When it comes to television shows or movies, the soundtrack can make or break how a person views the production. The acting, camerawork, and editing are all equally important, but without good music playing over the background, even the best scenes can fall flat.
This is not just for the music scores, but also the soundtracks with the best pop, rock, country, or classical songs playing against the scenes. Whether used to contrast the scene or enhance it, the shows with great soundtracks remain memorable years after the final episode of a series airs. Here is a look at 15 hit shows with amazing soundtracks.
Sex Education
One of Netflix’s newer shows has a fantastic soundtrack, and it is a show that likes to use music for humorous reasons. This would be the comedy Sex Education, which stars Asa Butterfield as a teenager and Gillian Anderson as his mother, also a sex therapist.
This causes him all sorts of problems at school. The soundtrack is full of great, fun songs that fit the theme, from “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa, “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” by Rod Stewart, and the classic “Hanky Panky” by Tommy Hames & The Shondells.
Lucifer
Lucifer is a movie about the Devil, now living on Earth and helping an LAPD detective solve crimes. The Lucifer theme alone is worthy of a devilish soundtrack, and the series does not disappoint.
This TV show, which started on Fox and moved to Netflix, has songs from The Clash, The Black Keys, Florence + The Machine, Elle King, Edwyn Collins, and many more. For a show about the former Prince of Hell living in Los Angeles, it is a perfect mix of songs.
Stranger Things
Stranger Things is a Netflix series that has been accused of pandering to people who live on the nostalgia of the ’80s. It is a horror series that focuses on teens in a town haunted by monsters and owes much of its existence to people who are fans of Steven Spielberg and Stephen King.
The show has thrown in tons of references to movies and TV shows from the ’80s, and the Stranger Things music is no different. Fans can hear classics from Bon Jovi, The Police, The Bangles, Duran Duran, and Toto, which is just the beginning. It is like a John Hughes soundtrack on TV.
One Tree Hill
If there is one thing that was a constant from the ’90s, it was that record labels often used TV shows to promote singles from whatever pop band was hot at the time. From Beverly Hills 90201 to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it was almost like free commercials for the latest music.
For One Tree Hill, the music was coming hot and strong, with everyone from Jimmy Eat World and Sheryl Crow to Keane and the Foo Fighters. There is also the title track by Gavin DeGraw, “I Don’t Want to Be.”
Miami Vice
While people who watch Stranger Things can get their fill of nostalgic ’80s music, fans of a certain age could get a great soundtrack in real-time with the Don Johnson TV series Miami Vice.
The songs that made this show so much fun to watch included two standbys with Phil Collins’ “In the Ait Tonight” and former Eagles’ member Glen Frey’s “Smuggler’s Blues” and “You Belong to the City.” Add in music by Sheena Easton, Ted Nugent, Chaka Khan, and more, and this is the definitive ’80s soundtrack.
Supernatural
Shows on The CW are known for getting the best in current pop music in their shows. However, there is one show on The CW that doesn’t care one bit about contemporary pop music because it loves the good old classic rock and roll.
Listening to the Supernatural soundtrack makes a person feel like they are riding in Dean Winchester’s Impala listening to his cassette tape collection. Kansas’ hit Carry On Wayward Son and AC/DC’s Highway to Hell is just the start, and this soundtrack is any rock lover’s dream.
Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad won viewers over with the former school teacher who learned he was dying and began cooking and selling meth to give his family a nest egg. The violence and shock value of the series was cutting edge, but there was something else about the show to love.
The Breaking Bad soundtrack didn’t just stick with one style or genre of music and had a mishmash of songs that included country, hip-hop, Latino, and more to give a backdrop to the violence that played out on the small screen.
Atlanta
Donald Glover rose to superstardom thanks to his role in the FX series Atlanta. The fact that Glover is also a DJ under the name mcDJ and a musician under the name Childish Gambino. With that pedigree, Atlanta had no choice but to go all-in for its soundtrack.
Glover and company were able to bring in a lot of top-line hip-hop stars to add music to the hit TV series. Included on the soundtrack are names like Future, Usher, Young Thug, Migos, Outkast, Jeezy, 2 Chainz, and many more.
Empire
Empire is a television series about a music producer and the talent that he manages. The show then had castmembers who could belt out tunes on their own, and much of the soundtrack comes from those cast members singing and performing in scenes on the show.
What makes the music soundtrack for this hit series so great was the fact that Timbaland is the man who curated the rest of the music for the show. He brought in music from names like JAY-Z, Prince, Wiz Khalifa, Pharrell Williams, Mary L. Blige, and Drake for the soundtrack.
Watchmen
There are a lot of great hit shows with amazing scores, but it gets no better than when Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are involved. The two men scored movies like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network. They also teamed to score HBO’s Watchmen.
However, when Reznor scores a movie or TV series, he doesn’t just play original instrumental music for it. He takes songs and turns them into something very different. In Watchmen, Reznor mixed new versions of songs by David Bowie for the show on top of his own work.
Glow
Anyone who wants some nostalgia in their hit TV show soundtrack, look no further than the Netflix women’s professional wrestling series, Glow. The series was based on the real-life women’s wrestling company Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, which existed in the ’80s and became a cult favorite.
Since it took place in the ’80s, the soundtrack includes some of that era’s top pop music. Classic hits like “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield, “Barracuda” by Heart, and “Walk Like an Egyptian” by The Bangles, and there is something on here for anyone who loves the ’80s.
Freaks And Geeks
Created by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) and produced by comedy mastermind Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), Freaks and Geeks introduced the world to a lot of stars who grew up to become very familiar faces, including James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Jason Segel.
It also included a fantastic soundtrack with some great ’80s rock songs. It all starts with a Joan Jett track opening every episode and then moves on to feature bands like Van Halen, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Styx, and Eric Clapton. Add in Rush, Santana, and Ted Nugent, and this is the music of a generation.
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is one of those shows that is hypnotic and mesmerizing. Between the off-the-wall characters, the out-of-this-world location, and the otherworldly soundtrack, there is something here that makes every viewer slightly uncomfortable. David Lynch created something brilliant with this series that no one had ever seen before.
Composer Angelo Badalamenti created the soundtrack along with David Lynch. Included are a nice share of jazz music, a touch of blues, and some strange, trippy music that fits the bizarre scenes that Lynch crafted. Even Falling by Julee Cruise became a hit on the charts.
Gilmore Girls
When it comes to indie rock, no one did it better than Gilmore Girls, which played with music in the same manner that older shows like Beverly Hills 90210 did. The theme song wasn’t original for the show, as they picked the 1971 song “Where You Lead,” remade by original artists Carole King and Louise Goffin.
Carole King even cameos in the show as a local music store owner. The indie music included in Gilmore Girls also plays to the fact, with songs from bands like Sonic Youth, Franz Ferdinand, PJ Harvey, and The Shins.
Friday Night Lights
In 2006, the television adaptation of the small-town football novel Friday Night Lights arrived. There were changes made, as the original story of West Texas football kept the action in Texas but moved it away from its Odessa/Midland origins. However, the themes and feel of the story stayed the same.
The music soundtrack here fits the atmosphere of the show. Unlike other hit TV shows, this is not about bringing songs that people love and can sing along with. This is about guitar-driven, alt-country, and southern folk-rock songs. This is a small-town Texas soundtrack and fits the theme perfectly.
