Movie soundtracks come in a variety of shapes and sizes. There are those such as Hero: Music From The Original Soundtrack (Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax) and The Village: Original Score (Hollywood Records) that are exactly what they say they are. James Newton Howard’s score for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, featuring violinist Hilary Haus serves its function in conjuring a period of time (an earlier century) and spooky mood (it is M. Night Shyamalan, after all), with very little fuss. The same can be said of the “music composed and conducted by Tan Dun” for the Hero soundtrack, which also includes a famous violinist, Itzhak Perlman.

Another type of soundtrack is the kind that mostly consists of the original score, but is enhanced by the appearance of pop vocalists. The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax), The Motorcycle Diaries: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Edge Music/UMG Soundtracks) and Vanity Fair: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Decca) all fit in that category. Edward Shearmur’s score for Sky Captain… is appropriately brassy and triumphant, and is enhanced by the presence of rising young standards vocalist Jane Monheit singing “Over The Rainbow.” Both the popular Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler and the late “king of the mambo” Perez Prado can be heard alongside Gustavo Santaolalla’s Motorcycle Diaries score. Moya Brennan, of Celtic new-age band Clannad fame, co-wrote “Tell Me Now (What You See)” with Hans Zimmer for his score to King Arthur (Hollywood). Sissel is the contemporary vocalist to be found on Vanity Fair, singing the score composer’s musical setting of Lord Byron’s poem “She Walk In Beauty.”

Soundtracks aimed at the teen market are often as disappointing as the movies with which they are affiliated. A Cinderella Story: Original Soundtrack (Hollywood), which seems to function as a way to promote other Hilary Duff releases, including The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement – Original Soundtrack (Walt Disney), does manage to squeeze in a Norah Jones track amidst numbers by Raven (Symone), pre-fab Radio Disney product Jesse McCartney, Avril Lavigne, Christy Carlson Romano and S Club 7 member Rachel Stevens. Original Soundtrack – Mr. 3000 (Hollywood) is nothing more than an excuse to compile a bunch of vintage soul tracks.

Before you can get to Graeme Revell’s fittingly frightening score on Open Water: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (TVT Soundtrax), you have the chance to swim through hymns and other religious songs of the South Pacific and Caribbean blues, which aids in setting the tone for the listening experience. Also effective in setting a tone of suspense, as well as recalling another time (1975), is the reissued 3 Days Of The Condor: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (DRG), with music composed and conducted by contemporary jazz legend Dave Grusin.

For my money, the four best soundtracks out there are Garden State: Music From The Motion Picture (Epic/Sony Music Soundtrax), Fahrenheit 9/11: Original Soundtrack (Warner Bros./Rhino), Latter Days (Centaur) and Around The Bend: Music From The Motion Picture (Warner Bros./Rhino). Zach Braff, who wrote, directed and starred in Garden State, also acted as executive producer of the soundtrack, and it is obvious how important the music is to the movie. This is made especially clear when Sam (Natalie Portman) shares her headphones with Andrew (Braff) so that he can hear a song by The Shins, about which she says “You gotta hear this one song; it’ll change your life, I promise you.” In addition to The Shins (whose most recent album, the delightful Chutes Too Narrow, is worth owning), you can also hear songs by Coldplay, Zero 7, Iron And Wine and Frou Frou, to name a few.

The moving and effective score to Fahrenheit 9/11, composed and performed by Jeff Gibbs, including the instrumentals “The Un-President”, “Bush Waits…And Waits” and “Weapons of Deceit”, is balanced by an array of popular tunes including “Vacation” by The Go-Gos, “Shiny Happy People” by R.E.M., Elmer Bernstein’s “Magnificent Seven Theme”, “Theme From Greatest American Hero (Believe It Or Not)” by Joey Scarbury and Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World”. Eric Allaman’s score for C. Jay Cox’s gay-themed movie Latter Days is equally stirring and captures the movie’s many moods, from playful to serious to erotic to tragic, although the songs sung by lesser-known artists don’t hold up as well. Finally, David Baerwald, whom some may remember from the duo David & David, proves his mettle as a soundtrack composer with the instrumental numbers on the Around the Bend soundtrack, which also features vintage tunes by the late Warren Zevon and Nilsson, as well as Leon Russell and Bob Dylan.