Record Rack

At first glance, the soundtrack to this summer’s high-tech shoot-’em-up starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline seems to aspire to be something more than the usual ancillary souvenir--at least some of the artists made an attempt to stick to the film’s western motif. But like so much of what passes for music “inspired by the motion picture,” the material on the album (in stores Tuesday) ranges from merely adequate to mildly imaginative.

Smith, whose new label imprint Overbrook is co-releasing the album, kicks things off with yet another lift of a popular old song. This time, it’s Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish,” but however hard Smith may try to come off as a genuine hip-hop player, his ersatz roughneck persona can’t camouflage the track’s simple-minded karaoke moves. Latin pop superstar Enrique Iglesias’ first English-language song, the ballad “Bailamos,” is pure Velveeta.

It’s “Wild Wild West’s” veteran artists who come to the album’s rescue. Female rapper MC Lyte wraps her streetwise jive around a bumptious beat on “Keep It Movin’,” while Teddy Riley’s old band Guy reunites for a deep-dish electro-funk jam on “The Best.” And Dr. Dre and his protege Eminem make like gunslinging fugitives on “Bad Guys Always Die,” thereby connecting the dots between gangsta rap and Marty Robbins’ outlaw story-songs.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).

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* Excerpts from albums reviewed and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: https://www.calendarlive.com/soundclips