Home Alone: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
AllMusic; Amazon; Apple Music; B&N; Discogs; Wikipedia

This came out in 1990, the same year as the movie Home Alone. Most of the songs on the album were composed by John Williams, so you know they're good (and mostly instrumental). There are some traditional Christmas carols, too, which are also good. (A couple of songs from the movie are missing from the soundtrack: "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Run Run Rudolph". Wikipedia doesn't mention which versions of those songs were in the movie, and I don't remember it well enough to even guess at the second, but the first I'm fairly sure was the original Brenda Lee version. But I could be wrong.

1. Theme from Home Alone, also called "Somewhere In My Memory": This has a very nostalgic feel to it, which I think would be the case whether you've seen the movie or not. Most of it is instrumental, but there's also some lovely choral singing. It's one of the musical pieces I remember best from the movie, naturally.

2. Holiday Flight: This is something I've always associated with "The Nutcracker". And there's a good reason for that. I don't know much about orchestral music or anything like that, but I have a hard time crediting John Williams with this piece. I like it, though. This is also one I remember well. I just wish it were longer.

3. The House: This sounds to me like something that could be in a Krampus movie, hinting at danger but not quite there yet.

4. Star of Bethlehem: Nice, but despite the title it sounds only slightly Christmasy to me.

5. Man of the House: This doesn't sound significantly different to me from "The House". It's just longer.

6. "White Christmas", by The Drifters: Fun rendition of the song.

7. Scammed by a Kindergartener: This is kind of playful.

8. "Please Come Home for Christmas", by Southside Johnny Lyon: A good rendition.

9. Follow that Kid! ...Ooh, this one's kinda menacing.

10. Making the Plane: This just sounds like "Holiday Flight" again.

11. O Holy Night: I've always wished I knew the name of the choir singing this. I quite like it.

12. Carol of the Bells: I also wish I knew who sang this. It's one of my favorite renditions ever. I wish it were longer.

13: Star of Bethlehem: This time it has lyrics. It's good, I guess.

14. Setting the Trap: This has light hints of "Carol of the Bells" in it. It's sort of exciting, like something you'd hear in an adventure movie.

15. Somewhere In My Memory: This is basically just the lyrical portion of the theme music.

16. The Attack on the House: At almost 7 minutes, this is the longest track on the album. I alternates between ominous and inviting. (But the invitingness is ominous in its own way, if you think about it.) It eventually starts sounding really dangerous. Then it reprises bits of the theme music. I dunno, it's kind of all over the place, but it does a good job of scoring the feeling of various scenes in the movie. (Well, I guess pretty much all of the music does that.)

17. Mom Returns and Finale: This is once again basically the theme music. But maybe a little different. As the title suggests, it has more of the feel of a movie finale. It's really happy.

18. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", by Mel Tormé: It's a cozy song to begin with, and Tormé makes it especially cozy. It almost sounds like it was recorded specifically for this movie. (And for all I know it could have been, I have no idea. But I doubt it.)

19. We Wish You a Merry Christmas/End Title: As is usual for end titles, this seems to be a mix of a little bit of everything from the movie's score. Well, some bits of the score, anyway. Mostly the theme music.

So, my thinking is that the soundtrack is best enjoyed if you're already a fan of the movie, which only makes sense. But it's something you should be able to enjoy even if you've never seen the movie. In fact it might be nice to be able to listen to it on its own merits without it bringing up any sense of the movie. I'd give it three whole smileys, but I'm gonna deduct a quarter just for so much repetition of the theme. (Even though that kind of thing is pretty common in movie scores.)