Even before seeing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 last week, I bought the soundtrack a good week before. Awesome Mix Vol 2 is amazing, with some hits I've heard before such as 'Mr Blue Sky' by ELO and my new favourite 'Brandy' by Looking Glass. I was such as massive fan of the first film's soundtrack as well, but this one breaks some new grounds for me - the songs really connected with the meanings and ideas better this time around, and it got me thinking about how song really gives power to a film. In short, it reflects mood, gives meaning and is there most of the time for our own personal enjoyment.

The first Guardians film does this in the same way. It was Awesome Mix Vol 1 that inspired me to give my first film 'Popman' a themed playlist. At first the film was just going to be an 80's styled film with the costume of the eponymous hero and the colour palette, but the music really helped to define my lead character and the tone of the film. Starting the film with 'I Ran' and ending the film with 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' was something I felt give the film and the character of Popman a brighter and more exuberant approach. Some of the songs meant a bit to the narrative, but were mostly there because they were my favourite songs! But I had a theme, and I was fully aware of how I wanted it to go, and the music was one of the biggest and most memorable parts to the film.

As I look forward in my own filmmaking, I'm impressed to see how many of my favourite filmmakers use song and implement it into film. David Lynch's Blue Velvet is a fantastic example. The name of the film, and some of the themes, were based off of the popular song of the same name by Bobby Vinton. Lynch claims the idea of the film stemmed from the idea of the song alone. He loathed the song at first, but after listening to the song over and over, a film idea came from it. Blue Velvet is now one of the most important post-modern films of today, and it all came from one song; which is played over and over in the film, and even sang by Isabella Rossellini's character. It's a very catchy song may I add.

My favourite director Edgar Wright is very song heavy in his films. Of course a lot of it is score in them, but if you listen out for I MONSTER's 'The Blue Wrath' in Shaun of the Dead and 'The Alabama Song' by the Doors in The World's End - they really give the scenes in which they're played some real flare and character. Scott Pilgrim is also jam packed with original songs that give it a sense of it being its own and are very rememberable. Wright's upcoming Baby Driver looks as though it'll be going for a very song based theme to the film, as we've seen from the trailers and from what Wright has come out and said, so I'm pretty thrilled for that.

Some of the most iconic scenes in film history have some of the greatest songs to accompany them. Take 'You Never Can Tell' in Pulp Fiction or 'Stuck in the Middle with you' in Reservoir Dogs that, everytime I hear them, I recall Tarantino's two works fondly, or even quite grimly in the case of the ear scene in which the famous Stealers Wheel songs plays in Dogs. I've seen some great Vietnam war films aswell, and while most of them play lots of music that the troops in the war listened to, they're incredibly iconic and Apocalypse Now's 'The End' by the Doors is an incredibly important song in enhancing the themes of the story with its powerful lyrics and fits the development of Martin Sheen's Willard superbly.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, song is a device that works hand in hand with film in many ways. Of course, the score is integral to a film, but so is song, when needed. For those who grew up in the 70's listening to the music of Guardians of the Galaxy it will be a nice call back, especially when watching a Sci-Fi film, afterall some of the greatest of that genre arrived then, such as Star Wars for example, so maybe the music in Guardians just gave everyone a nostalgic throwback, and why on earth not? Personally, song is an important tool for film in my book, and I'm overjoyed when I see it used in a film I love, and when I can decode why it's there, I'm even happier. And you can bet your bottom dollar I'm excited for Awesome Mix Vol 3.