So why is the Iron Eagle soundtrack on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Queen is a fascinating band in many ways, and a piece of that puzzle involves one of their all-time best songs (I’d put it easily in the Top 5, maybe Top 3) ending up on the soundtrack of an American action movie* from 1986 (in addition to being released on Queen’s A Kind of Magic in the same year).
* Much more on Iron Eagle the movie, below.
But in a weird way, Queen’s “One Vision” does make sense on the Iron Eagle soundtrack. Its use in the movie as the soundtrack to combat aircraft soaring through the skies is super exciting. And overall, “One Vision” is simply an exuberant, spectacular showcase for Freddie Mercury and crew.
If you were around during the 1980s or are interested in that decade’s output of music, it’s fun sometimes to play a game called, “What qualifies as the true Maximum 1980s song of them all?”
Well, I have a pretty great candidate in “Iron Eagle (Never Say Die),” by King Kobra. It’s got the feel of an epic movie montage song, a super sing along chorus (“Never say die!”), and lead guitar production that was forged in some Maximum 1980s Rock n’ Roll Lab. Oh, and helpfully, it’s got just the right dusting of cheese to qualify it as ‘80s vintage. But, again, it truly doth rock!
The Iron Eagle soundtrack also manages to capture a host of pretty great music besides. And with relation to the best 1,000 albums ever project, I get to give quick shoutouts to bands that I might not get to talk about otherwise.
Twisted Sister found its way onto a number of movie soundtracks (“I Wanna Rock” is leveraged perfectly Road Trip, for example), and here we get the outstanding early ‘80s rocker, “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” Katrina & The Waves is a super fun ’80s band. My favorite song of theirs is the fantastic “Walking On Sunshine.” Their “Maniac House” makes it onto the Iron Eagle soundtrack. And diving back into high octane 1960s soul, there are few better songs than Ike & Tina Turner’s take on “Proud Mary.”
Pop culture stuff that’s somehow related to the Iron Eagle soundtrack
I’m sure that I saw Iron Eagle in the movie theater back in the day, and I’m even surer that I wore out at least one copy of the version on VHS. For what likely feels in retrospect to be a Top Gun clone, Iron Eagle actually beat the Tom Cruise monster hit to the theater by about five months in 1986. Iron Eagle also has very little lag time – the action is fun and exciting, the mission is ultra-clear (and ultra-preposterous, but what do you want, everything?), and there are enough character moments to make you care about what’s happening.
It’s the kind of beloved movie from my childhood – Spies Like Us, Back to School, and the original Star Wars trilogy also pop to mind – where I can easily conjure to mind large chunks of it.
My friends and I loved attempting to imitate the great Lou Gossett, Jr. as Chappy training young Doug Masters, played by Jason Gedrick, for the upcoming crazy mission to save his dad from the clutches of an unnamed, bad guy country.
One of my favorite random lines from the 1980s comes from Larry B. Scott as Doug’s friend, Reggie. Before the Crazy Mission came into full focus, Reggie tries to reassure Doug that with a president in the Oval Office like Ronald Regan, he has nothing to be concerned about. And so he closes his argument with this classic: “Why do you think they call him Ronnie Ray-Gun?”
Some stats & info about Various Artists – Iron Eagle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Movie Soundtracks, Compilations, Rock Music
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 2 out of 5 stars(!!)
- When was the Iron Eagle soundtrack released? 1986
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #567 out of 1,000
Iron Eagle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from the Iron Eagle soundtrack that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
So give me your hands, your hearts, I’m ready! There’s only one direction.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.