10 Movie Soundtracks That Are Also Great Rock Albums

Singles was the ultimate representation of the 90s "alternative" subculture that took off with the so-called Seattle Sound and its "Big Four": Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden. Cameron Crowe's look at relationships in the rainy city was scored by Paul Westerburg (The Replacements), and the soundtrack featured three of those big four bands. The only one missing? Nirvana, but on an album this loaded, they weren't really missed.

What's great about the Singles soundtrack?

You've got two previously unreleased Pearl Jam tracks, the inclusion of Chicago's The Smashing Pumpkins (who were tied in with the Seattle scene to the point that they were often misidentified as actually being from the city), and Soundgarden with a new track of their own. It's not just that there's new martial from some big bands however - it's that the tunes, especially Pearl Jam's State of Love and Trust, are really, really good (that song eclipsed anything on the band's next album, Vs.). Alice in Chains, meanwhile, chipped in Would? from their hit album Dirt.

A couple of other Seattle regulars turn up as well - Mudhoney perform Overblown, while The Screaming Trees add in the excellent Nearly Lost You.

Then there's the icing on the cake: Chloe Dancer/Crown of Throns by Mother Love Bone, the band that would have been Pearl Jam had singer Andrew Wood not passed away.