Nominated for an Academy Award during the year of its release, the score for Bite the Bullet features moments from seemingly different parts of North's career rolled into one. The rich selection of character themes that run through the score add a romanticism that was missing from many Western scores of the time and are reminiscent of the Golden Age of film music. In fact, the very best moments of Bite the Bullet are those that contemplate the relations between the main characters in the film. Conversely, the weak parts of the score are more difficult to enjoy because North's action music is rather generic when compared to what Jerry Goldsmith was producing at the same time. This especially applies to the music's effectiveness on album, and is perhaps attributable to the wear and tear that the genre was applying to North's folk music styles by 1975. North's abundant use of abnormally layered percussion is, at times, overwhelming, and his unique handling of the flutes tempts you to form a hatred for the fluttering, often dissonant nuisance. Also, North has a habit of leaving his treble and bass elements out of synch, with the bass performers often bouncing along at a clip that is slightly disjointed from the rest of the players. That may be an odd thing to gripe about, and this style of composition attracts a great many people, but in Bite the Bullet this tendency is especially evident when the brass section is asked to perform cohesive action statements. The album also exposes the score's weaker moments for acoustic guitar; North's love of Mexican music, as well as the incorporation of a Mexican character into this story, made this a predictable move. But the lengthy solo guitar performances here are nothing more than boring, occupying far more of the album than they really need to. Goldsmith fans, though, will enjoy an adaptation of the same character theme heard in Wild Rovers on woodwinds during "Old Timer's Horse."

Never before released on album, Bite the Bullet was offered in 1999 as the fourth limited edition in a newly started series by Prometheus Records and, arguably, this North score was the most anticipated of those four. As with his other compositions, this score is generally a coveted item for North's collectors, as well as those who are in search for popular works from the latter part of the Silver Age of film music. The album from Prometheus is extraordinarily complete, with an inclusion of tracks approved by North for an album that never made it to the presses at the time. While the eighteen tracks of straight underscore are a strong presentation of the work, the same cannot be said about the source cues and marches that follow. The Mexican sources in particular are quite irritating, and the vocals of "Ole, Ole" are an extreme annoyance right after the conclusion of North's "End Title." The marches serve the Americana aspect of the tale, but most listeners will have heard them before and they don't add much to the package either. On the bright side, the album is well designed, with all of North's actual score material conveniently arranged together for the first two-thirds of the album. Archival sound quality will be an issue for any Digital Age listener attempting to branch out into this realm, and while the soundscape for Bite the Bullet is crisp, it does remain tiresome in its tinny incarnation. The liner notes are also problematic, with perhaps more fanboy enthusiasm than is professional. Like the other entries in Prometheus' series, Bite the Bullet is available only as a limited release. With only 2,500 copies pressed, it was thought at the time that the product would sell out in late 1999 or early 2000 due to heightened interest from North's collectors, but almost a decade later, the album is still readily available for reasonable prices at soundtrack specialty outlets and on the secondary market.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download