Texas Rangers (Promo)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

How about that? In the same year score 2 Westerns, covering both the youth of tomorrow and the stars of the future, both so looking alike, yet both being not consistently good looking movies. While American Outlaws was kinda fun, it still was aimed at a younger audience, Texas Rangers too but went directly to a video release are barely captured a wink of attention. And this score is for the forgotten release starring James Van Der Beek (Dawson's Creek), Ashton Kutcher (That 70' Show) and Dylan McDermott (Three to Tango). Of course, its always interesting and fun to compare 2 same genre scores from the same composer, when its brought out in the same year. And while American Outlaws was released by Varèse, Texas Rangers remained unheard of, being only as promo available. And perhaps the promo is covering a bit too much music, since it could have chopped off easily the short tracks and spared some 10 to 15 minutes. And despite having some dead end moments, all in the end I still am happier with the approach, because its still not that bad per se. Just like American Outlaws, it carries that same tone, that same feel, that same rocking attitude with the guitars, and that same theme like approach, of course its carrying just different themes. But its easy to see and say, Texas Rangers will be enjoyed as much as American Outlaws. Sadly only the begin doesn't rock per se, 'Prologue / The Grave' has that typical American Outlaws tone to it, with the drama theme while 'Main Titles A' carries the rather strong main theme loud and effective. Yet I didn't really expect the sometimes dark and boring material, and especially in the begin this is mostly featured. 'Meet King Fisher' has some that leads to action material, 'Into The Desert' is basically mood while 'Don't Move and I'll Shoot' isn't much more. Of course, these are more the shorter tracks, and the ones that could easily have been omitted, but considering this is a promo, its all heard here. 'Takin on the Star' has a darker violin tone to it, while the drums signal the darkness in 'Perdita', especially this girl doesn't get beauty with her, since the other named track like 'Armstrong & Perdita' captures too that special tone of the violin, which is kinda refreshing for Rabin, yet its not that attractive with the darkness.

But after track 10 things more and more improve for the better, 'On the Trail' starts playfully and covers variations on the main theme, flutes return in 'Rangers Train' while 'Lincoln & George' and 'Rangers Exercise' cover same ideas, with the flutes or variations that rock in their version. And the action tracks, while being typical Rabin like are still excellent to hear, 'Ambush' like Armageddon and Bad Company with its quick energetic music, capturing the main theme in the middle, 'Palo Alto Massacre' having for the first 3 minutes fun takes, whirling strings, different spins actually, it ends with a mournful solo violin and soft choir. And 'Burial' has an outburst of great action rhythm which impresses each and every time. 'Nighttime at Armagosa' and 'The Final Assault' are 2 large and good action pieces, covering brass fanfares, ideas that swell good around the darkness sometimes (and the first a theme on Rabin testosterone) while the second has equally the darkness, but also the Bad Company approach and a good ending. But don't forget easily the lovely and effective violin of the theme in 'Caroline & George'. Its easy to say that the second part is far more impressive and 'Into the Sunset' cover the excellent versions of both themes, and really impresses in the movie while 'End Credits' covers the soft and good action material, this version actually offers even more music then heard in the movie version itself, which makes it even better then presumed. At times alternate takes are heard and while presenting the same material, you still hear the difference easily, but these too could have been omitted. Altogether, Texas Rangers is fun, a little long but covers small surprises that with impress the Rabin fans amongst us as his haters. Don't know if people that didn't like American Outlaws will love this version instead, but the likers will surely dig Rabin in his Westerns cool more in the end.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Prologue / The Grave (2.13)

2. Main Titles A (0.52)

3. Main Titles B (0.34)

4. Meet King Fisher (3.24)

5. Into The Desert (0.46)

6. Don't Move And I'll Shoot (1.16)

7. Takin On The Star (2.41)

8. Perdita (1.59)

9. Draw! (0.54)

10. Enlisted (0.37)

11. New Recruits (0.29)

12. The Captain Is Dying (1.56)

13. On The Trail (1.57)

14. Rangers Train (1.07)

15. Ambush (3.26)

16. Texas Trial (1.29)

17. Burial (2.39)

18. Palo Alto Massacre (5.06)

19. A Costly Battle (1.26)

20. Lincoln & George (0.56)

21. Rangers Exercise (1.12)

22. Armstrong & Perdita (3.30)

23. Caroline & George (0.42)

24. Caroline & George (Alternate) (0.39)

25. Nighttime At Armagosa (4.51)

26. Ride To Mexico (2.55)

27. "What Rangers Do" (2.01)

28. Plotting With The General (1.22)

29. The Final Assault (6.58)

30. Into The Sunset (3.10) Excellent Track

31. End Credits (8.00)

32. Prologue (Alternate) (1.53)

33. The Grave (Alternate) (0.40)

Total Length: 73.53

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

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