The newest Nine Inch Nails album is ushering in “Tron: Ares” with a track list that is so akin to what makes the movies unique.
First impression did not make me think that Nine Inch Nails would take on a Tron movie without some twist, but I ended up pleasantly surprised to hear the electronic orchestral nostalgia of “Tron: Legacy” who preceded the newest movie in 2010.
A three-week-prior album release of the actual movie was a smart move on the movie’s part because it gets the audience ready for what is in store.
With no pun intended, Tron’s legacy is lasting on cyberpunk media. Expectations are high and no one will really know how 15 years after Legacy will do for storyline and visuals. The backbone of the movie is built on the aesthetic elements of world-building. If the soundtrack is lackluster, the movie will have to lean on something else.
Since I can only speak on the music until Oct. 10 I am confident that we will not be disappointed.
While a portion of the album is ambience for movie-sake, it was still an intriguing listen because I almost couldn’t sense the Nine Inch Nails aspect until I approached the vocal tracks.
I knew prior to listening that Michael Trent Reznor, the lead singer of Nine Inch Nails, already has a unique tone of voice that I was curious to hear mixed with synth and techno as opposed to the traditional alternative indie and rock.
What I heard was just right. Like Goldie Locks and her need for a beautiful medium, I was relieved to hear a vocal that didn’t override the instrumental but was used to levitate the words, I think “I Know You Can Feel It” is the best I could pick where where we hear a classic haunting vibrato in the intro.
It’s not so high energy as it is intense, which I think for a second Tron movie is necessary. Legacy was about discovery, but it left viewers off knowing action would have to come. Visually red and dark, it takes on a new face of angst.
That’s why I believe choosing Nine Inch Nails as the leader of the track list was in such good taste because they have a knack for experimenting with techno and futuristic sound. I get subtle reminders of their 2007 “Year Zero” album that experiments with synth and industrial notes.
That’s another thing, Tron being as old as it is already has a sense of nostalgia. Most of us likely watched the first movie when we were younger, and while I did a current watch-back to compare Daft Punk’s take on what I imagine Nine Inch Nails will look like in theaters, I was immediately reminded of what it felt like to be introduced to the cyberpunk scene.
Maybe that’s why I like this newest album so much, because I remember what it felt like to hear instrumental like Tron’s for the first time sitting on the floor and watching a Redbox rental on our DVD player of the movie.
I will always be a raving fan of the genre, and it’s no simple feat to not just replicate what Tron established twelve years ago, but to add style into it that adds on what Tron might become after the first release in theaters.
