Daft Punk Change the Game: The Tron: Legacy Soundtrack Review

TRON: Legacy Press Event From Comic-Con 2010 »

 

There are no vocals, human or electronic on the album, apart from one track (“The Grid”) where Jeff Bridges emotes a few lines as Kevin Flynn.  The synth-heavy pieces, including “End of Line” and “Derezzed” which were heavily featured in the movie’s advertising, are as close to the classic Daft Punk sound as the album gets.  Hopefully some remixers get their hands on these to work their magic on. 

The music Daft Punk created for Tron: Legacy is a near-perfect blend of electronic-meets-orchestra.  The heavy electronic pieces (especially the two mentioned above) are used in perfect context within in the film, and the orchestral passages fit the scenes they were built for in the same manner.  What is even more exciting to hear are tracks like “Rinzler” and “Arrival” where the French duo and a 90-piece orchestra combine to create a new, magical sound for Tron.  This isn’t just a mash-up of styles either.  This is more.  It’s well thought out, well executed, and sounds frankly amazing.  Hardcore soundtrack aficionados with a love for Vangelis’ Blade Runner soundtrack or the numerous film scores of Tangerine Dream will identify immediately with Tron: Legacy.  Despite her being completely absent from the production, there are even subtle nods to ideas and motifs created by Wendy Carlos for the original Tron soundtrack. 

And this is exactly what I was hoping the music would turn out to be.  Honestly, when I first heard Daft Punk was composing the music for Tron: Legacy, I was excited and skeptical.  Not because this was their first foray into the soundtrack realm, but because what I didn’t want to hear was what a small fan minority seemed to want: two hours of dance music.  It would not have been appropriate for a film such as this.  The end result far exceeded my expectations.  If you’ve been to the theater to see it already, you know exactly what I mean.  The film is wall-to-wall music.  There is very little screen time where Daft Punk’s creations aren’t heard.  The pieces aren’t generic, and all have specific on-screen reasons for being played.  The decision by director Joseph Kosinski to collaboratively work with Daft Punk and Joe Trapanese for two years during the actual production, instead of waiting till it was near picture lock as is often done in film scoring, shows in both the final on-screen product and in listening to the music out of context from the film.

The music of Tron: Legacy is amazingly listenable, no matter where or how you are hearing it.  When played in the background during a study session or as office music, you won’t have quiet periods where little is heard to fill the empty spaces, nor will you hear jarring string section attacks to throw off your focus.  Throw on your headphones and immerse yourself in the sound of the Game Grid.  Play it loud while you are driving to make your ride much more epic.  Just remember you are in a car, not a lightcycle, and cutting off the moron next to you on their cell phone won’t cause them to derez.  Try listening to it on Shuffle.  No matter the order in which the tracks play, they come out of your speakers in exciting fashion, making for a surprising and near-unique experience during each play. 

Of particular note about the Tron: Legacy soundtrack, are its multiple versions.  The standard album lists 22 tracks.  There are, in fact, a total of 30* tracks available.  Amazon’s MP3 version includes an exclusive bonus track entitled “Sea of Simulation”.  It is well worth the download.  Over in Apple’s sector of the Grid, iTunes has a pair of bonus tracks, “Father and Son” and “Outlands, Pt.  II”, both of which round out the album well.  The good news is all three of these bonus tracks can be purchased individually.  There is no “album only” purchase restriction on them.  Whether it was Disney or the respective MP3 retailers who chose to do this, all I can say is kudos to you.  So that brings us to 25 tracks.  Where are the other 5?

 

In Europe, Tron/Daft Punk fans actually got a 2-disc, limited edition version of the Tron: Legacy soundtrack, which includes five more tracks along with videos on the second disc.  Unfortunately, this version of the soundtrack appears to be completely sold out.  If you can locate a copy, most likely on the secondary market, the additional 12 and a half minutes of music is worth it, especially the 2 minutes and 19 seconds of “Castor” which is in the same synth-heavy mode as “End of Line” and “Derezzed”.  Normally, I am not a fan of labels releasing a “Special Edition” of an album six months or so after an initial pressing, since it feels like a profit-grab from the most dedicated fans of an artist.  However, in the case of Tron: Legacy, I think this would be a very welcome release, if it happens.  All the music not on the main, physical release of the album could easily be expanded into a dual or even triple disc set.  Combine the eight bonus songs with any other missing cues, demos, potential remixes and even more video content and you have an instant seller for the hardcore fan base.  (Nudge nudge, Walt Disney Records). 

Gamers should expect, at the very least hope or even demand that the Users of the video game development world take heed of Daft Punk’s sonic creations for Tron: Legacy.  The inclusion of two pieces from the film (“The Grid” and “Derezzed”) in the tie-in game Tron: Evolution was a no-brainer.  Now imagine for a moment what Daft Punk building an entire electrorchestra soundtrack for say, a future version in the Deus Ex franchise would sound like.  Too easy? How about Halo? Before you set your comment weaponry to derez, remember, 343 Industries is now at the helm of the UNSC.  Marty O’Donnell is with Bungie, working on the music of their new project at Activision and someone has to create the music for a future deployment of Master Chief.  Why not Daft Punk? Whether it would be a science-fantasy RPG, a space-based FPS or a cyber-punk inspired adventure, just imagine what a game could sound like with this level of music in it.  There is no reason why the robots designated as Thomas and Guy need only be heard in DJ Hero.

(* While researching the upcoming vinyl version of Tron: Legacy, we stumbled across a German music site listing an EP releasing in February with an alleged additional 4 pieces not on any currently released version.  It’s doubtful this is legit, but, it will be interesting if even more of Daft Punk’s music escapes the Game Grid.)

END OF LINE