While it doesn't happen super often, it's not incredibly uncommon for soundtracks to popular films to jump up the billboard charts. Hell, it was just earlier this year that Disney's animated hit Frozen wound up taking the top spot. As a result, the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack doing the exact same thing may not sound like that big of a deal - but the reality is that it has done something that no other soundtrack in history has.
According to Billboard.com, the compilation of songs picked out by writer/director James Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy, best known as "Awesome Mix Vol. 1," has not only reached the top of the Billboard 200, but is the first soundtrack ever to do so without featuring a single new song. Instead, the album only consists of pop and rock songs that were released in the 1960s and 1970s, including:
1. Blue Swede – Hooked on a Feeling2. Raspberries – Go All the Way3. Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky4. David Bowie – Moonage Daydream5. Elvin Bishop – Fooled Around and Fell in Love6. 10Cc – I’m Not in Love7. Jackson 5 – I Want You Back8. Redbone – Come and Get Your Love9. The Runaways – Cherry Bomb10. Rupert Holmes – Escape (The Pina Colada Song)11. The Five Stairsteps – O-O-H Child12. Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
Of all of the tracks, the only one that's not actually featured in the movie is "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, but the song was a big part of the Guardians of the Galaxy marketing campaign and was, presumably, originally going to be included in the movie (a big part of me hopes that the sequence featuring the music will be included as a deleted scene on the eventual Blu-ray/DVD release).
Those of you who have been tracking Guardians of the Galaxy since the start of this year probably aren't too surprised that the movie's soundtrack is performing as well as it is. When the first trailer for the movie debuted in the spring, it actually caused the song in the trailer - "Hooked on a Feeling" by Blue Swede - to rocket up the Billboard charts. Given how well the Marvel film implements the soundtrack and how catchy every single track is, it's not a huge shock that people are going out in droves to purchase it.
To get into a bit of SPOILER territory (leave now if you don't want to hear this!), the good news is that the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise will probably continue using great music as one of its trademark qualities as the story moves into the confirmed Guardians of the Galaxy 2. At the end of the first movie, it's revealed that Peter Quill's dying mother actually made him a second mixtape - "Awesome Mix, Vol. 2" - which is actually what introduces "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" to the film's soundscape. Here's hoping that James Gunn can go beyond the magic he's already produced and can put together an equally impressive track list for the sequel.
