by Swashbuckler on 2/26/2001
favorite track: 11
 
Although it was James Bond's sixth outing, and John Barry's fifth full score for the series, the music for On Her Majesty's Secret Service shows no signs of age, wear or staleness. Instead, it shows how Barry kept re-inventing the sound to keep it fresh.

Australian model George Lazenby took on the daunting task of filling Sean Connery's shoes, and if he lacked the formal charm exuded by Connery, he turned in an effective performance, never being overshadowed on the screen by the more experienced actors, and handles the fight sequences with exceptional aplomb.

The longest of the Bond films to date (running 141 minutes), On Her Majesty's Secret Service is also runs the closest to the Ian Fleming novel upon which it is based, which means that it takes itself much more seriously than its immediate predecessors. It is also, surprisingly enough, the only true love story in the Bond canon.

In order to soften the blow of Connery's replacement, the decision was made that the title sequence, rather than being a song, as it was in Goldfinger, Thunderball and You Only Live Twice, would be an instrumental (returning to the form of Dr. No and From Russia With Love). Maurice Binder created a sequence in which various images of the previous Bond entries flowing through a wineglass. Barry wrote one of his most intense themes for this, with a dark bass line for synthesizers and horns wailing an unresolving melody atop.

"Ski Chase" and "Battle at Piz Gloria" feature this driving theme in an action setting, while "Over & Out" is a suspenseful, minimalist synthesizer based cue.

As befits the darker tone of the film, the action music in general, heard in "This Never Happened to the Other Feller" and "Battle at Piz Gloria," is more brutal than what had been heard in the Bond films since From Russia With Love. Blatting horns and frenzied percussion fuse with cutting electronics to create harsh musical figures.

The backbone of the score, however, is the love theme, "We Have All the Time in the World." The lyrics by Hal David speak of how wonderful it is to be in love and have all of life ahead of you; this is tragically ironic given ultimate Bond girl Tracey's ultimate fate.

The song is given an additional poignancy by being the legendary Louis Armstrong's last recording. His performance has great warmth and beauty, with the same genuine affection that made "What a Wonderful World" so memorable. This track has become a classic in its own right.

This theme contrasts sharply with the action material. Heard in the score usually in attractive cocktail versions, the theme appears on the album in several places (one as part of "Journey to Blofeld's Hideaway"), but its most powerful appearance is the version heard on the strings in the final track.

Barry created a new twist for the James Bond theme itself, heard in "This Never Happened to the Other Fella" and in the end titles, in which the bass guitar has been replaced with psychedelic synthesizers.

There is one undeniable misstep in the album - the absolutely obnoxious "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown," sung by Nina. As awful as it is syrupy, this track is all but unlistenable.

As a representation of one of Barry's most important and expansive Bond scores, the album falls somewhat short owing to its brevity. What is there, however, is absolutely indispensable. The recorded sound is all right, although the remastered presentations of the main title and "We Have All the Time in the World" on the 30th Anniversary collection are a bit richer.

Hopefully the promised remastering of this album will have more music on it, but as it stands, though an imperfect reflection of Barry's superb contribution, this CD is a must-have, arguably Barry's finest Bond score.