The major Morricone fan is probably going to also want the Rhino two-CD anthology A Fistful of Film Music, but this is a 31-track, 73-minute sampler (at a budget price!) devoted to the western music that made him famous is a fantastic sampler. Most of the familiar Morricone/Leone title themes are here (several selections from "Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More," "Once Upon a Time in the West"--although curiously not "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly"). But perhaps most exciting are the many tracks (and movies) you've probably never heard of ("A Gun for Ringo," "Guns Don't Argue"). All of it, however, is unmistakably vintage Morricone, with those twanging guitars and melodramatic, sweeping choruses. Hysterical and epic, over-the-top and genuinely moving, nobody's ever written music quite like this. --Jim Emerson