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How this ranking defines the album
The album was released November 22, 2024. Apple Music’s standard listing shows 13 songs and a 56-minute runtime; a separate bonus-track edition lists 14 songs. Those totals reflect the store’s edition listings, not 13 or 14 distinct main songs: the official label track list has 11 main entries, and the digital-only “Ozdust Duet” is an additional bonus. This ranking orders the 11 main tracks, then considers the bonus separately rather than treating an alternate edition as a different song.
The performances are led by Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, with Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, and Peter Dinklage also represented. Stephen Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics. Song order here is evaluative, not the album’s official sequence or a claim of consensus.
The 11 main songs, ranked
1. “Defying Gravity”
The film’s emotional and musical summit earns the top place because the song turns Elphaba’s choice into an unmistakable act of self-definition. Erivo’s vocal performance gives the climactic material both force and vulnerability, while the orchestration and staging make the moment feel earned rather than simply loud. It is also the track most able to stand alone: even without the scene, its rising momentum and memorable refrain carry the character’s transformation.
#1 Best Overall
- Wicked: The Soundtrack features performances by the stars of Universal Pictures' cinematic event with music and lyrics by legendary composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz
2. “Dancing Through Life”
Jonathan Bailey’s buoyant performance makes this ensemble number a persuasive portrait of Fiyero’s easygoing philosophy—and of the social energy he brings into the story. Its rhythmic lift and theatrical movement make it one of the soundtrack’s most immediately enjoyable listens. It ranks just below the finale because its charm is more tied to its scene and ensemble than “Defying Gravity” is to its own.
3. “No One Mourns the Wicked”
This opening number has the difficult job of introducing Oz, its public story about Elphaba, and the gap between celebration and grief. It does so with a strong chorus and musical ideas that help establish the film’s world. Grande’s Glinda anchors the scene, and the song’s theatrical scale makes it an effective beginning as well as a satisfying standalone ensemble piece.
4. “Popular”
Grande makes Glinda’s attempt to “help” Elphaba funny, precise, and revealing. The song’s comic confidence is its hook, but the performance also shows how Glinda’s generosity and self-regard can coexist. Its lightness provides welcome contrast to the more dramatic songs, and its instantly legible character premise gives it lasting appeal.
Rank #2
- Wicked: For Good - The Soundtrack features performances by the stars of the electrifying conclusion to Universal Pictures' global cinematic Wicked sensation, Wicked: For Good
5. “The Wizard and I”
Erivo sings Elphaba’s hope with a blend of ambition and tenderness that keeps the song from becoming a simple wish-fulfillment number. Its dramatic arc moves from private longing toward a vivid imagined future. Composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz discussed how the film adaptation translated the song for the screen and praised Erivo’s interpretation in TIME’s interview about the film’s songs.
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6. “What Is This Feeling?”
Elphaba and Glinda’s mutual irritation becomes a high-energy comic duet, with the roommates’ complaints working as both a joke and a first step toward their complicated relationship. Schwartz recalled that collaborator Winnie Holzman proposed framing it as a “falling in hate” song. “I realized the idea was right, but it needs to be really high energy,” he told TIME. That energy is the number’s defining strength: it makes antagonism playful without erasing the characters’ friction.
7. “I’m Not That Girl”
This quiet song gives Elphaba room to acknowledge unreturned affection without turning the moment into melodrama. Erivo’s restraint suits the character’s self-awareness, and the smaller scale lets the emotional detail register after the soundtrack’s larger production numbers. It does not have the same instant theatrical punch as the songs above it, but its intimacy is exactly its point.
8. “One Short Day”
The trip to the Emerald City becomes a colorful ensemble celebration. The song’s brisk pace and sense of spectacle make it an effective change of scale, while its excitement reflects how dazzling the city looks to Elphaba and Glinda. It is a strong film moment, though its impact relies more on the scene’s visual world than on a personal vocal showcase.
9. “A Sentimental Man”
Jeff Goldblum gives the Wizard’s number a deliberately genial surface. That performance makes the song useful dramatically: it helps explain why people might trust him before they understand the power behind his image. As a standalone listen, it is less memorable than the larger character songs, but its place in the story gives it more weight than its modest scale might suggest.
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This brief, uneasy exchange introduces a darker political thread beneath the spectacle of Oz. Its restrained arrangement and serious tone serve the scene, but the song has less melodic sweep and less room to develop than the entries above it. It is important to the story’s stakes, even if it is not among the album’s most replayable tracks.
Rank #4
11. “Dear Old Shiz”
The school song establishes Shiz University and its communal atmosphere, but it functions more as scene-setting than as a fully developed musical showcase. Compared with the soundtrack’s signature solos and duets, it has fewer distinctive turns to hold attention on its own. That makes it the least compelling standalone track in this ranking, not an unnecessary part of the film.
Where “Ozdust Duet” fits
“Ozdust Duet” is the digital-only bonus track, not one of the 11 main entries. Keep it outside a strict ranking of the main album: it belongs in a complete listening list for the bonus edition, but its separate bonus status makes a direct placement alongside the film’s principal songs less useful. Apple Music lists a separate 14-song bonus-track version.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the recording approach adds
Apple Music reports that the performances were mostly drawn from on-set recordings, an approach Erivo and Grande wanted. Grande described the physical adjustment involved in singing for the film: “It’s funny because I came home and I made an album and I felt the muscles in my throat singing differently.” That context helps explain why the tracks often feel connected to the actors’ scene work rather than like detached studio covers. Apple Music also reports that Erivo named “I’m Not That Girl” as a character-representative favorite, Grande chose “No One Mourns the Wicked,” and they agreed on “Dancing Through Life”—their own preferences, not a measure of audience consensus.
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![Wicked: For Good (Original Motion Picture Score)[2 CD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51QDuGq1inL._SL160_.jpg)
- With Wicked: For Good (Original Motion Picture Score), GRAMMY and Oscar-nominated composer John Powell once again joins forces with GRAMMY and Oscar-winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz to expand the world of Oz through music that is both deeply rooted in stage-musical traditions and entirely cinematic
How this order compares with another ranking
Rankings depend on what a listener values. LOS40’s November 22, 2024 list explicitly presented its order as subjective, placing “Dear Old Shiz” last, “Something Bad” at number 10, and “A Sentimental Man” at number 9. It also praised “No One Mourns the Wicked” for introducing the story and recurring melodies. The ordering above gives similar weight to narrative function, but puts vocal impact and replay value alongside it.
Why the album mattered on release
Universal Music Canada reported on December 3, 2024, that the soundtrack debuted at number one on Billboard’s Top Album Sales, Soundtracks, and Vinyl Albums charts, and called it the biggest soundtrack sales week of that decade. Those are the label’s dated release-period claims, not a statement about the album’s current chart position.
Quick Recap
Sources
- Republic Records Official Store: standard CD track list
- Apple Music: album listing, edition details, recording context, and performer remarks
- Republic Records Official Store: standard LP track list
- Universal Music Canada: December 3, 2024 announcement
- LOS40: November 22, 2024 ranking
- TIME: Stephen Schwartz on adapting the songs for the film
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
