Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray. Definitively ranked, for science!
When you're a teenager, soundtracks are the easiest way to discover new music. Often serving as a time capsule of a certain era and style, a great soundtrack combines a concept and theme that fits with the film while also collecting great songs you've never heard before. They are a mixtape for millions, an album diverse enough to cross over to a broader audience than any single band's album. The greatest soundtracks of the '90s were common experiences for kids who grew up with them — whether it was windows-down driving in your first car blasting the Clueless soundtrack, making out with the cutest girl at school while the Love Jones soundtrack pumped out of your stereo, dancing in your bedroom with a flashlight going off and on at two beats per minute while playing Trainspotting, or culling no less than three songs from the Reality Bites soundtrack for your crush's mixtape. Remember? Maybe this Spotify mix will help.
Rankings were determined by asking a series of questions and comparing each soundtrack on the basis of the answers... Does it hold up today? How many truly great songs are on it? How many terrible songs are on it? How good and important were the biggest singles? Does it set a certain mood and maintain a concept, like a good album should? Was the soundtrack introducing new songs and artists (as opposed to just collecting current hits)? And perhaps most importantly, how much will listening to it again make you feel young?
The Faculty (1998)
What makes it great: Primarily comprising '90s rockers covering '70s hits, which somehow works because kids of every era hate authority, and that's what most of these tunes are about.
Really the soundtrack to: Hating your parents, teachers, and all other authority figures in your life.
Most memorable song: "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)," Class of '99 (Layne Staley, Tom Morello, and Stephen Perkins). This Pink Floyd cover isn't anything to write home about, but the group of rockers assembled was legendary enough to make it seem special.
Sleeper favorite: "The Kids Aren't Alright," The Offspring. The best song on the soundtrack is an original by The Offspring, and the band's best song, period.
Low point: "School's Out," Soul Asylum. Doesn't even try to sound ANY different from the original at any point.
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