After the success of the first two Conan films it was perhaps inevitable that there would be some kind of theme park spin off attraction with plenty of scope for sword fights and dramatic staging. Film composers are frequently asked to write music for theme park rides, perhaps Bruce Broughton having contributed the most scores for rides and shows, but in this case they decided to return to the composer who penned the music for the film, Basil Poledouris.
The first track is a condensed version of the music with narration and voice overs which are horrendously cheesy. Poledouris' music is gutsy and dramatic, but the melodramatic vocals do little but act as an embaressing way to drown out some good music. It also as quite a lot of hiss and is easily missable. Fortunately the second, lengthier track is devoid of dialogue and contains the full selection of music from the "Spectacular." I'm uncertain as to whether Poledouris deliberately avoided directly quoting the original Conan themes, but for one reason or another, the melodic material from the films is only alluded to and not fully quoted.
While it's nice to have things that start with a bang, Poledouris starts with a low key horn fanfare, but builds the music up to a section midway through that recalls the Anvil of Crom. Again, aside from similar rhythmic percussion and accompaniment, Poledouris doesn't actually go so far as quoting the horn fanfare from that particular cue. In fact it tends to sound more like the oft-quoted title music to Goldsmith's Capricorn One.
I'm sure that die hard Poledouris and Conan fans will enjoy this album immensely, but to be fair anyone else who has the original Conan scores will probably find little else of interest here. The fact that Poledouris doesn't use the themes leaves the lingering impression of it sounding like a poor imitation of the original scores. However his consummate skill as a composer does allow for it to be enjoyable enough. Having said that, the short running time and the inclusion of the dreadful Adventures of Conan (the track with narration) means it's tough to recommend.
Rating ~ 
Total Time ~ 24:36