I Am Number Four
Trevor Rabin
" Rabin sounds approachable once again "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
I Am Number Four is a supernatural action film about a young man who hides his true identity in order to stay alive. After all 3 of his kind have already been killed, and he's next on the list. Director D.J. Caruso (of Disturbia and Eagle Eye) has constructed another fun motion picture. But this film differs from the fact it lacks Shia LaBeouf as main attraction of the movie. For the music Caruso likes to shift from composer. So after Thomas Newman, Philip Glass, Christophe Beck, Geoff Zanelli and Brian Tyler, Caruso hired Trevor Rabin for the gig.
One way or another, Trevor Rabin is always good for a couple of enjoyable assignments. And so we were hoping I Am Number Four would deliver us the necessary cheers. And I have to admit that it partially does.
After all, Rabin's been going through an average phase lately. His previous blockbuster scores weren't really memorable, and I Am Number Four surely needed to deliver something. And so I'm glad to report that it has some moments the Trevor Rabin fans will go nuts over. Yes that includes myself.
Usually this means Rabin's ability to come up with a cool and memorable main theme. I Am Number Four's theme is a surprising mix between hypnotizing piano work and emotional guitar work. It's definitely one of the more mature themes of Rabin's career and listens extremely nice once Rabin paints it lovable and calmly in "Who We Are", "Getting to Know Sarah", "Darkroom Lumenary" and "We Know Where to Go".
Trevor's action music, always a case by case scenario is a combination of his more expected fare and an unexpected creative masterstroke (at least for the person of whom we speak). That Trevor Rabin has got it in himself is clear when we keep coming back at his better examples of Armageddon and let's not forget Flyboys. But sometimes the will to do it loud and rhythmic takes over. Luckily there's none of that here. On the contrary, sometimes Rabin goes out on a limb to amaze us listeners. During the middle portion of "VI To the Rescue" you'll be getting an honest to god John Powell minute of creating action scoring, accentuated by a choral blast at the end.
An at times uncontrollable mish mash turns out to be "Hit me With your Lumen", but it does deliver you the heroic theme on epic mode. And that heroic theme rises to the occasion once Rabin delivers us his biggest possible version of it during the highlight "Commander Mog Explodes", especially mesmerizing once it's highlighted by choir before it. "Forest Fight" turns out to deliver the more familiar Rabin action music, but is therefore still miles above action stuff like 12 Rounds or Race to Witch Mountain.
The rest comes down to at times average underscore, at times harsh suspenseful music, at times typical Rabin fare. Meaning these moments don't add anything particularly exciting to the album. "Welcome to the Jungle" is fast rhythmic suspense, that suspenseful tone gets noisier during "Mog Shop and Feed", there's some emotional content that rises to the surface in "Henry Dies" and there's a nice horn moment (stating the main theme) in "Rising from the Ashes", which gives us Rabin from his sports career.
Meaning, I'm not saying that I Am Number Four is good, but I'm saying it does score above par. At least Rabin dares to go for something more complex. His action music at times borders on the compelling complex nature, so complex that we dare to look at him differently. And thank god it shows us that Rabin's at least interested to make it sound better and more melodic than we've gotten used too. The nice main theme and a too sparsely used heroic theme surely makes I Am Number Four enjoyable. And if you find all this in an otherwise expected Rabin score that sounds just about long enough, then we're inclined to admit that it is the best that Rabin delivered us since Get Smart in 2008. That's not saying much, but it's at least a start.
Tracklisting
1. Welcome to the Jungle (1.57)
2. #3 Ashed (0.51)
3. Who We Are (3.03)
4. Water Vision (1.00)
5. Getting to Know Sarah (3.28)
6. Ok We'll Stay (3.06)
7. Finding Henry (2.32)
8. VI To the Rescue (3.42)
9. IV and Sarah Escape (1.51)
10. Pack your Things (1.37)
11. Mog Shop and Feed (1.00)
12. Henry Dies (1.25)
13. Hit me With your Lumen (2.49)
14. Forest Fight (2.29)
15. Going to a Party (1.30)
16. Darkroom Lumenary (1.07)
17. Rising from the Ashes (1.01)
18. Warehouse Search (3.14)
19. Commander Mog Explodes (2.30)
20. Quarterback Intuition (1.07)
21. We Know Where to Go (3.07)
Total Length: 44.17
One way or another, Trevor Rabin is always good for a couple of enjoyable assignments. And so we were hoping I Am Number Four would deliver us the necessary cheers. And I have to admit that it partially does.
