CD REVIEW - Gridiron Gang


Gridiron Gang
Music by Trevor Rabin
Varese Sarabande VSD 6755 (EU)
18 Tracks 55:19 mins


I know nothing of this film, save that it starts The Rock, who appears to be coach of a young American Football team. The music is provided by Trevor Rabin, who has developed from his early Media Ventures days into quite a versatile screen composer, The Great Raid being just one of the fine scores he has recently provided.
Sporting films generally provide plenty of opportunity for strong main themes and inspirational scoring, and Rabin has a decent 6-note motif lead the way here, but unfortunately whilst this does reach occasional heroic heights, these moments are few and far between, with much subdued and sentimental scoring surrounding them. This makes for a pretty frustrating listening experience, because there are some fine action-orientated passages, but they never last
long enough to really enjoy. It's not a totally one-themed score as some critics would lead you to believe, but the theme does appear in variations during most tracks. I just wish it would stick around long enough to judge its worth, one way or another.
The most consistently enjoyable track is actually the last one on the album, "Mustang Challenge," which presents the main theme and plenty of action to boot. I just wish there were others I could recommend.
Rabin has another score, Flyboys, on the same label, which is expected any day, and I hope this is a more satisfying listening experience, as was the aforementioned The Great Raid, again available from Varese Sarabande.