Wild Rovers / The Great Train Robbery

Two of Jerry Goldsmith's better and unfairly overlooked early-'70s movie scores. Wild Rovers, written for Blake Edwards' most unusual Western movie of that title, is an extraordinarily beautiful Western score, making use of traditional, folk-based material wherever possible, sometimes hauntingly so (as in its title theme) -- the best parts of the score compare very favorably to such Aaron Copland works as "Rodeo," and Goldsmith is very obviously having fun working with this material in his own way. "Wild Horses" alone is worth the price of the CD. The Great Train Robbery, by contrast, is a freewheeling adventure yarn with a score to match, the music's brisk, lighthearted nature matching the suspense of the film itself -- there is much excitement and lots of musical chills here, which show Goldsmith's writing near its peak in terms of straightforward suspense. The sound is good on both scores. ~ Bruce Eder