Remember the Titans (Rejected)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Rejections are becoming stock affair since people can throw the easiest a score away since directors or actors can stay on board and they think, if a film will fail because of a score, why not replace that to make the movie successful. Goes to show how important movie music is. Still, you'd think it wouldn't happen to John Debney, yet it has. The only reason is why, was it because the score couldn't function in the movie, because the director or producers wanted something different or because of scheduling conflicts. It would have to go with the latter, since not a lot of controversy was made in the end over it, yet of course given the fact the musical approach at first is close to Rabin (the composer who replaced him in the end) is perhaps a sign of also just not hitting that note the producers wanted in the result. You can argue all the way, the end result is a mixed bag, because the first 10 tracks seem to present the rejected or not used material by Debney for the film, the final moments (also the longest) actually are material he wrote for other films. Easy buyers who know little of Debney and film music could easily believe that everything he wrote was meant for Remember the Titans, and in fact everything could be for a different movie, you just couldn't know for sure. However, what I do know is, track 11 is 'Main Theme' from In Pursuit of Honor and tracks 13, 14 and 15 respectively 'The Big Win', 'Training Montage' and 'Little Giants on Fire' from Little Giants, the other 2 to 3 long tracks are so familiar, I still wonder from which score they come, Remember the Titans or another Debney score?

Of course, you assume the first 10 are rejected material of Remember the Titans, because they seem not fully completed (with the lack of orchestra I mean) and because they sound Montana like flavored. A lot of guitar, harmonica and piano are used to set the tone of the score, and shows also naturally the influence that went to Rabin's choice, but he fleshed it more out in the end. Still, 'Track 1' has an electric guitar and reminds you somewhat of For Love of the Game, 'Track 2' some piano and Texan flavor with the guitar suddenly sprinkling its effect on you. 'Track 4' is more of that playful guitar Texan style, while basically Western flavor is noticed in 'Track 5', electric guitar, harmonica and a brief fanfare that makes it sound a little more fleshed out then it should be. The guitar remains on board later on, stating some shuffles louder or softer and in 'Track 9' the orchestra joins in softly to state a more group laden effect, but again this sounds somewhat familiar you wonder, if it doesn't belong to another movie. As said the longer tracks that follow (the ones you were hoping for that would bring that orchestral punch) are nothing but good selections of other scores. Again, is this score now a complete selection of Debney material of other movies, or is the first part just rejected material of Remember the Titans? We don't know and I guess you would have to ask John Debney in person really. Still, the effect somewhat shows the road Rabin had to take, only bigger and whether or not Debney sounded perfect for the result, its Rabin's score that fully functions wonderfully in the final product.

\ตตต/

Tracks

Single Disc

1. Track 1 (1.28)

2. Track 2 (1.54)

3. Track 3 (1.01)

4. Track 4 (0.31)

5. Track 5 (1.55)

6. Track 6 (1.04)

7. Track 7 (1.17)

8. Track 8 (1.06)

9. Track 9 (3.04)

10. Track 10 (0.54)

11. Main Theme "from In Pursuit of Honor" (3.01)

12. Track 12 (3.18)

13. The Big Win "from Little Giants" (4.33)

14. Training Montage "from Little Giants" (1.04)

15. Little Giants On Fire "from Little Giants" (4.04)

16. Track 16 (2.23)

Total Length: 32.48

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: John Debney ===