by various artists
1991, Warner Bros. Records

 the sound: “Until the End of the World” is director Wim Wenders’ ambitious 1991 cyberpunk film. It’s 1999, and a rogue nuclear satellite is looming over the Earth, its catastrophic reentry into the planet’s atmosphere predicted. What better way to watch imminent disaster than to see it played out to the sounds of some of the world’s most talented musicians? French composer Graeme Revell has some lovely instrumental bits, but it’s the bands that make this a powerhouse soundtrack. U2 has the honor of the title track, its insidious beats and scratchy guitar tamer than the version that later ended up on their album “Achtung, Baby!” Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds perform a swaggering, saloonish, piano piece, “(I’ll Love You) Till the End of the World,” as Cave waxes poetic about impending doom. “Fretless,” performed by R.E.M. with Kate Pierson of the B-52’s, is a dark number, sounding much like a Raymond Chandler novel put to song. And Jane Sieberry, whose haunting voice is stamped all over “Twin Peaks,” gets a little help from k.d. lang on “Calling All Angels,” a bittersweet lullaby.

the background: Wenders asked the musicians to record songs that captured how they thought their music would sound in 1999, the year the film takes place. Neneh Cherry, of “Buffalo Stance” fame, contributed “Move with Me (Dub),” with a smoother, sexier dance beat than her previous recordings. Depeche Mode came up with “Death’s Door,” a somber piece with a stern keyboard line. “Will I take my rest / among the blessed? / Mother are you waiting? / Father are you pacing? / I’m knocking on death’s door.” Elvis Costello performs Ray Davies’ song “Days,” a predominantly vocal piece, with quiet guitar buzzing and groaning in the background as Costello sings out, “Thank you for the days… I won’t forget a single day, believe me.” Talking Heads lay down a wavy, natives-are-restless sound with “Sax & Violins”: “Sex ’n sin / Sax ’n violins / It’s hell / Wooden heads / Furniture with legs / For sale / Love keeps us together / and love will drive us insane.” And Lou Reed firmly establishes that he plans to stick to his same sound as he sing-talks the poppy “What’s Good” (which later appeared on his album “Magic and Loss”). Patti and Fred Smith, Daniel Lanois and T-Bone Burnett are among the other fantastic contributors.

the significance: “Footloose,” “Top Gun,” and a handful of others aside, heavy-hitting movie soundtracks were still relatively rare in the early ’90s. “Until the End of the World” is an album that far outperformed Wenders’ film, and kicked off the serious trend of multi-superstar appearances on movie soundtracks. But few have replicated the sheer brilliance and seamless sounds of “Until the End of the World,” still considered one of the most important soundtracks ever compiled. —Liberty Hardy