Customer Reviews

The Wild West: The Essential Western Film Music Collection

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All the music on this CD is performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. They do a good job overall although some cuts lack the syncopated verve and bounce of the originals. But, hey . . . that's SOP for anthologies. Their version of Silverado is great. So is The Cowboys. Their rendition of The Alamo is lackluster, even if technically well played. The Searchers has all the Civil War tunes from the film interwoven into it, as it's supposed to. Glory woefully misses the Harlem Boy's Choir--a chorus of adult Czechs are just no substitute--and they don't even play the film's main theme, so skip that one. How the West Was Won is too controlled. The theme from Gettysburg is marred by a lead trumpet that is too loud--bad mixing job, guys. They do Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven theme well. WARNING: these CDs are painted to look like marshal stars, and they wouldn't play on my car's CD player. They would play on my computer, however. I had to re-record them onto blanks to listen in my car.

This has to be the ultimate in Western-Folk-Lore score compilations, and I should know, this has been my thing as long as I can remember. Who can forget our western heroes - John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, Clint Eastwood, Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck and Gregory Peck. The City of Prague Philharmonic conducted by Paul Bateman, Nic Raine and Derek Wadsworth have done an outstanding job re-creating the old west with prairies and openess you feel when watching your favorite western film.

Some stand outs - "THE BIG COUNTRY" (Moross) - "GETTYSBURG" (Edelman) - "GLORY" (Horner) - "THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS" (Trevor Jones) - "THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" (ELMER BERNSTEIN) - "ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST" (Ennio Morricone) - "THE SEARCHERS" (Steiner) - "TRUE GRIT" (Elmer Bernstein) and "WILD ROVERS" (Jerry Goldsmith), composed by some hard riding, dust filled scores to ever hit the trails to Dodge City.

Silva Screen Records has brought film music to another level in soundtracks, flawless from the very first note to the last, pure perfection. There is no other label I know of today that could come close to what they have done in film score/soundtrack albums.

All in all, this outstanding, fantastic and moving CD with awesome material will have film music collectors crying for more!

Total Time: Disc One 72:00 on 19 Tracks/Disc Two 73:35 on 19 Tracks/Silva Screen Records - SSD 1099 (1999)

If you enjoy classic western films, you'll really enjoy this collection of soundtracks. Although the music isn't with the orginal composers, it still smacks of quality work and skill.
An excellent pick of some great westerns and a few Civil War themes tossed in, but for a rousing and galloping ride down memory lane, this isn't a bad buy at all.
If you are a super techno about high end sound quality and a fanatic symphonic type, you may find some faults. But for the average joe film buff, it's a great deal and a lot of fun to listen to.

This double CD collection captures the very spirit of the Western-film genre. Words like "bold," "sweeping," and "epic" inevitably come to mind as I listen, over and over, to the themes, familiar ("A Fistful of Dollars," "The Magnificent Seven," "The Sons of Katie Elder") and less so ("Lonesome Dove," "A Distant Trumpet," "Monte Walsh," "Buffalo Girls"), it includes. From the contemplative ("Dances With Wolves") to the militaristic ("Glory") to the light ("Maverick"), they're all here, delivered with all the brass and percussion you'd expect. A set I never regret buying.

I disagree With anyone who says the sound quality is not good on The Wild West. I have a high end all tube system and this cd is one of my test cd's when someone wants to here my system. It is one of the best produced cd's I've ever heard and the performances are masterful too. We listened to this cd on my dealer's $60,000 solid state system and it blew him away. Now he uses it as a test cd too. Also try Way Out West. It is just as good.

I bought this CD for a family trip to Montana hoping for some good background music as we drove through mountains & Indian reservations. My whole family loved it. It is very evocative of a different era. Now that we're home I still listen to it. There is a great selection and the arrangements are well done.

This CD is a great collection of many of the best movie tunes from the old west (as well as a few selections, while great movie music, are not from the old west - i.e. Gettysburg). A few of the tempos seem rushed to me and the City of Prague Philharmonic, while good, is not a great orchestra. You can hear the trumpets and horns straining at times. I would still buy it again, though for some of the selections, I prefer other recordings that are available.

I was pleasantly surprised. Even though they are not the original composers, I enjoyed the collection, especially "The Cowboy's" (John Williams, "Silverado" (Bruce Broughton), and the theme of "Sons of Katie Elder" (Elmer Bernstein) It was a real treat!!

I can't speak to the way the orchestra was conducted or the way it was recorded, I only know I thought it was great, and a very good selection of unforgettable soundtracks. Not perfect, (Wild Wild West goes on way too long, and Sons of Katie Elder isn't long enough) but if you love Westerns you'll like conjuring up the memory of those great pictures with the music on this set.

This is a collection of music for those who love the West. One gets the feeling of the big skies and wide spaces from much of this CD. On it is some of the most successful work for this subject.

Though there are three "Eastern" pieces, "Gettysburg," "Last of the Mohicans," and "Glory," they are not jarring and seem to belong with the rest.

A very good buy and an excellent listen!