Aside from some synthetic elements in "Shielding a Son," Edelman's approach to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor avoids obvious electronic embellishment, a rarity for the composer. The Chinese specialty instrumentation is led by an erhu and is layered tastefully throughout. The choir is rarely employed, which is disappointing, because it's great when there. There are few diversions from the focused style of Edelman's music, source-like classicism with a harpsichord in "Memories, Retirement and Dinner" one exception. The orchestral depth is considerable in the recording, even if it's rather simplistically written for. The thematic diversity of the score consists of a sonic battle between the main theme for the leads and a legacy theme for the Yang character and others who wish to restore evil. A mystical Shangri-La theme is a welcome visitor, and Edelman cannot resist writing a keyboard-based idea for the heroic family. The main theme is a spritely and cheery fanfare, completely inappropriate for the movie but becoming somewhat endearing by the time it parades through the flashy end title sequence. Its simplistic harmonies and rendering are summarized in all of "A Call to Adventure," entering the score proper with a brief burst at 0:50 into "Reading of the Scrolls." Its suite-like format repeats in the first minute of "Crash and Burn" and turns suspenseful later in that cue. The optimistic cheer returns at 1:44 into "A New Assignment" and enjoys extra zeal at the outset of "Yang Follows the O'Connells." A continuation of this mode at 2:34 into "Shanghai Chase" strays into ridiculousness with its constantly crashing cymbals. It lightly prances on flute and clarinet in the fluffy "Rick's Long Rod," enters with brief exuberance at 1:29 into "New Year's Betrayal," and opens "2nd Century B.C." with a distant sense of wonder. Edelman litters the idea throughout "Rick and Evy in Battle" without much flow and allows it to become engrained with Chinese spirit at the start of "Return of the Dragon" before the tension and subsequent relief for the theme in the choral start of "Finale" yields to its full form at 0:58 for the end credits. This theme struggles to fit well with the remaining identities, all of which mingle better with one another as they define the Chinese elements of the story. The best among these is the legacy theme for Yang that raises occasional memories of Goldsmith's boldest action mode when conveyed with force.

The legacy theme in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has basic and repetitive phrasing but retains strength and allure throughout, switching between fantasy, drama, and action with ease. It is defined well during all of "Silently Yearning for Centuries," developing from cello to brass and offering the song's melody as an interlude at 1:41. The theme explodes at 0:19 into "The Reign of Terror" in intense, brassy battle mode but reverts to tender thought to open "Reading of the Scrolls," even shifting into the major key for a while. It thumps with menace in the middle of "A New Assignment" and lets rip with Goldsmith-like brass and percussion 0:44 into "Yang Follows the O'Connells." Stinger alerts using the theme early in "Shanghai Chase" prove its malleability. The theme dominates "Ancient China" as a reprise of "Silently Yearning for Centuries," the song melody returning at 1:40. Stunted fragments haunt "Entering the Tomb," and a militarized version is unleashed in "The Emperor Versus Zi Yuan." The legacy theme turns intimate and even a touch comedic early in "Love in the Himalayas," toned back on sorrowful cellos at the start of "Heartbreak" before shifting to propulsive snare attitude. The theme's last major usage comes in the stoic brass renditions in the middle of "Return of the Dragon." The mystical Shangri-La theme offers flowing romanticism in the score, introduced at the start of "Open Wound" and allowing a snippet of the song melody at 0:33 before a brief major performance at 1:21. It emerges at the two-minute mark in "The Reign of Terror" and reveals itself fully at 2:22. The theme reappears in the middle of "Reading of the Scrolls" in lighter shades, offering the song melody for a moment as well. It returns at 1:31 into "Yang Follows the O'Connells" and in a variant of distinction at the outset of "New Year's Betrayal." Edelman's family theme is a typically soft keyboarded rendering performed by the composer himself. It debuts at 0:57 into "A Family Presses Close" after a performance of the song melody and returns at 1:00 into "Love in the Himalayas" and opens "A Warm Rooftop." Don't look for much variance in this theme's usage, its evolution static as is standard for the composer's more contemporary character identities. A badly underutilized motif for the Lin character is revealed in "Alex and Lin," and this pretty but simplistic idea carries over to the start of "The Museum Becomes Alive!" with restraint but is otherwise neglected.

On the whole, Edelman's work for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is certainly not without flaw, but it stands as one of the composer's most majestic career achievements even if the main theme is a bit cheesy. Debney's 32 minutes of music is largely anonymous within his career, sometimes using odd sound effects mixed with the Los Angeles performers and supplying his own choral overlays as necessary. The sometimes sparse tone of his recording has the general sound of Christopher Lennertz action material of the era. Debney wrote music for over a dozen scenes, "Main Title Ride" skirting Edelman's legacy theme in its action and "Compass/Lin Attacks Alex" containing more hyperactive but obnoxious variants on the same ideas. The two "Chariot Chase" cues use that legacy theme without the first note in its excitement, but Debney does eventually add that first note back in for one sequence. The lesser "Chariot Aftermath" hints at Edelman's main theme in minor mode, while "Trek into the Mountains" finally references the legacy theme obviously and with force. Sadly, though, the fantasy in "Shangri-La Revealed" fails to use Edelman's theme for any good reason. The unique "Yeti to the Rescue" is highly obnoxious in its brass usage, but at least it's memorable compared to the largely anonymous action with no thematic advancement in "Enter the Emperor/The Icicles." Debney's "Family Hug" has no warmth or purpose, a purely ambient cue with vague keyboarding. Only in the last few cues does Debney develop his own action theme, "Kick Butt Terra Cotta" firming up this motif in its string action and "Emperor Enters the Cave" returning to that material in huge choral fashion. The conclusive "Rick and the Emperor Battle/Finale" is fairly generic but does reference the main Edelman theme for a specific point of reference in the narrative. Some of Debney's music is dropped into the end title scroll as well. While his contributions to the film are generally praised due to a few monumental action highlights, his music is often busier but not necessarily better than Edelman's alternatives. The film likely would have sufficed with the first composer's music. A generous 77 minutes of Edelman's score was released on a commercial album at the time of the movie's release, and Debney's 32 minutes of replacement music was teased online in promotional form by the composer and was widely bootlegged by fans thereafter. An official combination album with both composers' work is definitely merited here, but don't be surprised if it's Edelman's score that you find yourself revisiting rather than Debney's. The film represented a valiant conclusion to Edelman's mainstream career.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download