Don't Argue With Us — These Are the Best Movie Soundtracks of 2018

Each year, Hollywood bestows music listeners with emotional Pixar soundtracks, enthralling Star Wars scores, and oldie-but-goody-laden movie albums. This year, we've gotten all of those and a lot more. In 2018, films also worked with the best producers in the music industry, like Kendrick Lamar and Jack Antonoff. Those collaborations gifted us with treasures like Lamar and SZA's yearning anthem "All the Stars" in Black Panther and Troye Sivan's melancholy tune "Strawberries and Cigarettes" in Love, Simon.

We've curated the very best soundtracks that 2018 has to offer (so far!) for your listening pleasure.

01
Black Panther
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Black Panther

Why it's great: OK, so Black Panther is probably the movie of the year, maybe even the decade or century. But besides its amazing cast, beautiful set design, and powerful story, it also has an amazing soundtrack, produced by Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar. If you thought the cast was stacked, just look at the movie's album, which includes Khalid, Vince Staples, Jorja Smith, SZA, Future, and James Blake.

Best track: "Opps (with Yugen Blakrok)" by Vince Staples, Yugen Blakrok, and Kendrick Lamar

02
Love, Simon
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Love, Simon

Why it's great: For an achingly sweet teen romantic comedy, it's only natural that the soundtrack is equally as sweet. Produced by Jack Antonoff, the track list is full of current sounds from musicians like The 1975, Bleachers, Khalid, and Troye Sivan. Antonoff wrote most of the songs for the film, including "Alfie's Song (Not So Typical Love Song)."

Best track: "Strawberries and Cigarettes" by Troye Sivan

03
A Wrinkle in Time
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A Wrinkle in Time

Why it's great: If you're an Ava DuVernay superfan like yours truly, you probably awaited her debut Disney film while radiating with excitement. Besides its talented cast and optimistic message, A Wrinkle in Time also shares with the world a top-notch soundtrack, which features a captivating score by Iranian-German composer Ramin Djawadi, and catchy singles by female powerhouses like Kehlani, Demi Lovato, Chloe X Halle, Sia, and Sade. Yes, for the first time in years, Sade created a single for this movie, and her honeyed, yet assertive timbre is sublime in "Flower of the Universe."

Best track: "Flower of the Universe" by Sade

04
Fifty Shades Freed
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Fifty Shades Freed

Why it's great: Whether you love or hate the Fifty Shades saga, you have to admit that the sexy soundtracks always kick ass. In past years, the franchise brought us Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do" and ZAYN's "I Don't Wanna Live Forever." This year, the naughty movie brought in pop's Sia, Liam Payne, Rita Ora, Julia Michaels, and Sabrina Claudio, giving us hits like "Capital Letters" and "For You." Also, we get a very sweet bonus cover of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Jamie Dornan.

Best track: "For You" by Rita Ora and Liam Payne

05
Ready Player One
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Ready Player One

Why it's great: Although it's set in 2045, Steven Spielberg's sci-fi drama features mostly fun, funky music from the '70s and '80s, bridging generational gaps between the young and old by employing songs that are more or less cemented in our musical culture. You'll instantly recognize Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover," and Earth Wind & Fire's "Can't Hide Love." Embedded in all of these oldies, there's a beautiful, futuristic rendition of Gene Wilder's "Pure Imagination" by Bryan Nguyen and Merethe Soltvedt.

Best track: "I Wanna Be Your Lover" by Prince

06
Life of the Party
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Life of the Party

Why it's great: Following the legacy of hilarious female-led movies like Bridesmaids and Trainwreck, Life of the Party is one of your go-to fun summer movies, starring the brilliant Melissa McCarthy. And like many a lighthearted summer flick, it features a catchy, upbeat soundtrack animated with jams by artists like Cyndi Lauper and Meghan Trainor, as well as a buoyant score by composer Fil Eisler.

Best track: "Woman Up" by Meghan Trainor

07
A Quiet Place
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A Quiet Place

Why it's great: A Quiet Place is all about sound design, which makes its chilling, scary score all the more powerful. The movie focuses on monsters that react to the slightest sound, so whenever the music comes on, you know that something bad is about to go down. The haunting compositions come from Marco Beltrami, who brought you the soundtracks of your nightmares, like the scores in The Woman in Black, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, and Scream.

Best track: "It Hears You" by Marco Beltrami

08
The Kissing Booth
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The Kissing Booth

Why it's great: The Kissing Booth as a movie has received mixed reviews, despite its soaring popularity among the Gen Z population. Whether or not you loved Netflix's new teen rom-com, you have to admit that the soundtrack is pretty awesome, and elicits a pleasant, breezy beach mood. It's full of feel-good indie tunes like "Run" by Vampire Weekend and "You're So Damn Hot" by OK GO. The soundtrack also includes a very special shout-out to The Breakfast Club with Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" in honor of Molly Ringwald's small role in the movie.

Best track: "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds

09
Deadpool 2
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Deadpool 2

Why it's great: Deadpool is known for his snark, so the filmmakers put classic hits like Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" to good use by layering them facetiously over grisly fight scenes in Deadpool 2. This movie also brought us one of pop culture's best moments this year with Celine Dion's "Ashes." If you haven't already checked out the hilarious accompanying video to Dion's latest hit, it involves the foul-mouthed merc doing an absurdly beautiful interpretive dance.

Best track: "Ashes" by Celine Dion

10
Solo: A Star Wars Story
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Solo: A Star Wars Story

Why it's great: No, Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) didn't write music for Solo: A Star Wars Story, despite starring in the film as Lando. But the composers John Williams and John Powell are nothing to sneeze at. John Powell, whose sounds you might know from How to Train Your Dragon, Happy Feet, and Shrek, composed most of the music, incorporating John Williams's sounds from previous Star Wars movies. Besides Williams's signature orchestral compositions, you'll also come across quirky songs like the experimental smooth jazz tune "Chicken in a Pot."

Best track: "Chicken in the Pot" by John Powell

11
Ocean's 8
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Ocean's 8

Why it's great: From Amy Winehouse's "Me and Mr. Jones" to Kelis's "Bossy," Ocean's 8 has fun with its song selection, cobbling together a collection speckled with contemporary bops. So we're not too disappointed that Rihanna and Awkwafina didn't create songs for the film. Or by the fact that James Corden didn't burst out into Carpool Karaoke mode in his minor role as an insurance fraud investigator.

Best track: "Gold On The Ceiling" by The Black Keys

12
The Incredibles 2
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The Incredibles 2

Why it's great: The sleek, retro-futuristic sounds in Incredibles 2 will make you feel like you're in a Bond spy movie. Composer Michael Giacchino is no stranger to the Disney franchise, having done work for animated films like The Incredibles and Up. As a fun twist, Frozone, Elastigirl, and Mr. Incredible also have their own acapella themes.

Best track: "A Tony Perspective" by Michael Giacchino

13
SuperFly
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SuperFly

Why it's great: Director X took on the great task of remaking one of the most iconic blaxploitation movies of all time, SuperFly. Perhaps even more iconic than the film was its soundtrack, which was produced by soul legend Curtis Mayfield, who penned hits like "Freddie's Dead" and "Superfly." The responsibility of revamping the classic soundtrack fell upon the rapper Future, who wrote 13 original songs for the project. The songs offer a fresh, modern take, with standout songs like Khalid and H.E.R.'s morose duet "This Way" and Future and PARTYNEXTDOOR's guitar shred-touting "No Shame." The soundtrack is pretty stacked as a whole, enlisting artists like Miguel, Young Thug, and 21 Savage.

Best track: "This Way" by Khalid and H.E.R.