Virgin Suicides

This is the first soundtrack I encountered on the list, a "genre" that I didn't even consider finding here. I wonder when I will get my first country album? Anyway, I never saw The Virgin Suicides, and I suspect I would have liked this album more if I did. I also suspect that these songs actually made a pretty great soundtrack for the movie. However, I did not see the movie, and I am judging this as everything else on the list: a music album, listened to in one sitting. And with that method, well, this didn't blow my hair back. Air is a French electronic band I had never heard of. The songs were mostly instrumental, with some spoken word vocals from the movie toward the end. The music itself was fine. There were some good drum and bass grooves. One song really sounded like one track from the Final Fantasy X soundtrack. Basically, this was good music to have in the background. Which as a soundtrack makes it a resounding success? I guess I question why this is on the list? 1001 albums sounds like a lot, but there are quite a few bands with 3 or more albums on the list. What's going to happen is by the end of this there are going to be some omissions that I take issue with, and I suspect this album will be one of the first I would take off the list to make room for those. My personal enjoyment: 3/5 Did it belong on this list: 2/5

Oh man I loved this movie. This is a wild album that is definitely bringing images from the movie into my head, but is still a really solid fascinating album all on it's own.

The Virgin Suicides (Score) by Air (2000) ‘Scores’ for motion pictures generally do not make for good albums. This one (for the Sofia Coppola film The Virgin Suicides [1999]) is no exception. While the title of this random collection of background tracks (“The Virgin Suicides”) offers some help in discerning its dreary meaning, the listener would be required to enter into the creative world of the film itself to understand the concept, and to evaluate how well the music accomplishes its purpose. The lengthy, poorly written, poorly performed, poorly recorded spoken word explanation in the final track “Suicide Underground” is a mere coda to the music, a promo piece for the movie more than a synthesis of the album. The serious listener should be advised that there is a separate “soundtrack” album for this film (The Virgin Suicides Original Soundtrack [2000, Emperor Norton 1977276]), featuring real recording artists like Todd Rundgren, Heart, The Hollies, Al Green, 10cc, and Styx, that is not bad as far as soundtrack albums go. As for this album: well, simple minor-key electronic dissonance, aged synthesizer gimmicks, eerie hums and buzzes, all laid over slow and steady beats and bass lines characterize most of the tracks. And the endings of the tracks almost all feel like the writer simply put down his pencil, saying, “That’s enough for this one”. While there are many sounds on this record that one might connect with the feelings of five suicidal teenage sisters from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, the almost entirely instrumental compositions lack internal coherence, narrative, and direction. One is reminded of the (mostly unused) score to Michael Radford’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) by Eurythmics. It just doesn’t work as an album. It’s mere mood ‘music’. The result here is a nausea-inducing nightmare of depressive sounds without the redeeming value of good gothic horror. I can’t think of any redemptive reason to recommend this album to anybody. 1/5

If there was ever to be a Mt. Rushmore of my musical tastes; a monument to the records that shaped me as an obsessive music enthusiast, Air’s soundtrack to The Virgin Suicides would certainly occupy a spot. This was the first Air record I bought, at cd shop in Cape Cod, MA on vacation with an ex-girlfriend in 2002. It was the one of the very first vinyl records I *had* to own, imported from Europe with a hefty shipping cost that same year. It is the record that began my obsession with analog synthesizers and was on of the catalysts for a massive shift in my musical taste. If you were to take all of the superlatives that normal people assign to Radiohead records: innovative, game changers, etc, etc, ad nauseam…that is what Air is to me. Air, at least on their first few records, is my Radiohead. They helped shift my perception of what a rock band could be. Some twenty years later, The Virgin Suicides still ranks among my absolute favorite records of all time. Taking a page from the soundtrack work of Goblin and Pink Floyd (at least to my ears), Air’s soundtrack to the Virgin Suicides is a harrowing musical retelling of the bleak, yet engrossing, Sofia Coppola film. If you were unfamiliar with the film or the name of the record, you might mistake portions of Air’s score for the soundtrack of a 70’s Italian zombie gorefest. Take the choral synths, propulsive bass and drums of “Dead Bodies”, as an example. It’s the stuff of horror films - which is exactly what The Virgin Suicides is: a film about domestic horror. In truth, I never bothered to watch the film until just this past year. Air had painted such a vivid picture of what this film could be in my mind’s eye, that I didn’t want to unintentionally tarnish the soundtrack in the event I didn’t enjoy the film. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Watching the film only increased my love of this record. Air captured the atmosphere of the film so well: the horror and desperation, but also the moments of fleeting beauty. The film is made greater by the music and the music is made greater by the film. It’s a kind of symbiosis, and that is exactly what a great film score should do.

