Arabian Adventure

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Composer Ken Thorne, perhaps most of all known from his Superman 2 and 3 adaptations also and obviously scored other music and films, and in 1979 it was Arabian Adventure, a long forgotten movie with Christopher Lee. Of course, forgotten with that was the music of Ken Thorne, until it was brought back to the living trough Prometheus, the Belgian record label. In their tradition they revived some outstanding classics in the same magical genre namely Warriors of Virtue by Don Davis. Sadly Arabian Adventure of Thorne doesn't come close to that potential, despite its obvious selling points, The London Symphony Orchestra and choir, a magical adventure ride and basically a chance to do something ballsy and fun. This score however lacks the potential to spice it up to the brink it sounds as thrilling as Don Davis' score for Warriors of Virtue, but perhaps several points need to be clarified. For instance, this music dates back from '79, 18 years difference with Davis his score and Davis will remain to be the most known composers of the 2. Of course, not everything is bad from Arabian Adventure, in fact its average and functional but it will not speak to a lot of people who have grown up with the composers of today, as their rhythmic tendency to lay down the law. In fact, you can see this score as a return to the Golden Age music, covering that smaller thematic coherence as its usage of the action music, less thrilling as infectious. The main theme is surprisingly too not a rambunctious adventure thriller, but a calm romantic like string theme, opening 'Dawn (Main Title)', its got some resemblances to the Superman 2 music. 'The Princess' has the theme softly reprising its version before 'A Plea for Help' has a lovely opening solo violin, moving into a drum led march with trumpets, clearly Golden Age.

The score continues later on with more adventurous action music but this neither shows any real changes in musical presentation, its more classical with the whirling strings then thematic, despite Thorne using a repeating good trumpet fanfare as a heroic beacon. 'First Chase', 'Palace Guards in Pursuit' and the best of the bunch 'Flying Carpet Dogfight', they all use the whirling strings as a more rapid danger mood. The choir sadly doesn't show itself a lot, more its not used as an extra spark on either the magic or the action, and meanders a little bit in 'The Visions / The Quest' in retrospect to the sinister underscore that follows it while a brief solo vocal is spotted in 'The Guardian' but then again the remaining score is an eclectic bunch of tones that is easily forgotten. 'The Last Hope' has the main theme softly while a variation is heard in 'Escape / True Love' after again a sinister darker underscore. Luckily 'Flying Carpet Take-Off' has got that Superman 2 feeling of flying when the flute and theme make it as airy as you can imagine it and the final 7 minutes of the score, 'Final Battle / Victory & End Title' show perhaps what we heard before, but at least the last minutes bring back a soothing main theme and finale. Arabian Adventure however isn't really a score that stirs your interest and brings much in return, in fact I find it to be rather average and its not really cohesive to listen to it at all. Ken Thorne made perhaps a wise choice to return to the more Golden Age feel and sound, but I personally feel a more thematic and daring orchestral approach ala Warriors of Virtue or A Kid in King Aladdin's Palace was far more thrilling and interesting. In fact considering the price I paid for it and the potential this score could have delivered, it leaves much to be desired. Despite the good occasional moments, Arabian Adventure doesn't stir my buck at all.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Dawn (Main Title) (2.18)

2. The Princess (0.47)

3. The Marketplace (0.49)

4. A Plea For Help (1.53)

5. First Chase (4.15)

6. The Visions / The Quest (3.06)

7. The Last Hope (2.25)

8. Flying Carpet Take-Off (1.54)

9. Palace Guards In Pursuit (2.28)

10. Black Magic (2.21)

11. The Cave (1.11)

12. The Guardian (2.08)

13. Lurking & Sneaking (2.29)

14. Escape / True Love (3.12)

15. The Rebellion Begins (3.31)

16. Flying Carpet Dogfight (2.35)

17. Final Battle / Victory & End Title (7.44)

Total Length: 45.45

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