Music Composed by Trevor Rabin
Rating: **

As “artists” working in the film industry, film composers often get by with a great deal of goodwill. We like these men and women who write our beloved film music, so we’re more likely to accept subpar results and not complain about it. But every so often a composer will run the taps of goodwill dry. With his derivative and bland score for National Treasure, Trevor Rabin is that composer. Rabin (who has always been given a fairshake at Cinemusic.net) has spun his final variation on melodic ideas from his hit Armageddon score. If not his last spin on that warm-blooded, machismo theme for astronaut-deep-core-drillers, then merely his latest. This material has been mined before: the twangy, beer-ad American Outlaws and the rousing, rah-rah of Remember The Titans. Dial in a bit of the electronic whizz-bangery of Enemy of The State and you have this patch quilt of a score, National Treasure.

Trevor Rabin

Those aforementioned scores were guilty (and I do mean guilty) pleasures of mine, and they didn’t necessarily push the envelope of the art form. They were tasty and fun, sort of like Cheetos, but without the orange fingertips. Even if American Outlaws featured the prominent use of Armageddon’s electric violin, it at least was a fairly rollicking ride. National Treasure recycles much of the stacked and stomping percussion in “Interrogation” and “The Chase”, which sounds a helluva lot like the train yard car chase cue from Enemy of The State) - subbing for real action music - from Outlaws and Armageddon, with just enough of the urban/techno synth loops to bring in the kids, but it feels joyless. This is a score in search of an original idea, a spark, and some passion. The mildly effective motif (piano and synth string loop - joined by Rabin’s steady e-guitar) that Rabin anchors the score on (”National Treasure Suite”, “Spectacle Discovery” - both of which hint at some real action and adventure) is left hanging by itself. The only other discernable thematic idea is in “Ben”, which is restated nicely for piano and strings in “Treasure”. “Preparation Montage” proves that Thomas Newman’s style has truly been absorbed not only into popular culture, but into the brains of every Hollywood film composer. Marvel as Rabin cycles through every Tom Newmanism within four minutes and fifty-four seconds.

Perhaps most astonishing about National Treasure is it’s thin, tinny electronic sound, when the booklet clearly credits over 150 AFM union orchestra players, including such notable musicians as Bruce Dukov, Endre Granat, Malcolm McNab and orchestrator Brad Warnaar (in the horn section). The talents of these people are completely buried in the mix, which sounds more like original synth demos than fully fleshed out orchestral recordings. Also not credited is the score’s conductor (how do you conduct a sampler anyways?) - not unusual for a Rabin score, as no conductor was credited on American Outlaws either.

Taking a break from relentlessly slamming National Treasure, there are a few pluses to be found on Walt Disney Records’ generous (running thirty-eight minutes, when a simple suite might have sufficed) album. I’m certain that someone might find it entertaining to drive to as it rarely lets up it’s incessant synth throbbing. And the tracks that open and close the disc are fun if not compelling. Good for a spin, I don’t expect this to mellow to classic status. If you own other Rabin gems like Deep Blue Sea or Gone In 60 Seconds, National Treasure provides more of the same, only less of it. (Originally posted November 25, 2004).

Music Composed by Trevor Rabin; Additional Music by Don Harper and Paul Linford; Orchestrated by Gordon Goodwin, Tom Calderaro and Trevor Rabin; Recorded and Mixed by Steve Kempster; Availability: In print; Label (Catalogue): Walt Disney Records, (62493-2); Release Date: November 16, 2004

01. National Treasure Suite (3′17)
02. Ben (4′04)
03. Finding Charlotte (1′05)
04. Library Of Congress (2′27)
05. Preparation Montage (4′54)
06. Arrival At National Archives (1′55)
07. The Chase (4′22)
08. Declaration Of Independence (1′44)
09. Foot Chase (3′34)
10. Spectacle Discovery (3′18)
11. Interrogation (4′30)
12. Treasure (3′39)

Total Playing Time: 38′49