Romeo + Juliet OST (1996)

Listening Notes

The Romeo and Juliet soundtrack captures music from that point in the '90s very well. Sit on your couch and listen to this CD end to end and tell me you are not transported to that moment, if you you were alive then and old enough to remember, especially if you listened to the radio a lot. Tell me that when Everclear comes on you don't feel a certain way, good or bad. (I think I only like this band in context of nostalgia.)

Best enjoyed if you haven't recently watched the movie, and you don't remember it. I love that every time I listen to this soundtrack it produces a wide array of feelings and thoughts, about the movie, about the scene where a song plays, but also about every time I listened to Des'ree and belted the lyrics like they were about me in my bedroom in 5th grade or driving 70mph somewhere on a Pennsylvania highway at 11pm singing talk show host thankfully where no one can hear me.

Sometimes I think of the Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift movie for some reason when I listen to this soundtrack. Young hearts run free, just like street racers in Japan?

I also don't mind soundtracks that put quips and quotes from the movie in the songs, it makes for an interesting experience of the music when you don't remember the movie. (It's a little weird if I haven't seen the movie but perhaps I'll address that in another post where that happens in music that I'm listening to.)

I think if I remembered the movie too well, I would think too much about the movie solely, so part of why I love this soundtrack so much is that it is full of many memories. Some soundtracks I only like because of how they fit in the movie.

Some people say that they never need to hear a certain song again, and very often you hear that "Lovefool" is that song. I probably said that at some point about this song too... but every time I listen to it now in my tender elder millennial age, I get the feeling that it's a true classic of the '90s and will never really leave us. I love that about it.

I don't think it hits for every minute, like most movie soundtracks there are a few songs you'll skip or get distracted during, those are the ones where I focused on writing these thoughts. Other songs, I couldn't write all because I was too into it. It's a good balance when you're looking for varied music and just enough pep to get your body moving.

Random facts:

• The featured track "Talk Show Host" has never been released on an album and this was the first time they were featured on a major film soundtrack.
• The Romeo + Juliet soundtrack has two volumes - Volume 1 (featured here) went triple platinum in the US. Volume 2 contains the movie's score.

Favorite tracks:

• Garbage - #1 Crush
• Everclear - Local God
• One Inch Punch - Pretty Piece of Flesh
• Radiohead - Talk Show Host
• The Wannadies - You and Me Song