https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/ Numerical, track-by-track reviews of film, TV, and video-game soundtracks. en https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/blog/best-soundtracks-ranked-by-the-numbers https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/blog/best-soundtracks-ranked-by-the-numbers Sat, 20 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT Our highest-scoring film, TV, and video-game soundtracks — ranked track by track, then weighted by runtime. No vibes, just the data. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/blog/lord-of-the-rings-soundtracks-ranked https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/blog/lord-of-the-rings-soundtracks-ranked Fri, 12 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of film's greatest scores. We rated all three soundtracks track by track — here's how they stack up. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/blog/how-we-score-soundtracks-time-vs-track-weighted https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/blog/how-we-score-soundtracks-time-vs-track-weighted Thu, 28 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT Why every soundtrack here gets two scores — one weighted by track length, one treating every track equally — and what the gap between them reveals. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/bastion https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/bastion Mon, 01 Dec 2025 21:50:55 GMT A heavy focus on Middle Eastern-like themes makes for an enjoyable but repetitive listen — Time 3.73/5, Track 3.57/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/cocoon-the-return https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/cocoon-the-return Mon, 01 Dec 2025 19:19:12 GMT 1920’s sound, weirdness, and classical music make for a unique yet forgettable soundtrack — Time 3.45/5, Track 3.28/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/snow-white-the-huntsman https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/snow-white-the-huntsman Sat, 20 Sep 2025 16:22:13 GMT It’s a perfectly pleasant soundtrack but doesn’t break new ground anywhere — Time 3.86/5, Track 3.76/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/blog/i-hate-writing-more-reviews-coming https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/blog/i-hate-writing-more-reviews-coming Wed, 25 Jun 2025 17:56:33 GMT Why the reviews here are shifting toward background, technicalities, and trivia — and away from song-by-song motif analysis. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/the-village https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/the-village Wed, 25 Jun 2025 17:44:18 GMT James Newton Howard continues the tradition of detailed, lovely scores and themes, but the horror genre does this piece no favors — Time 3.45/5, Track 3.15/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/a-league-of-their-own https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/a-league-of-their-own Wed, 25 Jun 2025 17:06:13 GMT A return to the roaring 20s (actually later) makes this soundtrack fun and memorable, but not great — Time 3.58/5, Track 3.07/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-return-of-the-king https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-return-of-the-king Tue, 25 Mar 2025 21:17:49 GMT Howard Shore outdoes himself with the strongest score in his arsenal. — Time 4.64/5, Track 4.39/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story Fri, 14 Feb 2025 16:09:15 GMT At times just a difficult listen, the strong points just aren’t strong enough to make this score worth your time — Time 3.19/5, Track 2.82/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/halo-4 https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/halo-4 Wed, 29 Jan 2025 17:33:33 GMT A 2CD expanded edition contains some gems, but it’s still not the best soundtrack you’ve ever heard — Time 3.80/5, Track 3.60/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/attack-on-titan-season-2 https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/attack-on-titan-season-2 Wed, 08 Jan 2025 18:25:05 GMT An absolute thrill ride with brilliant orchestration, pacing, and complexity. One of the best soundtracks you’ll ever listen to — Time 4.50/5, Track 4.30/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/pearl-harbor https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/pearl-harbor Tue, 19 Nov 2024 22:10:03 GMT It’s extremely repetitive but is still very, very pleasant to listen to — Time 4.00/5, Track 3.59/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/ori-and-the-blind-forest https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/ori-and-the-blind-forest Sun, 21 Jul 2024 18:04:02 GMT It’s beautiful, enigmatic, and lush. It’s as good of a soundtrack as you can get — Time 4.31/5, Track 4.22/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/tron-legacy https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/tron-legacy Wed, 03 Apr 2024 17:54:56 GMT Daft Punk creates a masterclass album with brilliant rising action — Time 4.00/5, Track 3.76/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/van-helsing https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/van-helsing Sat, 09 Mar 2024 11:16:49 GMT It’s 