This album is fantastic. It really blew me away with its insanely chill vibes. The darkness of the story transcends the largely lyricless album, but hits hard in the beautifully written final track. What a piece of art.

Loved it. Mysterious and slightly weird and cinematic. Takes you for a ride

I was pretty excited for this one after Moon Safari, until I realized it was a score and not even a soundtrack. The problem, as an album, is that you end up with snippets of music (with recurring melodies on different tracks, just on different instruments and in different keys) rather than traditional songs. And the music is typically whimsical and easy to listen to but honestly it's a lot of the same orchestral tones, with just a different instruments underneath. Many of the drum parts are fantastic, though. "Dead Bodies" and "The Word Hurricane" stand out. "Dirty Trip" is the least enjoyable track, but also somehow the longest. In all, the way it plays as a score, the redundancies, lack of lyrics aside from a bit of spoken word, and a lack of context from the film are detriments. I can't fault Air for this one and the music isn't "bad" but it just doesn't play well as an album.

i’ve watched the virgin suicides before but i never really paid attention to the music. god, i wish i had. this was brilliant

"Obviously, doctor, you've never been a 13-year-old girl." This album is a mood. They used to use some of these tracks on This American Life a lot. That may have been why I bought the CD originally but I can't really recall now. I don't remember much about the movie other than thinking that it captured the 70s better than most movies set but not made in that decade. It was nice to listen to the whole album again. There's a sound on one of the tracks (maybe Dirty Trip?) that sounds like The Bionic Woman jumping. I like the album a lot, especially the last track with narration from the movie. That's some beautiful writing there. "Everyone dated the demise of our neighborhood from the suicides of the Lisbon girls. People saw their clairvoyance in the wiped-out elms and harsh sunlight. Some thought the tortures tearing the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple refusal to accept the world as it was handed down to them: so full of flaws. But the only thing we are certain of after all these years is the insufficiency of explanation."

This was not a good album. I feel like even if it's so perfect for the movie, that does not make it a good album on its own (as you said Kix). Lame!

An eerie feel to the album. Amazing unique sound. Sounds like Brian Wilson meets Horror flicks. Catchy tunes.

Ok it's kinda soft indie rock, but I'm ok with that right now. Mostly instrumentals? It's like if Radiohead wasn't fucking awful. 3/5.

This is by far and away the best album produced by Air that I have heard. Listening to it is like watching a movie-- so cinematic and dreamlike in its dialogues. I've heard it a thousand times and briefly entered a period of my life when I listened to it repeatedly. Air has other great albums as well, so if you are a newcomer to their sound, I definitely encourage exploration!

A breathtaking soundtrack. An obvious 70s Italian and French soul/funk influence exists throughout the album. The combination of everything from the sound palette to the chord progressions and mixing of the drums will make you do a double take at the release date of the album. The opening track, Playground Love, as well as Highschool Lover both sound like something out of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; they have a very romantic, cozy, and melancholic sound–an undefeatable combination. The production on these two tracks manages to sound indie and mainstream at the same time.

Air implies a promise, one they keep - that they will take you away to unique sonic landscapes. Sometimes frightening, sometimes pristine, disturbing, or epic. But no matter what, always interesting.

