Ever notice how in any movie, show, or game with singing, if the villain gets a song, it’s the best one on the soundtrack? Makes sense; everyone knows villains are more interesting than heroes, which means so are their tastes in music.
Know what else makes sense? Combining all the best villain songs into one evil, awesome soundtrack. Putting this album together has been a project I’ve been meaning to get to for a while now. And since it’s almost Halloween, I figured I’d also share it here so others can go out and do likewise.
So partly in the spirit of the holiday, and partly because it’s just a good idea anytime of the year, here’s my Ultimate (So Far) Villain Song Soundtrack. I reserve the right to come back and add to it as new villains with new musical accompaniment arise in the stuff I watch and play.
Some notes before we get going:
- This is obviously all subjective, and there’s probably a few things on here you either may not have heard of or may not care about. That’s fair. I recommend giving the more esoteric choices a shot, but every choice on this list is ultimately optional.
- Except the Disney songs. Those aren’t negotiable. Neither are the first nine or so songs on the list, either of the Portal songs, or anything sung by Tim Curry. And you must include at least one of the three songs concerning the devil or you’re not doing this right.
- The order’s not entirely random, but I also didn’t wrack my brain about it. For the most part, I just tried to keep like things spread evenly apart so it doesn’t start out with a dozen Disney songs and then turn into a videogame soundtrack, or something like that.
- Most of these choices are self-explanatory. When they’re not, or whenever I feel the need to say something about them, I’ve stuck notes in. I flirted with the idea of reviewing each and every choice a bit, but…no. Maybe later. Probably not, though.
- This should also be self-explanatory, but just in case, the layout is “Song name – Who’s singing it (What song or game it’s from).”
Now without further ado, the playlist.
The Ultimate (So Far) Villain Song Soundtrack
- When You’re Evil – Voltaire
*Not really a villain song, but it primes the mood. - Be Prepared – Scar (Lion King)
- In the Dark of the Night – Rasputin (Anastasia)
- Friends on the Other Side – Dr. Facilier (Princess and the Frog)
- Oogie Boogie’s Song – Oogie Boogie (Nightmare Before Christmas)
- Brand New Day – Dr. Horrible (Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog)
- Hellfire – Judge Frolo (Hunchback of Notre Dame)
- Joker’s Song – Miracle of Sound (Batman: Arkham City)
*Go check them out if you haven’t already. MoS is a one-man band that plays all kinds of song styles and genres, most of which are based on/inspired by everyone’s favorite video games and movies. Seriously, Gavin Dunne’s a musical genius, and this won’t be his last entry on this list. - Suppertime – Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors)
- EGGMAN – Dr. Eggman (Sonic Adventure 2)
*Not to be confused with the Eggman who is also the Walrus, goo goo g’ joob. - Once Upon a Dream – Lana Del Ray (Maleficent)
*This is a bit of a logical stretch, I admit, but one that holds up. The song is from the live-action movie where Maleficent is the hero; she doesn’t get a song in the animated movie where she’s the villain. But as she’s one of the best villainesses in Disney’s canon, she can’t not be represented here somewhere. - D.E.V.I.L. – Mayhayley’s Grave’s
* Either not technically a villain song, or the ultimate villain song, depending on your point of view. Regardless, I think it adds spice. Mayhayley’s Grave is a local Georgia band with a very interesting ragtime-meets-swing-meets-gypsy-meets-swampland-meets-voodoo kinda sound to them, and I highly recommend checking them out. - A Little Priest – Mrs. Lovett & Sweeney Todd (Sweeney Todd)
- Poor Unfortunate Souls – Ursula (Little Mermaid)
- The Cell Block Tango – The Six Merry Murderesses (Chicago)
*Also known as He Had It Coming. - Open Your Heart – Crush 40 (Sonic Adventure)
*The final battle music against Perfect Chaos. And let’s get this out of the way before we go any further: There’s quite a few Sonic songs on this list. Sonic seems to be one of those franchises you either really like or really don’t. Anybody who knows me knows I’m in the first camp, though I’ll readily admit that a whole lot of his games lately have been…substantially less than great, let’s say. The Sonic songs I’m including on this list are mostly from the good games, though, and when they’re not, I still like them. You don’t gotta include ‘em if you don’t wanna, but I urge you to at least keep EGGMAN where it’s at. Dr. Robotnik’s been a baddie long enough to merit the appearance. - Mother Knows Best (Reprise) – Mother Gothel (Tangled)
