This fine action score from Alan Silvestri was from one of two volcano movies, the other being Dante's Peak, which was scored by John Frizzel (main theme by James Newton Howard). While Frizzel's was more in the synth, kind of pseudo Hans Zimmer mould, Volcano is more definitely Alan Silvestri. The opening track combines gentle strings with ominous runblings that achieves a not-ever-so-subtle ambiguity. Miracle Mile introduces some quite effective dissonant sections which effectively portray the strange situations which keep appearing which point towards a volcanic eruption. It ends with a rather nice action motif with chopping strings that is most effective without being overbearing.
Tarnation introduces the "lava" theme which is more of an ominous fanfare usually played on low brass. It appear to be the only theme per-se, although there are plenty of action motifs to bind the entire score together. more of the dissonance appears at different points, although there tends to be a more toward more straight forward action based material as the score progresses. As far as I can recall, Silvestri has never used trilling horns or trumpets before and in the context of some of his action cues, they make a thrilling new idea to his palate. They are nowhere near as horrible and loud or intrusive as the kind that Elliot Goldenthal is fond of employing and work much better in this context for my liking. This works especially well in the March of the Lava which works well as almost a concert piece unto itself with Silvestri's razor sharp brass coming to the fore. Cleansing Rain brings the score to an almost Heavenly ending with a vague hint of a choir in the background. I doubt this will go down in the annals of greatest Alan Silvestri scores, but it does provide an enjoyable slice of action and in the mix of all the often lame action scores that are produced these days, Volcano provides for much more of an entertaining listen, with considerably more invention, a pleasing lack of electronics and completely devoid of any of the usual Silvestri padding, this makes it well worth purchasing.
Rating ~ 
Total Time ~ 29:23