I saw this movie in the theater when it came out, and the thing that I remember most about it was that I was blown away by the music and I immediately looked for the soundtrack. However, there were two albums available, the "score" and the "soundtrack" and I think I got overwhelmed trying to pick (why didn't I get both? I don't know) so I just (slowly) downloaded "Playground Love" on dial-up Napster. (Why isn't the "soundtrack" available anymore? I particularly remember "I'm Not in Love" being very effectively used in the film.) Anyhoo, I am still blown away by this music and I'm so mad that I didn't buy it (and the soundtrack) in 2000. It creates such a setting and such a mood and feels as striking now as it did 20 years ago. Besides the theme, which has never left my playlist, I can't quite elevate one track above another as they each have their own complementary sound to the album as a whole.

I listened to this album fairly often when it came out. Really loved it then but kind of haven’t listened to it in the last 15 years. Let’s see how it holds up… This is one moody album. I immediately felt taken back to the movie as “Playground Love” opened. I immediately wanted to go back an re-watch the film. The song is really impressive. The lyrics and sound create a powerful combination. “Clouds Up” starts to build the tension, and this is when the album really starts to feel like something you might hear in a church. The choir voices, droning organ… I had never noticed how this whole thing feels almost like attending a very non traditional mass of some kind. “The Word Hurricane” comes in and I am realizing that there are very strong connections between Air and a lot of the instrumentals of The Alan Parsons Project. Funny that I never made that connection before, but there’s a lot of strong similarities. The instructional interlude with the breaths below then lead to a transformed chaotic, trippy ending. “Clouds Up” amps up the tension again - really liking this. “Dirty Trip” brings in the main theme music again, reworking it well. And is that an autoharp I’m hearing? Air knows how to build these instrumentals as the songs progress to keep things very interesting. The piano-based “High School Lover” is another interesting variation on the theme. The strong bass and arrangement again is quite evocative of some of Alan Parson’s arrangements. No wonder I like this so much. “Ghost Song” and “Empty House” heightens the ominous feel of the album no doubt in response to the tension in the movie, whose plot I cannot remember for the life of me. I really loved the piano and drums of “Dead Bodies”. Really stands out while totally fitting in. “Suicide Underground” adds dialogue from the movie over a nearly religious instrumental track. I am starting to remember the movies plot now. I’m not sure if listening to this while traveling on a bus across the stark Icelandic landscape is influencing my rating, but this is a spectacular soundtrack that I am glad to have rediscovered and will no doubt enjoy again soon.

So calm and cool. Great to listen to when hanging out with my baby boy.

The music is very good, but it falls into the same traps as most other soundtracks do: it doesn't feel like I'm listening to an album, it feels like I'm listening to a soundtrack for a movie I haven't watched. That said, this does at least make an attempt to put the tracks into an album format, so there is some value to this project.

Mysterious and relaxed.

This is fine, but nothing to write home about. It captures the 70s vibe that would be appropriate for the movie. I'm really not sure why it's on this list. There's nothing particularly interesting about it. Standard 70s sounding album that's been done, and done better, a million times before.

Perfectly acceptable soundtrack to an above average movie. As standalone music it is average at best. I hear a lot of early Pink Floyd, a bit of Beatles. The late 60s, early 70s elements are there, and it is a pleasant soundscape. My bar to be on this list is higher than that.

Unlike the squishy warmth of Air's debut album 'Moon Safari', 'The Virgin Suicides' leaves me cold like the corpses of the 5 Lisbon sisters from the movie also called 'The Virgin Suicides'

Unlike Moon Safari, this Air album doesn't evoke daydreams where Christian Louboutins are the perfect cherry on nubile limbs. Shockingly, I gave Virgin Suicides the same rating as Moon Safari.  I must have rounded down when I rated Moon Saf. 

I like the atmosphere. I can see why it's a movie soundtrack. Not something I would listen to specifically though.

2.9 + Having loved "Moon Safari", I was excited by this project for an intriguing film with a catchy title. Unfortunately, after "Playground Love" this record takes a sharp nosedive. Much of the rest is variations on that theme using various synthesized instruments. I imagine it's effective enough as a soundtrack but certainly not interesting as a standalone record.

This album is like being stuck on a french exchange trip where the host school puts on a drama show and you're sat cross legged wishing you were on the coach home

I mean it was fine. I didn’t dislike it. It just doesn’t bring anything that stands out and doesn’t have replay value.

definitely sets a tone and mood, never saw the film, nice ambiance but don't really see the hype without connection to the film

Is this an album for white noises and ASMR aficionados? I didn't get it, absolutely.

