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Highlander: The Original Scores Michael Kamen / Stewart Copeland / J. Peter Robinson Edel 0028892EDL Unbelievably, the actual soundtrack album for Highlander was never released along with the film. Although the songs by Queen found their way onto another recording, Michael Kamen's score sat for years in the vault of oblivion. Fortunately, Edel Records saw fit to release Kamen's Highlander score (along with the scores for the next two Highlander films) on this compilation CD. Kamen's score for the original Highlander is by far the best thing on the disc. Scored for large orchestra with small assist from electronics, everything one could ask for in a genre score is here -brassy heroism, erie mysticism, terror, and a rapturous love theme. More energetic than James Horner's music for Braveheart, Kamen's score richly evokes the lush grandeur of the Highlands. In fact, the triumphant music which accompanies the MacLeods as they march off to battle is superior to any of Braveheart's battle music. The showpiece is "Theme from Highlander," an adrenal, five-minute gallop, similar but superior to Kamen's theme for Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, which he would compose five years later. Kamen also offers up a passionate orchestration of Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever," stripping away the pop accoutrements of the rock group's original version to reveal a touching romantic theme. Kamen's score is, unfortunately, only represented in a 20-minute suite on the CD (there was much more music in his original score), in order to make room for the strikingly disappointing music from Highlander II (by Stewart Copeland) and Highlander III (by J. Peter Robinson), both of which are best left unplayed. — Paul Andrew MacLean

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