Watchmen (Music from the HBO Series) is the original score for the HBOsuperhero 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.
Watchmen is Reznor and Ross' first collaborative soundtrack for scripted television following their work on a number of award-winning films (beginning with The Social Network in 2010), as well as the documentary series The Vietnam War in 2017. The score combines the duo's signature electronic and dark ambient sounds with jazz and blues compositions, a piano cover of David Bowie's "Life on Mars," and a number of interludes containing in-world content from the series' universe, including dialogue excerpts and fictional advertisements.
The score was critically acclaimed, with many reviewers considering it Reznor and Ross' best work to date. Particular praise was given to the album's stylistic range, as well as its role in crafting the series' distinct atmosphere. The score earned Reznor and Ross the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series in 2020.[1]
Reznor, a personal fan of both the original Watchmen comic series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons as well as the work of Damon Lindelof, creator of the television series, reached out to Lindelof offering to score the series alongside Ross after HBO greenlit the project; the duo were officially announced as the series' composers in September 2018.[2] Reznor stated that he admired the creative risk Lindelof undertook in approaching the Watchmen property, remarking, "It would be a lot easier for Damon to make something that was not called Watchmen than it is to make something for fans that are unpleasable. (...) Just taking on the IP doesn't feel safe, so Atticus and I are all in with this show."[3] The duo began composing the series' score after meetings with Lindelof in which he pitched them the series' concept and presented a rough cut of the pilot episode.[3]
Reznor and Ross experimented with various styles and genres for the Watchmen soundtrack, combining their signature electronic and dark ambient sound with jazz, blues, and gospel influences.[4] Reznor noted that some of the score's stylistic range was informed by the tonal shifts of the pilot script, which he and Ross read before filming had commenced. He remarked, "We’d read the script for the first episode, (...) and it was tough to tell, is the tone of this dead serious? Is it self-aware? Is there any humor? Is it pitch black? When we saw the first cut, which wasn’t perfected yet, it really defined what it was. There’s a playfulness to this, which we hadn’t expected." The two created "about 12 pieces" based on the pilot script prior to viewing any footage from the series.[4]
Several pieces on the album springboarded from the track "How the West Was Really Won," which was said to have "captivated" Lindelof.[5] Ross stated that many pieces on the album were crafted using a similar approach to what he and Reznor took to their work as Nine Inch Nails, particularly on electronic tracks like "How the West Was Really Won" and "Nun With a Motherfucking Gun," which serves as the theme for protagonist Angela Abar/Sister Night.[4][6] The duo also introduced orchestral elements for pieces containing in-universe content, such as the theme for the fictional series American Hero Story, which functioned both as a parody of the American Horror Story franchise as well as a way for Lindelof to lightheartedly "troll the Marvel movies," according to Ross.[4]
Furthermore, Reznor and Ross incorporated the series' historical themes and period settings into the score, particularly on the track "The Way It Used to Be," a jazz composition inspired by music from the 1940s. The piece is used in the episode "This Extraordinary Being," which is largely set in the 1940s, during a sequence where a character is lynched; Reznor recalled that the producers initially intended to use a track by Doris Day for the sequence, but that the record's publishers denied their request due to the context of the scene. This led to Reznor and Ross composing an original, period-authentic track for the episode.[6] Reznor noted that it was the first time he and Ross had attempted a jazz record.[7] The duo additionally created a cover of David Bowie's "Life on Mars", which is used in the end credits for the episode "An Almost Religious Awe". Reznor, who was personal friends with Bowie prior to the latter's death in 2016, remarked that composing the cover was a daunting task, but that he and Ross were ultimately "very proud" of the end result.[6] In addition to the Bowie cover, the track "No Rhythm" contains an interpolation of Wham!'s "Careless Whisper".[8]
Release
Covers of Watchmen vinyl editions
Rorschach-themed cover of Volume 1, designed as The Book of Rorschach by a fictional band the Sons of Pale Horse
Hooded Justice on the cover of Volume 2, as a fictional soundtrack to the "original series" American Hero Story: Minutemen
Doctor Manhattan on the cover of Volume 3, in the form of a fictional album The Manhattan Project, credited to "The Nine Inch Nails"
The score for Watchmen was released in three volumes over the series' broadcast, with a new volume released every three episodes. The three albums collectively span 39 tracks.[9] The first volume was released on November 4,[10] the second on November 25, and the third on December 16, 2019.[11] Reznor reasoned that releasing all the tracks as part of one volume would exceed the "short attention span[s]" of general audiences, and that splitting the score into three volumes would allow it to "be part of the [series'] story."[12]
The albums were released in both physical and digital formats, with the vinyl editions containing various pieces of faux artwork, track titles and credits referencing in-world content from the series, as well as supplemental material written by Lindelof and Jeff Jensen.[13][14] On the vinyl versions, Volume 1 is credited to the in-universe band the Sons of Pale Horse, with the faux title The Book of Rorschach;[15]Volume 2 is given the faux title Soundtrack to the Original Series American Hero Story: Minutemen (a show-within-a-show);[16] while Volume 3 is given the faux title The Manhattan Project, packaged as "the final album" for a fictional band called The Nine Inch Nails [sic].[17]
The score for Watchmen received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its stylistic diversity and its contribution to creating a distinct atmosphere for the series. Sean T. Collins of Pitchfork gave the record a 7.6 out of 10, calling it Reznor and Ross' "strongest and most direct" work since their score for The Social Network. Collins singled out "How the West Was Really Won," calling it the album's best track and praising the usage of its melody as a leitmotif in several other tracks on the album. He also remarked on how the three volumes display the duo's "considerable range" with tracks "alternately paranoid and plaintive."[8] Angie Piccirillo of Consequence of Sound gave the album an A−, praising tracks like "Nun With a Motherfucking Gun" for utilizing the "iconic driving synths and electronic production that [Reznor and Ross] are known for." Piccirillo also praised the interlude monologues, such as "Garryowen" and "Trigger Warning", for providing "a backbone to the soundtrack as a whole, allowing for it to be able to tell the same story as the series — without even having to watch." She was less positive about tracks such as "The Brick" and "Absent Friends and Old Ghosts", which she felt represented the album's "expected moments of traditional underscore" and questioned their place on the record.[18] James Whitbrook of io9 wrote that the score was "just oozing with style, a soundscape that is almost off-putting in the uneasy tension its rhythmic pacing evokes—and yet at the same time it’s weirdly hypnotic, lulling you with a false sense of security with its slick beats (and even slicker basslines) as it burrows its way into your head."[19]
^"SCL Awards Nominations". The Society of Composers and Lyricists. December 4, 2019. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
