Cutthroat Island

	Track Listing - Original Release
	01 - Main Title: Morgan's Ride (4:41) 02 - Carriage Chase (7:23) 03 - The Language of Romance (2:41) 04 - Setting Sail (1:05) 05 - To the Bottom of the Sea (2:45) 06 - Morgan Takes the Ship (4:32) 07 - The Funeral (1:32) 08 - The Rescue (3:43) 09 - Discovery of the Treasure (2:21)	10 - The Big Jump (2:40) 11 - The Storm Begins (2:35) 12 - Morgan Captured / Sword Fight (5:25) 13 - Shaw Steals the Map (3:32) 14 - Escape from Mordechai's (2:10) 15 - Charting the Course (2:21) 16 - First Kiss (1:56) 17 - The Battle (6:11) 18 - Dawg's Demise / The Triumph (3:33) 19 - It's Only Gold / End Credits (9:47)
		Total Running Time: 72:32

Orchestrated by Brad Dechter, Frank Bennett, Don Nemitz, and Jeff Atmajian Conducted by David Snell Performed by The London Symphony Orchestra, The London Voices Produced by John Debney and Ford A. Thaxton Released by Silva Screen Records on May 5th, 1998 Prometheus Records on March, 2005

Track Listing - Ultimate Edition
Disc 1 01 - Main Title / Morgan's Ride (4:38) 02 - The Rescue / Morgan Saves Harry (3:41) 03 - Purcell Snatcher (2:58) (Composed by Brad Dechter) 04 - Shaw is Caught (1:15) 05 - The Funeral (1:29) 06 - Morgan in Command (2:51) 07 - The Language of Romance (2:40) 08 - A Lady Scorned (1:38) 09 - Carriage Chase (7:21) 10 - Ainclee Plots / To Spittelfield (3:46) 11 - Uncle Mordechai (2:02) 12 - Morgan Captured / Sword Fight (5:23) 13 - Escape from Mordechai's (2:09) 14 - Setting Sail (1:03) 15 - Charting the Course (2:19) 16 - First Kiss / Love Scene / Dawg's Plan (3:12) 17 - Shaw Discovers the Location (2:04) 18 - Betrayal (2:12) 19 - The Storm Begins (2:33) 20 - To The Bottom of the Sea (2:43) 21 - The Island (3:41) 22 - Shaw Steals the Map (3:30) 23 - Discovery of the Cave (4:39) 24 - Discovery of the Treasure (2:19)	Disc 2 01 - The Wedding Waltz (2:43) 02 - Caught (1:37) 03 - The Rope (2:17) 04 - Morgan and Snow Jump Off the Cliff / The Big Jump (2:38) 05 - Shaw Captured (2:32) 06 - Morgan Takes the Ship (4:30) 07 - The Hangman's Noose (3:56) 08 - The Battle / To Dawg's Ship / Morgan Battles Dawg / Dawg's Demise / The Triumph (17:72) 09 - It's Only Gold / End Credits (9:42) Bonus tracks: 10 - Main Title / Morgan's Ride (4:48) (without choir) 11 - Carriage Chase (7:26) 12 - The First Kiss (1:54) (album edit) 13 - Dawg's Demise / The Triumph (3:31) (without choir) 14 - Morgan's Ride & The Rescue (7:25) (original synth demo version)
Total Running Time: 72:24	Total Running Time: 73:12

I happened to rent Cutthroat Island on VHS a few years ago (obviously back before the DVD boom) and started to watch it, but turned it off about half-way through because I got bored. That’s quite a telling announcement on what I thought of the film at the time because I never turn a movie off. I at least have to see it all the way through, even if I ultimately pronounce it to be a “shipwreck” of a film. The only other movie I can think of that I just stopped watching out of boredom is The Labyrinth (I did like The Dark Crystal so don’t hiss me down now). I might revisit this movie again with DVD this time around (in its glorious widescreen presentation which will probably open up the picture enough to make the cinematography more interesting) so my opinion may change, especially after having seen Pirates of the Caribbean so many times (and it’ll will be interesting to compare the two). Of course, one way in which those two films diverge is in their scores. While Pirates of the Caribbean has grown on me, it cannot even begin to compare with terrific orchestral bombast the John Debney gave this film. It’s a shame that Debney has yet to even come close to his score for Cutthroat Island. As it is, he really hasn’t had the same kind of vehicle to allow him to reach this height again. While his career has been more than respectable, it would be wonderful to hand him another project of this nature (the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels maybe?).

My original review of Cutthroat Island was not the kindest, even though I ultimately gave it my highest rating. Comparing it to such David Arnold scores as Independence Day and Stargate, I found it a bit lacking. Perhaps it was slight bitterness that Arnold had been attached to this project and had ultimately left, thus depriving us of a pirate score from him. In fact, whether in homage or inspiration from any earlier work on the picture, Debney includes a few Stargate-esque cues in this score (“First Kiss”). However, as the years passed, Cutthroat Island would be an album I would pull out for my own enjoyment, just as much as I did with those other titles, and it would prove to be Debney’s most memorable score.

The score to Cutthroat Island is everything that it should be. Loud and brassy, thematic and bold, and containing both tremendous action cues and quieter, more romantic moments. It has everything that a score approaching epic proportions should have, and Debney provides it with gusto. Right from the beginning with “Main Title / Morgan’s Ride” Debney jumps us right into the middle of things, and he rarely lets up from that point. His choral usage is wonderful and spread out just enough to where its appearance always contains the right amount of excitement. As usual, the performances by The London Symphony Orchestra and The London Voices are as vibrant and full of energy as we come to expect from these fine performing groups.

Originally released as a 72 minute album from Silva Screen Records, the soundtrack sold quite well and is now hard to find new for less than twice the cost of a regular CD. Used releases are more reasonable in price. Sensing the need for a new album (and probably to give people the swashbuckling score they missed with Pirates of the Caribbean), Prometheus Records has released an excellent two-CD version that contains the entire score along with a few bonus cues. For those with the original album, the newly released material isn’t substantial enough to recommend purchasing another entire album of the same score, except for those who are fully in love with this score. For those who have deprived themselves of this excellent work, I would recommend this 2-CD version whole-heartedly, as it’s cheaper than new copies of the original album. The sound quality is the same on both, which is to say that it is excellent and worthy of being played at loud volumes. So do yourself a favor and add this one to your collection.