veröffentlichung Varèse Club: THE SCORPION KING: THE DELUXE EDITION (2CD) (John Debney)

[Alexander Grodzinski]

The Scorpion King (2002) was a prequel and spin-off of Universal Pictures’ successful Mummy franchise, launching the superstardom of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in his first lead role. The Rock reprised his character of Mathayus from The Mummy Returns in an origin story depicting the Akkadian mercenary’s rise to power 5,001 years prior to the events of the previous films. 

Director Chuck Russell (The Mask, Eraser) chose John Debney to score The Scorpion King based on the strength of his symphonic score for Cutthroat Island (1995). Debney followed in the Mummy footsteps of Jerry Goldsmith and Alan Silvestri with a gargantuan, desert-flavored action score for full orchestra and choir, including non-Western instruments like the ney, duduk and ram’s horn (and Japanese taiko drums and flutes) to evoke exoticism and antiquity. He also, befitting the film’s contemporary swagger and The Rock’s wrestling fanbase, created a “mash-up” of symphonic instruments with shredding electric guitars.

Director and composer intended the score to be a tribute to classic adventure films. As Debney recalls in the new liner notes, “Chuck stressed how he wanted it to hearken back to those great films from yesteryear, where you have a lot of musical scurrying around. I went back to Korngold for its pirate aspect and the music of Ray Harryhausen’s Sinbad movies, as well as Jerry and Alan. I love doing these little musical homages to my heroes.”

The Scorpion King was released by Varèse Sarabande as a 40-minute CD at the time of the film. The 2CD Deluxe Edition doubles the score program to nearly 80 minutes, and adds a bonus section of Debney’s demos. Liner notes are by Daniel Schweiger.

 

Features:

Produced by: John Debney and Michael Mason

Deluxe Edition Executive Producer for Varese Sarabande Records: Cary Mansfield

Deluxe Edition Mastered by Chas Ferry and Melinda Hurley

Track List:

Disc One

1. Never an Akadian 0:57

2. Boo! 1:26

3. The Scorpion King: Main Title 1:39

4. Tribal Council 2:45

5. Camels Are Smarter 0:32

6. Night Attack 3:56

7. Mathayus Meets Memnon (1:16)/Fire Ants (2:24) (Suite) 3:40

8. Escape From Ants 2:26

9. Cassandra’s Vision 0:54

10. Savage World 1:28

11. Enemy at the Gate 0:29

12. Pickpockets 2:43

13. Failed Attempt 2:34

14. Wild Ride 1:21

15. Harem Scarem 1:37

16. Cassandra’s Bath 1:30

17. Time to Go 0:43

18. Message to Memnon 3:02

19. Valley of the Dead 2:13

20. In the Cave 3:38

21. Mathyus Arises 1:27

22. Healing 0:51

23. Return to Sender 2:32

24. The Oasis 0:40

25. Balthazar’s Camp 5:10

26. Vision of Doom 1:06

 

Disc Two

1. I Had a Vision 2:36

2. Cassandra Leaves Camp 0:29

3. Step Aside (0:19)/Marching In (0:26) (suite) 0:44

4. Cassandra Returns 1:13

5. Veiled Threat 1:59

6. A Small Demonstration 3:52

7. Party’s Over 1:06

8. I’ve Come for the Woman 3:25

9. Balthazar Arrives 3:08

10. Die Well, Assassin 3:41

11. The Scorpion King 3:26

12. Never an Akadian (Demo) 1:22

13. Boo! (Demo) 1:26

14. The Scorpion King: Main Title (Demo) 1:43

15. Night Attack (Demo) 4:02

16. Escape From Ants (Demo) 2:24

17. Savage World (Demo) 1:32

18. Failed Attempt (Demo) 2:33

19. Wild Ride (Demo) 3:03

20. Valley of the Dead (Demo) 2:14

21. Mathayus Arises (Demo) 1:31

22. Return to Sender (Demo) 2:44

23. The Oasis (2:13) /Balthazar’s Camp (3:28) (suite) (Demo) 5:41

 

Tracks 12-23 on Disc Two Are Selected Film Score Demos

[Sebastian Schwittay]

Na, immerhin ist jetzt bald Goldenthals S.W.A.T. an der Reihe.  

Dass mittlerweile ausnahmslos jedes Früh-2000er-Mittelmaß in Luxus-Ausgaben veröffentlicht wird, als wären es verschollene Meisterwerke... naja. 

[Stese]

Kein Debney, den ich jetzt gebraucht hätte.

Aber kaufe ich trotzdem und ist mir lieber als die ganzen Wallfisch Scores der letzten Zeit.

[TheRealNeo]

Mochte den immer…aber hab da eigentlich nie was vermisst, meine ich.

