Pretty much ever since Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had a killer soundtrack. From Kendrick Lamar’s concept album for Black Panther to all the Led Zeppelin in Thor: Ragnarok to ’90s bangers in Captain Marvel, it’s been wall-to-wall earworms. Taika Waititi was not content to let his latest, Thor: Love and Thunder, just skate by without its own distinctive collection of songs. The movie heavily features music from perennial hard rock favorites Guns N’ Roses, as well as some surprisingly soft ballads. Think of it as a playlist of two halves; “Love” and “Thunder.”
Luckily you can now jam out to all of Thor: Love and Thunder‘s music, as we all Michael Giacchino’s awesome original score, in the official playlist. Available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora, it’s 111 minutes of pure sonic Valhalla. And the movie’s only 119 minutes long, so you basically get to hear the entire film.
In terms of “Love,” we have songs like Enya’s “Only Time,” ABBA’s “Our Last Summer,” and Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair.” The Enya song especially makes an impression for its particular placement in the movie. I laughed, I bet you did too.
On the “Thunder” side, it’s a mini GNR greatest hits! “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Paradise City,” and “November Rain,” each more epic than the last. And just to show the movie only shills for one rock band, the playlist also feature’s the Dio track “Rainbow in the Dark,” very thematically resonant. Axl Heimdallson would approve.
As with his recent score for The Batman, looking at the track listings for Giacchino’s score is a pun masterclass. Titles like “A Gorr Phobia” and “The Ax Games” are pretty genius; titles like “Indigarr with the Diva” and “Bawl and Jane” are next-level perfection. Gosh darn you, Michael.
We can’t wait for Thor’s next adventure, or what music awaits us in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Surely Waititi and James Gunn are having a secret “needle drop war” for soundtrack supremacy. Or at least we’d like to hope so.
Thor: Love and Thunder is in theaters now.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.
