The greatest strength of Goldsmith's approach to First Knight is his plethora of easily recognizable, often intertwined themes. His handling of each of these ideas is extremely well considered, even going so far as to assign Arthur and Camelot identities with common progressions to suggest their shared interests. The overlapping of themes in counterpoint roles is frequent and well executed in a variety of circumstances. Most often referenced in this form is Arthur's fanfare, the film's primary identity and an ultra-noble brass idea that would seemingly influence Goldsmith's forthcoming theme written specifically for Academy Awards telecasts. Nearly everything in First Knight is permeated by its easily-identifiable, octave-spanning structure, its high tones on trumpets occasionally becoming obnoxious in their source-like applications. Straining itself to almost parody levels is the theme's bubbly and upbeat rendition over oddly mixed metallic percussion at the end of "A New Life." Also larger than life is Goldsmith's theme for Lancelot, an idea often missed completely even by Goldsmith collectors because of its curious absence from the original 1995 soundtrack album for First Knight. Sharing the first three notes as Arthur's fanfare, the Lancelot theme is heard in swashbuckling tones throughout the first half of the score, heard only in its first phrases until bursting forth with exuberant playfulness in "The Gauntlet/No Kiss." Befitting a vintage Errol Flynn film, this idea injects the score with wide-eyed enthusiasm but also fails to really provide anything other than a cartoonish identity for the character. As the character hands over his loyalty to Camelot, the theme is eventually overtaken by broader representations, but it remains an intriguing footnote in this score. Often connecting Arthur and Lancelot is the overarching theme for Camelot, one that could in many ways be considered an interlude to Arthur's fanfare. Heard at the very outset of the film and in full glory in "Camelot," the additionally ultra-noble theme is plain fodder for trumpets and snare drums in outright royal mode. Appended to this theme is sometimes a closing fanfare sequences marking Guinevere's role as queen, and after Arthur's death, this pair of Camelot identities close out the score with an overwhelming sense of honor. The final main theme is the beautiful representation of Guinevere's allure to both leading men, a throwback to the gorgeous high string romance themes from Goldsmith in the 1980's. Constantly teasing the listener with its smooth, melodramatic progressions, this theme culminates in "Never Surrender," where it reminds of the elegant finale of Total Recall and foreshadows the more fluid movements of the composer's later Star Trek scores.

While the four aforementioned themes dominate First Knight because of their hand-fed representations of the main love triangle, some of Goldsmith's most interesting music in the score comes in the various themes for the villains, Malagant and his army, and the totalitarian action cues that contain them. All of these elements are paraded early (starting in "Raid on Leonesse") and are dedicated to the evils of the movie in each of their appearances. A devious theme for Malagant is eventually overshadowed by a rhythmic motif representing his army that would play an important role in setting the pacing in the score's later action cues. It wouldn't be surprising if a snare drum was damaged during this recording, for its sharp pronouncement of each note also gives these action cues a distinctive, deliberate sense of movement. Much positive banter can be found about the robust "Night Battle" and "Arthur's Farewell," though each of these sequences features stock Goldsmith action material, perhaps betraying inspirations while the composer was attempting to complete the score in extreme haste. Most of this music points back to Lionheart, Goldsmith providing a somewhat refined version of the pompous and loquacious form that impresses with volume rather than unique substance. With the pride of Camelot at stake, Goldsmith pulls all the stops in the bombast department in "Arthur's Farewell," a scene originally to feature Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" but eventually re-written by Goldsmith with Latin chanting that resurrects The Omen and makes for a stunningly deep and massive climax. This cue would serve as compilation bait, The City of Prague Philharmonic and Crouch End Festival Chorus offering a very impressive performance of this piece on their best-selling Cinema Choral Classics album (under the title "Never Surrender"). Ultimately, the entirety of First Knight is the kind of listening experience that force-feeds its personality in the same way as Air Force One does, but it is exceptionally good at that task. It's fun but predictable, and it would make a great bridge in a compilation with Lionheart and The 13th Warrior. At only 40 minutes on the 1995 album, fans have always grumbled about its brevity, and after years upon years of bootleg activity, La-La Land finally issued 78 minutes of the score (along with the original presentation and many alternate takes) in 2011. While the score itself may skirt the edge of parody too closely to receive a full five stars, the 2011 album can be rated with nothing less. Perfect sound quality, an abundance of impressive new cues revealed, and detailed analysis finally explain and replace Goldsmith's very poor personal rearrangement of the score for the 1995 product. For collectors of the composer's works, it doesn't get much better than this.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download