After all, Rabin's been going through an average phase lately. His previous blockbuster scores weren't really memorable, and I Am Number Four surely needed to deliver something. And so I'm glad to report that it has some moments the Trevor Rabin fans will go nuts over. Yes that includes myself.
Usually this means Rabin's ability to come up with a cool and memorable main theme. I Am Number Four's theme is a surprising mix between hypnotizing piano work and emotional guitar work. It's definitely one of the more mature themes of Rabin's career and listens extremely nice once Rabin paints it lovable and calmly in "Who We Are", "Getting to Know Sarah", "Darkroom Lumenary" and "We Know Where to Go".
Trevor's action music, always a case by case scenario is a combination of his more expected fare and an unexpected creative masterstroke (at least for the person of whom we speak). That Trevor Rabin has got it in himself is clear when we keep coming back at his better examples of Armageddon and let's not forget Flyboys. But sometimes the will to do it loud and rhythmic takes over. Luckily there's none of that here. On the contrary, sometimes Rabin goes out on a limb to amaze us listeners. During the middle portion of "VI To the Rescue" you'll be getting an honest to god John Powell minute of creating action scoring, accentuated by a choral blast at the end.
An at times uncontrollable mish mash turns out to be "Hit me With your Lumen", but it does deliver you the heroic theme on epic mode. And that heroic theme rises to the occasion once Rabin delivers us his biggest possible version of it during the highlight "Commander Mog Explodes", especially mesmerizing once it's highlighted by choir before it. "Forest Fight" turns out to deliver the more familiar Rabin action music, but is therefore still miles above action stuff like 12 Rounds or Race to Witch Mountain.
The rest comes down to at times average underscore, at times harsh suspenseful music, at times typical Rabin fare. Meaning these moments don't add anything particularly exciting to the album. "Welcome to the Jungle" is fast rhythmic suspense, that suspenseful tone gets noisier during "Mog Shop and Feed", there's some emotional content that rises to the surface in "Henry Dies" and there's a nice horn moment (stating the main theme) in "Rising from the Ashes", which gives us Rabin from his sports career.
Meaning, I'm not saying that I Am Number Four is good, but I'm saying it does score above par. At least Rabin dares to go for something more complex. His action music at times borders on the compelling complex nature, so complex that we dare to look at him differently. And thank god it shows us that Rabin's at least interested to make it sound better and more melodic than we've gotten used too. The nice main theme and a too sparsely used heroic theme surely makes I Am Number Four enjoyable. And if you find all this in an otherwise expected Rabin score that sounds just about long enough, then we're inclined to admit that it is the best that Rabin delivered us since Get Smart in 2008. That's not saying much, but it's at least a start.
Tracklisting
1. Welcome to the Jungle (1.57)
2. #3 Ashed (0.51)
3. Who We Are (3.03)
4. Water Vision (1.00)
5. Getting to Know Sarah (3.28)
6. Ok We'll Stay (3.06)
7. Finding Henry (2.32)
8. VI To the Rescue (3.42)
9. IV and Sarah Escape (1.51)
10. Pack your Things (1.37)
11. Mog Shop and Feed (1.00)
12. Henry Dies (1.25)
13. Hit me With your Lumen (2.49)
14. Forest Fight (2.29)
15. Going to a Party (1.30)
16. Darkroom Lumenary (1.07)
17. Rising from the Ashes (1.01)
18. Warehouse Search (3.14)
19. Commander Mog Explodes (2.30)
20. Quarterback Intuition (1.07)
21. We Know Where to Go (3.07)
Total Length: 44.17