Name me a composer who's written a really good score for a routine action thriller in the last 15 years. You know, the kind of film without much of a twist - no exotic locales, no science fiction, no dinosaurs... Did you say Jerry Goldsmith? If not, let me know who you did say because I don't think I've heard the score. Time and again, Goldsmith has proved to be the only film composer capable of writing really good music for these films - and frankly it was about time someone turned up and showed the talent to follow in his footsteps. Step forward, Brian Tyler.

Not that The Hunted - the latest William Friedkin thriller - has much in common with Goldsmith musically. In fact it owes a far more considerable debt to Elliot Goldenthal - from the buzzing brass of "Asymmetric Rhythms" to the shimmering strings of "Tracking Hallam" - but these are stylistic similarities, it's not copying. Friedkin has worked with a number of film composers, from Ennio Morricone to James Horner, and clearly knows his music - and I think it took quite a bold and intelligent director to have the vision to employ Tyler to write this kind of ballsy machismo.

The music is unrelenting, uncompromising. It's very loud virtually throughout, without a degree of warmth, and no particular melody to hang onto. But with the screeching guitars combining perfectly with Tyler's precise orchestrations, it's difficult not to get swept along. Tyler shows a real knack for combining his orchestra with guitars and drum loops - so many film composers try to do it, but so few do it well.

This certainly isn't music for everyone. If Titanic and Gladiator are your thing, you're not likely to find much to love - but if you can't get enough Goldenthalian excess from Sphere or In Dreams, you won't be able to get enough of The Hunted either. It's brilliant stuff.

After Tyler's score, the album closes with Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around". It may have little in common with the score, but it's such a brilliant song it's deserving of a mention. Cash's serious illnesses prevent him from belting out a song these days, but the rawness and honesty in his voice have made his last couple of albums - the awesome "Solitary Man" and its follow-up, from which this song is taken - essential buys.

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