Don't worry, you are not starting to see things twice. There are indeed two different presentations of The Rock's score though the one we are discussing here might be a little bit on the unofficial side. Have you ever asked yourself why almost exactly 10 years after a film's theatrical release and the release of the official album, a complete bootleg of the score comes along... out of nowhere? You can basically set your watch to that rule. Although I can't really imagine who would want to have more music from this score when the album already was well-edited and long enough to carry all highlights. Apparently, there must be someone out there who thinks one hour isn't yet enough and threw this 2-CD copy of the original recordings on the secondary market. Since I am known as a completist who loves to do everything in detail and as efficient as possible (*cough*), I will get my ears into this ominous bootleg to hear what may make it worth for you to get your ears into it.

The score:

Now first, let's examine the basic aspects. This is a 2-CD set with 95 minutes of music (57 on the first, and 38 on the second disc) in excellent stereo sound quality. No sound effects or voice echoes here since we are talking the recording sessions and not some terrible DVD rip a fan made in his garage. It contains slightly extended film versions of all previously released album cues and also cues that are heard here for the first time separated from the movie. Those masochist-completists of you out there might want to know that it does not contain EVERY note from the score because there are some very small bits missing (I will come back to that later when we come to the individual cues). Originally, this recording sessions release comes without track names but nevertheless I went through the movie and let my fantasy flow by giving some short but explicit names to the numbers.

(SPOILER WARNING! PLEASE BEWARE of some plot information ahead that may be considered as spoilers if you haven't already seen the movie!)

Disc One:

The cues are represented out of chronological sequence and so disc one starts with the film version of "Hummel Gets The Rockets". Some scenes for the soldiers taking over the base with narcotic ammunition have extended moments heard during the cue's first half with some twists and turns that weren't featured on the official album's track with the same name, however they sound terribly edited as they are and the album version actually flows better without these extensions. The ending of the cue has an additional, fast-paced statement of the theme for Hummel's troops as they are getting the rockets out and there is one insane synth moment when one of the gas rockets is loosing it's deadly freight and kills one of Hummel's men. We are jumping back and forth between the out-of-order tracks and next one up is the music for "The Shower Massacre" which actually comes much later in the film. You can find the first few moments of the cue on the official album as a part of "In The Tunnels", only the reprise of the opening title's military hymn is new and basically a note-by-note copy of the opening from the album with the exception of a slightly different ending. Now follows the film version of "In The Tunnels" which is mainly the e-guitar heavy moment heard when Mason and Goodspeed are falling down to that underground railroad track. The cue isn't really different from what is heard on the album. "Gas Doll" on the other hand is one of the previously unreleased synth-heavy action cues for Goodspeed's introduction in the bomb-disposal scene.

After the previously released cue "Jade" comes an unused cue (simply called "Unused Cue #1, 'cause there are two of them ;) ) which is an alternate recording of "Welcome to the Rock" and has a similar structure but different orchestration. Both "Opening Titles" and "Hummel's Speech" are featured on the official album while "Rodent Problem" and "Into The Morgue" are new, previously unreleased pieces of action music while the first is mainly themeless electronic mayhem and the second offers a rather clumsy action variation of the main theme plus a quite nice action variation on Mason's theme. "Off The Track" mainly consists of material heard on the official album's "In The Tunnels" without too much new material that would be worth mentioning. The same goes for "Mason's Walk" which only has an additional, slightly extended outburst of that particular action moment that was only heard once on the official album's version. There is also a bit of subtle, yet uninteresting quiet synth-string playing heard at the beginning of "Rock House Jail" before the main theme variations erupt while the rest of the cue is identical to what is heard on the official album's version. Another previously released cue is "8 Hours Deadline" which has the pseudo-apocalyptic build-up to the launch sequence and can be heard as a part of the official album's edit of "Mason's Walk". Next comes yet another previously unreleased cue with a slow and heavy statement of the Hummel theme for the "Aftermath" of the shower massacre. The film version for the Navy SEAL's "Take-Off" comes next and has an extended beginning of suspense music that goes into the power-anthem stuff which equally carries some slightly extended moments while the second half was heard before on the album. Disc One now ends here!

Disc Two:

This second disc starts with the second unused cue (simply called... "Unused Cue #2... right, you guessed it! 'Cause there are two of them ;) ) which could be an alternate take of the beginning of "Take-Off" since it follows the same pattern. The film version of the "First Launch" scene is seemingly heavier on synths and has a different beginning. A vast majority of "Welcome To The Rock" can be heard on the official album's "In The Tunnels" but since it is the film version, it starts without that trendy electronic stuff heard when Mason is going through the steam engine. For some strange reason, this moment is found nowhere on this 2-CD bootleg but only on the official album. "Money" may be an entirely unreleased cue but it's equally entirely uninteresting as it only consists of some non-existent suspense music for the prison scenes and some outbursts of electronic strings when Mason is brought to the Fairmont Hotel. You will already knew the "Green Smoke" sequence is heard on the official album though the build-up is a bit extended here for the scene when Goodspeed is giving himself an injection. "Fort Walton - Kansas" is the same as on the official album.