I usually don't mind Air (I own Moon Safari) but I found this tedious. Maybe it helps to see the film...

aucun intéret du mauvais pink floyd

malo

Amazing, I've liked Air's music for a long time. I didn't realize that they were a French band. I usually have a bit of a problem with French electronic music. Although I was enthusiastic about Jean Michelle Jarre as a teenager, and in particular about the albums Oxygene and Equinoxe, this cooled down a lot over the years. I was also not particularly taken with the album by the French band Justice in this project. Well, with the band Air I realize that I don't have anything against French electronic music in principle. I quite like this album. Yes, it even arouses interest in the movie, although I don't particularly like Sofoa Coppola's films. 5/5

This was SO good. I already love air and I love movie soundtracks and the ambience of this one is just great. Every track is just a joy to listen to and the tracks towards the end with the voiceovers are really fun. Also the album art is super cool.

READ THE MOVIE PLOT SYNOPSIS BEFORE LISTENING: It's rare that an album catches me off like this, but the turmoil it caused is what makes this album so incredible both as a soundtrack and an individual piece of art. The emotion of being in high school and existing in those wildly uncertain spaces, especially dealing with mental health issues and suicidal thoughts as I and the characters of the movie have had comes out so clear. It can be very heavy, and the last song does briefly summarize the movie, but I am floored by how moving this was.

Another Air album I'm really liking. Some of the songs are pretty out there for a movie, but the others are intimate and special.

Ta bueno

it's so against my brand to like this. french electronic duo? this is devastating. absolutely unfair that this is so groovy and ominous and thrumming

One of my favourite albums of all time.

This is better than Moon Safari, and may just be the second best ambient pop album I've ever heard, only being bested by Eno's Another Green World. I see many comparisons to Pink Floyd, but I've not heard such emotion pulled from beeps and boops combined with strings and general film soundtrack attitudes, and it feels like the album tells a story of its own that had it's own fun piecing itself together. Vocals are nesrly non-existent, but it is better that way, as every aptly named piece really sits and stews within the listener, and it can be truly breathtaking, especially when the norm breaks and you get anxious speeds and a rock-focused attitude. Awesome album, and I will be checking out the film as well if I get the chance!

YES! I listened to this album (and every other Air album) about a million times in the early 2000s but I don't think I ever watched this movie. IDK if I'd give this a 5 if it weren't for the nostalgia but it definitely deserves at least a 4. 5 it is! Air is so so good.

Air just gets it. The voice was kinda weird but I fw it still.

Very good album, highly recommend. I like the tone and the melody, from the first song to the last song. It’s very well and fun-ly made. You can tell they had a good time coming up with these tunes. 9.78/10.

9/10. no skips. tasteful. creative but it's something i've heard before in other bands.

9.5/10

That was amazin, and the best part was I had no idea what to expect going into it. It sounded like I was in Final Fantasy 7 battle music the entire time. This touched on every single thing I love about music with the electronic and progressive mixed together. The explanation of a hurricane directly followed by some crazy effects was so sweet. Dead Bodies may be my new favorite song with the speed bass and drums and the choir singing sound behind it. And the spooky narration track at the end was a perfect way to end this album. I was thinking this album had the makings of a 5 just two songs in, and it may have gotten better as it went on.

Never seen the film, but this soundtrack really makes me want to check in out. Lovely album here. The perfect mix between cool keyboards and cool drumming

OK, this was awesome. I'm finding I really dig ambient, lo-fi type stuff. There were numerous adds to my playlists from this score. I'm going to hazard a 5 here, and definitely look for similar music to expand my listening.

Felt like I was watching the movie, very evocative

Did I ever watch the movie? No? But I could be living it with this album. Hauntingly beautiful

Un album qui a sûrement renouvelé le genre des bandes sonores cinématographiques, en créant des ambiances électroniques mais aussi incarnées, aux douces influences jazz et pop. Il garde un aspect très dramatique, on sent la narration qui le porte, mais il s'écoute aussi bien comme un album indépendant du matériel source.

