JOHN DEBNEY AND THE MUSIC OF PREDATORS

I was reading one critic's condemnation of John Debney's taking the "music by" credit for the Predators score, his fifth collaboration with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and, it's true that there is a great deal of Alan Silvestri's work for the original Predator film on display in Debney's score. But it is true to say there is plenty of Debney as well, and the composer has made no secret of his admiration for both the original film and its score. In publicity provided by his publicists, Costa Communications, he is quoted as saying "I love Alan Silvestri's magnificent score for the first film. So, I asked myself how in the world could I write a Predator score without utilizing themes and motifs from Alan's masterwork. I decided that I would embrace the music that IS Predator and create a companion piece utilizing themes from the first score."
Now, I've yet to hear Silvestri's take on the score, but must assume he is happy with the situation, as surely he would have responded by now if that were not the case.
Disregarding the previous two films involving Predators, as they involved Aliens as well, and for which Brian Tyler wrote an excellent score, and Harald Kloser less so, this film is a return to the roots of the Predator mythos and Debney's score is therefore absolutely appropriate, and I personally applaud him for taking the approach that he has.
La-La Land Records release the score from August 10th, and I believe a copy of the CD is on its way to me, so I can give you full details as and when this is to hand. In the meantime, Costa Communications have kindly sent me an advance copy of the score, which features 24 tracks and runs for just under 70 minutes. I've had a good listen and, as I say, at times you'd think it's pure Silvestri, but Debney's style still comes through in amongst it all and, if you want to be really picky, you might also say you can hear a touch of that familiar James Horner cue from Aliens that has become so popular in film trailers. Whatever, Predator fans will not be disappointed with the results, as there's some great action writing here, utilising many of the more unusual instruments present in the original Predator score, including Tibetan long horns and plenty of jungle percussion. It's a fabulous effort and I only hope the film lives up to it.
I might also mention that Debney's score for Iron Man 2 has also finally been given a long awaited release by Sony Classical. You can still read my review of the score at http://screensounds.blogspot.com/2010/05/score-review-iron-man-2-music-for-first.html. The commercial release appears to have the same number of tracks as the version I reviewed, which indeed makes for a very generous release of this music.