Footloose was a throwback to '50s rock & roll movies, with a silly plot about a town where it was illegal to dance. It was a major hit, as was its soundtrack, which spent a grand total of ten weeks at number one and selling over seven million copies. It's easy to see why -- the album delivers its mainstream pop, anthemic rock, and light dance-pop with style and abundance of hooks. Six of the nine tracks became Top 40 hits and three -- Kenny Loggins' bouncy title song, the excellent power ballad "Almost Paradise...Love Theme From Footloose" -- a duet between Loverboy's Mike Reno and Heart's Ann Wilson, and Deniece Williams' frothy, charming "Let's Hear It For the Boy" -- shot into the Top 10.

The sound and production of Footloose functions as a time capsule of a certain moment in pop music history, and many of the songs are catchy enough to transcend their production. There's nothing of substance on the Footloose soundtrack, but it's a light, entertaining listen. Sometimes, that can be better than something substantial.