"Mutiny" is slightly extended with a brief moment of additional synth-drum strikes for the tension-filled moment as Hummel's men are pressurizing him and he draws a pistol. The cue's rest is heard in the lengthy "Rocket Away" on the official album. Another cue that is slightly extended from what can be heard on the official album is "The Chase" where the synth-drums and electronics drop down to sneaky during a moment when Goodspeed is chasing after Mason through a hotel kitchen. Strangely, the dying-away solo-synth statement of the heroic theme heard during the end of the chase (more exactly during the slow-mo shot of Goodspeed getting up) is still missing and the cue's ending is similarly unspectacular as on official album. "The Last Chip" is mainly material from the official album's "Rocket Away" though with an extended, quiet synth-statement of the main theme. Nothing new comes with the film edit of "Rocket Away" and "Safe" which can both be heard on the official album.

 

RATING:

Score as heard in the film: 51%

Score as heard on CD: 49%

TOTAL: 50%

 

The presentation:

No sound effects, voices or other disturbing noise and an overall very good sound quality are generally a big plus with these black market recordings. Only 35 minutes of previously unreleased music (minus 2 unused cues - they don't really count since they don't appear in the film) is maybe a slightly too weak argument to seek out a copy of this insanely rare 2-CD set especially if you consider that this is not the complete thing. Several moments are missing, such as the first meeting of Goodspeed and his girlfriend ("Will You Marry Me?"), Goodspeed's journey to San Francisco ("Not A Training Exercise"), Mason's roll under the steam engine (as heard on the album at the beginning of "In The Tunnels") and the different ending of "The Chase" as heard in the film. This recording sessions version is not complete but expanded at best. Availability is insanely rare and I only run into this set by accident. Chances are slim that you can find it anywhere anytime soon because it's still only circling among dedicated first-league hardcore collectors that do not deal with everyone. Somehow, I believe the popularity of the film and score will make it spread in the future, so you will have to keep looking if you really want those 35 minutes of extra score. IMPORTANT NOTE: DON'T MISTAKE THIS RECORDING SESSIONS VERSION WITH THE BAD FANMADE DVD RIP THAT IS CIRCULATING THROUGH THE NET!

Presentation by the Label: Bootleg

 

Summary:

There is really not that much new on this bootleg except that most album tracks are now presented in their film versions with only some minimal extensions here and there plus a handful of cues that were previously unreleased entirely. The album cues are basically cut into pieces and even if you put them in chronological film order, the sequencing as on this 2-CD bootleg will always reveal the weaknesses of the score and makes the listening experience suffer even more. Some of the extended parts sound choppy, as if they were edited hastily to make them fit a scene while the majority of the previously unreleased cues is really not that interesting to warrant a lengthy and most likely costly search for this rarity. Out of 35 minutes of previously unreleased material, there are probably just 10 to 15 minutes that are really worthwhile and since this 2-CD set is not complete, chances are that your most favourite unreleased moment is actually missing. I can recommend this set only to hardcore Rock'ers and Remote Control completists who didn't like the way the lengthy official album was arranged and desperately seek as much more music as possible from this score. Finding this bootleg can be a real hard nut to crack and it's not worth it if you liked the official album as it was.

Review by Andreas Creutzburg

 

                                     Tracklisting:

Disc One

01.  Hummel Gets The Rockets (04:17) **
02.  Shower Massacre (04:52) **
03.  In The Tunnels (03:18)
04.  Gas Doll (02:26) *
05.  Jade (02:00)
06.  Unused Cue #1 (01:37) *
07.  Opening Titles (03:54)
08.  Hummel's Speech (02:24)
09.  Rodent Problem (03:44) *
10.  Into The Morgue (01:47) *
11.  Off The Track (04:12) **
12.  Mason's Walk (05:36) **

13.  Rock House Jail (02:04) **

14.  8 Hours Deadline (04:12)

15.  Aftermath (01:58) *

16.  Take-Off (07:12) **

 

Disc Two

 

01.  Unused Cue #2 (01:56) *

02.  First Launch (01:54) **

03.  Welcome To The Rock (03:33) **

04.  Money (02:07) *

05.  Green Smoke (02:38) **

06.  Fort Walton - Kansas (01:40)

07.  Mutiny (05:29) **

08.  The Chase (08:37) **

09.  The Last Chip (02:27) **

10.  Rocket Away (03:08)

11.  Safe (03:25)

 

* previously unreleased

** contains previously unreleased material

 

Correct film order:

 

01.  CD 1/Track 07

02.  CD 1/Track 01

03.  CD 1/Track 04

04.  CD 1/Track 13

05.  CD 1/Track 08

06.  CD 2/Track 04

07.  CD 2/Track 08

08.  CD 1/Track 05

09.  CD 1/Track 16

10.  CD 2/Track 03

11.  CD 1/Track 02

12.  CD 1/Track 15

13.  CD 1/Track 09

14.  CD 1/Track 10

15.  CD 1/Track 03

16.  CD 1/Track 11

17.  CD 1/Track 12

18.  CD 1/Track 14

19.  CD 1/Track 02

20.  CD 2/Track 07

21.  CD 2/Track 10

22.  CD 2/Track 09

23.  CD 2/Track 05

24.  CD 2/Track 11

25.  CD 2/Track 06

26.  CD 2/Track 01

27.  CD 1/Track 06