John Debney's THE SCORPION KING (2002) - NEW! 2025 Varese Sarabande 2-CD Deluxe Edition

[Jay 46,746]

 

John Debney – The Scorpion King (The Deluxe Edition) (2-CD)
Release Date: June 20, 2025
Regular price$ 25.00

 

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.

 

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

 

https://varesesarabande.com/collections/cd/products/the-scorpion-king-cd

 

https://varesesarabande.com/collections/cd/products/the-scorpion-king-cd

[Pieter Boelen 1,032]

That's a fun movie. 

And a fun score!

 

Debney doesn't quite reach Cutthroat Island or Lair levels here, but it's got some goodies; especially the badass action towards the end.

[Manakin Skywalker 5,948]

YES! I've been requesting this one on FSM for years!

[enderdrag64 1,818]

18 minutes ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

YES! I've been requesting this one on FSM for years!

I immediately thought of you the second I saw the thread title 

[Edmilson 12,579]

1 hour ago, Pieter Boelen said:

Debney doesn't quite reach Cutthroat Island or Lair levels here

One can argue he never reached these levels ever again in his career...

 

Still, a great release. I'll give it another chance, when I first heard it the guitars were a bit off putting to me.

[Anthony 912]

Brilliant! One of my more recent grails!

 

Such a fun popcorn score. It's just solid orchestral writing. Debney makes everything sound "right".

 

I don't think the rock elements were necessary, but they work just fine. 🤷‍♂️

[Pieter Boelen 1,032]

30 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

One can argue he never reached these levels ever again in his career...

Indeed nothing else even comes close to Cutthroat Island and Lair. 

But I keep hoping he's got another one like that in him...

 

31 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Still, a great release. I'll give it another chance, when I first heard it the guitars were a bit off putting to me.

I recall the score starts pretty heavy metal, but it then gets toned back very thoroughly very quickly.

[Manakin Skywalker 5,948]

Yeah there's really only a couple of cues that are guitar-heavy. Maybe 3 total that I can think of where he went full-on rock and roll, and that only accounts for portions of those cues.

[thestat 497]

It's difficult to match up to something like Cutthroat - it's still probably the largest score of all time (or if not that one, then one of the Arnolds). The Silvestri score is massive as well. But this does the job:

 

 

What this is missing is the thematic strand that made Cutthroat so great. 

 

Debney composes great music - and Lair will testify to that - but Scorpion King needs a marketing push to sell more. 

[Manakin Skywalker 5,948]

The track "Message to Memnon" is almost entirely mono! 

[Slitherjump 173]

3 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

The track "Message to Memnon" is almost entirely mono! 

Have you messaged varese about this? What did they say?

[Manakin Skywalker 5,948]

32 minutes ago, Slitherjump said:

Have you messaged varese about this? What did they say?

 

I have not, not yet anyway. I just got my CD and have yet to listen to it in full; someone elsewhere mentioned that track being mono so I checked it on Spotify this morning. I plan on listening to the set in full tonight to make sure there aren't any other issues or mono tracks.

[Trope 1,488]

44 minutes ago, Slitherjump said:

Have you messaged varese about this? What did they say?

Let me look into that for you…

 

Sorry, there’s nothing we can do. 

[Manakin Skywalker 5,948]

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 possibly the most hilariously bad mistake I have ever heard of. Like, in need of a replacement batch bad! Holy fucking shit!

 

How the opening is supposed to sound:

 

This is how it sounds on the Deluxe Edition!

 

This is the ending of the previous cue that's playing underneath:

 

I believe a similar issue is happening at the very opening of "Cassandra's Bath". <--- the opening is also missing a choir overdub.

 

I have not yet finished the album, so there might be additional mistakes. I noticed a few tiny snippets cut here and there, particularly from the track "Balthazar's Camp" (which is un-edited on the OST), but that might've been more of a Debney request.

 

To the engineers working on these releases, please PLEASE PLEASE double-check your work before you send it off! It's really not that difficult.

[Quppa 733]

2 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

I have not yet finished the album, so there might be additional mistakes.

 

If we're lucky there will be a Bourne Supremacy demo track somewhere on CD 2...

[Evanus 428]

Jesus christ. How do these things keep happening? This is just embarrassing...

[Manakin Skywalker 5,948]

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.

[Jurassic Shark 16,530]

One of the better Varese releases then. 

[Trope 1,488]

It’s comforting to know that the utmost care and attention to detail is applied to these releases!

[crumbs 16,089]

Beyond embarrassing. There's only a small community of film score fans who are passionate and interested in these releases, which makes the clear lack of care and attention to detail on certain releases (from certain labels) all the more insulting.

 

After that Matrix debacle, Varese left a sour taste in my mouth. Churning out error-riddled releases certainly isn't ingratiating themselves to the community.

[Holko 12,102]

Glad they usually put out scores I don't care about! Almost happy now that MouseHunt only had an easily reversible channel flip.

[Richard P 5,327]

Do we know who edited/mastered this set? As in details from the back over, not the generic ones from Varese.

 

I can forgive things that are typically the composer wanting to clean things up for listening (trims, instrument mixing etc). There's enough debate here between hearing a strictly intended (or composer preferred) score vs wanting to hear film mixes.... it sounds like just more of that.

 

But that overlay issue... my only (totally uninformed) question would be, does it resemble in any way how it sounds in the film? With some looping elsewhere and various editorial changes, is it possible that there's been an effort to re-create some film meddling?

 

Unlikely I know... just a desire to see if this could be anything other than what seems like a colossal editing mistake.

[Manakin Skywalker 5,948]

8 hours ago, Richard P said:

But that overlay issue... my only (totally uninformed) question would be, does it resemble in any way how it sounds in the film? With some looping elsewhere and various editorial changes, is it possible that there's been an effort to re-create some film meddling?

 

The loop in "Escape From Ants" and possibly the edits in "Balthazar's Camp" (I'll have to double check) are like that in the film, but just those two. The choir overdub is present in "Cassandra's Bath" in the film, as that's the only other source of that cue since it was unreleased, and not on the promo. Everything else is just either errors or someone deciding to take personal liberties.

 

8 hours ago, Richard P said:

Do we know who edited/mastered this set? As in details from the back over, not the generic ones from Varese.

 

Chas Ferry and Melinda Hurley.

[Stéphane Humez 1,248]

8 minutes ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

Chas Ferry and Melinda Hurley.

That's the album producer's responsibility though. People mastering just master. If I fuck up an album it won't be Maxime's fault ! 

[Manakin Skywalker 5,948]

1 hour ago, Stéphane Humez said:

That's the album producer's responsibility though. People mastering just master. If I fuck up an album it won't be Maxime's fault ! 

 

In that case other potentially relevant credits include...

 

Score produced by John Debney & Michael Mason

Deluxe Edition executive producer: Cary E. Mansfield

Production assistance: Lukas Kendall

[Jurassic Shark 16,530]

That John Debney!