Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack
LxL’s love for Trent Reznor, and in particular Nine Inch Nails, has been well-documented during our short ~5-month existence. My own personal infatuation started around the first time I heard “Closer” on the radio and loved how much airplay a song with the f-word in the chorus was able to get, and how obvious the missing word was to the listener. It was one of those “they may as well just not edit, because it’s so obvious what is going on” moments in radio history. Following Trent Reznor’s career arc after that was sometimes awesome, sometimes frustrating, but always rewarding. And while I am sad to have seen him put a halt to the NIN portion of his career, the fact that he has been able to remain so visible with his soundtrack work on David Fincher’s last two films has been a welcome post-NIN endeavor. Beginning his soundtrack career with the Academy Award-winning score for Fincher’s The Social Network, Reznor and partner Atticus Ross are back at it again with the score for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
I have to constantly remind myself while listening the Dragon Tat soundtrack that the score is typically supposed to be accompanied by a film. Unless of course it’s a Cameron Crowe film (cough, cough Elizabethtown), where the film is meant as a mere utility to force the viewer to listen to a mix-tape of your favorite songs and artists. Thankfully The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was not done by Cameron Crowe, and was instead put in the hands of a director seemingly pre-ordained to shoot an adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. Anyway, the point I am trying to get to is that Reznor and Ross perfectly complement Fincher’s film with a droney, atmospheric wasteland of industrial sounds, beats often complemented by sparse piano, but this is not a soundtrack you pop in for the mere enjoyment of it on its own merits.
I found this to be kind of interesting, because I have been known to pop in The Social Network’s soundtrack and thoroughly enjoy it on its own merits. And after thinking about the soundtracks and the films themselves, I think I have identified why the two soundtracks strike me in such different way. First, I think Reznor and Ross’s work on The Social Network had to bear a heavy burden to drive the film along. The Social Network was less atmospheric, and served as the rocket fuel to pace, transition, and give some balls to what was going on in the actual film. I loved The Social Network, but without the soundtrack, I think it may have felt a little hollow.
Atticus & Trent: Oscar Winners
Conversely, the inherent paranoia, ominous locations, and creepy Swedes in Dragon Tat only needed a moderate helping hand from the talents of Reznor & Ross. A true thriller, the tension was already provided. A little atmosphere here, and some oddly-timed kick drums here, and they had it nailed. Not that it doesn’t get more complicated than that at points, but there really is just not as much to it. Most of the tracks sound like they are elongated intros to what might become an epic NIN track. Alas, we have come full circle, and this is where my disappointment lies. I want more NIN records, even if the soundtracks are a nice teaser.
As a film score: 11/11
As a stand-alone record: 6.5/11
Can’t Miss: “Immigrant Song”, “Pinned & Mounted”, “Hidden In Snow”
Can’t Hit: none in particular
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Tags: Atticus Ross, David Fincher, Immigrant Song, NIN, Nine Inch Nails, Social Network, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Trent Reznor
Their debut score alongside The Social Network was magical. Dragon Tattoo had the same type of ominous, cryptic tones which works incredibly well with these past two Fincher flicks.
Did you guys catch the NIN T-shirt scene in Dragon Tattoo?
good