CD REVIEW - Tex e il Signore degli Abissi

Tex e il Signore degli Abissi
Music by Gianni Ferrio
Rai Trade CRT 305 (Italy)
23 Tracks 52:06 mins

Gianni Ferrio was one of several composers writing top-notch scores for Italian Westerns of the '60s, and I am particularly fond fond of his score for 1965's Un Dollaro Bucato.
In 1985 he returned to the genre for Tex, which appears to have been a TV production, although with the booklet notes in Italian only, I can't be sure of any facts. All I do know for sure is that it starred one of my favourite genre stars Giuliano Gemma, and IW fans will of course also be familiar with William Berger.
As for the score, well, I have to say it is a pretty dull affair. The main theme, which first appears in Welcome Tex, has a good flow to it and gets plenty of workouts throughout the album's tracks - sometimes in pastoral mode, at others with dark undertones, but a good deal of the score is suspenseful and just not very interesting thematically. There are no great action moments, or showdowns, but then, judging by the occasional use of drums, I suspect it's more of a "Cowboys and Indians story." Frankly, it's a disappointment and not a disc that will sit proudly in my IW collection.