Wild Wild West - Songs of the Silver Screen

Product Description:
From the majestic Magnificent Seven to the urgent rhythms of Bonanza to the other worldly nature of the "spaghetti western" themes, cowboy movies have always had music that moved us. Wild, Wild West features the most popular of these scores presented in fresh new, and exciting recordings.

Tracks:

Bonanza
Gunsmoke
The Magnificent Seven
The Wild, Wild West
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Laredo
The Rifleman
How the West Was Won
Maverick
The Alamo
Wagon Train
Rawhide
High Noon

Album Description

From the majestic Magnificent Seven to the urgent rhythms of Bonanza to the other worldly nature of the "spaghetti western" themes, cowboy movies have always had music that moved us. Wild, Wild West features the most popular of these scores presented in fresh new, and exciting recordings.

Customer Reviews:

Surprisingly good.......2005-09-22

I bought this CD on a trip to the Rockies this summer, on an impulse, when I heard it playing in a gift store at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton National Park. We played it repeatedly as we drove through Montana, and have continued to play it since we returned home. I also bought it for my supervisor, who initially looked at it as a novelty--and, shortly thereafter, added it to his list of "standard play" CDs for background workplace music. None of us ever expected the entire CD to be this enjoyable to listen to, repeatedly--or this uplifting.

The musicianship on this CD reminds me of the U.S. Marine Band at its best, when we used to hear them on the steps of the capitol--or have heard them in concert in a good quality concert hall. The comparison isn't altogether accurate, since the studio band that the producers assembled for the CD goes beyond brass and percussion, but the musicianship is rock solid. The brass section, the male chorus ("Rawhide", "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly"), the banjo player ("Maverick"), the guitarist ("Bonanza"), and even the whistler ("The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly") and the accordionist ("Rawhide") all sound like symphony-quality musicians.

Beyond that, the music is ... so inspiring. My wife, who used to get irritated constantly by passing traffic, now throws the CD on whenever she feels herself starting to get tense. It's very hard to get upset at the world while you're hearing the theme from, say, "The Magnificent Seven", "Wild Wild West" (the original TV show), or "Laredo". The people who "programmed" the CD enhanced its listenability by alternating the livelier, more upbeat pieces with the tranquil and/or melancholy pieces, which serves to pace the CD's emotional impact when it's heard straight through. For example, following "How the West Was Won", a wonderful but stormy theme, with its emotional polar opposite, the perky and whimsical "Maverick", makes it easier (for me) to look forward to hearing both.

The liner notes are cool. They discuss the background for each of the various tunes, giving specifics about when the shows aired, and the authors of the tunes.

My one disappointment with this CD was the all-instrumental arrangment of "High Noon". I understand why the producers omitted the vocal: the song's lyrics are profoundly melancholy, and reducing the tune to an instrumental makes the music sound just--wistful. But, such as it is, this recording is as good as anything else on the CD.

Music Album:

Music Album