40 minutes of uninspired action brass with a brilliant piece at the end — Time 2.96/5, Track 2.92/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/kena-bridge-of-spirits https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/kena-bridge-of-spirits Sat, 17 Feb 2024 14:34:59 GMT Almost painful to listen to at some points, but with some gems sprinkled in the dust — Time 3.20/5, Track 2.83/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/october-sky https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/october-sky Fri, 05 Jan 2024 10:02:56 GMT Mark Isham uses very little to create a lot of emotional connection; it’s a masterclass of how simplicity can be the strongest weapon — Time 3.94/5, Track 3.76/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/cloud-atlas https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/cloud-atlas Thu, 04 Jan 2024 22:12:51 GMT Our trio of composers have created a very good album, and despite its flaws, it is phenomenal at tugging at your heartstrings with memorable themes and motifs — Time 3.84/5, Track 3.59/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/first-man https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/first-man Thu, 28 Dec 2023 18:13:16 GMT A tale of two extremes with a brilliant theme and songs with absolutely no value at all, but it is much better than the sum of its parts — Time 4.05/5, Track 3.29/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/priest https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/priest Wed, 27 Dec 2023 15:10:07 GMT The highlight is the main theme, which turns up and makes it better, and it makes up for the mediocre bits — Time 3.71/5, Track 3.75/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-two-towers https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-two-towers Sat, 23 Dec 2023 22:52:39 GMT Howard Shore creates a wonderfully tense and diverse environment in The Two Towers — Time 4.02/5, Track 3.95/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/assassin-s-creed-ii https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/assassin-s-creed-ii Wed, 20 Dec 2023 21:55:47 GMT An amazing theme weighed down by filler music ends up with an almost bad soundtrack — Time 3.16/5, Track 3.03/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-fellowship-of-the-ring https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-fellowship-of-the-ring Tue, 19 Dec 2023 21:21:30 GMT A great introduction into the world of Middle Earth’s 3rd age — Time 4.27/5, Track 4.14/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/romeo-and-juliet https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/romeo-and-juliet Wed, 13 Dec 2023 16:45:50 GMT An album so good it leaves you utterly wanting, yet completely satisfied — Time 4.80/5, Track 4.66/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/elizabeth-the-golden-age https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/elizabeth-the-golden-age Tue, 12 Dec 2023 21:40:42 GMT Generic but pleasant, it’s a nice enough listen — Time 3.53/5, Track 3.63/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/maleficent https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/maleficent Tue, 12 Dec 2023 18:37:59 GMT The shorter pieces can be rough, but the longer works are lovely — Time 3.75/5, Track 3.59/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/apollo-13 https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/apollo-13 Mon, 11 Dec 2023 15:56:35 GMT The 2019 rerelease with additional music actually hurts the average, but the foundation for a brilliant soundtrack was always there — Time 4.32/5, Track 3.26/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/xperiments-from-dark-phoenix https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/xperiments-from-dark-phoenix Sun, 10 Dec 2023 19:36:52 GMT No one can do music quite like Zimmer, and when you let him run, he flies — Time 3.99/5, Track 3.92/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/blog/an-analytical-approach-to-reviewing-soundtracks https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/blog/an-analytical-approach-to-reviewing-soundtracks Sun, 10 Dec 2023 19:10:24 GMT The philosophy behind scoring soundtracks track by track: three postulates for reviewing music analytically. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/sinbad https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/sinbad Fri, 08 Dec 2023 17:24:24 GMT Thematic but sweeping, it’s an endlessly easy listen — Time 4.06/5, Track 3.95/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/wish-dragon https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/wish-dragon Thu, 07 Dec 2023 21:20:48 GMT A safe listen, but not imaginative — Time 3.73/5, Track 3.72/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/attack-on-titan-season-1 https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/attack-on-titan-season-1 Wed, 06 Dec 2023 18:24:27 GMT The proper way to mix modern and classical — Time 3.89/5, Track 3.84/5. https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/in-the-heart-of-the-sea https://modernsoundtrackreview.com/reviews/in-the-heart-of-the-sea Tue, 05 Dec 2023 20:16:14 GMT A mediocre soundtrack with some absolute highlights — Time 3.52/5, Track 3.30/5.