Armageddon

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

One of Trevor Rabin's first solo scores became also one of his finest thus far. With Armageddon he delivered an amazing roller coaster ride for an equally amazing roller coaster attraction. Hans Zimmer was unavailable and it was inevitable that Jerry Bruckheimer would search somewhat in the same line of sound, and it became Trevor Rabin, backed up by Harry Gregson - Williams. The CD contained roughly 50 minutes and even at this time it is hard to say what is composed by who. Let's simply quote that the score is a collaboration between Rabin and Gregson - Williams. What the score offers is surprisingly minimal at action music, because the first part of the movie and score is country based and calm music, where the second part explodes starting with the best track 'Launch'. Armageddon's main theme is fantastic and the insertion of the choir is breathtaking in certain moments, especially in the already mentioned 'Launch'. The track listings aren't in order so check out the correct order at the end to enjoy the score as it is heard in the film. As quoted, the begin is calm. Sometimes a little upbeat and these mainly are the short tracks. 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, and the longest tracks 'Launch' and 'Long Distance Goodbye / Landing' offer the powerful main theme in full escalating pride.

Of course one thing that makes this score unique is its combination of music and voice. And luckily the choral depth in Armageddon is truly impressive. Combined together in several tracks they make the listening experience a stunning one. Recording to this day, I believe that Rabin and Gregson - Williams did an excellent job, and I only wonder what Zimmer would have turned up with if he scored it in the first place. No matter how the Media Ventures' (due to Gregson - Williams and Rabin's distinct close voice to it) standards sound like recording to you, Armageddon is an impressive score with some amazing highlights. I would recommend this score solely for 'The Launch' alone. But as you look at it from begin to end, I find that there aren't enough highlights to give it four. Especially the begin doesn't offer much, apart from the bonus track 'Armageddon Suite' (which isn't the version found on the musical song release of Armageddon). No, this score listens as four but ends as three. But Armageddon is still an extremely enjoyable score, a powerhouse effort on several occasions and it especially benefits from some major good points. Only the combination of the choir with the main theme is sensational. And even if they feel and sound completely different, there is much more to enjoy from Armageddon then the other meteor score Deep Impact of James Horner. I know, wrong conclusion, but correct judgment.

Armageddon "2 CD Recording Sessions Promo"

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. Truth be told, it still is one of Trevor Rabin's most entertaining scores of his career, it more or less introduced us to the South African composer and it somewhat took his career on the move. With Armageddon however things went according to a plan, a plan the 1 CD deal of Universal didn't explain carefully. You see, Armageddon is a big picture, not only in budget but also in length and thereby a lot of the music was missing, missing that even another name had a hand in composing namely Harry Gregson-Williams (who ironically has surpassed Trevor Rabin by now). Harry Gregson-Williams has co composed the music for the Michael Bay blockbuster ( ike Enemy at the State of the same year) and only that can be discovered when you hear the 2 CD promo. 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, and in 'Prologue / 65 Million Years Later' the music comes wonderfully through in great suspenseful style, it even was composed or co composed by the third in the line Steve Jablonsky (a man who as all the others made a name for himself later on). With 'Meteor Shower' the typical action MV music comes through, typical yet fashionable nonetheless. And despite the many tracks, we have the usual southern guitar, funky twists and lovely main theme led vocals scattered in the many tracks. 'Call to Duty' and 'Freedom Crew' are lovely while the march still sounds cooly with the theme in 'X-71', one of those nifty pieces you find on the disc. The electronic violin comes emotionally through with the love theme in duh 'Love Theme' while Aerosmith's song shines briefly with that love theme in 'I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing'.