Yeah this shit slaps. I didn’t actually realise it was a soundtrack until after I finished but it totally makes now. Really well done and very enjoyable. It was properly intense at the end.

I really enjoyed this one and it was a really enjoyable mostly instrumental album. I wasn't the biggest fan of the audio from the film on the last track (mostly just because I didn't really understand it given I haven't watched the film) but this was one of my favourites so far

Bathroom girl sounds like fortnite theme, Playground love is a classic banger goes hard,

Gear: DCA ÆON 2 Noire Mix: analog, authentisch, ausgeglichen. Musik: Fantastique! Air sind einfach Meister des französischen Ambient-Electronica-Jazz (oder so) - mag ich schon ewig und sehr. Die Synths auf diesem Album sorgen für Gänsehaut (insb. \"Ghost Song\", \"Empty House\") - wer sagt, \"The Virgin Suicides\" wäre kein Horrorfilm? Wertung: 🌹🌻🌼🌷(🌺)/5

This was nice, listened to their other albums too!

Fantastic soundtrack to a great film. Loved this when it came put and enjoyed hearing it again

4-5

What can I say. Air are amazing. This album is a feast of incredible audio and sounds. Compared to Moon Safari this blends electronics with jazz, prog rock, rock, trip hop, and lots more and is brilliantly experimental. The drum and bass tracks are awesome. The stereo soundstage is addictive. I can hear influences from Pink Floyd and Portishead in particular but executed in a very original Air way. A fantastic album. More please!! :)

This is a solid 5 star album regardless of the spellbinding film it goes with. I like the way the tracks drift along with snippets of dialogue. The music is electronic and dreamy and if you like this you should listen to Moon Safari and Talkie Walkie too. Just beautiful music. Suicide Underground is quite unsettling and morbid.

5 stars purely for nostalgia, loved this album to death when I was a wee teen

Used to listen to this all the time in the early 2000s. Great soundtrack that perfectly compliments the film it was written for that also works as a standalone album.

Dansar á milli fimmu og fjarka. Fimma, því flest af þessu er svo ógeðslega gott stöff og af því að, ég meina, Air. - Fjarki því þetta er soundtrack og ég á eftir að sjá myndina. Með öðrum orðum, fullt hús.

How the fuck does this show up as I'm currently reading the book?! And I rewatched the film the other day. And now this soundtrack. I love.

I just love this website, there's something so enthralling about trying music I probably wouldn't've stumbled upon otherwise. That said, I surprised myself by actually really liking this album, or more so the score of a movie I had never even heard about. It's very melodic, dreamy, eerie and pleasant to listen to, can totally imagine studying to it. Also the vibe of the bassline in Highschool Lover just, *mwah*, does it for me. Of course it's a bit disjointed, as it wasn't made to be a studio album. Might add this movie to my endless watchlist. Anyway, I'm tired.

This one remains in my semi regular rotation. Five star mood intensifier. Epitome of cool. I can only imagine being a fly on the wall in that room while Air was spitballing for this. Did they read the book? How did they come to that playground love riff? Sexy, grounded, ebbing, flowing, feeling. The saxophone gets me every time. This soundtrack elevates and transcends it's source.

Loved this!

First time that I have listened to a soundtrack from a movie, that made me really want to watch it. Very soft and gentle melodies, quite melancholic arrangement, but some ominous overtones are very visible. Opening song is obviously the best example of that, such a great track, instantly it goes to my daily playlist. Second album from Air on this list, but both releases are so diametrically different from each other, its actually amazing how diverse their sound can be. Excellent record, very easy 5/5.

Big fan of Air since Moon Safari and this movie/soundtack blew my mind when it came out. You know it's a good soundtrack when you can picture the movie while listening to the album although it's been a hot minute since I've seen the movie. Playground Love does stand out as standalone track but the rest of the album is basically one piece. To choose a favourite for this exercise, The Word Hurricane, because I like clouds :)

I have a LOT of nostalgia for this - saw the movie during uni and listened to this quite a bit after - it's perhaps a bit redundant to have this and "Moon Safari" on the list, but what the hell, I'll allow it. Fave track - eh, "Dirty Trip" maybe? Doesn't really make a lot of sense to break this one down to individual tracks...

