• Composed by Alan Silvestri
• Intrada / 2011 / 46:15

A bit of a surprise hit, 1988’s Young Guns was a western for the younger generation, starring members of the brat pack like Kiefer Sutherland, Emilio Estevez and Christian Slater; despite its success it didn’t really signal the start of a new wave of films in the genre.  But there was a sequel, a couple of years later, which did respectably enough.  The first film was scored by Brian Banks and Anthony Marianelli; Alan Silvestri was a fine choice to score the sequel, but his musical contribution was rather outdone in the public eye by the songs written by Jon Bon Jovi.  The soundtrack album released at the time featured ten Bon  Jovi songs and a generous one minute and fifteen seconds of Silvestri’s score.  The composer did prepare a score album at the time, but couldn’t find a label that wanted to release it – two decades later, Intrada has finally given the score its first release.

Silvestri’s ability to write expansive themes, and his musical vocabulary in general, would make him a very good choice to score any western (and indeed this one followed shortly after the final Back to the Future score, which features a brilliant western theme).  He doesn’t disappoint in that regard – this score’s theme is full of youthful vigour, the synths and guitars give it a perfect sound for the target audience and it’s another to add to the list of memorable themes written by a composer who’s done more than his share.  The opening cue, “Scars”, also presents the more moody, Native American-style theme (well, if the Native Americans had had keyboards, anyway) which is another winner.  Following that, the score is at its best during the action sequences, which are typically full-bodied and enjoyable; “Battle” in particular is vintage Silvestri.  This is a really enjoyable album – a few cues just sound like filler and it could have been a far stronger experience had they been omitted but fans of the composer are bound to be hugely entertained.  *** 1/2

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