Watchmen: Vol. 02 (Music From The HBO Series)

Nine Inch Nails main man Trent Reznor and his frequent collaborator Atticus Ross are scoring HBO’s Watchmen, Lost/The Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof’s new semi-adaptation, semi-sequel to the iconic 1987 Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons comic book of the same. So far, the show and its soundtrack both rule; this Sunday’s installment was particularly huge, a hallucinatory sorta-flashback episode with a big twist that has far-reaching implications going all the way back to Moore’s original story. There’s a lot to talk about!
Which makes this an ideal time for Reznor and Ross to drop Watchmen: Volume 2 (Music From The HBO Series), the second installment of three planned soundtrack albums to be released over the course of the season. Like the last one, Vol. 2 works just as well on its own as it does as a television score. And in addition to the usual queasy electro bangers like “SEVEN YEARS OF BAD LUCK,” it has things like the 1920s silent movie score pastiche “TRUST IN THE LAW” and the ’40s jazz of “NOSTALGIA BLUES” and “DREAMLAND JAZZ.”
Vol. 2 includes 13 tracks in total, one of which is a minute-long clip of dialogue from the show; “A TRAVELLER FROM AN ANTIQUE LAND” and “PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE CACTUS” are also highlights.