Few albums deserve a 5 rating. Compilations
generally don't rate this high. And soundtracks are mostly disposable, with a few rare examples,
Lost Highway being one of them. The 1997 David Lynch film was underscored with original music by composer
Angelo Badalamenti, and
Nine Inch Nails'
Trent Reznor, as well as strategically placed rock songs selected by Reznor, and it's one of the most listenable soundtracks you're ever likely to encounter.
The original material and compiled selections provide perfect atmospheric backing to Lynch's psychological thriller masterpiece, and the album can be pretty much listened to over and over on its own. The music from
Lost Highway is not as diverse as Lynch's soundtrack for
Wild At Heart (which combined 1950s rock and roll, punk, thrash, and classical music), but Reznor has selected a nice selection of mostly-industrial, alternative rock and metal cuts, with a couple of jazz songs and dark original score selections, including an industrial-tinged Badalamenti/Reznor collaboration.
Lost Highway is opened and closed with
David Bowie and
Brian Eno's industrial-tinged "I'm Deranged", the highlight of the set. The
Rammstein inclusions "Rammstein" and "Heirate Mich", chosen by Lynch himself, who is a fan of the band, helped launch the German metal band's international career; "Heirate Mich" is the darkest cut on this set, and is essentially about marrying a corpse.
Also worth noting is
Marilyn Manson's cover of
Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You". He clearly enjoyed doing this one. Another Manson cut, "Apple of Sodom" appears, with both tracks fitting perfectly into Lynch's world. NIN is represented by one of the band's best cuts, "The Perfect Drug".
Missing from the set, however, happens to be one of the best musical moments in the film:
This Mortal Coil's haunting cover of
Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren", which was the stylistic inspiration for the first two albums of Badalamenti/Lynch-mentored singer
Julee Cruise.
If you have any soundtracks in your music collection, make sure that this is one of them.
