Various Artists – Say Anything: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: #759 of best 1,000 albums ever!

Why is the Say Anything movie soundtrack on my best 1,000 albums ever list?

Amazing soundtrack from an amazing movie… almost too amazing? Nah.

What does the Say Anything movie soundtrack mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?

There are a bunch of things that need to come together to make a great movie or TV soundtrack.

Part of it has to do with the TV or movie itself, and another is the way in which its music helps frame, support, or elevate the greater whole. There’s a piece, too, with relation to how well the songs on the soundtrack fit together collectively. But most of all, really, a soundtrack album must compete head-to-head with all other albums – at least as far as this here best 1,000 albums ever project goes – on the core level of how good the music is as songs and albums both.

And with the Say Anything movie soundtrack, it scores incredibly well across all of those measures (also: see more below about my great affection for Say Anything the movie).

Its collection of songs is so good, in fact, that it presented me with a unique “problem” that’s super specific to the endlessly subjective task (quest!) to rank the best 1,000 albums ever. The problem is simply that many of the album’s best songs are also on albums by the bands or artists that just happen to be best 1,000 albums ever-worthy.

So what does that all add up to? Well, Say Anything the soundtrack landed at #759 out 1,000 is what it adds up to. If those other albums (somehow) didn’t exist, this soundtrack would be poised to be placed much higher. It’s just that good.

It’s likely that Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” is the song most closely associated with Say Anything, due to its use as the song that John Cusack’s character, Lloyd Dobler, uses to try to woo back Diane Court (Ione Skye) while holding a boombox over his head outside of her house. (Never mind that it looks like Lloyd is in the middle of a park and not in front of Diane’s house, but this is something that you only really notice after watching Say Anything for the 40^th time or so).

The soundtrack also includes two of the best hard rock songs of the era: Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality” and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Taste the Pain.” If you like the Peppers at all and/or haven’t heard “Taste the Pain” in a while, I strongly recommend you spend some time with it as it’s insanely good. “Cult of Personality” of course is an all-time classic so doesn’t require the same endorsement.

Oh, and then there just happens to be Fishbone’s “Skankin’ to the Beat,” which is flat out one of my favorite songs of all time.

And that’s not even getting to Cheat Trick, Depeche Mode, Whitney Houston, Joe Satriani, Bob Dylan, The Replacements, Mother Love Bone, Aerosmith, Soundgarden… uh, you can say that this soundtrack is stacked all right.

Pop culture stuff that’s somehow related to the Say Anything movie soundtrack

Say Anything is a lot of things: it’s a great romantic comedy, it’s a great movie about teenagers (even if the cast looks a bit older than that age bracket), and it’s a great movie about Gen X. It’s exceptionally well written and performed, and includes countless lines of dialogs and story moments that are memorable, quotable, or both.

It’s the first movie that Cameron Crowe directed, and it’s arguably his best – and this includes Singles, Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire, and Vanilla Sky (a personal favorite of mine). It’s also arguably the best movie in John Cusack’s long and storied career.

The movie trailers I checked out for Say Anything just don’t do the film justice, so instead I’ll include the opening scene. In watching this scene, I’m reminded that one of the core reasons that the movie is so great is that it simply feels honest and immensely relatable.

But let’s cut to the chase here. Or, as Nice Guy Eddie from Reservoir Dogs might say, “All right, first things f***in’ last.” Most importantly of all, it’s one of my man Lou’s most favorite movies of all time. If I’d have to guess, it’s just a smidge behind this one in his all time movie rankings (best 1,000 movies ever?).

That’s the flavor.