[Mephisto]

Die Original-CD (vom Colosseum-Verkauf) habe ich noch nichtmal ausgepackt, den Film habe ich nur einmal, vielleicht so um 2007 herum gesehen. Interessant, dass es nun die Demos aus den frühen 2000ern gibt, das ist natürlich interessantes Material, wenn man sich mit virtuellen Instrumenten beschäftigt, die ja mittlerweile auch eine eigene Historie haben. Mir wäre es lieber gewesen,man hätte analog zu den "non-Choir"-Versionen vieler Komplettveröffentlichungen "No-Guitar"-Versionen mit draufgepackt.

[ronin1975]

Am 21.6.2025 um 01:22 schrieb Sebastian Schwittay:

Na, immerhin ist jetzt bald Goldenthals S.W.A.T. an der Reihe.  

Dass mittlerweile ausnahmslos jedes Früh-2000er-Mittelmaß in Luxus-Ausgaben veröffentlicht wird, als wären es verschollene Meisterwerke... naja. 

und Demolition Man... Terminal Velocity wäre auch mal schön!

[Mike Rumpf]

Hab mal durchhören können. Gibt tatsächlich einige nette Stücke, die nicht auf dem OST waren. Das Hauptthema ist eingängig. In Teilen durchaus eine schöne Musik, aber insgesamt auch eher Debney-typische Stangenware ohne echte Inspiration und Leidenschaft am Sujet. Irgendwie klingt der Mix auch immer noch breiig, wenig transparent, sodass die orientalischen Klangfarben kaum zur Geltung kommen. Und Varèse hat natürlich auch wieder geschlampt:

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/37592-john-debneys-the-scorpion-king-2002-new-2025-varese-sarabande-2-cd-deluxe-edition/&do=findComment&comment=2105283

Das Stück in Mono ist echt ne Frechheit.

[Trekfan]

Das kann man sich auch hier mal wieder alles nicht ausdenken.

Gerade zuletzt die mega lieblose "Deluxe"-Neuauflage von Thorn Birds, wo man bis auf einen Townsons alte Fehler (auf die er nie reagiert hat) alle ausgesessen hat, hier jetzt auch bisher keine Reation von Varese, wie man jetzt lesen kann. Jedenfalls ist auf die Leute drüben bei jwfan mal wieder Verlass, die Dinge zu benennen und öffentlich zu machen

Found a MAJOR issue at the opening of "A Small Demonstration"!

The entire final third of the previous track, "Veiled Thread" is playing ON TOP of the opening! *And* it's partially mono!

This is quite possible the most hilariously bad mistake I have ever heard of. Like, in need of a replacement batch bad! OMG

("Cassandra's Bath" seems to have a similar issue during the first few seconds, and is also missing choir during that portion)

EDIT: I posted samples over on JWFan so you can hear for yourself how bad it is...

Zitat

Alright here's a comprehensive list of all of the issues I've noticed in this set.

Major issues are highlighted in RED.

I also included minor issues that might have been Debney's ideas, and therefore not technically mistakes.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

1-08 Escape From Ants

- Loop at 0:08 (likely a composer decision?)

 

1-11 Enemy at the Gate

- Cut off ending at 0:27, replaced with faked/reverbed tail (likely a composer decision?)

 

1-16 Cassandra's Bath

- Opening is missing choir overdub

 

1-18 Message to Memnon

- Entire orchestra section is mono!

 

1-22 Healing

- Orchestra section is mono starting around the 0:30 mark!

 

1-25 Balthazar's Camp

- Multiple very short cuts from 2:41 through 2:52 (likely a composer decision?) (NOT present on OST track)

- Loop at 3:41 (NOT present on OST track) <--- the loop artificially brings the track up to the same length as the OST track

 

2-06 A Small Demonstration

- Part of track "Veiled Threat" is playing ON TOP of the first 50 seconds of the track!

- This is more of a nitpick, but the gong scratch overdub at 3:09 is way too loud (might be as intended?) (much quieter in film)

 

2-07 Party's Over

- Woodwind section is cut off at 0:41 (likely a composer decision?)

 

2-08 I've Come For The Woman

- Section missing at 3:08 (possibly an insert?) (also missing from OST)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Aside from "I've Come For The Woman", there are two other "film versions" missing from this set. There's an insert/fix at the beginning of "Balthazar Arrives" (very minor, not necessary), and an entirely different ending for "The Scorpion King".

 

All OST tracks aside from "Balthazar's Camp" use the OST masters, completely unaltered. There isn't anything missing to my knowledge, so this is probably fine. The mixing on those were perfect as-is in my opinion.

 

The overall mixing of the unreleased material on this release, barring the errors, is pretty good. The previously-unreleased material is however mixed very center-heavy compared to the previously-released material, which is kind of jarring in my opinion. There should have been a bit more consistency in that area, but it is what it is.