Gridiron Gang
Trevor Rabin
" Exciting mix of emotion and heroism "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
With Coach Carter, Glory Road and Gridiron Gang Trevor Rabin returned to the genre he was so successfully accustomed to, mostly due to the inspiring success he achieved with his great score for Remember the Titans. Namely the sports genre! Like Jerry Goldsmith and Mark Isham, there is something about Trevor Rabin that makes his music achieve this winning attitude, capable of inspiring the better sports movies out there. The feeling when he starts to give his main theme a whirl is like Remember the Titans exactly what sport is all about, thrilling.
Now Gridiron Gang the drama / sport movie starring the Rock opposed a challenge. It has to create this winning attitude, without making it epic, because they are still trapped inside a juvenile detention center (with no chance of early parole). And yet Rabin made sure he could build from that sad emotional counterpart immediately to something exciting. And Rabin found perhaps the one mix but also the right mix to do it. It's a solo theme score and his main theme is repeated to the brink of insanity. But exactly that change of hearing it in emotional counterpart and thrilling action through each other makes it bearable, more downright enjoyable.
Don't forget it's still Rabin at his most recognizable, but it just works for the genre. His thrilling rise of going from soft to fast paced kicks is what this genre demanded, and Rabin delivers it in his known and enjoyable style. With "Camp Kilpatrick" the festivities start rather softly, and the piano alone in the middle reminds us Rabin is doing his Thomas Newman move again. From here one we notice the first main theme statement and the gun ho approach that Rabin will build on later on. It doesn't explode until we get to "Sorry, Football is Over" where it moves from a singular trumpet to the real deal. That Rabin's style is all over the place is evident in "We're Better than This", giving us a hint of American Outlaws and such. But you have to admire him going from scratch to thrilling (if brief) in "A Baddington Game" like it's no trouble at all.
The first sign of real emotion is discovered in "Training Day" where the theme makes it way through some emotional contexts. More nice softer moments are held for "Rap Up" and "Flowers" where the main theme makes more notes happen, rising from emotional feelings to feelings that mean something. The inspiring horn and feel of "Letter Writing Montage" continues on that enjoyable path.
But it's of course not the emotional that makes the score worth it. In fact many people just wanted him to repeat his Remember the Titans pride and glory. And that's left for the absolute thrill rides "We're Better than This (Part 2)" and "Part 3". Here Rabin just delivers the riveting aspect of sport from the very first second, putting his theme through all sorts of inspirational moments. It's too much to tell you what's basically going on but it's fast, heroism is flying high and the goal to win is clearly evident. With other words the main theme is shining and makes the score live up to its expectations. That gets an aftertaste in the main theme laden "Celebration Epilogue".
In between all this we find "Calvin gets Shot" where the heroism suddenly drops to soft strings and piano. "Forgiveness" after that doesn't change that feeling with the main theme softly on piano, but what's keen to discover is the additional flute and solo vocal added to it to make it even more real. With the nice "Junior Returns" and the final thrills of "Mustang Challenge" Rabin's happy hour comes at an end.
That Trevor Rabin has done it before in Remember the Titans and quite frankly better is not of the essence now, because as good and unreleased that one was, it's how enjoyable this one is in sports terms as well. Trevor Rabin is in this genre a winner and that's reflected in the movie and music. Gridiron Gang will please the Rabin fans because it gives what we love of him in the first place. That the counterpart of emotional music works as well is perhaps a sign we underestimate him just a tad too much. It might not make for true sport brilliance as Rudy, Hoosiers or Remember the Titans, it's darn effective nonetheless and Rabin makes us all winners during the ride of the Gridiron Gang to victory.
