A Million Ways (for Young Indy) to Die in the West

InexorableTash

Active member
So... I was reminded today that the score to Seth MacFarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West was composed by YIJ's Joel McNeely. The soundtrack is available (conveniently, via subscription services like I've mentioned before) so I gave it a spin.

Given that MacFarlane and McNeely have collaborated on a YIJ homage before (adapting McNeely's "She's Wonderful Too" from Scandal of 1920 for MacFarlane's show tunes album), it shouldn't be a big surprise that the soundtrack might borrow from McNeely's work on YIJC. But, while many of the tracks are homages to classic western themes - think Gunsmoke, Maverick, and so on, many of the tracks seem recycled directly from YIJC scores also by McNeely.

Track 13, Racing the Train, appropriately enough, feels like a return to Phantom Train of Doom (which leans heavily on Williams' Crusade score). Track 15, Albert Takes a Trip has more of a Hawkmen feel.

To my ear, the most direct re-use of themes is in track 16, The Showdown, seems lifted directly from Tally Ho (Phantom Train).

I haven't given it a full listen-through yet, but wanted to share my observations.
 

MDew

Member
Glad you mentioned this, I had totally forgotten about the movie! Just watched it last night and the score among other things (a certain cameo about halfway through...) really stood out. Like you said, McNeely really did a great job paying homage to classic western scores and I thought it was a lot of fun. And you can definitely hear some similarities to Young Indy as well. :hat:
 
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