by geejayaye on 6/21/2003
favorite track: 10
 
This excellent CD contains music from 8 of the latter Bond films from The Man With The Golden Gun to The Living Daylights.

These are reproductions arranged by the ever-excellent Nic Raine and performed by the equally top notch Prague Philharmonic. By and large they're very faithful to the original soundtrack arrangements. They also contain some previously unavailable music that doesn't even appear on the newly re-mastered versions of the soundtracks.

The Man With The Golden Gun contains a very good 12-minute overview of the score with one of the more distinctive themes to the fore. It's considered to be Barry's weakest Bond score, but I like it. It's quick and catchy and I like the theme. "Slow Boat From China/Nick Nack" contains previously unreleased material though basically it's a reworking of the theme.

The Spy Who Loved Me has two cues and it's one arrangement that does differ from the original. "Ride To Atlantis" has a jazzy arrangement on the original soundtrack and for this recording was arranged for the full orchestra. The sinister brass of "The Tanker" is the other cue from the film and it doesn't come across as well as it does on the original soundtrack. It seems to lack a bit of punch.

Moonraker is one of the better suites. It's a score I was surprised to read a fair few negative reviews for. Like most Bond recordings it left out some good music and didn't include any hearing of the Bond Theme. However that is rectified here with the inclusion of "Freefall," the music that accompanies the pre-credit sequence. It's a great piece with the Bond Theme in full flow. Another cue not on the original soundtrack is "Arrival At Chateaux Drax." The other cues are "Miss Goodhead Meets Bond" which is a gentle instrumental of the main theme. "Bond Lured To The Pyramids" is a bit of a Bond oddity with its heavenly choir sound as the girls appear out of the jungle. Best of all is the "Flight Into Space" cue. Again Barry uses a choir and it's in turn reflective, dramatic and brassily triumphant. A classic Barry cue.

For Your Eyes Only only features Bill Conti's arrangement of the main theme. It's a bit too overblown for my liking. It could have been that the score was more of a product of its time with the disco influence and this rendered it unsuitable for a good adaptation to the bigger orchestra.

Octopussy features "Bond Meets Octopussy" which is a gentle version of the main theme. "Bond Look-a-Like" is a classic Barry slow tension build up cue that features the Bond Theme in parts. "The Palace Fight" contains the main action music from the film with swirling strings punctuated with brass blasts and a good dose of the Bond Theme.

A View To A Kill follows a similar pattern to Octopussy. There's a gentle instrumental of the main theme in "Wine With Stacy" and the main action music is contained in "Snow Job" with its driving brass and wailing electric guitar. It's one of Barry's better action cues and is a highlight from what was an otherwise disappointing score.

The Living Daylights on the other hand was Barry's freshest Bond score since OHMSS. His scores between then and this had their moments, but they were by and large sounding tired and formulaic. However, this score with the introduction of synthesiser and drum loops, was a lively, imaginative score. The main theme is adapted in an upbeat version in the cue "Hercules Takes Off." Best cue from this suite is "Air Bond/Necros Attacks." The first part is a great driving brass build up and the latter is a version of the song "Where Has Everybody Gone?" with its pacy synthesiser beat. This is the best suite on the disc.

Finally from Goldeneye we have "Tank Drive Around St. Petersburg" as it was heard in the film and not on the original soundtrack album. Heavily featuring the Bond Theme, it's a good end to the disc.