Rating: 10/10

When Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor work together, they don't just make music. They mold sounds into layers of emotional synesthesia, and their newest masterpiece, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is no different. Your brain and body don't quite know what to do with themselves. You smile. You get the chills. You get creeped out. You contemplate, yet sometimes you stop thinking all together.

After the near three hour playtime ended, I took my headphones off and the first thing to come to mind was Homer's epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. If Homer were alive today, he'd be furiously writing a screenplay, day in and day out, so Reznor and Ross could give it the sonic pulse it (I'm sure) would deserve. They are just that good.

Reznor has always been one of my favorites as far as extremely layered music goes. I consider Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile to be the greatest double-album of my generation, and it's a perfect example of Mr. Reznor's musical depth. Atticus Ross, on the other hand is more of a minimalist, and I was first introduced to his music when he did some programming and/or produced Nine Inch Nails' last four albums. He also caught my attention whilst watching the movie The Book of Eli. The entire time I was thinking to myself, "This HAS to be either Trent, Atticus, or Saul Williams doing the soundtrack for this...." It was indeed Atticus, and I became a fan.

The soundtrack for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a drone type of electronica with some darker ambient soundscapes layered in, and when I write "layered in", I mean it as emphatically as is possible. It's the most complex minimalistic album ever created, if that's even possible. You'll always hear synth, and you'll sometimes hear keys, bells, guitars, strings, vibrations, xylophones etc., etc. One of the songs even has vocals, and oddly enough it's a cover of Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" (featuring Karen O on vocals) In a nutshell, it's epic in every way possible. Find three hours and treat yourself to what's bound to be a Grammy winner.

Recommended if you enjoy: Sigur Ros, Ghosts I-IV by Nine Inch Nails, The Book of Eli (soundtrack), The Social Network (soundtrack)

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Hmm, thanks for putting this up.

Been a Reznor/N.I.N. fan since about '98.

I will definately be giving this a listen to now that I know about it.

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RV Member #53
Retired RV Forum Moderator.

Have you heard Ghosts I-IV? I was so excited when I heard NIN was coming out with an instrumental album. Trent released it on vinyl before releasing it on any other format and I just went ahead and got the vinyl...I couldn't wait, and was not dissapointed.

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I have not! But now I shall be acquiring that as well =)

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RV Member #53
Retired RV Forum Moderator.

Ghosts is a pretty long album as well......30 some songs I believe. Definately reminded me of a soundtrack to a movie that didn't exist. Trent has alwaayyyss had good movie music. The Fragile's songs are used in tons of movies. I actually have a film I've got storyboarded out to The Fragile in it's entirety.....maybe film isn't what I should call it. I suppose it's more like a music video to an entire album. I just need to find someone to produce it.

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Somebody else was supposed to feature this a few days ago... Fortunately this has been remedied and the inactive party will be flogged accordingly. Keep up the good work.

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Imagine a perfect beach
Without a mermaid
Imagine a perfect hideaway
Without a time
Imagine a perfect Eden
Without a friend, without a serpent
"Feeling lonely and content at the same time,
I believe, is a rare kind of happiness"

Thanks!

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