Buy it... if you love the film and want a pretty competent (though not complete) representation of its songs, limited score, and dialogue on album.

Avoid it... if you expect this listening experience to be as tightly cohesive and consistently entertaining as Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

Desperado: (Los Lobos) The irony of Robert Rodriguez's Desperado is, of course, that the only reason it existed was because a major studio decided to allow him to revisit the territory of El Mariachi with a larger budget, ultimately leading to an inferior product. Some refer to Desperado as a remake of the $7,000 cult favorite from a few years prior, but it technically extends the narrative while making substantial changes to the basic premise of the original. There is still a guitar-playing gunslinger on the road to revenge, but this time he spends less time playing his instrument and speaks English instead of Spanish. Extreme bloodshed is omnipresent, building upon raw Sam Peckinpah shootouts by adding John Woo flair in the photography. The sparse environment of the first film was replaced with an atmosphere so thick and a pair of leads so attractive that it became all eye candy and not much mystique. Still, that didn't stop Rodriguez from making yet another sequel in 2003, comprised of what Rodriguez has stated were his intended third and fourth parts of the saga. Most critics wrote at the time that Desperado was completely unnecessary, though its $7 million budget yielded a return of almost four hundred percent in America alone. Given the integral role of music in the franchise, most of the soundtracks for the three films play like an extended series of source inclusion, all of which relevant to the narrative but often jumping across several decades and sub-genres with the general Latin spectrum of music. The integration between original score and licensed or original songs became more coherent as the franchise went on, the first film not even managing a soundtrack album release and Once Upon a Time in Mexico enjoying an extremely entertaining blend. In the middle, Desperado was a strong seller and won a Grammy Award for one of its instrumental pieces, but it remains far more fragmented in its flow than its successor. Whereas Rodriguez eventually handled the duties of writing his own scores by the mid-2000's, he turned to the Los Angeles rock band Los Lobos for the score (and some of the song material) for Desperado. Their contribution to this film is consistent with the blend of Chicano rock and traditional Ranchera music that you would expect for this topic, taking few liberties to extend their instrumental palette outside of their comfort zone.

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Nothing produced by Los Lobos for Desperado is as memorable as Rodriguez's own music for Once Upon a Time in Mexico, however, despite earning their pay by providing a functional selection of mostly Ranchera-style tunes. The group of Steve Berlin, David Hidalgo, Conrad Lozano, Louis Perez, and Cesar Rosas unfortunately didn't incorporate the melody of "Cancion del Mariachi (Morena de Mi Corazon)" into the meat of the score, so most of the short, usually independent instrumental cues fall short of reflecting the song's distinct character. Banderas' vocal and guitar performance of this short title song remains a highlight of the soundtrack's album. Los Lobos alternate between mellow explorations of romance, as in "Phone Call," and the accelerated Chicano rock of "Rooftop Action." Sometimes, these styles clash within the same cue, as in "Bucho's Garcias/Navajas Attacks" and "Mariachi Suite." The latter cue, touching upon "Cancion del Mariachi" briefly, won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1995, an undeserving distinction given that the piece, while adequately summarizing the general feel of the score, doesn't feature score's highlights. The middle portion of the cue imitates the style of Carlos Santana's performances in "Bella" earlier on the soundtrack. Additional contributions to the source-like ambience of the listening experience come from Tito Larriva, who not only appeared in the film but also, with his band "Tito & Tarantula," performed three songs for the soundtrack. Both Los Lobos and Tito Larriva would make singular contributions to Once Upon a Time in Mexico as well. The sensual, half spoken/half-sung performance of "Quedate Aqui" by Salma Hayek on this soundtrack is about as different as possible from her outwardly lovely song in the subsequent film. Of no surprise to fans of soundtracks for Rodriquez films is a fair amount of dialogue mixed directly into the score and songs, usually at the start of tracks but, as in a few score cues, sometimes directly in the middle. The Steve Buscemi ones are quite humorous and foul in language, as to be expected, but their placement over score material is a disappointment. Inconsistent sound quality in the licensing of vintage Ranchera music is occasionally a problem. Overall, Desperado's soundtrack, despite rave reviews from the mainstream, serves its purpose for its target audience but doesn't catch crossover interest the way Once Upon a Time in Mexico does. Film music collectors will likely find more lasting merit in the latter score. ***   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download