from the tortured mind of Roger Waters.
No, this movie does not contain any heavy metal songs on its soundtrack. However, it features an awesome lineup of New Wave and punk songs. My favorite song is “Eyes of a Stranger” by The Payola$”, but it hasn’t been released on iTunes. I content myself with “A Million Miles Away” by The Plimsouls. I saw this movie for the first time in 1984 at my friend, Pat Matthews’ house. I liked the story, but mostly I was blown away by the music. I wasn’t the only one, as this movie was turned into a musical a few years ago.
This movie is hilarious, though the language is terrible. In my defense, I haven’t watched it in some years, though I still remember the songs. Sometimes, Brian and I sing the goofy, heavy metal songs from this movie for fun. All the music was written by Michael McKean and Christopher Guest. For being a parody/mockumentary on the heavy metal music scene, the movie is actually pretty spot-on. Several metal bands have been quoted as saying that this movie is a good depiction of what it’s like to go on a concert tour. I have an embroidery design on my sewing machine that says “Up to Eleven” (famous line from the movie).
The movie is pure cheese, but the soundtrack is pure genius. This was Queen’s first foray into soundtrack producing. The theme song is fantastic. Every now and again, I’ll catch this movie on tv, and I can’t help but sing along. Actually, this movie was preparation for one of the greatest soundtracks on the planet:
The tagline for this movie was “There Can Be Only One”. Kind of like Freddie Mercury and his magnificent voice. This soundtrack is unavailable, however. Brian and I looked for it years ago, and we were told that the only way to get it is to buy it overseas. There is a tribute album featuring “A Kind of Magic” by Queen, but everything else is by different artists than the original soundtrack. “A Kind of Magic” and “Who Wants to Live Forever” are on Queen’s “Greatest Hits” album, I believe. We have both “Greatest Hits” and “Classic Queen”, but I can’t remember which one those songs are on. When Brian and I bought our first DVD player, we each picked one DVD. My choice was “Highlander”. The story is awesome, but the music is killer. The music really enhances the plot, just as the soundtrack is meant to.
I honestly have not seen this movie in almost 20 years. I know that there are some pretty risque’ parts, and I vaguely remember a couple of gross parts. It’s a comic book come to life, so the women are buxom, and their clothes are prone to falling off. The men are rippling with muscles, well except for a couple of guys. It does have a storyline that makes sense, but really this was a movie written for the music. The theme song, written by Sammy Hagar, is an iconic anthem to heavy metal music. (On a side note, the highlight of American Idol for me this season was when James Durbin came out and performed “Heavy Metal” with Zakk Wylde. I was over the moon. Second favorite moment: When he performed with Rob Halford of Judas Priest.)
This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are a lot of great movies with soundtracks that rock. These are just my top picks.
Many blessings,
Jennifer
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