The multiple award-winning musical Rent is based on opera of Puccini, La Boheme. It has been playing on Broadway since 1996 and is one of the longest running shows. In 2005, the movie based on Rent was released and, like the musical itself, has gained a cult following. The soundtrack album became available on CD soon after.

The story follows a group of eight Bohemian friends living in modern New York over the course of a year, specifically 1989-1990. It is a heartfelt look at ups and downs of life and how the various characters deal with addiction, loss, relationships, housing, AIDS and the meaning of life itself.

A number of the original songs were deleted during the movie adaptation and do not appear on the movie soundtrack in order to create more space for dialogue and produce a more free-flowing plot. Some purists or Rentheads feel that the soundtrack is not complete because of the removal of these songs. For everyone else, especially those who have not seen the Broadway version, the movie is a brutally honest look at life with aspects that most can relate to. The Rent movie soundtrack has the same rock opera feel to it as the original musical score and is filled with 28 moving, uplifting and ultimately, inspiring songs.

Seasons of Love is perhaps the best known of all of the songs. Unlike in the musical, this song opens the movie. A re-mixed version, featuring the legendary Stevie Wonder, was also released. The entire cast sings and the song revolves around them trying to decide how you measure a year apart from in minutes. They calculate that there are five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes in a year and each suggests other methods of quantifying a year but reach the conclusion that love is the one correct gauge of a year in a life of a human. Seasons of Love is the perfect opening and acts as a teaser to the rest of the tracks on this compilation .

The original theme song of the musical, Rent, follows as the film opens in the East Village of New York on Christmas Eve, 1989. Roger and Mark are trying to avoid being evicted from their previously rent-free apartment. Another outstanding song on the Rent movie soundtrack is the duet Take Me or Leave Me where Maureen and her lesbian lover Joanne are having a quarrel at an engagement announcement party hosted by the parents of Joanne. The local bar is the perfect setting for the energetic rendition of La Vie Boheme. It captures the nonconformity of the main characters, which is further emphasized by everyone dancing on the tables.

The Rent movie soundtrack is a must-have for anyone who has seen the movie. Fans of the original musical will also enjoy reliving the songs, particularly because the majority of the original cast members were involved in the film and also appear on the movie soundtrack.