I’ve become woefully bored of button-crunching again. There are only so many times you can reach for the remote, scroll with purpose and be met with nothing but apathy. Apart from binging the odd documentary, I’m about ready to bin Netflix off… and then I see that Stranger Things box and I realise rewatching every episode is a palatable possibility.

So herein lies my burning desire to — yet again — do some button-crunching of another variety and write about the franchise. This time, I’m typing up a few quick thoughts about Stranger Things’ killer soundtracks throughout its seasons. They’re well-curated, hand-picked to suit the year in question and they impeccably showcase a snapshot of cross-genre bangers.

Ultimately, they’ve had the decades on point, right from the first series. But the third and fourth seasons have had ‘70s and ‘80s tunes down to a tee, the latter chapter also incorporating various remixes made for the show. A special nod goes to that Journey rework, which is bone-chilling and atmospheric all at once, twigging your last nerve and raising tension in the exact right place. They all featured on one cracking ‘Upside Down Playlist’ on Spotify as well, handily.

It would be remiss or me not to mention the big Sandman-shaped elephant in the room here, too; Metallica obviously had a huge role to play in Eddie Munson’s character development, and one almighty world-rescuing scene. I won’t give too much away, for those who may (somehow!) not have witnessed it in action yet. Either way, it cooked up such a storm that the band themselves gave props to the actor, Joseph Quinn, for nailing ‘Master Of Puppets’. It also made me race out and buy my second Metallica t-shirt, just for the artwork. Well, why not?

But if we’re talking music that was important to the scenes, Kate Bush undoubtedly had the most meteoric of involvement. So if you think Stranger Things is just viewing putty, oh no — there’s so much for music aficionados. Just watch it, okay?