Note: This is a review of the "For Your Consideration" edit of the Patriots Day score. What this means is that this is not the final version of the score as is set to be released commercially in January 2017. Certain tracks are merely different edits of other, longer tracks, some with different mixing, instrumentation, and arrangements. As that is the case, this is less of a formal review and more of a "first impressions" write up.
While different from their previous score work, this is still clearly Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. On their next score, I'd really enjoy hearing them take more risks, getting out of their current workspace. Maybe it's them, maybe it's Peter Berg, the film's director, maybe it's the inherent lack of innovation in Hollywood stifling their artistic inclinations, but these two are much more adventurous than this.
Of their five scores thus far, Patriots Day feels the most like an Oscar Movie Soundtrack*. A really stand out, interesting Oscar Movie Soundtrack, but still well within the constraints of the system.
"Couples & Brothers"
Warm watery background with soft ascending and descending piano over it.
This is an R&R score.
Close to "Juno", but less spacey.
Maybe didn't need to be 7 minutes.
The ending gets uneasy.
"Donuts & Legs"
Delicate with a rough buzz in the background. Lower notes reminiscent of bass from "La Mer"/"Into The Void". This is a shade of "Obama & Coffee".
"Fornicator"
Little pops and clicks under a rising throb of menace. Like a dark, electronic open wound
":26"
Unsettling and cavernous. Wave cut short.
"Arrival"
Dissonance and tension. Very uncomfortable track.
Wrong notes. Staticky steam towards the end.
"Dread"
This makes me want these two to score the new Aliens movie so hard. A distant alarm tone pings while walls of noise rise and fall. Huge sound.
+"Bombs"
A longer, more fleshed out version of "Dread". Some deep synths and distortion around the edges.
"FBI"
Two notes repeating before a subterranean pattern emerges to darken things up.
"Black Falcon"
Subtle intensity, low key chase music.
+"Hospital & Whole Milk"
Has remnants of "Dread"/"Bombs". Those somehow panicky alarm tones bouncing off the walls. Some very "Juno" moments about halfway through.
#"Vigil"
Another permutation of "Obama and Coffee". Clearer and more defined. This and its ilk are my favorites thus far.
+"Tommy Breaks Down"
Yet another, more stripped down version of "Bombs". The deep synth and alarm motifs are the focus here until things deteriorate and splinter towards the end.
@"Left of Boom"
Manipulation of "FBI", those two notes.
Find my attention wandering…
#"Obama & Coffee"
This Reznor & Ross is my favorite kind. It might be a formula, but it's a great formula. Hope there's a longer, deeper version of this on the final release.
"Roommates"
Very sinister crawl to this. It feels evil...
"Backpack & Brothers to M.I.T."
Nebulous and tense.
"Shoot Seann"
Feedback and reverb, baby, feedback and reverb. I'll say it again: will you guys please do a horror movie/video game? Death Stranding anyone?
"Car Jack"
First few seconds feel like "A Warm Place" before the electronics come in and makes things cold.
"Drive to Watertown"
Those "Juno"-esque vibes again...
"Escape"
The most electronic track thus far.
Like a digital washing machine. Peals of feedback drift around like ghosts. One or two moments actually harken back to NIN's Tetsuo theme.
"Shoot Out"
Sounds a bit like electronic indigestion.
Then more dark and pulsing programming.
"Tamerlan"
Right up there with "Escape" as far as its electronics. Like some diseased heart monitor.
&"Manhunt"
Permutation of "Car Jack". Deeper, more electronic, more fleshed out.
"They Got The Wife"
Literally, a blast of noise.
^"Interrogation"
Reminiscent of "Perpetual" from Gone Girl thanks to the instrumentation.
Then, shades of "Arrival".
#"Watchlisted"
Features bass line from "Donuts & Legs" with a more compelling, electronic layer on top of it.
"Good Versus Evil"
Absolutely gorgeous. Warm and welcoming after the nervous tension of the rest of this score.
+"The Boat"
Another combination of that scratchy percussion and that alarm noise. Accompanied by the requisite waves of synth.
+"SWAT"
All right, that alarm noise worked once, maybe even twice. But by this point it seems so overused as to be almost ineffective.
"Capture & Fenway"
Finally, something different. Some nice light strings. This goes up there as one of the best tracks here. Feels like "34 Ghosts IV", the live arrangement of "The Day The World Went Away", and How To Destroy Angels' "A Drowning". Loving everything here.
%"Interviews"
Callback to "Couples & Brothers". This should have been the definitive version.
"Main Titles"
One of the only tracks with proper drums. Another perfect example of a rock solid Reznor/Ross joint.
+ Contains elements of "Dread"
# Contains elements of "Donuts & Legs"
% Contains elements of "Couples & Brothers"
@ Contains elements of "FBI"
^ Contains elements of "Arrival"
& Contains elements of "Car Jack"
"Donuts & Legs", "Vigil" and "Obama & Coffee" are all different iterations of one another and they're some of my favorite pieces here, along with "Good Versus Evil", "Capture & Fenway", and the main titles. Other stand outs include "Fornicator", "Escape", and "Tamerlan", mainly for their dark, sludgy electronics.
To reiterate, this is not a 100% accurate representation of the final score, set for release next month, and, going by just how many of these tracks are different versions of one another, I feel like I'm only getting a portion of what's to come. I hope. Because, unless there's some crazy additions to what's on offer here, this is going to be yet another solid yet unsurprising score from Reznor and Ross.
* That's not really meant as a compliment...
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