Editor’s Note: The Albumism staff has selected what we believe to be the 100 Greatest Soundtracks of All Time, representing a varied cross-section of films and musical genres. Click “Next Soundtrack” below to explore each soundtrack in the list or for easier navigation, view the full introduction & soundtrack index here.
Pump Up the Volume
MCA (1990)
Selected by Justin Chadwick
A year and change removed from steadily building his Hollywood cred through solid performances in Gleaming the Cube and Heathers in 1989, Christian Slater landed what proved to be one of the more intriguing roles of his career. In Pump Up the Volume, Slater plays the shy and reclusive “anonymous nerd” Mark Hunter by day and Hunter’s provocatively brash alter-ego “Hard Harry” by night.
With no filter and minimal regard for the ethically bankrupt authority figures of his Phoenix suburb, Harry commands the late-night pirate radio airwaves as an outlet to articulate the angst and disenchantment of teenage existence in the culturally sterile “Whitebread Land.”
The film’s soundtrack is an eclectic and enthralling collection of songs that spans indie rock (Pixies, Sonic Youth), hip-hop (Above the Law), Americana (Cowboy Junkies), soul (Ivan Neville), hardcore punk (Bad Brains featuring Henry Rollins), and alt-rock (Concrete Blonde, Soundgarden).
Standout tracks include Pixies’ “Wave of Mutilation” (UK Surf version), Sonic Youth’s “Titanium Exposé,” Above the Law’s first amendment anthem “Freedom of Speech,” and Cowboy Junkies’ sprawling cover of blues legend Robert Johnson’s “Me and the Devil Blues.” The latter is the strongest of the four stellar covers featured here, along with Concrete Blonde’s “Everybody Knows” (Leonard Cohen), Bad Brains featuring Henry Rollins’ “Kick Out the Jams” (MC5), and Liquid Jesus’ “Stand” (Sly & The Family Stone).
While the underappreciated film has faded into relative obscurity over time, the soundtrack demands to be dusted off on a regular basis. Talk hard.
LISTEN & WATCH:
