Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, OST (2011)

The 2010’s score by Reznor and Ross for David Fincher’s “The Social Network” won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and the Academy Award for Original Score in 2011 and Reznor announced that he would again be working with Fincher, this time to provide the score for the American adaptation of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” A cover of “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin produced by Reznor and Ross, with Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) as featured singer, was released as trailer for the film and it became viral on the internet. I have to admit it, I’m a Reznor fan since his 1989 debut studio album under the moniker Nine Inch Nails and follow his career since constantly and I admire his work, his ability to reinvent himself and his music, his creativity to not copying himself repeatedly, but dare to experiment with sounds and eventually styles, although remaining Trent Reznor and ultimately Nine Inch Nails.
The soundtrack for “The Social Network” it wasn’t his first involvement into cinema. Reznor produced the soundtracks for Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers” in 1994 and David Lynch’s “Lost Highway” in 1997 where he is credited for “Driver Down” and “Videodrones; Questions”, while another track, “The Perfect Drug”, is credited to Nine Inch Nails.
A soundtrack is quite a different thing than a music album of an artist or band. Can’t compare one to another in no circumstances. It’s actually – I believe – a totally different occupation/job and involved quite different crafts, skills, ultimately talent.

I believe Reznor got the taste for soundtracks mainly after the release of the quite cinematic 2008’s “Ghosts I–IV” which was something more like a soundtrack, rather than a subsequent Nine Inch Nails album. So, it would be totally unfair to expect some industrial rock revolution from a soundtrack, even if it is written and performed by Reznor.
Not at least, we’re actually talking about three-hour of music, which is quite a massive amount of music and work.
I had the bad luck (fist fuck 😀 Gee! ) to see several films without any music/soundtrack and most of them were totally failures as it’s also true, I saw some films which were totally shit, but had excellent soundtracks.
I’m looking forward to see David Fincher’s adaptation, by the way, in theaters December 21, while I saw the Swedish film production company Yellow Bird film versions of the Millennium Trilogy, although I didn’t read Stieg Larsson’s, the Swedish author and journalist book. I’m looking forward to see Daniel Craig in the role of Mikael Blomkvist.
This is a dark and brutal story and I expect no less from Fincher.
The music delivered by Reznor and Atticus reflects quite well this tension and I’m quite convinced it works perfectly with the film. And a soundtrack is that all about, creating atmosphere, isn’t it?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Mouth Taped Shut
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo @ IMDb
Nine Inch Nails – Official Site

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKWXEfXGWtA&w=450&h=259]

2 comments on “Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, OST (2011)

  1. well since I am not a big fan I can bad mouth the guy… he seem up to his old half-goth half-industrial shit quirk and distorted and half-twisted vibes… … it is a niche market where he probably does what he does best and that goes with the dragon tatoo in the American acception …

    Since you wrote such great stuff about Norwegian bands and Nordic rock, how come such bands didn’t get a break to write at least part of the soundtrack to this cold story about money corrupation racism and the nice cold facade that the west is?? So yeah ‘nothing can stop him now’ !

    interesting to me is how come you are a goth and an industrialist at the same time MrP.. cos franky there isn’t much else in the Immigrant Song… a song I actually love… unless of course being an immigrant is so cool and goth that one can make money out of it! or is that Sweden to the Americans?
    Yeah I hate remakes, happily this is not one where they traplanted the plot to the US too!

    • 😀
      I’m not surprised – regarding your position, still, I’m curious regarding the film. I really liked the original films and I’m quite curious how it was “americanized” and how it will work. I’m too tired to hate – I guess.
      I back you up on this: a soundtrack featuring exclusively Scandinavian bands would be much-much exciting and appropriate than anything else, even than Reznor’s gloomy industrial soundscapes. But this is America and this is how it works and that’s why eventually we loving it or hating it.
      I’m not a goth…. but I’m an universal immigrant wherever I am and always on the run (search, whatever….)…

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