“I kept dreaming of a world I thought I’d never see. And then, one day… I got in.”
Tron: Legacy, the hugely anticipated return to the neon-soaked world of the Grid, came out on December 17th, 2010—meaning the future is, incredibly, ten-years-old. And to celebrate, one of the film’s most beloved legacies, its electric score by Daft Punk, is getting the vinyl treatment with a special tenth anniversary release.
The soundtrack wizards at Mondo have teamed with Walt Disney Records to produce a new edition of the futuristic classic, exclusively remastered by James Plotkin and featuring the entire score along with bonus tracks, spread across two full LPs. With gorgeous new artwork by Matt Taylor, housed in a spot-varnished, die-cut O-Card, and pressed onto 2x 180 gram colored vinyl, Daft Punk’s score has never sounded, or looked, more spectacular.
Tron: Legacy was the first foray into cinema for the two French “robots,” the electronica alter egos of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, but Daft Punk ported into the digital arena inside Flynn’s Arcade like they were programmed for it. Just like the film’s story, their score is a sleek synthesis between human users and computerized programs. And for two “characters” who already look like they belong in the Grid, the casting made perfect sense. (The robots were even literally cast in the film, playing DJs at the End of Line Club.)
The original 1982 Tron was distinguished by its cyborg score, composed by the legendary Wendy Carlos, and Daft Punk paid homage to that tradition with a similar approach and some oldschool analog vibes… but upgraded for the 21st century.
Daft Punk set up shop at Henson Studios, where they later recorded their multiple Grammy-winning album Random Access Memories, for the better part of two years. They wrote a wealth of material before the film was even shot, and director Joseph Kosinski played that music on set to inspire the actors and crew. The score was written into the very code of the film.
The duo came up with an electronic symphony of alternatingly shimmering, pulsing, buzzing, and soaring cues for the film. There’s a dance floor, strobe-light energy to the score—overflowing with infectious beats and grooves—woven seamlessly together with the romantic, cinematic orchestrations by Joseph Trapanese.
It was an instantly iconic hybrid of old Hollywood sweep and new age attitude, classical and space age fused together—and one of the catchiest, most addictive film scores of the new millennium. In his film review for Variety, Peter Debruge said the score “hails from an entirely different dimension from conventional film compositions, establishing the tone for the whole enterprise. You don’t just hear the music, but feel it reverberating in your bones—an energy on the same sonic wavelength as the film’s vehicles and costumes, combining the flickering hum of fluorescent tubes and the insistent beat of a futuristic engine.”
Roger Ebert said Daft Punk’s soundtrack “has such urgent electronic force that the visuals sometimes almost play as its accompaniment. It might not be safe to play this soundtrack in the car.”
The original soundtrack album was an instant top ten hit on the Billboard charts, and it sold 70,000 copies in its first week. It inspired a wave of imitators and homages, not to mention a legion of fans.
Now, ten years on, you can re-enter the thrum of the Arena, catch the groove of the Solar Sailer, and get musically Derezzed all over again with the anniversary vinyl edition of Tron: Legacy, available for pre-order at Disney Music Emporium. It’s not just a dream—you, too, can get in.