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Williams kept his ensemble for The Sugarland Express to an economical 35 players, opting to record each section and the various soloists separately to allow the latter to improvise. Strings are present through much of the score, but woodwinds are occasional and brass only appears in the closing action sequence and some source cues. Percussion is highlighted by snare driving scenes and timpani for the dread that arises late. The soloists offer the soul of the score, led by the legendary Jean 'Toots' Thielemans on the harmonica; his contributions later graced Williams' Cinderella Liberty and even, quite memorably, Christopher Young's Hard Rain decades later. Joining his stoic but pretty performances are acoustic guitars, steel guitars, fender bass, and percussion specific to that ensemble. The emphasis on the soloists allowed Williams to shift seamlessly between source material and outright score, with a considerable mingling of the two in the central portion of the work. The flair they offer to the soundscape is dominant in the first half, whereas the gravity of the situation begins to force the orchestra to weigh down that attitude late. The only fully orchestral cue is The Final Ride," which follows subdued ambient suspense and is akin to the composer's disaster scores of the era. Thematically, the music is anchored by a main theme for the leading couple, a playground for the harmonica performances in the opening and closing title cues. In between, Williams doesn't rely too heavily on this idea, however, adapting it into "Trading Stamps," "Man and Wife," "Over the Next Hill," and, most notably, "The Final Ride." Year later, the maestro's concert arrangement from this score didn't make explicit use of that exact melody. Frequent in the middle sections of the work is his puffing, clicking suspense rhythm. In "Sugarland Dance," "Out of Gas," and "Open Highway," the composer allows the soloists to improvise through this rhythmic tool and throws in some vocal exhaling effects that are somewhat distracting. Like most of the ideas in the score, this one shifts to prominent timpani, occupying most of "Pursuit" at the forefront. Williams teases a separate militaristic motif for the police in "Police Cars Move," but this snare-ripping motif isn't explicitly developed elsewhere. Overall, The Sugarland Express is a proficient but not remarkable score, stylistically in tune with Williams' early 1970's mode but not standing apart. It was never released on album until 2024, when La-La Land Records offered its 40 minutes on a limited product in stereo. It includes the rambunctious rejected cue, "The First Chase." In the end, Williams collectors will find this score to be a worthy intellectual curiosity, but it lacks the kind of dramatic heart to keep you coming back.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

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For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.67 (in 90 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.54 (in 356,795 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 40:19