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The choice of instrumentation in Cowboys & Aliens takes inspiration from a wide range of sources. First, you hear modern Western elements that blend the hard edge of Marco Beltrami's 3:10 to Yuma with the soothing tone of Marty Stuart's All the Pretty Horses. Throw in some hard-ass George Doering electric guitar rips and some Spaghetti Western-style synthetic whistling effects and you have the absolute most contemporary version of Western tones possible. On top of that, you have the expected dose of David Arnold-inspired alien attack mayhem from the orchestra, with an enhanced role for guitars and other electric elements to give the villains a truly futuristic sound in contrast to the setting. Then, you have the slapping percussive momentum-setters common to Powell and James Newton Howard action scores, though in the style more common to Gregson-Williams' own writing. Also familiar to the composer's usual mode of operation is a variety of choral layers, highlighted by angelic heights in the upper female range and using Lisbeth Scott's voice not necessarily as a true soloist, but as its own sound effect on top of the ensemble. Throw in a Heitor Pereira acoustic guitar performance and some occasional synthetic manipulation of sounds to make for a lot of eerie dissonance for the suspenseful moments, and you end up with a very predictable score. Unfortunately, if all of this sounds anonymous to you, then the situation with the themes won't help much. Gregson-Williams offers two major identities to Cowboys & Aliens, neither of which developed to satisfaction. The first is the modern Western theme for Craig's Jake Lonergan. Heard in full swing in the opening album track and reprised in shorter fashion at the end in "See You Around," this idea really goes underutilized in the bulk of the film. Only in a heroic moment at about 3:00 into "I See Them" does it make much of an impact. Instead, the main theme of the film is dedicated to the posse that the lead characters and other humans form to battle the aliens. Hints of this ascending idea on banjo in the second half of "Palms to Heaven" foreshadow the theme's formal introduction as the posse takes shape in "A Kid, a Dog, & a Woman." This driving blend of the Western elements and orchestra is entertaining in each of its appearances in the score, but too infrequent in its full performances to really function well (the fantastic secondary sections of this theme are only explored a couple of times). The other complete presentation of the idea occurs in "Jake's Army," during which it is aided by electric and acoustic guitar rhythms to formally merge the instrumentation of the score's two major identities.

The posse theme that comes to define Cowboys & Aliens is interpolated with subtlety into several major cues, however, including some sprinkling into the Independence Day leftovers of "Alien Air Attack" and during "Goodbye Jake." Tender renditions of this theme do offer some of the more poignant moments of Cowboys & Aliens, starting with the piano and strings of "She's Gone" and extending to easy, but rather slight string and acoustic guitar performances in the aftermath cues, "Do You Remember Me?" and "Return to the Cabin." The final thematic representation in the score is more of a sound effect motif; Gregson-Williams applies an echoing series of startling electric guitar squeaks to moments of fright involving the alien creatures. The motif is first heard at 2:47 into "A Kid, a Dog, & a Woman" and recurs at the start of "Emmett's Close Encounter," late in "Godspeed," and interrupting the secondary phrases of the posse theme in "Goodbye Jake." Singular moments of interest in the score include a short homage to Alan Silvestri's Predator at 3:00 into "Godspeed," followed by the entirety of "Ella's Mission," which opens with more snare-ripping Independence Day emulation before launching into the score's most diverse and beautiful choral shades for a sense of awe at the conclusion of the cue. Unfortunately, there's more than enough non-descript suspense material in Cowboys & Aliens to counter these highlights. The long and boring "I Know Where They Are" cue breaks the flow of an album presentation that is almost an hour long when it probably could have been trimmed to 45 minutes with ease. Gregson-Williams' handling of dissonant synthetic suspense for the threat of the aliens is a bit disappointing in general, and, like the predictability of the rest of the score's portions, will likely leave the listener seeking more substance. There were several of opportunities for Gregson-Williams to let rip with highly cohesive, tonal action sequences, and it's telling that the only interesting moment to result from these scenes is the brief reminder of Predator. Lack of straight forward thematic continuity and prominence will also bother some fans. The "Col. Woodrow Dolarhyde" cue does nothing to provide Ford's character with any representation more than stoic, ambient thumping. Leading the positive attributes of the album presentation is a very crisp and dynamic mix, with all of the discordant elements balanced quite well. On the whole, Cowboys & Aliens is a functional and mildly entertaining score with roughly ten to fifteen minutes of truly engaging highlights, but it fails to leave a lasting positive impression due to its surprisingly conventional personality.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Harry Gregson-Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3 (in 40 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.98 (in 55,210 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 57:23