THE BEST OF BOND... JAMES BOND (ALBUM REVIEW)
No matter how disastrous the musical accompaniment no Bond movie is complete without the rudimentary title song. This new CD album THE BEST OF BOND... JAMES BOND, like previous editions, comprises the entire canon in chronological order while bringing it bang up to date (well almost): From John Barry's Orchestral take on Monty Normans signature James Bond Theme, to Matt Munros first official bond song with the breezy number FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE in 1963 right through to Chris Cornellscontroversial 2006 effort YOU KNOW MY NAME for CASINO ROYALE. It's available from Amazon now priced at £8.98. The collection betters previous compilations by including k.d Langs underrated Basseyesque closing credits number SURRENDER (surely a world away from Sheryl Crows emotionally absent title opener TOMORROW NEVER DIES) but could have benefited in completeness from the obvious inclusion of the recent ANOTHER WAY TO DIE duet from Alicia Keys and Jack White from the most recent outing QUANTUM OF SOLACE. Listening to the entire play list in numerical order its interesting how the world of Bond evolves throughout the decades with the lyrics concentrating on different aspects of the Bond environment. For the first couple of songs the music concentrates on the villains. From Shirley Basseys triumph GOLDFINGER focusing on the titular characters heart of goldthis heart is cold! to Tom Jones hurtling rendition of THUNDERBALL which overtly focuses on the villainous character of Largo with He looks at this world and wants it all...so he fights like Thunderball. 007 finally takes center stage withNancy Sinatrasslow placid, but pretty lifeless YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (if the tune sounds familiar thats because John Barrys melody was later aped for Robbie Williams 1999 single 'Millennium'). A new Bond in the form of George Lazenby meant a sterling ballad orchestration title tune courtesy of John Barry for ON HER MAJESTYS SECRET SERVICE with the teasingLouis Armstrong number WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD working as the persuasive romantic interlude but also sadly signaling the singers own swan song. This also happens to be Matt's favourite Bond song and he has pressed for the this youtube video to be included here...
Shirley Bassey returned with the teasing DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER number, with more than its fair share of sexual connotations (touch it, stroke it and undress it!). Paul McCartney and Wings (reunited with Beatles producer George Martin) brought things bang up to date with the triumphant and exciting instrumental beat that was LIVE AND LET DIE (later performed by Guns N' Roses) that introduced a new bond in Roger Moore In this ever changing world in which we live in. It's also noteworthy for being the first Bond theme song nominated for an Oscar.
Lulu brought her trademark shouty tones to THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN which goes back to defying that all important title villain: "He has a powerful weapon he charges a million a shot", proving to be an annoyingly catchy tune that will stay in your head longer than is desired. Carly Simons THE SPY WHO LOVED ME more comfortably rests as one of the better remembered tunes that defies repetition "Oh baby your the best!" Bassey returned for her third Bond stint with MOONRAKER - and in hindsight with the likes of OCTOPUSSY, CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM this is another time they could have substituted the title song with something a little less clunky to sing about "Just like the Moonraker goes...in search of his dream of gold" - what's that all about? Still it was nice to have Bassey back in a beautifully sung but by no means classic entry. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY marked the only time the singer (Sheena Easton) appeared in the actual title credits for the Bond movie. And while deliciously seductive the result is a little on the sappy side by Bond standards: "May be your an open book because you know your mine". Not as bad as Rita Coolidge's ALL TIME HIGH for OCTOPUSSY (the first time the song veered from the title), which is about as Bond like as a Thora Hird convention: "So hold on tight...let the flight...begin - your an all time high!" Luckily John Barry's work on A VIEW TO A KILL with Duran Duran brought things back up to date with Simon le Bon's brilliant and perfectly pitched "Dance into the fire" repetition for the title song. Purists still blunder but the song proved to be the first (and to this day) only time a Bond theme has reached No.1 in the US charts and is still a powerful listening experience: a highlight of an awkward film. A dispute between John Barry and new eighties band A-Ha meant THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS is a good but by no means solid bond tune. Surely Barry and The Pretenders' wistful IF THERE WAS A MAN (closing titles number) and the thunderous trumpet happy WHERE HAS EVERYBODY GONE had far better Bond clout, (but are disappointingly not included in this collection). As a result we lost Barry who said he would never do another one again! Something still haunts me to this day about Gladys Knight and her LICENSE TO KILT!(listen to the lyrics) in 1989. But apart from strange Scottish lyric connotations LICENSE TO KILL is a strong number worthy of a strong female vocal artist. Tina Turner proved an inspired choice with the powerful GOLDENEYE (Bassey wasn't persuaded to do another Gold number), which brought bond back in fashion and introduced new guy Pierce Brosnan to the series. Unfortunately Sheryl Crow's TOMORROW NEVER DIES is a half-hearted effort that sees the rock, country artist struggle with the title tune, which is arguably ill-suited to her trademark folksy blues style. k.d Lang was relegated to the closing credits for SURRENDER, which is surely one of the best bond songs since Bassey and brings back the bold and brassy style of early classics with the lyrics to match: "I will tense and tantalise until your mine: Tomorrow never dies!" THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH is good for Garbage, probably benefiting more from David Arnold's superb Barryesque renditions than anything else but is enjoyable for a late nineties entry. A teasing opening beat - tying in appropriately with the atypical action-orientated credits sequence - is eventually ruined by the severely unBond like techno vibes of Madonnas stuttering DIE ANOTHER DAY. With awful lyrics like "Sigmund Freud analyse this!" you know someone's Bond mentality is at fault. A daft attempt to branch out to a wider audience with a Dance number that has no place in the Bond world. YOU KNOW MY NAME, with its eighties beat and throaty Brian Adamseque choice of rockster Chris Cornell on vocals, is at first distractedly unBond like. But like so many others becomes strangely alluring after repetition and works pretty well with those audicious opening title credits for the movie CASINO ROYALE - especially that rather powerful Bond barrel bass guitar opening. A final bonus track courtesy of David Arnold's JAMES BOND THEME is included but is lacksure at best. VERDICT From Bassey to Garbage: sometimes the songs better the films they were sung for, sometimes they fail to keep the pulse racing like their better movie counterparts, but 75% of the time Bond songs get it painfully right and are seductive guilty pleasures which reward repetition. This compilation is therefore an absolute must for all lovers of Bond and his musical escapades. Would have been nice to have included The Pretenders though!