Surely the best tracks are still those that bring us the theme in style, 'Harry and Grace Make Peace' and the superior 'The Launch' but its the nice emotional surprise of the new track 'Asteroid Chase / The Shuttle Crash' that proves to be the firecracker, emotional choral support and a powerful action finish make this a track that deserved to be heard on the commercial release. CD 2 doesn't carry that much new material with it, but its more discovered in longer tracks. 'Secondary Protocol' for instance with its 8 minutes brings you suspense and emotion in 1 piece, leading the electric violin or the choir to brief highlights. 'Armadillo Jump' with its action sounding fresher then most MV scores is a welcome treat while the already released 'AJ's Return' still works to please me. 'A Wing and a Prayer' is a nice summarization of many themes and musical twists and works as a killer suite while 'Returning Home' is the real surprise, the entire music from the trailer apart from The Rock middle part, which they then slightly altered to make it completely Rabin like in tone. And what about 'Celebration' where a solo vocal is supported by a choral celebration in a hymn like fashion, presenting us a stylish Rabin finish. The alternate tracks and the suite and main theme versions are naturally for its extra pleasure present on the second disc. And with a 130 minutes of music, Armageddon might feel like one overlong score but its got enough variation and above all enough new moments to make it memorable. Several tracks were even destined to be on the commercial release and they probably would have given the fans more to celebrate for. With stunning sound quality and enough musical material to silence the hardcore fan once and for all, Armageddon still makes for Trevor Rabin's most enjoyable score. 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 "Recording Sessions Promo": ****

\도도/

Tracks

Single Disc

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

* Bonus Track not featured in film

Correct Order: (1 - 12 - 4 - 7 - 15 - 17 - 13 - 11 - 2 - 5 - 9 - 16 - 3 - 10 - 8 - 14 - 6 - 18)

Total Length: 50.21

Armageddon "2 CD Recording Sessions Promo"

Disk One: 66.14

1. Prologue / 65 Million Years Later + (4.49) Excellent Track

2. Defcon 3 + (0.23)

3. Meteor Shower + (2.16)

4. The Hubble + (0.42)

5. "Global Killer" + (0.40)

6. Finding Grace (1.06)

7. Meet Harry Stamper / Oil Rig (2.00)

8. "We Drill" + (1.36)

9. Call To Duty + (1.14)

10. Harry Arrives At NASA (1.01)

11. Zero Barrier + (2.25)

12. Freedom Crew + (0.46)

13. 5 Words (1.37)

14. Demands (1.40)

15. X-71 + (1.32) Excellent Track

16. Weightless Simulation / Dottie + (0.39)

17. Flight Plan + (0.38)

18. Love Theme + (1.03)

19. Armadillo (1.15)

20. Underwater Simulation (2.13)

21. Leaving (2.31)

22. "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" + (2.34)

23. Destruction Of Shanghai + (2.54)

24. Harry And Grace Make Peace (1.45) Excellent Track

25. Astronauts + (0.52)

26. The Launch (7.52) Excellent Track

27. Rendezvous MIR + (1.43)

28. Death Of MIR (1.52)

29. Fuel Pod + (1.51)

30. Radio Silence + (1.16)

31. Asteroid Chase / The Shuttle Crash + (6.52) Excellent Track

32. Goodbye Independence + (1.25)

33. Survivors + (2.58)

Disk Two: 67.12

1. The Drilling Commencing + (2.58)

2. Status Report + (1.38)

3. Secondary Protocol + (8.28)

4. Back In Business (1.39)

5. Armadillo Jump + (3.39)

6. Russian Hero + (0.24)

7. Bad News + (4.17)

8. A.J.'s Return (4.27) Excellent Track

9. Rockstorm + (3.37)

10. Drawing Straws (3.46)

11. Sacrifice / Goodbye Grace (2.31)

12. Evacuation (3.43)

13. Remote Detonation + (1.50)

14. A Wing And A Prayer (5.18) Excellent Track

15. Returning Home + (3.14) Excellent Track

16. Celebration + (0.44) Excellent Track

Bonus Tracks

17. Meteor Shower (Alternate) + (2.06)

18. Russian Hero (Alternate) + (0.21)

19. Astronauts (Alternate) + (1.01)

20. Freedom Crew (Alternate) + (2.51)

21. Armageddon Suite (5.21)

22. Armageddon Theme + (3.07) Excellent Track

+ Not featured on the original release

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

=== Link to Composer Site: Trevor Rabin ===