10/10 one of the coolest movie soundtracks of all time My personal favorite movie soundtracks are Fantastic Planet (1973) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959), but I still think this album is fantastic

Never heard of this movie somehow. Absolutely LOVE this. It makes me want to watch the movie now. A mix of shoegaze/dreampop, psychedelic rock, some funky electro in there. Really, really cool.

This is great. Loved it.

Easy 5. Classic movie, classic soundtrack. Haunting, intriguing listen.

Great soundtrack for a pretty good movie

Wow, incredibly moody and dark, I need to check out the movie. The consistency throughout with the musical themes at play while still changing enough track to track to elicit a new energy is exciting, and I particularly liked rolling into Highschool Lover to find a toned down instrumental of Playground Lover. The final track as a distorted voice retelling the plot is an interesting bow on this album. Poetic and somber reminiscence that really retroactively fills in the edges of the album.

Absolutely love this. Hypnotic, spectral with traces of Meddle-era Pink Floyd in places. Having never heard Air I am definitely going to check out more of their stuff

Hm Air, sounds familiar. I like the album art. Vocals just started. I thought it would be a female singer. It's not. I like it! Suits my mood today. Yeah really digging this actually! Cemetary Party (interesting spelling) is cool! It sounds cinematic to me. Like it could be the background for some movie scene. I love the eeriness of Dark Messages. Highschool Lover sounds like a song I've heard before but with lyrics. I liked that one. Yeah I think this one's getting 5 stars! oooh Empty House is catchy. Apparently this album was named after the movie by the same name. And the very last track Suicide Underground, seems to have excerpts from the movie? Just found out that movie was directed by Sofia Coppola, daughter of the great Francis Ford Coppola!

very melodic, moody

First time listening to this album and it is a masterclass in electronic jazz. Will add to my collection.

Thankful for this album, for showing me that there is good electronica out there! Much of this genre is cold, manufactured, and repetitive, but Virgin Suicides feels organic, mysterious, calming, dark, and fascinatingly compelling. I love that it's ambient but never fades into background music territory, that it's a soundtrack but still works as a standalone album. On its own, I wouldn't necessarily give this a five. But because it's a record I genuinely enjoyed from a genre that I will never fully get into, I say why not? Standout tracks are Playground Love, Dirty Trip, Highschool Lover, and Ghost Song. Now to find a copy of this movie.

I like this sort of thing: rock, but also with a shimmering coating of noise, synth, and pedals, and intense mixing. This would definitely make a great film soundtrack, now I want to see the film.

Really enjoyed this album will def listen again

One of my favorite soundtracks. My entry point for the band, I had heard of Moon Safari, but in the pre-streaming days, not heard it yet (when I did, I also fell in love with it). The album works as a perfect soundtrack to Euginedes book. I've actually never seen the movie, but have to believe it works. It is simpler than Moon Safari, but no less outstanding.

this was brilliant. the production is incredible and the pacing is great, even considering that it’s a soundtrack! standout tracks are The Word Hurricane, Dirty Trip, Playground Love, Highschool Lover, Bathroom Girl, Ghost Song, Empty House, Dead Bodies & Suicide Underground

Great atmosphere

Wow this was good. Goosebumps the whole time.

This is catnip to me. Gloomy piano, some eerie synth, yum yum.

Not only matches the movie perfectly, but serves as a standalone masterpiece

wow. wow wow wow. i put on this album without knowing it was a film score and only realized it a couple songs in. it’s hauntingly beautiful. i can’t wait to watch the movie now. this album will stay with me.

Great album, maybe Air's best?

Yeah, I forgot how awesome this is.

Un clásico

AMO

Awesome

Interesting, first one I hear of this genre. Refreshing.

Stand-outs: "Ghost Song," "Empty House," "Dead Bodies"

Criss c'est bon! Je me souviens aucunement que ça jouait dans le film, mais cest excellent! Ça m'a donné envie d'écouter plus de Air.

Me love some air