ARTIST: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
ALBUM TITLE: The Social Network
RECORD LABEL: The Null Corporation
RELEASE DATE: September 28

By Justin Polak
Co-founder, Ambassador to the Mushroom Kingdom

When I first heard about the film The Social Network, Trent Reznor wouldn’t be the first person I think of.  Although Reznor has always been one to keep up with technology and use the internet to his advantage, I recall witnessing his obvious disdain for MySpace.  As Facebook became more popular and quickly rendered MySpace obsolete, I figured that his opinion of a slightly more mature social networking site wouldn’t be much different.

It came as somewhat as a surprise to me when I discovered that Reznor opted to create a soundtrack for The Social Network. Although I later found out that Trent did initially refuse the job due to being worn out from touring and a general disinterest to work on something to do with Facebook, I still really didn’t believe it until I sat down and listened to the soundtrack.

There are two things that you should keep in mind when listening to The Social Network.  First, Atticus Ross, Reznor’s partner in crime since Nine Inch Nails’ With Teeth, has once again joined Reznor for this outing.  Secondly, The Social Network sounds like a natural extension of Ghosts I-IV , Nine Inch Nails’ 36 track instrumental album.  How you feel about Ghosts and Ross’ contribution depends on your views of NIN and Reznor’s work since 2005.

I personally adored Ghosts, which was the most unpredictable album NIN has ever released.  For those of you who haven’t heard Ghosts, it can best be described as an ambient work experimenting with typical musical structures and Reznor’s signature style.  The key difference is letting the music flow in a nonlinear fashion instead of meticulously piecing together a structured song.  A good analogy would be dumping a box of Legos on the floor and building whatever the hell came to mind rather than following instructions.

Photo from flickr.com/photos/nineinchnails.

The above paragraph could also apply to The Social Network soundtrack, and although it borrows from Ghosts quite literally, it only makes up a small percentage of the album.  Plus, more musical layers are thrown in those moments for good measure.

Although I liked the soundtrack as a whole, two tracks rise well above the others. “Intriguing Possibilities” captured my attention immediately.  It starts out with a very slick futuristic synth accompanying a piano piece that could only come from Reznor’s fingers.  As the song carries on, a distorted guitar chimes in like a great chasm appearing out of nowhere.  A deep bass effect and an electronic chime serve as a good backbone and final touch to one hell of a track.

The other track, and my personal favorite, “Pieces Form the Whole,” has an indescribable far away feeling.  Much of Reznor’s instrumental work has this effect on me where I feel like I should be remembering something that never happened, which I realize how crazy that makes me sound.  However, those are the only words that come to mind whenever I hear it.  What really makes this song stand out is the very interesting and magical use of an effect that sounds like it was sampled from an 8-bit video game.  My only complaint would be is right when I start to get into this track, it fades out.  Oddly enough, I think that’s what makes it so great to me.

The only track that breaks the flow of the soundtrack is the re-imagining of the classical piece, “In the Hall of the Mountain King.”  This can be easily overlooked, as I am sure it’s place makes much more sense while watching the film, but it’s a bit jarring to hear, especially upon the first listen.

As I pointed out before, your enjoyment of The Social Network soundtrack depends on how you feel about NIN and Atticus Ross’s work with Reznor.  If Ghosts were a video game, I suppose calling The Social Network soundtrack an expansion pack would be a good description.  I may have stepped into this soundtrack feeling surprised, but I walked out of it impressed.

RATING: 8/10

Front page photo from flickr.com/photos/nineinchnails.