When people think about how film scores are done, they usually think of the works of people like John Williams, Alan Silvestri, and Danny Elfman; orchestral pieces that still hold up today. However, with the release of the highly-anticipated soundtrack for TRON: Legacy, all that is about to change. The score in question, composed by Grammy-winning French techno duo Daft Punk, is a unique blend of a 100-piece orchestra with bits (no pun intended, Tron fans) of their signature electronica sounds thrown in that might just change the way film scores are composed. Having just finished listening to the CD (due out today) myself, I can easily say it’s definitely worth the year-long wait!
Each of the album’s 22 tracks range in tone, yet all are vastly enjoyable. From pulse-pounding cues such as “The Game Has Changed” and “Fall”, to soft, solemn themes like “Adagio for TRON” and “Solar Sailer”, the score gives the new movie a vast amount of emotions that fit the scenes they’re heard in. The album’s second track, “The Grid”, even features a narration by Jeff Bridges’ character of Kevin Flynn in which he talk about how he originally envisioned the digital world he created that ultimately became his 20-year prison. The soundtrack isn’t dominated solely by just orchestral-techno mixes, however. There are two equally awesome, techno-only tracks on the soundtrack, “End of Line” (best known to those following the Flynn Lives viral as the music heard at 2009’s incarnation of Flynn’s Arcade during San Diego Comic-Con, which has been the victim of innumerable fake remixes that some people have tried to pass off as the real deal) and “Derezzed”, the latter of the two being the only track on the album to get it’s own music video.
Simply put, Daft Punk’s soundtrack for “Tron Legacy” is a masterpiece; an amazing new breed of film score all on it’s own. It does for today’s film music composers what “Avatar” did for computer animation and motion capture: it raises the bar and challenges others to try and achieve the level of groundbreaking work it has achieved for the industry. If you are a huge fan of Daft Punk, the Tron series, or just love music in general, this is the must-buy album of the year. You can find it wherever music is sold, but I recommend buying it from the soundtrack’s official website, TronSoundtrack.com. For only $35 plus shipping and handling, not only will you receive it on CD, but you will also be sent a free MP3 download of the album, as well as a limited edition full-sized movie poster that glows in the dark and features Daft Punk from their brief cameo as digital DJs in the film. It might be a little more expensive than just getting the CD by itself, but combined with the cool poster bundled with it, it’s definitely worth buying!
Raiting: 10/10