Like the films he has famously soundtracked for over 40 years, appreciating Ennio Morricone makes you feel good about yourself.
Just as watching Once Upon a Time In America, Cinema Paradiso or The Mission convinces you that you've stretched your brain and exposed yourself to a bit more culture than you'd normally get down your local Blockbuster Video, so listening to Morricone's music feels a bit more worthy than dancing round the room to the Dirty Dancing OST.
Morricone's 'Best Of' is the upmarket version of John Barry's Bond themes. Having it in your record collection is a signifier of sophistication, of an understanding Twentieth Century popular culture beyond the Top 40.
Throwing Morricone into the party mix is really just namedropping "Guys! Check out my eclectic tastes!" Playing the instantly recognisable theme tune to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (doodle doodle doo, wah wah wah) straddles the fine line between admirably diverse and insufferably ironic.
So, this album looks good in your CD rack. The poseurs can rush out and buy it now. But for the rest of us is the music as good as the reputation? Well, basically, yes. When Morricone is good he bears comparison with any of the great classical or popular composers of the last century. When he is so-so, he is still head and shoulders above the rest.
It is impossible to divorce the music from the films it was created for but this is not a criticism. Listening to the themes of A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and For A Few Dollars More you realise how completely Morricone created our idea of how the Wild West sounded all swinging saloon doors, rolling tumbleweed, and lonely showdowns on empty main streets.
The best track on the album is 'Deborah's Theme' from Once Upon A Time In America which must rival the score of The Godfather for the title of "Best Music in a Movie' Ever!" Without lyrics or any explanation of it's place in the film, it moves all but the hardest heart with it's simplicity and (sorry about the lack of ironic distance) beauty.
Not all of this album is as good as the tracks mentioned above. But I don't want to mention the very few misses ('My Name is Nobody'; 'Sacco and Vanzetti' oops!) because it might put you off buying it. And you really should buy this album. Not only will you look ever so cool, but it'll make you a better person. Probably.