Tracklisting
1. Camp Kilpatrick (5.29)
2. We're Better Than This (1.27)
3. Sorry, Football is Over (3.40)
4. Roger's Dead (1.37)
5. A Baddington Game (2.07)
6. Training Day (3.07)
7. Rap Up (3.25)
8. Flowers (2.42)
9. Letter Writing Montage (1.19)
10. Good Job (0.44)
11. Junior (1.37)
12. Celebration Epilogue (3.49) Excellent track
13. We're Better Than This (Part 2) (5.28) Excellent track
14. Calvin Gets Shot (3.23)
15. We're Better Than This (Part 3) (6.15) Excellent track
16. Forgiveness (3.13)
17. Junior Returns (2.25)
18. Mustang Challenge (3.26)
Total Length: 55.19
Now Gridiron Gang the drama / sport movie starring the Rock opposed a challenge. It has to create this winning attitude, without making it epic, because they are still trapped inside a juvenile detention center (with no chance of early parole). And yet Rabin made sure he could build from that sad emotional counterpart immediately to something exciting. And Rabin found perhaps the one mix but also the right mix to do it. It's a solo theme score and his main theme is repeated to the brink of insanity. But exactly that change of hearing it in emotional counterpart and thrilling action through each other makes it bearable, more downright enjoyable.
Don't forget it's still Rabin at his most recognizable, but it just works for the genre. His thrilling rise of going from soft to fast paced kicks is what this genre demanded, and Rabin delivers it in his known and enjoyable style. With "Camp Kilpatrick" the festivities start rather softly, and the piano alone in the middle reminds us Rabin is doing his Thomas Newman move again. From here one we notice the first main theme statement and the gun ho approach that Rabin will build on later on. It doesn't explode until we get to "Sorry, Football is Over" where it moves from a singular trumpet to the real deal. That Rabin's style is all over the place is evident in "We're Better than This", giving us a hint of American Outlaws and such. But you have to admire him going from scratch to thrilling (if brief) in "A Baddington Game" like it's no trouble at all.
The first sign of real emotion is discovered in "Training Day" where the theme makes it way through some emotional contexts. More nice softer moments are held for "Rap Up" and "Flowers" where the main theme makes more notes happen, rising from emotional feelings to feelings that mean something. The inspiring horn and feel of "Letter Writing Montage" continues on that enjoyable path.
But it's of course not the emotional that makes the score worth it. In fact many people just wanted him to repeat his Remember the Titans pride and glory. And that's left for the absolute thrill rides "We're Better than This (Part 2)" and "Part 3". Here Rabin just delivers the riveting aspect of sport from the very first second, putting his theme through all sorts of inspirational moments. It's too much to tell you what's basically going on but it's fast, heroism is flying high and the goal to win is clearly evident. With other words the main theme is shining and makes the score live up to its expectations. That gets an aftertaste in the main theme laden "Celebration Epilogue".
In between all this we find "Calvin gets Shot" where the heroism suddenly drops to soft strings and piano. "Forgiveness" after that doesn't change that feeling with the main theme softly on piano, but what's keen to discover is the additional flute and solo vocal added to it to make it even more real. With the nice "Junior Returns" and the final thrills of "Mustang Challenge" Rabin's happy hour comes at an end.
That Trevor Rabin has done it before in Remember the Titans and quite frankly better is not of the essence now, because as good and unreleased that one was, it's how enjoyable this one is in sports terms as well. Trevor Rabin is in this genre a winner and that's reflected in the movie and music. Gridiron Gang will please the Rabin fans because it gives what we love of him in the first place. That the counterpart of emotional music works as well is perhaps a sign we underestimate him just a tad too much. It might not make for true sport brilliance as Rudy, Hoosiers or Remember the Titans, it's darn effective nonetheless and Rabin makes us all winners during the ride of the Gridiron Gang to victory.
Tracklisting
1. Camp Kilpatrick (5.29)
2. We're Better Than This (1.27)
3. Sorry, Football is Over (3.40)
4. Roger's Dead (1.37)
5. A Baddington Game (2.07)
6. Training Day (3.07)
7. Rap Up (3.25)
8. Flowers (2.42)
9. Letter Writing Montage (1.19)
10. Good Job (0.44)
11. Junior (1.37)
12. Celebration Epilogue (3.49) Excellent track
13. We're Better Than This (Part 2) (5.28) Excellent track
14. Calvin Gets Shot (3.23)
15. We're Better Than This (Part 3) (6.15) Excellent track
16. Forgiveness (3.13)
17. Junior Returns (2.25)
18. Mustang Challenge (3.26)
Total Length: 55.19