One record at a time: 385. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - Watchmen: Vol. 03 (Music From The HBO Series)

Volume 3 of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's soundtrack to the TV series "Watchmen" is a much more "ambient" and minimalistic than the first two instalments. In fact this music here is so spartan that I have read of people playing the record at the wrong speed without realising it.

This album has none of the raucous or heavily synth driven pieces found on the first two volumes, but cues like "The Waiting Sky" or "A Stronger, Loving World" are still mildly entertaining. 

This album is probably intended to be given your full attention and experienced as a continuos flow of music. However, I can think of better things to do with 45 minutes than listening to a drone. In all honesty, I can't see me playing this record again anytime soon.  

The real genius of this record is the artwork that credits it to "The Nine Inch Nails" with the fictional title "The Manhattan Project". The record itself is a very nice pressing and, unlike many others, mine has no issues on playback. 1/5

One record at a time: 384. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - Watchmen: Vol. 02 (Music From The HBO Series)

The second volume of music from the soundtrack to the TV series "Watchmen" was issued in a sleeve masquerading as the soundtrack to a fictitious show called "American Hero Story: Minutemen".

The real credits found online tell us most of the cues were created by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross with two traditional jazz tracks by John Beasley. My copy plays very well and includes a facsimile newspaper clipping included in some pressings.

As far as the music goes it is more of the same really. Standout tracks are "Squid Pro Quo" which begins as an atmospheric drone before launching into a powerful analogue sequence. "Seven Years of Bad Luck" and "He Was Never There" are also very interesting to hear and the creepy "Kicked in the Balls Again" never fails to affect. 

The afore mentioned John Beasley contributions are traditional jazz recordings that fit within the context of the programme, but are of absolutely no interest to me. So whilst this isn't quite as good as the first volume it is still very interesting to hear. 2.5/5

One record at a time: 383. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - Watchmen: Vol. 01 (Music From The HBO Series)

When I first saw the film "Watchmen" in 2009 I was totally mystified by it. I'm not a comic book fan and I had absolutely no knowledge of the lore required to fully enjoy the film. Clearly this wasn't the sort of show for me.

Yet, ten years later I decided to watch a new TV series based on the same characters. This time around I enjoyed things much more and I'm sure that this was due, in part, to the fantastic music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of the band Nine Inch Nails.

Here we have the first volume of the soundtrack that features artwork for a fictional album called "The Book of Rorschach" by the equally fictional band Sons Of Pale Horse. Whilst I have no doubt this fake sleeve approach was artistically satisfying (and nothing I have seen before) it is a bit annoying as you have to look online to see what any of these tracks are actually called.

When I received this album it was quite badly scratched and had all kinds of clicks and pops straight from the manufacturer. After a little resistance the band's official UK webshop sent me a replacement that wasn't scratched, bit it doesn't play quite as flawlessly as I expected either.

The first few opening tracks of this album are atmospheric wonders that set the scene for both the TV series and this record. I can't imagine sitting down and coming up with something as good as the fourth track "Nun With A Motherfucking Gun" and not having the biggest smile on my face. The analogue synths, rapid percussion and throbbing bass combine perfectly on what is one of the highlights of all three volumes of the soundtrack.

Cues like "Kattle Battle" and "I'll Wait" sound like they have been lifted straight from a Nine Inch Nails album and it is clear that Reznor and Ross put just as much effort into their soundtracks as they do for their other work. Another highlight is "The Brick" which somehow manages to sound new and innovative but clearly carries the distinctive DNA of the composers. The music here is much more electronic than more recent Nine Inch Nails releases and I prefer it as a result. 4/5