Artist: Wendy CarlosAlbum: Tron: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Released: 1982
Label: Disney Music
Genre: Soundtrack
Purchased: 10 Jan 2011
Format: mp3 files
Source: Amazon
Having purchased the soundtrack to the 30-years-later Tron sequel, I wanted to listen again to Wendy Carlos' 1982 score for the original Tron. Carlos has been a composer for analog synthesizer for close to 40 years now, and back in '82, she seemed the obvious choice to write the score for a movie that was set inside a computer.
Tron was the first film I ever saw that had far more impressive special effects than story. When I watched Tron for a college class in the early '90s, I remember being far more impressed with the soundtrack than the storyline.
The soundtrack itself is a mixed bag. When it's just her on synth, Carlos' music is fascinatingly off-kilter, in odd or shifting time signatures, and often shifts keys abruptly. Strangely, I find synth simultaneously coldly impersonal and wildly expressive. On the other hand, when she uses the full symphony orchestra to embellish or enhance her themes, I find it to become far less personal, and sound more like your basic action movie soundtrack. The 80's power-pop band Journey (who were at the height of their popularity in 1982) add two bland '80s rock numbers, which I honestly don't remember from the movie.
I'm glad I picked up this album. It was a blast from the past, and even included some music that I remember from the old Tron arcade video game. When left to her own devices, Carlos made some very exceptional memorable music for this film. On the other hand, the tracks that are primarily symphonic are mostly forgettable, and the Journey tracks are just bad.
Rating: B
Album not available at eMusic
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