For a modern interpretation of a Dickens classic, director Alfonso Cuaron took to modern music for his 1998 film Great Expectations. Though the film's reactions were mixed, what Cuaron used to enhance his version of the story was simply brilliant. Though Cuaron could have easily used a score for this film, he chose to go with music of the time, Britpop, ambient and post-grunge. Taking B-Sides from artists like Pulp and Chris Cornell and using them in memorable scenes between the films two main characters helped paint the picture even bolder. The soundtrack which features original music from Tori Amos and Duncan Sheik it also used classed songs from Iggy Pop, Grateful Dead and album tracks from Scott Weiland, Poe and Mono that served as a fantastic mix to the story telling and even on it's own, the soundtrack to Great Expectations is a perfect time capsule to what was being played in 1998. Even with the classic songs on the album, it showed how strong the influence people like The Dead and Iggy had on the bands of that era. It plays like a great compilation and one of the few soundtracks where it stands taller than the actual film.