- The Mirror & Phantom of the Opera – The Phantom & Christine Daaé (Phantom of the Opera)
*Technically two songs, but for maximum awesome, the first needs to play directly into the second like it does in the movie. - Gaston – Gaston (Beauty and the Beast)
- BRAINS! – Voltaire (The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy)
- Toxic Love – Hexxus (Ferngully)
- Main Theme – Zim (Invader Zim)
*I’m trying to limit the instrumentals on this playlist or else the number of songs would hit the triple digits. But I’ll make an exception for Zim. Anyway, he laughs at the end, so that’s almost kind of a lyric, right? - Prince Ali (Reprise) – Jafar (Aladdin)
- Throw it All Away – Shadow (Sonic Adventure 2)
*A lot of people who bother to form opinions on the topic consider Shadow the Hedgehog to be a clear symbol of everything wrong with the more modern, more awful Sonic games – the ones that kept introducing more and more new characters and “deeper,” “edgier” storylines rather than make the games fun to play. These people aren’t wrong. But Shadow’s first appearance in SA2 was much more bearable than his later incarnations. This song is from back when he was still enjoyable as a character. - Sweet Transvestite – Dr. Frankenfurter (Rocky Horror)
- Beelzeboss – Tenacious D (Pick of Destiny)
- Still Alive – GLaDOS (Portal)
- The Devil Went Down to Georgia – Steve Ouimette (Guitar Hero 3)
*Devil song two of three. I’m including the metal cover because it’s also the final boss song against Lou in Guitar Hero 3, which makes it doubly qualified to be here. - Kalros – Miracle of Sound (Mass Effect 3)
*More Gavin Dunne. Also, whether or not Kalros from Mass Effect 3 is really villainous is debatable, but I’m including her on the grounds that you’ve been fighting and almost being eaten by her kind plenty of times by the time you meet her in the third game, and she could have just as easily finished what the rest of her species started if things had gone a bit differently. - Want You Gone – GLaDOS (Portal 2)
- What I’m Made Of – Crush 40 (Sonic Heroes)
*Sonic Heroes was bad. It’s a bad game. It had promise, but failed horribly in execution. But this is the Metal Sonic final boss music and generally rockin’ besides. Trust me. - Jack the Ripper vs. Hannibal Lecter (Epic Rap Battles of History)
*I debated this one a bit, but ultimately decided that two serial killers battling lyrically was too apropos to pass up. - Cruella deVille – Roger Radcliffe (101 Dalmatians)
- Kill Da Wabbit – Elmer Fudd (Looney Tunes)
*Gotta appreciate the classics. - Snuff Out the Light – Yzma (Emperor’s New Groove)
*This song didn’t actually make it into the movie, but it exists, and it’s catchy. - Godzilla – Blue Öyster Cult
- I’m Mean – Bluto (Popeye)
- Binary Divide – Miracle of Sound (The Darkness)
*Jackie Estacado is technically an antihero, but the Darkness he carries is definitely his biggest antagonist in the long run, so I’m counting it. Also, this song’s evil as hell. A bit more screechy than I usually go in for with my metal, but worth it. - You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch – Thurl Ravenscroft (The Grinch)
- I Am…All of Me – Shadow (Shadow the Hedgehog)
*More Sonic, I know, I know. This song’s technically about Shadow, who’s technically an antihero by this point and in this game, but it also plays during the fight with Devil Doom. And yes, I played Shadow the Hedgehog all the way through, and yes, it was absolutely ridiculous in its attempts to be “dark” and “edgy,” and no, it’s not a very good game. But it also isn’t as godawful as a lot of the commentary surrounding it suggests, it’s really not. And it’s far from the worst of the 3D Sonic games. That’s not a high bar in the slightest these days, admittedly, but…anyway, moving on. - Burn My Dread -Last Battle- – Yumi Kawamura/Lotus Juice (Persona 3)
*The battle music that plays during the confrontation with the final, final boss. A bit esoteric, and it’s not actually the villain singing it, but I love it, and it’s my playlist, so there. - Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones and/or Guns N’ Roses
*One last devil song to wrap things up nicely. Pick whichever version you prefer, or go back-to-back.
Happy Halloween, everybody. Sorry I spent so much time talking about Sonic the Hedgehog. Honestly, I was surprised by that too.
