Another in Silva's more than generous two CD "Essential Collections" adds Westerns to their now impressive list of genres and composers who've had the Silva treatment. Like those other collection, a large number of the recordings have been previously issued, but being a moderately priced double CD really makes it worth while if you're a fan. Of course all the classics are here, The Big Country, The Magnificent Seven, Once Upon a Time in the West, Dances With Wolves and plenty of others besides (although I was surprised not to see The Good, the Bad and the Ugly mentioned in the listings). The performances on this album yet again highlight how much improved the Prague Philharmonic are, the brass flubs are greatly reducing and it all sounds just that bit more polished. Of course being Silva Screen, there are plenty of slightly obscure scores that are represented and thus making the collection worthwhile picking up for the more hardened soundtrack junkie who has more copies of The Magnificent Seven than one could possibly want. This is certainly a natty business move if we're being cynical, but it does make it all that bit more worthwhile an addition to the collection. From my own personal experience, there are plenty of cues that I don't have elsewhere since for some reason, Western scores always disappoint me slightly. Expectations over reality probably being the major cause. For this reason I don't have many Western scores. Items such as Buffalo Girls, High Plains Drifter (I've never even heard of composer Dee Barton) and The Sons of Kartie Elder (yet another obscure Elmer Bernstein score it appears) I've never heard of, but are often remarkably good - especially Buffalo Girls by Lee Holdridge.
As well as the old classics by Bernstein, Moross, Alfred Newman and the like, younger listeners will almost certainly enjoy the more contemporary selections. Randy Newman's score to Maverick has certainly been getting a lot of play on my stereo recently and gets a good rendition here. Bruce Broughton's Silverado surely needs no introduction, even though I still feel it's overrated somewhat, although Basil Poledouris' quite modest score to Lonesome Dove certainly is as wonderful as has been said. There are some tracks which I'd have a hard time trying to convince anyone that they were a Western film or score. James Horner's score to Glory is excellent in its own right, but the film is about the American War of Independence, as is Gettysburg, even though it is one of Randy Edelman's finest (if slightly overrought) scores. I was surprised that nothing from Marc Shaiman's score to City Slickers was included since the main theme is worth the price of the original soundtrack CD alone. John Williams' perenially popular theme from The Cowboys as well as the more obscure The Rare Breed are both included. Ending with the main theme from The Wild, Wild West, which has now been made into a movie (although sadly none of Elmer Bernstein's score is included here), this makes a worthwhile addition as do most of Silva's recent collections. There are a few misfires, a but the number of decent entries makes it worth picking up for even the most casual collector, although it does somewhat leave the impression that most Western themes owe something of a debt to either Elmer Bernstein or Aaron Copland, although curiously, most people don't tend to copy Ennio Morrincone's extremely idiosyncratic style - probably just as well really.
Rating ~ 
Disc One - Total Time: 74:41
Disc Two - Total Time ~ 73:35