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Arts and Culture
Music

The Game Has Changed

'TRON' was considered a disappointment in 1982, but it's fanboy boner time with Daft Punk's 'TRON: Legacy' soundtrack.

Michael Mann 9 Dec 2010TheTyee.ca

Michael Mann is the editor-in-chief of ION Magazine. He enjoys Jack Daniels, Neck Face and sadistically violent horror movies. You can follow him on Twitter @mmann.
Daft Punk in 'TRON: Legacy'
Daft Punk in traditional French folk costume.

Have you heard the one about the talking mouse, The Dude and the two French robots? You probably have. In the summer of 2008, at Comic-Con in San Diego, Disney released teasers that confirmed a sequel to the 1982 sci-fi classic TRON was in the works and Jeff Bridges would reprise his role as Flynn. Finally, this guy's life has meaning again.

Shooting began for TRON: Legacy in spring 2009 in Vancouver, but the biggest surprise was yet to come. At 2009's Comic-Con, Disney revealed that Daft Punk was producing original music for the film. It's safe to say adults have never been this excited for the soundtrack to a Disney film. The undisputed kings of dance music partner with the biggest force in entertainment on a TRON sequel: it's almost too perfect to be true.

But pretty much everything the French duo of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo have ever done is perfect. They've penned some of the most memorable dance songs of all time, accompanied by equally unforgettable music videos that introduced the world to Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry.

Of their three albums of original material, two -- Homework and Discovery -- are bona fide classics. Their live album successfully captures the magic of the 2007 tour like few other live albums have. And let's not forget about this little collaboration with Kanye West. Maybe these guys really are robots?

It almost seems like their whole career has been leading up to TRON: Legacy. But as tantalizing as this brand collaboration is, the album itself probably won't get a lot of replays from even the most diehard of Daft Punk fans. It consists of 22 tracks, and depending on where you get the album -- HMV, iTunes, Amazon, or Pirate Bay -- there are another eight bonus tracks floating around. The majority of the songs are snippets, some as short as 1:22, and they mix electronic and orchestral elements (an 85-piece orchestra was enlisted for the soundtrack but it really only sounds like a 75-piece orchestra, if you ask me). The straight-up orchestral tracks sound like something from a Christopher Nolan film and the songs that blend orchestral with electronic aren't much to get excited about. However, there are three tracks -- "Derezzed," "End of Line" and "TRON Legacy (End Titles)" -- that will keep fans happy until the next album or tour.

If you don't like Daft Punk, this won't change your mind. The album, as a whole, feels more like a TRON: Legacy score than a soundtrack by Daft Punk. If you do like Daft Punk, you probably don't give a fuck what anyone says about this album, and you'll listen to it anyways. It's possible that you didn't even care about the movie until you heard about the soundtrack or that Bangalter and de Homem-Christo have a brief cameo in it. But if you have kids and you can trick them into liking this album, car trips just got a whole lot more tolerable. [Tyee]

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