Gone Girl | ||||
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Film score by | ||||
Released | September 30, 2014 [1] | |||
Recorded | 2014 | |||
Genre | Dark ambient [2] | |||
Length | 86:42 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer |
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Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross chronology | ||||
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Gone Girl is the score album for David Fincher's 2014 film of the same name, composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The album was released on September 30, 2014, through Columbia Records. [3] It marks as third time that Reznor and Ross have collaborated with Fincher, following 2010's Oscar-winning The Social Network and 2011's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . [4] The soundtrack was nominated for the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media, [5] and also for the 2014 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. [6]
On January 21, 2014, Trent Reznor announced that he and Atticus Ross would provide the score, [7] marking their third collaboration with David Fincher, following The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . Reznor revealed that the tonal inspiration for Gone Girl came from an unsettling experience of Fincher at the chiropractor's place and the music heard was "inauthentically trying to make him feel alright", and thus, had become a metaphor for the film score. The soundtrack's music mixes soothing sounds with staccato electronic noises. [8]
Reznor had anticipated being able to focus intently on the Gone Girl soundtrack, but it turned out to overlap with a year-long tour with Nine Inch Nails. [8] During multiple two-week breaks in his tour, Reznor and Ross would create musical soundscapes that both matched the scenes in the script as well as what Fincher exactly wanted. According to them, the track "Sugar Storm" from the soundtrack exemplifies a sound that begins with soothing, new-age massage therapy music, where the composers gradually introduce strange staccato noises that recall an old dial-up modem.
In the same interview to USA Today Reznor stated, "I love the sounds in David Lynch movies, the kind that make you lean forward in your seat and tense up." The staccato noise introduction was justified by him stating that if placing background of a song a choir of screams that creep slowly into one's head, he could create a feeling. Further, Reznor and Ross used traditional instruments like guitars and keyboard, as well as handmade gear. They created a device that when tapped made a stuttering beat sounds. [8] Reznor was quoted saying, "So when you use that as a foundation for a track that has a sexy background, the core is inherently broken, and you sense that." [8]
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Reznor called "The Way He Looks at Me" as one of his favorite tracks on the album. He added that when he and Ross were thinking about usages in compositions, it all began from hints given by Fincher. They used customized instruments like "homemade boxes that had small mics fit in it". [9] He said that they captured guitar strings loops by hitting it and developing a repeating pattern deliberately making it uneven. Thus, the foreground created was a kind of unease justified when there were moments of tension in the film. So instead of it naturally building, they compared the loop sounds to foot's dragging or something being stuck. [9]
In the case of Gone Girl , it felt organic-y to start. As we started working on it, it felt like it could use the idea of orchestra, so we ended up using an orchestra for bits of it to layer in with what we've done, which was an interesting process. [10]
Trent Reznor on working with the live orchestras for first time for the score
In April 2014, a website titled "amazingamy.com" was set up to promote the film. [11] The website featured score but was touted to be composed by Reznor and Ross. In July 2014, the website "gonegirlmovie.com" was updated to also have background music similar to the first audio but was titled "Echoes". A trailer was released on July 7, 2014 which featured both the website based music and new music. On 20 September 2014, "gonegirl.com" was updated with new music titled "Mixdown", a megamix of songs from the soundtrack album. Later, NIN [10] updating a splash screen introducing the score, the album artwork and the track "The Way He Looks At Me" running behind the frame. [12]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 84/100 [13] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [14] |
Consequence of Sound | B+ [2] |
Drowned in Sound | 8/10 [15] |
NME | 8/10 [16] |
The soundtrack has been met with critical acclaim by critics, with an average rating of 84 out of 100 based on five reviews on Metacritic. [13]
Consequence of Sound critic Leah Pickett stated: "The cinesonic union of Fincher, Reznor, and Ross is stronger than ever." [2] Justin Chang of Variety felt, "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, whose moody electronic compositions have become synonymous with the director’s work, once again devise a soundscape that all but pulses with dread, this time by lacing more traditional orchestral fare with their trademark synths. [17]
Writing for The New Yorker, Anthony Lane felt, "Nothing could equip Fincher better for the coiled and clustered goings on in the new film, and, for good measure, he has hired Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to compose the score and they don’t let Fincher down." [18] Genevieve Koski of The Dissolve compared the composer's previous scores, stating, "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, all of whom have been helping steer the look and sound of Fincher’s films since The Social Network, and all of whom do characteristically effective but unflashy work in Gone Girl." [19] Writing for Slate , Dana Stevens felt, "An eerie (if a little too omnipresent) electronic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross sounds sensational" [20] At USA Today, Claudia Puig praised the score as, "A pervasively menacing atmosphere — intensified by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' eerily evocative score — keeps the audience mesmerized." [21] For Hitfix, Drew McWeeny summarized, "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross contribute the most difficult score they've composed so far here, giving us nothing resembling a typical emotional cue. It is the polar opposite of the score that Thomas Newman wrote for The Judge, all clingy and needy and cloying and over-emphatic about any possible feeling the audience might be expected to have for themselves. Ross and Reznor had written something that feels designed to make you uncomfortable. It is a hair shirt of a score, itchy and strange and almost offensive on some level, and I love it." [22]
"Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross complement the film’s jagged, uncertain tone with a suitably downbeat electronic score", such was stated by Marc Savlov, writing for The Austin Chronicle newspaper. [23] For The A.V. Club, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky called the score framed on lines Mark Isham-esque. However, he called it 'silky'" [24] Writing for Oregon Live, Jeff Baker felt, "Composers Atticus and Reznor -- for three movies in a row and they've got it down. "Gone Girl" works the way a Swiss watch works, money well spent in every frame." [25] Michael Phillips of Chicago Tribune called the scoring 'remarkable', 'throbbing' underscoring by composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, enough to make one forget the story's phonier constructs and less plausible supporting characters. [26] At Vulture, David Edelstein praised the score stating, "The spooky astral music (by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) is like purgatory in beige" [27] Critic Matt Zoller Seitz wrote, "For long stretches, Fincher's gliding widescreen camerawork, immaculate compositions and sickly, desaturated colors fuse with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's creepy-optimistic synthesized score to create a perverse big-screen version of one of those TV comedies built around a pathetically unobservant lump of a husband and his hypercontrolling, slightly shrewish wife." [28] Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "The score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is nomination-worthy." [29] Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail commented, "Throughout, the electronic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross grinds, squawks and groans, communicating the rising panic beneath the placid surface." [30] Writing for The Rolling Stone , Peter Travers noted, "Composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, artfully escalate the seething tension." [31]
Much less enthusiastic was Jonathan Broxton of Movie Music UK, member of the International Film Music Critics Association, who wrote of the score: "The lack of any emotional development beyond the general mood of uneasiness makes the film a one-note auditory bore. The music stops us from feeling any of the nuance or subtlety the acting or writing may have otherwise provided, because it never alters its disposition. (...) As an artist with Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor was genuinely groundbreaking. However, I just don’t buy into all the hype about his film music career. I read reviews from professional critics in well-respected music magazines, and they all laud him as though he is the individual savior of the art, someone who is finally writing the sort of edgy, avant-garde film music we have all needed all these years, but were too stupid to realize. I just don’t buy it. (...) As an album of ambient electronica [Gone Girl] may be appealing to those who have an affinity for that sort of music. However, as actual film music, it’s as much as a failure as its two predecessors." [32]
All tracks are written by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "What Have We Done to Each Other?" | 2:30 |
2. | "Sugar Storm" | 2:53 |
3. | "Empty Places" | 2:46 |
4. | "With Suspicion" | 3:16 |
5. | "Just Like You" | 4:11 |
6. | "Appearances" | 2:52 |
7. | "Clue One" | 1:30 |
8. | "Clue Two" | 5:10 |
9. | "Background Noise" | 3:09 |
10. | "Procedural" | 4:30 |
11. | "Something Disposable" | 4:28 |
12. | "Like Home" | 3:39 |
13. | "Empty Places (Reprise)" | 2:20 |
14. | "The Way He Looks at Me" | 3:27 |
15. | "Technically, Missing" | 6:43 |
16. | "Secrets" | 3:08 |
17. | "Perpetual" | 4:00 |
18. | "Strange Activities" | 2:37 |
19. | "Still Gone" | 2:47 |
20. | "A Reflection" | 1:46 |
21. | "Consummation" | 4:09 |
22. | "Sugar Storm (Reprise)" | 0:49 |
23. | "What Will We Do?" | 3:05 |
24. | "At Risk" | 11:05 |
Total length: | 86:42 |
List of awards and nominations | |||||
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Award | Date of Ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards | January 15, 2015 | Best Score | Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross | Nominated | [33] |
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards | December 19, 2014 | Runner-up | [34] | ||
Golden Globe Awards | January 11, 2015 | Nominated | [6] | ||
Grammy Awards | February 8, 2015 | Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media | Nominated | [5] | |
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards | December 16, 2014 | Best Score | Nominated | [35] | |
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards | December 15, 2014 | Nominated | [36] | ||
Satellite Awards | February 15, 2015 | Best Original Score | Nominated | [37] | |
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards | December 15, 2014 | Best Score | Nominated | [38] | |
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | December 8, 2014 | Original Score | Nominated | [39] [40] |
Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band until his frequent collaborator, Atticus Ross, joined in 2016. The band's debut album, Pretty Hate Machine (1989), was released via TVT Records. After disagreeing with TVT about how to promote the album, the band signed with Interscope Records and released the EP Broken (1992). The following albums, The Downward Spiral (1994) and The Fragile (1999), were released to critical acclaim and commercial success.
Michael Trent Reznor is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, which he founded in 1988 and of which he was the sole official member until 2016. The first Nine Inch Nails album, Pretty Hate Machine (1989), was a commercial and critical success. Reznor has since released 11 more Nine Inch Nails studio albums.
Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Social Network in 2010. In 2013, the pair won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for their soundtrack to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In 2021, alongside Jon Batiste, they won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for the soundtrack for Pixar's Soul.
