3:10 to Yuma [Original Score]
Like the 2006 score The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Marco Beltrami's previous foray into the Western genre, 3:10 to Yuma impresses the composer's unique stamp on the classic musical archetypes pioneered by Ennio Morricone and others -- despite familiar ingredients like electric guitar, mandolin, barroom piano, and brass band flourishes, the music deftly avoids cliché thanks to some intriguing electronic elements, samples, and other contemporary effects. But while the dusty, slap-leather grit of the arrangements further underscores the score's roots in Western traditions, Beltrami's taut, propulsive melodies are very much a reflection of the modern-day action thriller. The music is suspenseful to the point of suffocation, with none of the spaciousness and atmosphere that signify Morricone at his own finest.