Currently enjoying the “Tron: Legacy” soundtrack by Daft Punk

When you’ve been dating someone for a while, people start asking when you’re going to get engaged. And then you get engaged, and those people start asking when you’re getting married. And when you finally do get married, they start asking when the baby’s due.

Not to make a review bigger than it ought to be, but yes, I’m at a point in my life where the whole idea of kids is getting real. And in many ways, yes, it’s a wonderful idea. But I’d be lying if I said there weren’t a few troubling downsides, and the thought of a house full of Disney shit is definitely close to the top of the list.

And yes, it probably wouldn’t seem like nearly as big a deal in the grand scheme if things if I were going to be the one carrying or delivering the baby. I’ll be the first to admit that. But it doesn’t mean I’ve got no right to dread the 2018 equivalent of the 3D Yogi Bear movie.

The reason I’m mentioning all of this stuff is because the score for Tron: Legacy gives me hope. If Disney sticks to recruiting artists I like to produce soundtracks this solid, then as far as I’m concerned, we’ll get along fine.

I mean, Daft Punk was absolutely the right choice to compose the soundtrack for this film. If you needed a kick-ass score for a film that was futuristic in sensibility on the one hand, and inevitably tied to the eighties on the other, who would you tap?

Rooted as they are in the group’s impressive body of work, the tracks on this score aren’t typical Daft Punk fare. Recorded in London with the help of an eighty-five-piece orchestra, the score handily fulfills the “epic and symphonic” job description. It’s a bold step forward for the duo, easily comparable to the groundbreaking score that Clint Mansell of Pop Will Eat Itself composed for Requiem for a Dream.

Sure, this isn’t the group’s first foray into film. In 2002, for example, Thomas Bangalter produced the soundtrack for Irréversible, a film that has no place whatsoever in a conversation about taking your kids to the movies.

And yes, fans who don’t really care about the movie or the Tron mythology might wonder where the beats are – and “Derezzed” is the only track that meets the Daft Punk standard in that regard. But it’s worth the price of admission in itself, and it’s well suited to dance floors at clubs around the world.

And finally, yes, it does get a little repetitive. But that’s just because it’s full of recurring musical themes. Let’s not forget that even Homework featured a full three tracks based on the hook from “Da Funk.”

In the end, the Tron: Legacy score is more cohesive than most soundtracks, broader than most Daft Punk records, and better than a substantial chunk of the music released this year. Get on it.

By the way, did you know that Daft Punk got their big break after handing their demo tape to a producer they met in 1993 at a rave at EuroDisney? Neither did I! Weird, right?

Posted in Currently Enjoying