The Octopus gets incredibly excited by new music, and we’re constantly on the lookout to bring you the best of it. In fact, the whole electronic scene is very ‘of-the-moment’, and this can make even the best tracks seem somewhat disposable. Well, no more! We’re taking a stand, and every Thursday, we’ll present to you an album, song or artist that you’ve probably forgotten about. It may be from a few years ago, or even just a few weeks ago, but every Thursday there’ll be some old, forgotten treasure - y’know, the sort of thing that would make you go, “Ahh, I remember that!” if it came up on shuffle. So without further ado, here’s this week’s TBT.
This Week: Daft Punk's ground-breaking soundtrack for TRON Legacy.
Can you believe it's been almost four years since TRON Legacy? It really doesn't seem like it was that long ago, and yet, it was all the way back in December 2010 that a certain robotic duo embarked upon their first proper score for a motion picture.
The story of Daft Punk's incredible soundtrack for that film, however, starts even further back. They were first approached by the film's director all the way back in 2007, an unbelievable seven years ago. The duo finally agreed to do it in 2008, and at Comic Con in 2009, they were officially announced as composers for the upcoming sequel.
I remember at the time there being a mixture of emotions - people were delighted that we were finally getting some more material from the French duo, but disappointed that it wasn't the proper fourth studio album that everyone was eagerly anticipating. There was intense speculation as to what the French twosome would bring to the table. Would the score actually just basically be a Daft Punk album? Or would they take a more conventional, orchestral route? Of course, we now know it ended up being somewhere slap bang in the middle of the two.
Allegedly, though, the score didn't get off to a great start. Despite Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo proclamation that "...there was no way we were going to do this film score with two synthesizers and a drum machine," it was heavily rumoured that that is indeed what the duo initially did, and consequently binned an awful lot of material. Over a year before the film was due, a version of the track that we now know to be End of Line leaked, following it's appearance at that year's Comic Con, and the style of that particular track certainly seems to corroborate with those rumours.
What of the actual album when it dropped, though? Well, once again, it divided opinion. Some thought it was a very generic film soundtrack, some thought it was the most revolutionary soundtrack to anything ever. As before, the truth is that it's once again somewhere in the middle.
It can't be denied, though, that it's a truly epic score that makes full use of the mighty string and brass sections that were available. There's not been another soundtrack quite like that one since, and what's interesting is how through it's connection with Daft Punk, it is actually often considered as an artist album, rather than a movie score.
The thing with Daft Punk is that they never stay still. Each album or project is massively different from the last. Inevitably, each one brings widespread complaint that it wasn't like the last one. But then, because the duo leave so long between projects, people have a long time to listen and digest their work, and suddenly everyone wants the next one to sound like that. For all the moaning about TRON Legacy when it was released, the number of complaints that Random Access Memories wasn't like it enough is simply bewildering.
It's a score that seems to be enduring and standing the test of time. You still frequently hear tracks like The Game Has Changed or Outlands being used in adverts and such, and that's a testament to the power of the soundtrack, and the immaculate blend of classical instruments and technology used within it.
It's understood that another TRON film is currently in the pipelines. It'll be interesting to see whether or not Daft Punk have more to bring to the table for that one.
Writer, musician, and all-round top guy. I set up Excited Octopus. Currently, I'm on a one man team. It gets lonely sometimes. But I don't mind, because I love you all.
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