Armageddon
Trevor Rabin and Harry Gregson-Williams
" Arma get this powerhouse piece "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
One of the first solo scores that Trevor Rabin composed became the one that took his career in an orbit around the world. Director Michael Bay always looks for a MV or RC sound and before he discovered Steve Jablonsky, it was Mark Mancina, Hans Zimmer and Trevor Rabin who were calling the shots. For Armageddon he secured Trevor Rabin with an amazing roller coaster attraction. And he didn't disappoint. Now because Bay wanted a lot of musical testosterone, Harry Gregson-Williams was called in to support Rabin in his quest to save the earth. They did it the same year on Enemy at the State and apparently their music bonded nicely together for Armageddon as well.
The original successful song album delivered one score track, an amazing main theme version of the score. The original score contained roughly 50 minutes of music and more or less contained the most important cues. Or at least that's what I assumed at the time. Because there's such a thing as seeing the whole picture. If you look now at LOTR and what's been created by the composer Howard Shore, you see the whole creative process of 1 score divided into 3 parts. If you look at Armageddon now you see 2 CD's that should be considered as one, 2 musical selections that should be heard as one. 2 composers who should be heralded as one. So if you really want to experience Armageddon the way it needs to be, the fantastic 2 disc bootleg will really cook things up for you.
The original album holds however still more than its fair share of highlights. The best of them being "Launch". A superb build up of emotion, testosterone and a full avant-garde choral launch that's enough to herald this as one of Rabin's best cues ever. The begin part is somewhat saturated in the country and electric guitar style and for that Rabin's guitar experience comes in handy. When the album progresses the tracks become longer and this is especially good for the action and suspension cues. The powerful moments such as "AJ's Return" and "Evacuation" rock the house and are intensely exciting, while the longest tracks "Launch" and "Long Distance Goodbye / Landing" offer the powerful main theme in full escalating pride.
Truth be told, the 2 CD deal shows a lot we didn't hear yet including the wonderful music when Charlton Heston does his inspiring pre opening line. In fact keen to know is who composed or co composed it, namely the third in the line Steve Jablonsky. The bulk of the unreleased music carries the expected music, either fashionable action music or inspired lovely material (like an electric violin performing the love theme). The best of the best is saved for either the crash of the shuttles (emotional choral support and a powerful action finish make this a track that deserved to be heard on the commercial release) or for the fact that the cool trailer music is present to finish off a rousing CD.
5 Minutes on the song album, 50 minutes for the score and a 130 minutes that doesn't feel all that long. It proves that Armageddon has got enough variation and above all enough winning moments to make it memorable. While the original album is a good presentation, it lacks several of the biggest kick ass tracks of the movie, which is a shame. However with stunning sound quality and enough musical material to silence the hardcore fan once and for all, Armageddon still makes it one of Trevor Rabin's most enjoyable scores. The commercial CD is a nice fine selective piece where Rabin's music pleases the ears. With the 2 CD's you get the whole picture and sometimes all the music that was written for the movie is needed to understand the whole picture behind it.
Armageddon: ***1/2
Armageddon "2 CD Complete Bootleg": ****
Tracklisting
1. Armageddon Suite * (5.20)
2. Harry & Grace Make Peace (1.43)
3. AJ's Return (4.27) Excellent track
4. Oil Rig (1.59)
5. Leaving (2.31)
6. Evacuation (3.43)
7. Harry Arrives at NASA (1.00)
8. Back in Business (1.36)
9. Launch (7.52) Excellent track
10. 5 Words (1.37)
11. Underwater Simulation (2.10)
12. Finding Grace (1.05)
13. Armadillo (1.14)
14. Short Straw (3.46)
15. Demands (1.25)
16. Death of Mir (1.31)
17. Armageddon Piano (0.35)
18. Long Distance Goodbye / Landing (6.31) Excellent track
Correct Order: (1 - 12 - 4 - 7 - 15 - 17 - 13 - 11 - 2 - 5 - 9 - 16 - 3 - 10 - 8 - 14 - 6 - 18)
* Bonus Track not featured in film
Total Length: 50.21
The original successful song album delivered one score track, an amazing main theme version of the score. The original score contained roughly 50 minutes of music and more or less contained the most important cues. Or at least that's what I assumed at the time. Because there's such a thing as seeing the whole picture. If you look now at LOTR and what's been created by the composer Howard Shore, you see the whole creative process of 1 score divided into 3 parts. If you look at Armageddon now you see 2 CD's that should be considered as one, 2 musical selections that should be heard as one. 2 composers who should be heralded as one. So if you really want to experience Armageddon the way it needs to be, the fantastic 2 disc bootleg will really cook things up for you.
The original album holds however still more than its fair share of highlights. The best of them being "Launch". A superb build up of emotion, testosterone and a full avant-garde choral launch that's enough to herald this as one of Rabin's best cues ever. The begin part is somewhat saturated in the country and electric guitar style and for that Rabin's guitar experience comes in handy. When the album progresses the tracks become longer and this is especially good for the action and suspension cues. The powerful moments such as "AJ's Return" and "Evacuation" rock the house and are intensely exciting, while the longest tracks "Launch" and "Long Distance Goodbye / Landing" offer the powerful main theme in full escalating pride.
Truth be told, the 2 CD deal shows a lot we didn't hear yet including the wonderful music when Charlton Heston does his inspiring pre opening line. In fact keen to know is who composed or co composed it, namely the third in the line Steve Jablonsky. The bulk of the unreleased music carries the expected music, either fashionable action music or inspired lovely material (like an electric violin performing the love theme). The best of the best is saved for either the crash of the shuttles (emotional choral support and a powerful action finish make this a track that deserved to be heard on the commercial release) or for the fact that the cool trailer music is present to finish off a rousing CD.
5 Minutes on the song album, 50 minutes for the score and a 130 minutes that doesn't feel all that long. It proves that Armageddon has got enough variation and above all enough winning moments to make it memorable. While the original album is a good presentation, it lacks several of the biggest kick ass tracks of the movie, which is a shame. However with stunning sound quality and enough musical material to silence the hardcore fan once and for all, Armageddon still makes it one of Trevor Rabin's most enjoyable scores. The commercial CD is a nice fine selective piece where Rabin's music pleases the ears. With the 2 CD's you get the whole picture and sometimes all the music that was written for the movie is needed to understand the whole picture behind it.
Armageddon: ***1/2
Armageddon "2 CD Complete Bootleg": ****
Tracklisting
1. Armageddon Suite * (5.20)
2. Harry & Grace Make Peace (1.43)
3. AJ's Return (4.27) Excellent track
4. Oil Rig (1.59)
5. Leaving (2.31)
6. Evacuation (3.43)
7. Harry Arrives at NASA (1.00)
8. Back in Business (1.36)
9. Launch (7.52) Excellent track
10. 5 Words (1.37)
11. Underwater Simulation (2.10)
12. Finding Grace (1.05)
13. Armadillo (1.14)
14. Short Straw (3.46)
15. Demands (1.25)
16. Death of Mir (1.31)
17. Armageddon Piano (0.35)
18. Long Distance Goodbye / Landing (6.31) Excellent track
Correct Order: (1 - 12 - 4 - 7 - 15 - 17 - 13 - 11 - 2 - 5 - 9 - 16 - 3 - 10 - 8 - 14 - 6 - 18)
* Bonus Track not featured in film
Total Length: 50.21