The most important point to make about the Tron: Legacy soundtrack is that, for the most part, it doesn’t really sound like a Daft Punk record. The film’s director, Joseph Kasinski, is certainly to be commended for his imagination in asking the French duo to score his movie, and when news of the project first emerged, it seemed a perfect fit. Daft Punk sound-tracking the remake of a kitsch sci-fi movie from the early ’80s – how could it go wrong?
The opening track, ‘Overture’, is indicative of what’s to come – a dramatic string swell lacking Daft Punk’s trademark quirky electro. Similarly, second track ‘The Grid’, which layers some Jeff Bridges dialogue over some ominous synth sounds, is standard soundtrack fare and unlikely to get long-term Daft Punk fans overly excited. Indeed, it isn’t until the fluttering synths of ‘Son Of Flynn’ arrive that you’re reminded that this is in fact a Daft Punk album.
However, like the rest of Tron: Legacy the song is short (just over 90 seconds), so pretty soon we’re back into conventional movie score territory. The advance publicity suggests that Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo had a 90-piece orchestra at their disposal during recording, but a lot of the results are disappointingly hum-drum. The likes of ‘Recognizer’, ‘Armory’, ‘Arena’ and ‘Outlands’, though undeniably well crafted, are generic pieces – all bombastic strings and pounding drums – that could have been written for any number of Hollywood action movies.
It’s hard to say why Daft Punk chose to go such a conventional route – maybe it was at the insistence of the studio or director, or perhaps they just favoured that approach themselves – but there are few enough tunes here that recapture the glory of their past work. The first single, ‘Derezzed’, an up-tempo track with an infectious electro groove, clearly written to accompany an action sequence, boasts some of the pair’s trademark rhythmic flair – and offers a tantalising glimpse of what the record could have sounded it like – though it turns out to be unrepresentative of the album as a whole.
Elsewhere, there are few enough moments of inspiration. ‘End Of Line’ is a quality dance stomper, ‘Adagio For Tron’ is a terrifically atmospheric chamber piece and the pulsating ‘Tron Legacy (End Titles)’ ends proceedings on a high, but that’s about it. In truth, given that Tron: Legacy is Daft Punk’s first studio album in over five-and-and-a-half years, it’s pretty underwhelming.
Hopefully next time round, the duo will really have got their mojo back.
PAUL NOLAN
Key track: ‘Derezzed’