John Carpenter’s “Halloween” music? A “Star Wars” compendium? It’s no shock to see these show up on a list of soundtrack label Varèse Sarabande’s historical 10 biggest selling albums.
More surprising? Non-genre soundtracks like “Rudy” and “The Man from Snowy River,” which film music fans snatched up in numbers matching some of the more obvious fare.
Here are the imprint’s 10 most popular releases from their first 40 years:1.
“Ghost”Maurice Jarre, 1990Varèse’s sole platinum album to date, selling an estimated 1.5 million units.
Its inclusion of the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” accounted for many of these sales.2.
“Terminator 2: Judgment Day”Brad Fiedel, 1991Fiedel’s electronic score proved enduringly popular.3.
“The Star Wars Trilogy”Varujan Kojian conducting Utah Symphony, 1983One of several classic film-score recordings produced for Varèse by George Korngold with London orchestras.4.
“The Last of the Mohicans”Joel McNeely conducting Royal Scottish National Orchestra, 2000New recording
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