What You Need to Know: Being a moderate fan of the Drake's Fortune, I approached this release with a fair amount of enthusiasm. I quickly realized that this follow-up title, Among Thieves, was a step above the first game's score and that one heck of an interesting and entertaining adventure awaited me. This score is exquisite and full of great performances by the orchestra.

What stands out most to me from Among Thieves are the colors and textures. Edmonson works in influences from the Far East into the score and these authentic and captivating entries embody a sense of mystery and romanticism. Witty television commercials aside, one can easily be fooled into thinking that this was a legitimate film score that he or she was listening to given the technique and pacing. To further this impact, the thematic touches from the score are upbeat and engaging; you'll embrace the tone of Edmonson's score right from the addictive first track, which is simply a delightful and upbeat introduction to this edition's theme. Beyond that, the Asian textures, the well-timed action components, and the overall identity of the score creates a grand package that should be on the radar for all soundtrack fans. In fact, I think you'll be surprised by how elegant and mature this score is at times, too.

The highlight of Drake's Fortune was the main theme for the character, which emerged in full near the end of the score. This leads me to my only minor complaint, if you want to call it that, about the sequel -- I wanted to hear just a bit more of Drake's theme. While it does appear on a couple of tracks, it's not prominent. I think further representation (and variation) could have boosted this score onto another stratosphere because it really is a grand, memorable theme to build a franchise around. But, a very minor wish for a score that fires well on all cylinders.