The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (Expanded)
The concluding chapter of director Sergio Leone's epochal Man With No  Name trilogy ushered film scorer Ennio Morricone into the pop mainstream  courtesy of a hit cover of its main title by AmericanHugo Montenegro.  More importantly, it both showcased the composer's  spectacularly inventive range and set him up for evengreater triumphsto come withLeoneand others. But  aficionados ofil MaestroMorricone'sG,B&U;soundtrack  knew its original editions contained but the main thematic/musical  elements of the spaghetti western epic -- until now. The addition of ten  previously unissued cues on this newly remastered edition render the  landmark score in its full glory, nearly doubling its running time in  the bargain. While some of these new elements are but spare, haunting  reworkings of familiar motifs (including Allessandro Allessandroni's  trademark guitar riffs and the chilling vocal shrieks the composer used  to evoke the howling of coyotes) that help expand its emotional dynamic,  others like "Sentenza," "La Missione San Antonio" (a haunting  instrumental version of  "A Soldier's Story" that effectively presages  his elegiacOnce Upon A Time in The Westand "Il Bandito Monco" significantly add to its expansive scope, firmly  restating its claim as Morricone's first true classic.-- Jerry McCulley