Amoeba Music

The prequel to Monsters Inc., this finds the Monsters taking on higher education, with Billy Crystal's Mike Wazowski majoring in scaring and battling John Goodman's "Sully" Sullivan for top honors in the field. Grand old man of L.A. Tin Pan Alley Randy Newman lays down a classic soundtrack full of tunes wry, wondering, sentimental and delightful, taking a break just long enough to let the Swedish House Mafia guys blast off a tune appropriately titled "Roar". It's a good thing those Pixar films are suave and snappy enough to live up to a soundtrack this classy.

The minions are back and so is Pharrell Williams, once again lending his knack for absurdly bouncy pop to the blockbuster sequel. While Steve Carell's Gru gets yanked out of retirement to help the Anti-Villain League battle a nefarious new evildoer, Pharrell and Heitor Pereira whip up a technicolor froth of party beats and joyful soul, most notably Pharrell's delightful pop tune "Happy" and the explosive Cee-Lo vehicle "Scream". Pharrell is the perfect soundtrack for a kid's movie -- he's so hyperdanceable and chipper, he's like Brenton Wood, the Monkees and the Jackson 5 rolled into one. If they weren't stuck on this soundtrack, some of these tunes could even give his Daft Punk star turn "Get Lucky" some serious competition.