There are a number of important pieces that make up a great film. The performances, obviously, are the most notable, and then there’s the direction, the cinematography, the production design, etc. While the aim of a great movie is to make everything seamless so that the audience doesn’t notice the individual pieces, it’s nevertheless important to remember that a genuinely great film is not the result of just one or two things clicking—it’s a collaboration between all the departments. And one such department that sometimes goes wholly unnoticed is the film’s music.

The composer’s job, specifically, is to compliment everything that’s happening onscreen. By its very nature, a film score should almost always blend in with the rest of the film, subconsciously cueing your brain/heart to recognize certain character themes, build tension, or scare you out of your seat. It is a vital aspect of filmmaking and, when perfectly in tune with the director’s overall vision, can help elevate any number of individual scenes. Even in bad films, a great score can make the endeavor worthwhile.

But scores aren’t invisible, and there are plenty worthy of praise all on their own. In 2015 alone we’ve seen some truly tremendous—and varied—work in the world of film scores, and so when putting together a list of the Top 10 of the year, paring the shortlist down to an even 10 proved quite difficult. As you’ll see, it’s been a diverse year in terms of film music, and that’s all the better. I present to you the 10 best films scores of 2015.

10. Star Wars: The Force Awakens - John Williams

Anticipation for the return of John Williams to the world of Star Wars itself was nearly on par with anticipation for Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a whole. One of our greatest film composers of all time was returning to the franchise where he had created a number of iconic themes. And indeed, Williams does some really terrific work here, especially with “Rey’s Theme”. The score may not be as instantly iconic as anything from the original trilogy or even the prequel trilogy, but there’s plenty to love, from the way he infuses the film with echoes of his original themes, to his thrilling and foreboding work on Kylo Ren’s scenes. Subsequent rewatches of the movie further make the elegance of Williams’ work clear, but at its core the music for The Force Awakens ranks among this year’s best.

9. Mad Max: Fury Road - Junkie XL

For something as masterfully visceral as Mad Max: Fury Road, the companion score needed to be similarly bombastic. Indeed, composer Tom Holkenberg’s (aka Junkie XL) score is loud, brash, and propulsive, immersing the viewer that much further into the colorful insanity that is Fury Road. But Holkenberg’s score isn’t all diesel and flames—he surprises with sweeping emotional themes at perfectly timed moments, moving from a mechanical foundation to strings and orchestra. The quiet, introspective moments are just as important to the film’s success as its thrilling action sequences, and Holkenberg’s score serves all aspects of this masterpiece incredibly well.

8. Steve Jobs - Daniel Pemberton

Aaron Sorkin’s pitter-patter dialogue is almost its own form of music, but Daniel Pemberton’s score for Steve Jobs provides a lovely harmony to Sorkin’s melody. More importantly, he understands the conscious divide of the film’s protagonist, and manages to find a balance between cold, hard electronic that represents Jobs’ business side while also integrating an operatic, symphonic, grand artist aching to get out. It’s a score that always keeps pace with Jobs’ explosive temperament, and when it syncs up with Sorkin’s words, the result is breathtaking. – Matt Goldberg

7. The Danish Girl - Alexandre Desplat

With only five scores this year (two for American films), composer Alexandre Desplat is really slacking off. Regardless, one of the best composers working today reteams with his The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper for the delicate transgender drama The Danish Girl, resulting in a tremendously touching score. While there are minor similarities to Desplat’s work on The Imitation Game here, it’s no less striking. The score takes the audience through the emotional wringer as we track the transformation of Eddie Redmayne’s Lili Elbe into a woman, and the equally difficult toll it takes on Lili’s wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander). The score is at sometimes doll-like in its delicateness, which is a reflection of the gentle touch with which Hooper handles this subject matter, but Desplat also isn’t afraid to go bigger while keeping a focus on intimacy.

6. Inside Out - Michael Giacchino

Michael Giacchino is a bona fide Pixar regular, having crafted the scores for The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Cars 2, and Up, the latter of which landed him an Oscar. So given the quality of his work with the animation studio and the fact that he was reteaming with Up director Pete Docter on Inside Out, we kinda figured we’d be getting something special. However, I’m not sure we were prepared for just how emotional Giacchino’s score would be. To be fair, Inside Out is all about emotions, so it’s fitting that even the first few notes of the film’s score can conjure a lump in your throat.

