Editor’s Note: The Albumism staff has selected what we believe to be the 100 Greatest Soundtracks of All Time, representing a varied cross-section of films and musical genres. Click “Next Soundtrack” below to explore each soundtrack in the list or for easier navigation, view the full introduction & soundtrack index here.

Superfly
Curtom (1972)
Selected by Mike Elliott

The sound of the 1970s cannot be fully represented unless Superfly is included. The rapid thump of the bongos, the waka-jawaka of the wah-wah pedal, the walking bass, and the sweet falsetto of Curtis Mayfield telling hard truths without judgment or sensationalism. Expanding on his self-titled solo debut from two years earlier, Mayfield crafted a masterpiece of urban funk and R&B while shining a light on the issues of the inner-city with a journalist's eye for detail and the heart of someone who's witnessed those struggles firsthand.

NEXT SOUNDTRACK >

LISTEN & WATCH:

Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Debut Album ‘Read My Lips’ Turns 25 | Album Anniversary

With her debut solo affair, Ellis-Bextor made the dancefloor feel elegant and faintly surreal, a place where heartbreak could wear lipstick and emotional catastrophe could arrive with a four-on-the-floor beat.

Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ Turns 40 | Album Anniversary

Four decades later, ‘Graceland’ remains true to what it was from the start—a beautiful, tangled, genuinely collaborative album that changed what pop music could sound like.

The Rolling Stones’ ‘Tattoo You’ Turns 45 | Album Anniversary

When listening to ‘Tattoo You,’ you would never know that it is this Frankenstein's monster of an album that was pieced together with songs that came from their most creatively fertile period.