"Signature Sounds: Music Of The WWE" Review

WWE recently released "Signature Sounds: The Music of WWE" on DVD, which is a departure from their recent titles. The documentary runs under an hour, and takes a look at 25 of the greatest WWE theme songs (with some glaring omissions).

I wasn't sure what to expect when I received the DVD. I thought it was going to be a series of Titan Trons. What it turns out to be is a tribute to one of the most under appreciated WWE talents over the past 30 years, composer Jim Johnston. Of the 25 themes on the DVD, Johnston was behind 24 of them, with the lone exception being Dusty Rhodes' theme.

The DVD features Johnston taking viewers behind the scenes of those themes, and telling some entertaining stories along the way. It's a testament to how talented Johnston is, looking at the variety of themes that appear on the DVD, including themes for The Brood (my personal favorite), The Primetime Players, DX, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, The Rock, Steve Austin, The Ultimate Warrior, Fandango, Mankind and Mr. Perfect.

As expected, you also get comments from Superstars about their themes. For the most part, it's what you'd expect, although there are some interesting stories in there, like Chris Jericho admitting that he still doesn't know what his song means. There was also a story with Johnston talking about Lil Kim leaving divots in the floor of the studio after recording Trish Stratus' theme.

There were some glaring omissions in the DVD, most notably "Real American." There are a few others that I personally would have liked to have seen, like Demolition, Bret Hart and Sid Vicious. Also, it would have been cool to include the entire version of each theme as a special feature.

However, it still is an entertaining look at what goes into creating a theme song for a wrestler, and it's great seeing Johnston some screen time. The DVD flies by, and can easily be watched multiple times, although there is a good chance that you'll forget about it once it's over. However, it's definitely worth a watch, especially with it being available for only $6 at Amazon.com.

Here is the listing of the tracks featured:

25 – Batista – I Walk Alone
24 – Fandango – ChaChaLaLa
23 – Sunny – I Know you Want Me
22 – Primetime Players – Making Moves
21 – Goldust – GoldLust
20 – Brodus Clay – Somebody Call My Momma
19 – Ultimate Warrior – Unstable
18 – Mankind – Ode to Freud
17 – Brood – Blood
16 – Randy Orton – Voices
15 – Dusty Rhodes – Common Man Boogie
14 – Shane McMahon – Here Comes the Money
13 – RVD – One of a Kind
12 – Mr. Perfect – Perfection
11 – Mr. McMahon – No Chance in Hell
10 – Trish Stratus – Time to Rock and Roll
9 – Rey Mysterio – 619 Booyaka
8 – Stone Cold Steve Austin – I Wont Do What You Tell Me
7 – The Rock – Electrifying
6 – Shawn Michaels – Sexy Boy
5 – Undertaker – Rest in Peace
4 – Triple H – The Game
3 – John Cena – The Time is Now
2 – Chris Jericho – Break Down the Walls
1 – D-Generation X – Are You Ready?

EXTRAS

Shawn Michaels – Tell Me A Lie
Val Venis – Hello Ladies
Hakushi – Angel
Billy Gunn – Ass Man
Maria – Legs Like That
William Regal – He's a Man
The Making of GoldLust
The Music of WWE Studios