Known for their seamless blend of analog warmth and digital precision, The Ringer Soundtrack crafts sparkling, dynamic pop songs that transcend era-specific labels. Drawing on both vintage synthesizers and cutting-edge production techniques, the band’s work taps into the energy of pop icons while pushing boundaries into contemporary realms. Their music captures the essence of unforgettable pop melodies. Put simply, The Ringer Soundtrack creates a sonic world where the past and the present are not at odds but exist in harmony. We asked the guys to give us their all time top ten!
Album 1: Fleetwood Mac Rumours
Submitted By: The Ringer Soundtrack
We debated Let It Bleed. Synchronicity. (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Hell we even threw out …Is A Real Boy. But we landed on Rumours. Why? The songs. The sequencing. The performances. The melodies. The drama. And despite the drama, or maybe because of the drama, we get the best songwriting, best drums, best keyboards and best group vocal/harmonies sounds in the last 50 years. Recorded at the legendary Sound City in Los Angeles, this album also boasts one of the great tales of how a hit song was made. The story goes that Lindsay and Stevie were fighting, and she left the main session for Studio B. She went in there away from the band with a candle and a notebook and came back w/ Dreams written in about an hour. Brought it back to the main room and stuffed it in Buckingham's face. That’s punk rock.
Album 2: The Beatles Revolver
Submitted By: Mick
A lot of people will cite this album as the moment the Beatles abandoned the happy, live version of themselves and adopted a more studio-focused, composition-centric iteration. That transformation really was evident on Rubber Soul, which they’ll themselves say was heavily influenced by Greenwich Village Dylan and their desire to be more respected as songwriters. IMO, Rubber Soul was the exposition of shedding that prior skin, but Revolver was the climax of that transformation. It’s got a great 1-3 which is basically your topic paragraph… your thesis. And the thesis of this record was “Taxman” (George), “Eleanor Rigby” (Paul), and “I’m Only Sleeping” (John). You were starting to hear their individual songwriting talents start to be pulled apart from the more amorphous Beatles sound, and I loved that they eschewed the polished production and songwriting of “Norweigian Wood” and “In My Life” for the absolutely wild and audacious sounds on “And Your Bird Can Sing.” Even though Sgt. Peppers followed, Revolver held the seeds to The White Album.
Album 3: The Clash Combat Rock
Submitted By: Ross
I grew up always finding something new. As a teenager headlong into the New England punk scene, I loved listening to the roots of punk, Sex Pistols, The Business, The Damned – a lot of amazing rock. For The Clash - this album was their best. Songs that showed their flexibility from the punk sound of the era and added world vibe. While it was best known for its two radio hits, the songs like “Red Angel Dragnet,” “Straight to Hell,” and “Sean Flynn” were what showed the musical prowess and flexibility they had in one record. “This is a public service announcement...WITH GUITAR.”
Album 4: Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy
Submitted By: Brando
It was the summer before my junior year. My friend and I had just cleaned out my bedroom’s walk-in closet that had been used for storage, exposing a glorious 1980s emerald green carpeting that looked brand new. We made this my new bedroom so that we could sneak out on the roof more easily. Unfortunately, I got the worst poison ivy of my life and spent the summer just sitting in this room on a beanbag chair cranking the A/C and listening to “Houses of the Holy.” I’m a huge Zep-Head, and this album was in heavy rotation at a much younger age for me, but I revisited it during this period of my life and found it to be their most cohesive, thoughtful and beautiful album. If you’re not sure about Led Zeppelin, this album may add to your confusion -- it’s just different, man.
Album 5: Nirvana In Utero
Submitted By: Mick
I loved Nirvana from the very moment I saw the “All Apologies” MTV Unplugged Live in New York music video. I was maybe 10 or 11 years old but I just remember being so struck by the questions he was posing in the song. At the time I did not know it was the second to last song in the set but it sure felt like an album closer. I have always been somewhat obsessed with the beginnings and ends of records, the sequencing in between… so I was extremely gratified to hear the electric version on the radio one day, just scanning the dial. I was blown away. AN ELECTRIC “ALL APOLOGIES”? I had my mom take me to Strawberries. Yeah it was the last track. You can imagine the rest: Headphones on, dissolve into Steve Albini’s glorious drum sounds and Fender feedback.
Album 6: The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium
Submitted By: Brando
What a time to be alive! I read a press release before this album came out back in the day and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I kept the SPIN mag in my car to let any passenger know that Fruciante and Flea were going to be on an album with the guys from At The Drive-In, produced by Rick Rubin. This album sounds insanely good, with the thunderous drumming of Jon Theodore (who Ruin requested play a steel shell kit) and Cedric shocking the world with his surreal vocal range (kept under wraps in ATDI). The songs, vibe, sound, and art reverberate with me as strong as they did back in high school with this one!
Album 7: The Cars Shake It Up
Submitted By: Ross
It's hard for me to pick my favorite Cars album, but if I had to, Shake It Up is the one. This was a record that was in my parents collection that I probably wore the grooves off of. Starting with "Since You're Gone" and rolling right through to “Shake It Up,” “Victim of Love,” “Stranger Eyes,” “Cruiser” -- it's just an album that flows. While I enjoyed the step up in production on their next album, Shake It Up is gas – unforgettable, constant hooks from beginning to end.
Album 8: Thursday Full Collapse
Submitted By: Brando
Oh yes, Full Collapse… drive in the rain and listen to this one, my friends. Truly pushing the limits of what a post-hardcore/screamo band was capable of - this album is front to back a masterpiece in my mind. Pensive lyrics from Geoff Rickly touch on our own mortality, love and loss, powerfully delivered over their dimed Matchless amps, crushing overdriven bass, and tight drums. I heard their producer wrote the three-note guitar lead in “Understanding in a Car Crash” from an unnamed reputable source, so I like to do my part in spreading that rumor whenever possible.
Album 9: Dinosaur Jr Where You Been?
Submitted By: Ross
One year I got a free VHS copy of "Rock Video Monthly" in the mail -- yes I know I said a lot of old stuff in a sentence -- "Rock Video" "VHS" and "mail". Shush. The music videos featured a ton of alternative groups, Belly, PJ Harvey, Bosstones. And Dinosaur Jr – when that first guitar lick hit from the song “Out There”, then J Mascis’ voice hit and it was the perfect sound for my life at the time. "Where You Been" doesn't stop except at the end. The perfect blend of grunge, rock and melancholy. Guitar work that will frustrate anyone trying to learn it, but infectious hooks that made them a highly overlooked group of the ‘90s.
Album 10: Jimmy Eat World Clarity
Submitted By: Mick
If the stars had a soundtrack, this is it. I love the sequencing of records -- I think the track order really matters to the listener interpreting what the artist is all about and what the artist wants to say… what they want to impress on the listener and how they want them to feel. It’s the communion point. I’m shouting something into the sky, and someone is reaching into the sky and pulling it down because it’s their star.
The other thing about this album is its pace. It gradually opens like the night sky – slowly but surely, almost imperceptibly getting darker as the moon and stars come out. The record doesn’t single or explode until the 10th track — slowly building the story and the momentum over the first 30-plus minutes. A total testament to the way Jimmy Eat World leans into nuance both in sound and in the inspiration for the songs. A 10/10 like this required a perfect marriage between the artist trying to do something special and the producer/engineer (Mark Trombino) making it soar high into the atmosphere. Dan Nigro of As Tall As Lions has this talent too. Twinkle emo bands love to credit American Football but American Football never wrote a “For Me This Is Heaven”.
Pro Tip: Listen to this record after 8 p.m. in the summer with the windows down on a long drive.