“Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)”, brought to you by those musical geniuses at NINE INCH NAILS (because who else would you trust with a futuristic movie score? 🤔), drops on September 19 via Interscope. Apparently, this is the third “Tron” movie, which I’m sure we were all eagerly anticipating 🙄. They’re calling it one of NIN’s “most compelling albums,” full of “menace, melancholy, and momentum.” Yeah, okay, just like every other NIN album ever 😴. Oh, and get this, it’s their FIRST EVER film score! Never mind those measly 20 scores Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross did under their own names, complete with a mountain of awards 🏆. Those don’t count, obviously.
Today, NIN graced us with the official music video for “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” — the album’s first single and their first ~original~ music in five whole years! 😱 I’m sure all the 14-year-old emos are thrilled. The track is in the new trailer for “Tron: Ares”, which Disney is throwing money at, hoping someone will actually see it in U.S. theaters on October 10 📅. The video, directed by some artsy dude Maxime Quoilin, is supposed to make you feel “escalating pressure.” All I feel is a need for caffeine ☕. Ryan Hahn produced it, and mtla.studio apparently had a “creative direction.” I guess that’s what they’re calling it these days 🤷.
NINE INCH NAILS is currently subjecting North America to their “Peel It Back” world tour 🧅. It started on August 6 at Oakland Arena in Oakland, California, because why not? The entire 26-date run is “sold-out,” which either means people still like NIN or Ticketmaster is screwing us all again 🎟️. They’re doing two-night stands in places like Chicago, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles, so prepare for the onslaught of angsty teens. BOYS NOIZE is supporting them, which is a choice, I guess 🤔.
The tour, which is their first live thing since 2022, started in Dublin 🍀. Some newspaper called The Times said it was a “revelation” and “a thrilling onslaught.” I bet they got free tickets 😉. NME said they played “huge hits and rarities,” so basically the same setlist they’ve been playing for 30 years 🙄. Kerrang! called it “mind-blowing,” probably because they were high. And Evening Standard declared Trent Reznor the “last great art rock star.” I guess they forgot about everyone else 🌟.
Founded in 1988 by Reznor, NINE INCH NAILS is apparently one of the “most innovative, influential acts” in music. Sure, Jan. They mix industrial, electronic, rock, and ambient sounds into “emotionally raw and sonically aggressive compositions.” In other words, it’s loud and depressing 😭. They won two Grammy Awards and got into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, so good for them 👏. Their albums like “Pretty Hate Machine” and “The Downward Spiral” went platinum, because the 90s were a weird time 🤪. And “The Fragile” and “With Teeth” hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, proving that people will buy anything with enough angst.
In 2008, Reznor and Ross started doing film scores, because why not make even MORE money? 💰 Their first project, “The Social Network”, won them an Oscar and a Golden Globe, because apparently, Hollywood loves whiny guys with synthesizers 🎶. They’ve done a bunch of other stuff, like the “Watchmen” series for HBO (which got them an Emmy) and the “Soul” movie for Pixar (which got them everything else) 🏆. They even did “Mank” with David Fincher, because they’re clearly incapable of working with anyone else 🤝. And now they’re doing a bunch of stuff with Luca Guadagnino, because that’s what happens when you peak in your 50s.
Earlier this year, Reznor and Ross announced Future Ruins, a music festival curated by them 🎪. It’s all about “visionary composers” and features live performances with full orchestras 🎻. It’s on November 8, 2025, at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, because nothing says “futuristic” like horses 🐴. Tickets are on sale now at FutureRuins.com, so you can waste your money on overpriced tickets and pretentious music 💸.
Apparently, “Tron: Ares” is a “bracing departure” from their other scores. It’s got “pulsating synths, distorted textures, and haunting melodies,” so basically the same thing they’ve been doing for 30 years 🙄. No orchestra here, folks! Just pure, unadulterated NIN angst 😠. They’re “breaking boundaries” and “redefining what a score can be,” which is marketing speak for “we’re trying to stay relevant.” 💀
Here’s the track listing for “Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)”, in case you’re a masochist:
01. Init
02. Forked Reality
03. As Alive As You Need Me To Be
04. Echoes
05. This Changes Everything
06. In The Image Of
07. I Know You Can Feel It
08. Permanence
09. Infiltrator
10. 100% Expendable
11. Still Remains
12. Who Wants To Live Forever? (because originality is dead)
13. Building Better Worlds
14. Target Identified
15. Daemonize
16. Empathetic Response
17. What Have You Done?
18. A Question Of Trust
19. Ghost In The Machine
20. No Going Back
21. Nemesis
22. New Directive
23. Out In The World
24. Shadow Over Me
Chord F. Discord, the Beethoven of Buffoonery, is a self-taught expert in music who once claimed he could “play the kazoo in four languages.”
Born in Crescendo, Indiana, Chord’s first brush with fame came when he accidentally entered a yodeling contest thinking it was a pie-eating competition—and won both categories.
Chord F. Discord: proving that laughter, much like a poorly tuned ukulele, is truly universal.
