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.
Romeo + Juliet
Capitol (1996)
Selected by Justin Chadwick
As with Baz Luhrmann’s other films (Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge!, Australia, The Great Gatsby), music plays an integral part within his inventively filmed, frenetically paced reimagining of Shakespeare’s most universally beloved work, Romeo + Juliet. Indeed, the tragedies that befall these two star-crossed lovers, admirably played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, have never sounded so good.
Des’ree’s soulfully sentimental “Kissing You,” the film’s love theme, and Quindon Tarver’s cover of Rozalla’s 1991 dance-pop hit “Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)” are both notable because of the artists’ respective cameos within the film.
The Cardigans’ buoyant “Lovefool” was featured on their sophomore album First Band on the Moon a month before the soundtrack’s release, but its inclusion here propelled the Swedish band to radio and MTV glory, albeit the attention proved rather short-lived. A shame that most people still naively associate The Cardigans with the sugary-pop of “Lovefool,” as their recordings before and since are consistently excellent and less overtly pop-driven, while Nina Persson has developed into one of the strongest songwriters working today.
Although Radiohead’s “Exit Music (For a Film)” plays across the film’s end credits, it was left off the soundtrack, only to appear the following year on their watershed album OK Computer. No matter though, as the band’s melancholic “Talk Show Host” is one of the compilation’s finest moments, alongside Garbage’s “#1 Crush” and Gavin Friday’s “Angel.”
LISTEN & WATCH: