Retro Wednesday: The most inspirational soundtrack ever made? You betcha!
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It doesn’t get better than this folks. Read on why Rocky IV is the most inspirational soundtrack ever made.
It’s with great pleasure that I can present a new feature here on soundtrackgeek.com. It’s called Retro Wednesday. It’s mostly going to be 80’s stuff since I love the 80’s. I could have called it Soundtrackgeek’s 80’s Show or 80’s Wednesday, but since I will venture outside of the 80s from time to time it is simply called Retro Wednesday since it’s retro and Wednesday, smart huh?
Today we go back to the middle, 1985 and the slugfest between Sylvester “Aaaaaadriaaaan” Stallone and Dolph “I Will Break You” Lundgren. It is clear when you hear those names that we are not talking about a very intelligent movie, and certainly not the best movie in the series, however it has the best soundtrack, not just for the Rocky series, but arguably the best of the 80s. Vince DiCola, what a legend! Bill Conti might be more famous, but Vince DiCola made some of the most inspirational synth songs of the 80s.
Oh I love the 80s, when movie scenes could be like a music video, and you had these amazing training montages in all the fighter movies like Karate Kid, Kickboxer and Blood Sport to name a few. Listen and look at the glory that is Rocky IV, love it or hate it, it gets your blood pumping and for that Rocky IV has a special place in my heart.
Survivor - Burning Heart
This is the first Survivor track on this album and it’s made for Rocky. It has everything a fight song should have. Listen to the rhythm, the guitars and the great vocals. I love this song, and a great video too!
John Cafferty - Hearts On Fire
Burning Heart or Hearts on Fire, isn’t it the same thing? Perhaps, but this one has great inspirational stuff in it, not that Burning Heart didn’t of course. John Cafferty made such a great song that can even get my lazy arse off the couch. It should definitively be on every “workout” music album from here to eternity.
Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
This song is of course the most famous, and Sylvester Stallone made it happen apparently. He persuaded them to make this song for Rocky III, thank you so much Sly! It is widely adopted as the “theme” song of Rocky, when you hear this, you can’t help thinking about the Italian Stallion. It was produced by Foreigner and was a huge hit worldwide and definitively helped Rocky IV along, even though it was written for its predecessor.
James Brown - Living In America
The Godfather of Soul! It was an awesome scene as you can see above where Drago looks so confused. Yes, that’s right! Dolph mastered the confused look! He must be a great actor then :P. But what is clear is that it must be a cool and funky tune to make Dolph almost look like an actor. Amazing song from an amazing man.
Robert Tepper - No Easy Way Out
I always get a little sad when listening to this as it will always be linked with the death of Apollo for me. Still, the chorus drags me back into “never say die, never surrender” mode. There is no easy way out, I have to face the battle no matter how hard. A great inspirational song.
Vince DiCola - Training Montage
Vince “the legend” DiCola with one of his masterpieces. I always loved those training montages in the 80’s, but this on was special. Here’s how it differ from the rest. It doesn’t go from clumsy Rocky to super Rocky. In the normal training montages, the main character always sucks in the beginning and getting better and better. Not here. In Rocky IV, they did something cooler, they portrayed how Rocky was the caveman with just natural equipment at his disposal, and Drago was surrounded by the latest of equipment to make him a better fighter. Who will win? Natural vs. Synthetic? Old vs. New? East vs. West? America Vs. Russia? Democracy vs. Communism? Of course this movie is super duper American, but its inspirational, fun and entertaining from start to finish as is this great soundtrack.
Love it or love it, you will all love it and be inspired!
[tags]best of the 80s, bill conti, blood sport, burning heart, fight song, hearts on fire, john cafferty hearts on fire, karate kid, kickboxer, lazy arse, montages, music album, place in my heart, rocky iv, rocky series, slugfest, songs of the 80s, soundtrack, stallone, vince dicola, workout music, survivor, eye of the tiger[/tags]
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Comments
Great post. Other amazingly inspirational score? Basil Poledouris’ Conan the Barbarian. If anyone needs a little motivation to go out and run a mile to burn off that box of ding-dongs, just pop that one in.
Also… I’m glad you mentioned Blood Sport…while that movie isn’t a work of art or anything, it’s a damn fine watch. Plus, the Paul Hertzog score is incredible.
Fletch: I have not heard those commercials. Sounds even more cheesy than this soundtrack, but hey, we love cheesy! 
Bo: Ah yes, Conan! Basil had a flair for the dramatic. Under Siege 2 and Starship Troopers also have a inspirational effect and the excellent Wind to name a few. The Blood Sport score is great, as is Kickboxer. Paul Hertzog and Stan Bush (on the soundtrack), you can’t go wrong with that. Kumite kumite kumite!
I forgot how much good stuff was on that soundtrack.
Eye of the Tiger also spawned a parody on Z100 (WHTZ) in NYC. They were a fairly new station at the time, and turned it into “The Russians are Liars” following the incident where a Soviet fighter jet shot down the Korean Airlines 747.
Cromely’s last blog post..Cops on camera
Wow, I did not know that little piece of information. Thanks! I will still think of Rocky though whenever I hear it.
Makes me wanna run up the side of a Russian mountain.
Chariots of Fire is pretty good too.
StanHayes’s last blog post..Around the Majors
Aloha Soundtrackgeek.. Madcrow here, from Tomorrow’s Entertainment.. Great post mate.. It’s definitely a inspirational score.. Great montages too.. LOL..
Personally for me the most amazing inspirational score would have to be Chevaliers de Sangreal by Hans Zimmer, in the Da Vinci Code.. It evokes so many emotions for one song.. Passion, lust, hope, joy, fascination, fantasy, and love..
Madcrow’s last blog post..Star Trek XI Update..
Stan: Oh yeah, Chariots of Fire is great, but it kind of makes me want to run in slow motion.
Madcrow: The Da Vinci Code was a great score indeed. Listening to it makes me wonder what the movie could have been had it lived up to it’s potential.
Ooh, I’ve thought about it once… running three miles, but I realized it was crazy talk. But if there’s one soundtrack that can make me think about doing it, this is it.
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Little known fact: the lead singer of Survivor is the singer in the Bud Light “Real Men of Genius” radio commercials. (Have you heard those, Jorn? They’re hilarious, but I don’t know if they have crossed the pond.)
It’s a great cheesy soundtrack, right up there with Top Gun in my book.