Stranger Things: Volumes 1 & 2 Soundtrack Review

Written by R.J. MacReady

Released by Lakeshore Records

Performed by Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein
2016, 85 minutes (Volume 1) | 92 minutes (Volume 2)
Released on October 21st, 2016 (Volume 1) | October 28th, 2016 (Volume 2)

Review:

You may not have noticed, but synthwave has made a huge comeback in the past five or so years. It's that '80s sort of sound, the thing you might have heard from Tangerine Dream or Brad Fiedel in his Terminator days.

And while it's been taking off on the internet, inspiring a whole new army of artists too young to actually have been there during the original wave, it's also been making its way into the movies.

A lot of people are crediting Stranger Things for this, and maybe it deserves some credit. The Netflix-exclusive series certainly has set the world on fire and garnered a huge following, being talked about at water coolers and virally on the internet.

But I think much of the credit can go to the movie Drive, which really brought it back to the forefront, and lent an air of credibility to something people might have scoffed at in a less-regarded film. Shortly after that, The Guest followed suit, and now the phenomenon is popping up everywhere.

Artists Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein are credited for the score to Stranger Things. They're actually the band members of a group called Survive that not-so-coincidentally has songs on the soundtrack to both Drive and The Guest.

They've crafted an amazing soundtrack full of haunting, wonderous synth music. Pretty much every piece you heard during the eight-episode series is on these volumes. Volume One features about 75 minutes of music and ends when Hawkins enters the lab, while Volume Two is even longer – about 92 minutes – and features an extended Stranger Things theme track.

So if you're a fan of the show – and if you've seen it then you probably are a fan – this is a must-have set of songs that you most likely wanted as soon as you were done watching the show. These two volumes are a whole lot of great music.

Grades:

Overall: 4.5 Star Rating Cover
Cover

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R.J. MacReady
Staff Reviewer
RJ MacReady digs horror movies, even though his first memory of horror films is watching the first Friday the 13th movie while a bear mauled his family in the other room. He admits that most of his bio is as fake as his moniker, but witness protection won't let him use his real name.
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