Rocky Balboa: The Best of Rocky (Capitol, 2006) by various

For a compilation soundtrack, Rocky Balboa is pretty good.  It has a great mixture of the classic records such as "Gonna Fly Now" and "Eye of the Tiger."  However, combined in the standards are pieces of dialogue and other great instrumentals.  The Three 6 Mafia record is current, but not very good.  My personal favorite pieces are "Adrian" and "No Easy Way Out"- I still believe that's a great song used wonderfully in Rocky IV.

The Lion King (Disney, 1994) by various

This soundtrack is solid and still holds up almost twenty years later.  Like the movie, the soundtrack covers a wide range of feelings and emotions.  Therefore, the result is an album with a wide-range of appeal.  "I Just Can't Wait to Be King," Hakkunah Mattatah," "Be Prepared"- it's all here and sequenced well.  The highlights though, which should come as no surprise, are the contributions that Sir Elton John makes to the project.  Put simply,  "Circle of Life" is epic and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is an amazing love song regardless of age or species.

Armageddon (Columbia, 1998) by various

This soundtrack has solid collection of rock artists on here ranging from ZZ Top to Bob Seger.  However, the highlight of this album for me is Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing."  Even aside from the fact that the record was a huge hit, I think it's a really great love song.  The opening lines of it, "I could stay awake just to hear you breathing/Watch you smile while you are sleeping/While you're far away and dreaming" grab you.  Those lyrics are so visual and I think they express love very powerfully with out sounding corny or gratuitously sappy.  If I ever get married, this song will surely get airtime at my wedding.

Space Jam Soundtrack (Warner Bros., 1996) by various

"Who got bugs bunny money?/I've give you some time,to give more carrots every time I rhyme/Can a mouse write this?/Does he have long furry ears like this?/Can he make hits like this? (ha ha ha ha)/Nope, it's like Jordan at the plate,you're likely to miss/Warner Brothers ain't got bank cheap countin', rule from here to The Moron Mountain/Here's the game plan,listen up Toon squad/Number one objective, beat the Monstars/Shouldn't be hard, them guys ain't too smart/But to be sure snatched Jordan playin' Golf/Even though he tends to be a ball hog/Hey Michael, over here superstar/Who says the bunny can't play above the rim?/Wait till they get a load of me, that's buggin'"

-Bugs Bunny, "Buggin'"

Rocky IV Soundtrack (Scotti Bros., 1985) by various

Rocky IV is one of my all-time favorite soundtracks.  It has a good mix of upbeat numbers as well as more emotional ones.  "Eye of the Tiger" is obviously an all-time classic.  However, some of the other numbers exclusively used for the fourth film are my favorites.  "Heart's on Fire" is awesome and "Living in America" is a great inclusion.  But my top picks on this disc are "Double or Nothing" and "No Easy Way Out."  It still plays strong almost thirty years later.

Murder Was the Case Soundtrack (Death Row, 1994) by various

I remember I bought this album on my 8th grade East Coast trip in the summer of 2001.  Blink-182 had released a new LP too (props to them as well), and while many of my classmates purchased that, I rushed to the rap section and found this older release.  "Murder Was the Case" is one of Snoop's best songs ever, and the remix does it justice.  The biggest deal of the release though is "Natural Born Killaz"- a great reunion of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre.  Other noteworthy tracks are Nate Dogg's "One More Day" and Jodeci's "Come Up to My Room."  I remember on the last night of the trip, I listened to the album non-stop and burned through an entire set of batteries on my portable CD player.  Good times.

Deep Cover Soundtrack (Solar, 1992) by various

This soundtrack is a classic for the title track alone.  The song is genius for so many reasons.  The beat is great, and the rhymes are solid.  Additionally, Dr. Dre, on of the best producers ever, used his first solo track to introduce a new artist-how brilliant is that?  And last but not least, that new artist was Snoop Doggy Dogg.  The song led to bigger things like The Chronic and Doggystyle.  But it would be wrong to not acknowledge where one of the greatest duos in Hip-Hop history began.

The Re-Up (Shady, 2006) by various

If I'm not mistaken, this album was originally intended to be a mixtape.  I think it should have stayed that way.  I say that not because the music is bad, but because it lacks the cohesion of an album.  Eminem does a good job of introducing new Shady artists on the intro, but after that all that tracks seem to have been just thrown together with minimal consideration for sequencing.  Obie's "Pistol Pistol (Remix)" was solid as well as "You Don't Know" which help introduce Cashis to the mainstream.  However, other than Eminem's "No Apologies," there aren't really many standout songs here.  But the fact that Eminem drew the album cover makes up for a bit of it.

Street Fighter Soundtrack (Universal, 1994) by various

"In the Rotten Apple, take a bite taste the worm/Embrace the world of reality we're faced to learn/Coke connection drug bust, graveyards where thugs rest/I keep my mug blessed, the evil is illegal substance sold/Roll mob deep, guns in the black Jeep/Mac-11's and legends, cracks in the streets/Patroller, gold money-folder, gun happy soldiers/Never sober takin over, my blood is colder/Niggaz respect violence so I become it/I'm from it, I even done it blunted so run it"

-Nas, "One on One"

Streets Is Watching (Roc-A-Fella, 1998) by various

"I was raised to live, Lord I pray you forgive/If not, I just handle it like Jason Kidd/What you're facin' is official (it's official)/Most cases when I'm blazin' won't miss you (won't miss you)/Case and point mad bullshitted issue/I see it to the end, my writing is so personal/My heart bleedin' out my pen, make no mistake about me/It's only one nigga livin', I got a half a cake about me/I got love, to make a nigga die bleedin' is nothin'/You make a motherfucker die breathin' then you sayin' somthing, beeotch"

-Jay-Z, "You're Only a Customer"

8 Mile Soundtrack (Shady, 2002) by various

"Lose Yourself" is a history-making song and one of the most popular records of its time.  The title track is actually one of my favorite Eminem songs and I think 50's "Places to Go" should have been his introductory single instead of "Wanksta".  The other song that I go back to a lot on this album is Gang Starr's "Battle".  A movie about hip-hop in the mid-90s without a DJ Premier beat is blasphemous.  Not surprisingly, the music supervision for this film for material that was actually made in the mid-90s is superb.  And truth be told, as a whole, the soundtrack to 8 Mile can't touch More Music from 8 Mile.  However, 8 Mile and its soundtrack helped establish Eminem as a hip-hop icon at the height of his popularity and continued to showcase his untouchable rap skills as well as his ability to find and develop new talent (50 Cent, Obie Trice).

Chef Aid: The South Park Album (Columbia, 1998) by various

Rick Rubin is my favorite producer of all-time and this compilation is a testament to his range of talent.  Elton John.  Primus.  Ozzy Osbourne and 'Ol Dirty Bastard.  Ike Turner and Rick James.  And that's just a few of the many names and collaborations.  Isaac Hayes, as Chef, is obviously outstanding hosting Chef Aid like a live concert.  And because of this, the album is able to maintain cohesion from beginning to end.  In the fall of 2006, Scratch Magazine [R.I.P.] wrote, "When Rick Rubin dies (like Kenny) this album could easily be his eulogy."  Ditto.