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I don't generally listen to soundtracks, unless I am in a specific mood.
Nonetheless, I would say my favorite soundtracks are simply concert albums, such as Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same", and the Talking Heads "Stop Making Sense"), or straightforward musicals such as "Sound of Music" and "Porgy and Bess" (I love Gershwin music).
Most of the Andrew Lloyd Webber soundtracks are great fun to listen to, including "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Cats", and "Phantom of the Opera", as they all feature great standalone songs and music.
The problem with most soundtracks to me, is that they are often designed as background or incidental music, or are composed to artificially exaggerate emotional moments, so they can sound overly-crafted or contrived when taken as a whole. That's why I feel that those composers most steeped in classical music, and trained to write complete musical scores, are better at their craft than someone hired to specifically construct music around a movie.
Examples of this type of composer would be John Barry, "Born Free", and 11 James Bond films including, "Goldfinger", "You Only Live Twice", "Diamonds Are Forever", and "View to a Kill", and Oscar Hammerstein, "The King and I" and "Flower Drum Song".
Among the younger generation of soundtrack composers, I really like Danny Elfman's work.
The biggest musical disappointments in my memory were the film adaptation soundtracks for "Tommy" and "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band".
ADG
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