It's widely thought that a soundtrack can contribute a huge amount to the enjoyment of a film, in many ways it is just as important as the actors and the dialogue. Music can ignite emotions when dialogue simply isn't enough. We have compiled a list that we feel highlights some of the best movie music of our generation in no particular order.

Drive

So much about this film impressed the world and there was definitely a time when you couldn't go to a house party and not hear “Under Your Spell” by Desire or “A Real Hero” by College feat. Electric Youth. Two of those songs that the majority of people seems to 'LOVE' instantly. The soundtrack in its entirety was downloaded far and wide, original score by Cliff Martinez was inspired by ’80s-style, synth-pop. In addition to crafting his own compositions, Martinez built the film’s sonic landscape from ideas pioneered by European electronic bands, such as Kraftwerk.

Garden State

Zack Braff, also known as 'JD' in Scrubs, hand picked the music for this film. Braff said "Essentially, I made a mix CD with all of the music that I felt was scoring my life at the time I was writing the screenplay". Two great musical moments stand out in this for me, Natalie Portman is listening to a big pair of headphones and explaines to Zack Braff on their first meeting "You gotta hear this one song — it’ll change your life; I swear." She hands him the headphones and we can hear 'The Shins - New Slang'. Anyone who is a cult fan of the film is a fan of this song and it is renowned for being, as she claims, life changing. The other scene that stands out as a great song introduction, is when Zack Braff is at the house party; he takes a pill and everything starts move in slow motion. It's excellently done and the song 'In the waiting line' by Zero 7, couldn't have been a more fitting choice for the trip.

Almost Famous

A film about music has a good bit of pressure on it to have a decent soundtrack. Almost Famous didn't disappoint. Set in 1973, Almost Famous' music is suited to the free love era that the film depicts so well. With artists like Simon & Garfunkle, The Who, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and Cat Stevens, it's hard not to fall in love with a film that includes so many greats. One of it's most famous scenes is based around Tiny Dancer, an Elton John classic.

Forrest Gump

Goes without saying that Forrest Gump is a truly epic film and, as important as soundtracks are, this one merely highlighted the films excellence. Listening to this is essentially like putting on an oldies radio station and for them to be playing the best songs from the 50's, 60's and 70's. The soundtrack includes Credence, The Doors, Elvis, Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Byrds... the list goes on. Some clear and obvious choices but it clearly couldn't escape the list none the less.

Blow

Two things made this film outstanding; Johnny Depps exceptional depiction of drug lord George Jung and... the soundtrack. Blow has a few great tracks from the 70's but the highlight of the film has to be Manfred Mann's 'Blinded By The Light'. If you haven't seen the film, the clip below should be enough to interest you...in cocaine.

Into The Wild

Written and directed by actor Sean Penn, this film is an adaptation of a true story based on the 1996 non-fiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer. The story is about Christopher McCandless travels across North America and his life spent in the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1990s. Penn hand picked Eddie Vedder to do the soundtrack which I think anyone who has seen the film can agree, he nailed. Songs like 'Hard Sun' and 'Society' have the power to really effect the viewer in this emotional masterpiece.

The Virgin Suicides

Much like 'Into The Wild', 'The Virgin Suicides' soundtrack is all one artist - Air. As fucked up films go, this ranks quite high on the crazy scale. The Virgin Suicides is a story about an upper middle class family in the 1970's containing five sisters. After the youngest attempts suicide, the girls are put on a serious watch by their parents which leads to messed up disturbing behaviour. Needless to say, if you're not a fan of Air's other stuff then you won't like this soundtrack but, if you watch the film you might just agree that it's eerie sound is perfect for this American drama. Watch the clip and you'll understand.

Romeo And Juliet

It's fair to say that this was one of the greatest film/soundtrack combinations ever. With tracks like "Lovefool" by The Cardigans, the love theme "Kissing You" by Des'ree, and a cover of "Young Hearts Run Free" by Kym Mazelle, it's hard to find a song that you don't love even a little bit. One highlight of both the film and the soundtrack is the famous Claire Danes and Leo DiCaprio fishtank scene, both actors at their very best I would say. The highlight for me however, would have to be Radiohead's 'Talk Show Host' which you can hear below along with some choice clips.

The Other Type Of Soundtrack

A lot of the time, the most effective soundtracks have no lyrics at all. A films simple score can be what takes it from awesome to exceptional. Below is a list of the greatest movie scores we could find. Lash these on a sleep playlist and you'll be out for the count in minutes.