The best movie soundtracks of the 2010s

Though the comedy of Hot Tub Time Machine is spotty, but for a time travel movie, we got ourselves quite the soundtrack. We’re talking a soundtrack with artists such as the Replacements, Echo and the Bunnymen, and David Bowie, not to mention Craig Robinson singing “Jessie’s Girl.” Impressive stuff. The movie got a sequel, too!

We don’t want this to solely be a list of soundtracks with killer needle drops. Let’s give some score-heavy movies some love. Hans Zimmer’s score for Inception wasn’t just really good. It helped shape the direction that movie scores went in for the following decade.

Edgar Wright loves a needle drop, but his cult classic Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is not merely a collection of songs played over the action. Our main character is in a band, so there are performances of original songs in the film, but they are genuinely catchy and good by and large. Not every movie can pull that off.

Not the biggest film, but one with a noteworthy soundtrack. Nowhere Boy is a movie about John Lennon’s teenage years, but it is not loaded down with Beatles songs. No, it’s full of ‘50s rock classics, plus recordings of songs by The Quarrymen, who became the Beatles.

Based on a popular book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower kind of flopped, even with the presence of Emma Watson. It had quite the soundtrack, though. Sure, “Come on, Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners is a silly song if an earworm, but there are also tracks from bands like Galaxie 500 and Sonic Youth.

If you were into the old-school video game vibe of Wreck-It Ralph, you probably dug the soundtrack. The score has a video game feel, but there were also three original songs written for the film, plus a few songs included in the movie.

There are a few really solid cuts in Frances Ha. However, midway through the movie, they play “Modern Love” by David Bowie. It is reprised over the end credits. It rules and gets the Frances Ha soundtrack on this list by itself. It’s a great song, and it is used quite well.

Gravity is primarily a film consisting of Sandra Bullock alone in space. It’s a tour de force for Bullock and director Alfonso Cuaron. On top of that, the score does a lot of work. Credit Steven Price, who created the incidental music for the film.

Leave it to the Coen Brothers to make a movie about the folk music scene and make it mean-spirited and existentially bleak. However, the music is still great and often moving. Then, there’s the novelty song performed by Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake(!), and Adam Driver(!!) in the movie. It’s the best song ever written about an astronaut who doesn’t want to go to space.

Some music biopics get the “Jackie Jormp-Jomp” treatment, which is to say they don’t have access to any of the artist’s music. Get On Up , on the other hand, has two strengths to it: The late Chadwick Boseman played James Brown, and they had access to not only Brown’s music but to unreleased live recordings.

Perhaps the quintessential soundtrack of the 2010s. The Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack became a true cultural phenomenon. In fact, it was so popular it spawned a backlash. How often does that happen for a movie? We didn’t include the soundtrack for Vol. 2, but it’s more of the same.

The Guest is quite the moody thriller, with horror elements bolstered by lead performances by Maika Monroe and a terrifying Dan Stevens. However, the soundtrack also rips. The director Adam Wingard said he thought of the music first, and the movie is awash in synthwave and homages to ‘80s electronic music.

Another biopic of a musician, but we can’t deny when such a movie gets it right. Love & Mercy is a different take on the biopic. Paul Dano and John Cusack both play Brian Wilson at different points in his life. That means the film is rich in songs by the Beach Boys and Wilson, and they really integrate into the film quite well.

Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused has quite the soundtrack. In the 2010s, he exchanged high school for college. Everybody Wants Some!! wasn’t as big of a hit, but it still had a solid soundtrack. The released soundtrack album begins with “My Sharona” and ends with “Rapper’s Delight.” Need we say more?

After tacitly co-directing the first John Wick, David Leitch went his own way for his theatrical debut Atomic Blonde. It’s quite similar to John Wick but has a few differences. One, Charlize Theron is the star. Two, Atomic Blonde thinks more about its soundtrack, and Leitch successfully created a great ‘80s vibe.

Black Panther was a huge phenomenon. It grabbed the zeitgeist with both hands. Inevitably, the soundtrack was going to be massive. The Black Panther soundtrack stands out from the rest of the offerings from the MCU and really had an impact on and off the screen.

When a musical is able to cross over into the mainstream, including the music world, it has done its job. Sure, “Shallow” won Best Original Song at the Oscars. That wasn’t a surprise. However, the soundtrack to A Star is Born was also nominated for seven Grammys, winning four.

We end with another musician’s biopic, which feels fitting. However, Rocketman isn’t just a biopic. It’s a classically told musical using the music of the protagonist, Elton John. That is less common, but John has such a stellar catalog, it was easy enough to make a musical biopic built on his songs.