Giacchino’s dynamic work on the film builds on the foundation of innocence and childhood, slowly growing into a tone that mourns the loss of said innocence as we follow the journey of Riley struggling with more complex emotions. It’s an incredible piece of work that's notable not only for its melodic strength, but the range of tones and colors Giacchino goes through over the course of the film. The result is one of Giacchino’s best, and for a composer with such a dense and diverse filmography, that’s saying something.

5. It Follows - Disasterpiece

One of the year’s best horror films also boasts one of the year’s best scores. Writer/director David Robert Mitchell enlisted musician/composer Disasterpiece to provide the soundtrack for his minimalist horror pic, and boy did he deliver. The film evokes the horror classics of the early 80s, most specifically John Carpenter’s Halloween, and Disasterpiece’s score fittingly feels like a throwback to a bygone era. But what makes this score special is that it’s not only reminiscent of a horror movie score from the 80s, it’s incredibly effective as a piece of contemporary film music as well. It works perfectly to accentuate the dread and tension that permeate throughout the film, and while it’s certainly different than most modern horror scores, it is leagues more effective.

4. Carol - Carter Burwell

By this point we know that composer Carter Burwell has the goods, but he still manages to surprise with a score like Carol, which is a beautiful marriage between composer and subject matter. Burwell’s score here is, put simply, lovely. He’s able to capture the allure of Cate Blanchett’s titular character as well as the flowering of Rooney Mara’s Therese, who is slowly growing into her sexuality as a young closeted lesbian in 1950s New York City. While the easy play here would’ve been to layer the entire score with a sense of foreboding or uncertainty, that’s not the thrust of director Todd Haynes’ film, and so instead Burwell’s score is one of excitement and passion. It’s a beautifully delicate piece of work, and it fits perfectly with the film’s soft Christmastime aesthetic.

3. Spotlight - Howard Shore

How do you create a score that is both hard-charging and determined yet also mournful and restrained? Listen to Howard Shore’s magnificent work for Spotlight. It’s remarkable that something so minimalist could come from the same composer who took us on an epic journey across Middle-Earth, but his music for Spotlight shows he has no problem paring down and finding the essential emotions to help support a story of journalists digging to find the truth behind the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal. Relying mostly on piano, Spotlight almost has the feel of a dirge and provides a constant reminder of innocence lost. – Matt Goldberg

2. Sicario - Jóhann Jóhannsson

The Theory of Everything composer Jóhann Jóhannsson pulls a 180 with his score for Denis Villeneuve’s stellar thriller Sicario, crafting something that is sinister, hard-edged, and above all, haunting. From the film’s opening moments the score serves to tell the audience that they are not in for a sunny, optimistic tale of Americans taking down a drug cartel. Instead, the film is a murky chronicle of violence, and the score lives in the gray area between good and bad, signaling to viewers that a happy ending is not to be expected.

This is a rough, heavy, angry score that I could not get out of my head for weeks after first seeing the film, and Jóhannsson’s mix of mood with melody is nothing short of brilliant. Tonally it’s somewhat ambient in nature, but there’s a melodic propulsiveness to the score that makes it impossible to pull out of your brain.

1. The Hateful Eight - Ennio Morricone

Quentin Tarantino’s first use of an original score is, fittingly, quite evocative. The filmmaker teamed up with Ennio Morricone (but of course) to craft some original music for his contained, tension-filled Western The Hateful Eight, and the result is nothing short of spectacular. From the opening overture it’s clear that Morricone has conjured something special here, as the score at once evokes the brutality of the film’s setting and the inevitability of violence bubbling just under the surface of every single scene. Portions of Morricone’s score are actually outtakes from the score he composed for John Carpenter’s The Thing, which is fitting given that The Thing was clearly a heavy influence on Tarantino’s fraught Western.

But all that aside, the terrifying, propulsive original theme that Morricone created specifically for The Hateful Eight is, quite simply, the best piece of film music put together this year.

Honorable Mentions: Anomalisa, Beasts of No NationCrimson Peak, Ex Machina

For more of Collider's Best of 2015 coverage, peruse the links below.