Nine Inch Nails’ As Alive As You Need me to Be: An Exciting Release that Deserved a New Record

Trent Reznor has been saving his music for his scores with Atticus Ross, while the last Nine Inch Nails record in 2020. It seems Trent wants the best of both worlds with a new track landing on the Tron Ares soundtrack. The highlights of the trailer was this song and the amazing visual effects…unfortunately Jarred Leto appears and his face reminds us that he is currently facing multiple sexual harassment/misconduct accusations from a number of women…oops. Why Disney invested so much money on the movie and soundtrack just to hire someone facing sexual misconduct accusations from 9 different women is beyond me and will probably be a terrible decision. One that not only minimises the impact of violence towards women, but will also overshadow an amazing single from Nine Inch Nails.

Like I stated earlier, it has been 5 years since the last Nine Inch Nails studio product, single or record. That is a long time for a band that dominated the 90s and was still active recording film scores. The track is all the high octane sci-fi industrial grime you were hoping for. The techo bass and synth lines are infectious and drive with an unparalleled energy. Moreover, the guitar kicks in and gives the track the industrial grime and epic scope that Trent captured on early Nine Inch Nails records. I love this song’s composition and pace. Think of if Head Like a Hole had a teenage child that thought 90s music was boring and cranked it to 11. There is a lot of Pretty Hate Machine in this track, which makes sense with the dystopian sci-fi setting of Tron. Having said that, these are only echos that do not bog As Alive as you Need me to Be down or take away from its relevance in 2025.

Vocally, Trent is pretty much the same as he was in 1989. His steely delivery on the verse is as emotionally dramatic as ever, while his chaotic hooks drive the song into a frenzy. The track’s overall themes of connection, humanity and the negative influence of modern life are all themes well traversed throughout the 90s. It is this modern life/commercial nihilism that Trent has always been interested in and exploring how to break free from it to connect with others. I think at times people can get caught up in the electro onslaught and nihilistic message to a fault. I don’t think that Trent is nihilistic. I think he is always holding a mirror to the trappings of modern life and exploring how we can break free of what aspects of modernity try to imprison us.

This is a great return to form for a band that I thought we would not hear from anymore. I thought Trent would sit back in his home studio and crank out killer scores and collect Oscars. It is great to see Nine Inch Nails back out there. I just wish that it was on a new studio record and not a soundtrack for a movie that I fear may be forgotten about within a week of release. This is too good of a track to waste on this movie and I hope it inspires Trent and the lads to make a new, original, studio record.

Listen to As Alive as you Need me to Be