10 Movie Soundtracks Better Than The Film

Throughout his career, Cameron Crowe has been a Renaissance man of all things media. Though he may have started out in the music world as a Rolling Stone editor, his touch behind a camera gave us some outright classics, from the teenage angst of Say Anything to the rom-com-drama Jerry Maguire. In between the classics comes Singles, whose story seems almost secondary to the vast ensemble providing the music.

Set in the rainy city of Seattle, Crowe took the opportunity to feature some of his favorite bands on the record, which made for a practical list of future legends. From Soundgarden's "Birth Ritual" to Alice in Chains' "Would," every single track on this album has that feeling of angst that was permeating the '90s rock landscape. Even on the less grungy cuts, you can hear the germs of alternative rock, from the inclusion of the Replacements' Paul Westerberg to the epic closer from Smashing Pumpkins.

Beyond just being accompaniment to a romantic comedy, this album may be ground zero for everything great about alternative rock, from the catchy melodies to the laid back attitude that radiates from every single track. Singles as a whole doesn't really have the same staying power as Crowe's other works, but even he couldn't have predicted the cultural touchstone he had created when assembling these songs.