Ghosts I–IV is the sixth studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by The Null Corporation on March 2, 2008. It was the band's first independent release following their split from longtime label Interscope Records in 2007. The production team included Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, studio collaborators Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder, and contributions from Alessandro Cortini, Adrian Belew, and Brian Viglione.
The Social Network is the score album for David Fincher's 2010 film of the same name, composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It was released on September 28, 2010, through The Null Corporation. On September 17, a five-track sampler was also made available for free. The score bears a similar sound to the previous Reznor/Ross 2008 collaboration, Ghosts I–IV, and even features two slightly reworked tracks from Ghosts; the track "Magnetic" and "A Familiar Taste".
The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Score is one of the annual awards given by the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association. The award was first given in 2010.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the score album for David Fincher's 2011 film of the same name, composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It was released on December 9, 2011, through The Null Corporation in the US and Mute Records outside North America. This is the second soundtrack that Reznor and Ross have worked on together, following the Oscar-winning The Social Network, also for Fincher.
The Twenty Thirteen Tour was a concert tour by industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails to support the album Hesitation Marks. It marked the return of the band for live performances after a four-year touring hiatus. It began on July 26, 2013 and ended on August 30, 2014.
Gone Girl is a 2014 American psychological thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by Gillian Flynn, based on her 2012 novel of the same name. It stars Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, and Carrie Coon. In the film, Nick Dunne (Affleck) becomes the prime suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife, Amy (Pike) in Missouri.
Hesitation Marks is the eighth studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on August 30, 2013, by The Null Corporation and distributed by Columbia Records in the United States and Polydor Records elsewhere. It was the band's first release in five years, following The Slip (2008), as well as their only release on Columbia. Like previous albums, the album was produced by frontman Trent Reznor alongside longtime collaborators Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder. To date, this is the most recent band's album to be co-produced by Moulder.
Remix 2014 EP is the fourth extended play (EP) by American industrial rock band by Nine Inch Nails. It was released on January 21, 2014, exclusively on Beats Music, a streaming service project led by Trent Reznor and Dr. Dre. Trent Reznor acts as the chief creative officer of the website.
Before the Flood is a collaboration soundtrack album by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Mogwai and Gustavo Santaolalla for Fisher Stevens's film of the same name. It was originally made available as an Apple Music exclusive on October 21, 2016 and received a wide digital release on October 28. A CD release is scheduled for December 16, 2016 with a vinyl release to follow. The song "A Minute to Breathe" was first made available as a digital single on October 7, 2016. The album was released on Lakeshore Records.
Patriots Day is the score album for Peter Berg's 2016 film of the same name, composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The album was released digitally on January 13, 2017, through Lakeshore Records. It is the fifth film score composed by the duo.
Mid90s (Original Music from the Motion Picture) is a soundtrack EP by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Jonah Hill's film of the same name. It was released digitally on October 19, 2018 through Reznor's label The Null Corporation. It peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.
Mank is a 2020 American biographical drama film about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his development of the screenplay for the 1941 film Citizen Kane. It was directed by David Fincher based on a screenplay written by his late father Jack Fincher and was produced by Ceán Chaffin, Douglas Urbanski, and Eric Roth. It stars Gary Oldman in the title role, alongside Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Arliss Howard, Tom Pelphrey, Sam Troughton, Ferdinand Kingsley, Tuppence Middleton, Tom Burke, Joseph Cross, Jamie McShane, Toby Leonard Moore, Monika Gossman, and Charles Dance.
Ghosts VI: Locusts is the eleventh studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It was released as a free download on March 26, 2020, as a show of solidarity with the band's fans during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released simultaneously with the tenth Nine Inch Nails album, Ghosts V: Together, and is the third release of the Ghosts series.
Watchmen (Music from the HBO Series) is the original score for the HBO superhero drama limited series Watchmen, composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The score was released in three volumes on vinyl and digital services over the course of the series' broadcast in 2019, with Volume 1 on November 6, Volume 2 on November 27, and Volume 3 on December 18.
Soul: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2020 Disney-Pixar film Soul. The soundtrack is a compilation of all 23 score pieces by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from the Soul: Original Motion Picture Score vinyl album as well as 16 original songs by Jon Batiste from the Music from and Inspired by Soul vinyl album. All three albums were released through Walt Disney Records on December 18, 2020.
Mank (Original Music Score) is the score album for David Fincher's 2020 film of the same name, composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It was released by The Null Corporation label on December 4, 2020, coinciding with the worldwide release on Netflix. The film marks Fincher's fourth collaboration with Reznor and Ross after the Academy Award-winning score for The Social Network (2010), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and Gone Girl (2014). Both Reznor and Ross used period-authentic instrumentation from the 1930s and 40s, instead of their synth-heavy style. The orchestral sections were performed by each members at their homes, due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
Bones and All (Original Score) is the score album to the 2022 film of the same name, directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet. The film's score was composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and was released on November 18, 2022, on Reznor's label The Null Corporation. It features 23 score tracks, along with the original song, "(You Make Me Feel Like) Home". The score features acoustic music representing the Midwestern United States, and draws inspiration from classical Americana songs, that depicts the relationship between the leading characters, despite the horror setting.