A casual listener might parse through the music for The Legend of Zorro and simply qualify it with more of the "rehash" labels applied to the film itself. But Horner's score for Flightplan displayed an exemplary level of density that the composer has carried over to The Legend of Zorro, and therein lies the primary difference between the two Zorro scores. The original was a plain and simple action score laced with the accents of Hispanic instrumentation, rhythms, and stereotypical theme progressions for Mexico. With convincing fashion, The Legend of Zorro is a far more complex variation on the same basic structure, resulting in a more frenetic work with interesting interpretations of Horner's previous themes for the characters. He doesn't really make an attempt to provide new thematic representation for the fresh villain of the film, or even for the newly annexed state of California itself, but instead he draws his inspiration on countless variations on the previous themes. This statement alone will be the "live or die" qualifier for you regarding The Legend of Zorro; quite simply, if you enjoyed the first score, then The Legend of Zorro is going to be any extremely raucous and invigorating listening experience in and outside of the film. There are countless performances of the Zorro theme itself (heard over the titles), the love theme (translated into the song in the first film), and the horseback action theme. Not only do you receive generous treatment of all these themes (their eruptions and crescendos highlight every single cue here), but Horner heightens the enjoyment by cranking up the density of each performance with brilliant harmony in counterpoint. Because the underlying chord progressions of the Zorro and love themes are very similar, Horner presents both simultaneously several times, often with stunning results. The culmination of this technique is heard between minutes 3:00 and 5:00 in the lengthy climax cue, "The Train," in which Horner not only maintains both themes simultaneously for an extended time, but he does so as he increases the rate of the accompanying snare to represent the puffing of the train in the film.

Even if the loyal, yet far more highly developed interpretations of these themes don't grab your attention, then the overwhelming vibrance of the instrumentation and performance definitely will. The increase in density also applies to the extremely active acoustic guitars, castanets, and foot tapping sound effects throughout the entire score. Every minute of this score has the Latin flavour inserted with remarkable ease and energy; the wild guitars especially never seem to become tiresome, nor does Horner's snapping rhythms under trumpet serenades or the occasional blasts of a distant shakuhachi flute. And the only reason he seems to have been able to pull this off is because every section of the orchestra is seemingly doing something interesting in every major piece, adding a dimension of enthusiasm that elevates The Legend of Zorro above even the original. Horner throws in some exotic spices along the ride beyond even that, featuring the brass-slurring effect from Jerry Goldsmith's The Shadow in "The Cortez Ranch," a whining violin for comedy in "Jailbreak," and a minute or so of rapid brass blasts and string pulsation at the end of "The Train" that will make you swear that John Williams' Revenge of the Sith score was playing. When you put all of this together with a crisp recording quality and the loyal placement of themes from the first film, The Legend of Zorro is one of the most satisfying sequel scores to come around in a long time. Like the original, the strong critics of Horner will have difficulty pointing to the stereotypes of Horner's other works; there is no four-note motif for "evil" and no piano crashing for "suspense." He does, however, interpret his usual finale chord progression at the end of the score, with the rising notes famous in the finales of Star Trek and The Rocketeer now whipped into a frenzy of guitars and tapping. True, it's a Hornerism, but like everything in The Legend of Zorro, he's had a whole lot of fun rearranging everything into a more complicated, but still harmonious package. Given the rhythmic appeal of the genre and the quality of Horner's original composition, The Legend of Zorro not only surpasses The Mask of Zorro, but is Horner's most impressive and downright infectious score since that original. Crank up the volume on this one!  *****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download