James Bond Themes

Despite being only 40 minutes long, this recording is a must have if you are looking for a symphonic version of the James Bond themes. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of American conductor Carl Davis, performs 12 arrangements from the Bond movies. I will detail the following tracks with a brief comment, but first I have to warn that there are a couple of different editions of this recording around. The Royal Philharmonic recorded a selection of Bond music twice in its history, and this is the first recording. The second recording has the theme songs sung by guest artists and is available here:  Best of James Bond . But if you're only looking for instrumental versions of the songs, this is the recording to get.Now, let's get down to the details.1. The James Bond Theme: really lively and pretty close to the version in the movies. It's my favorite version of the theme.2. From Russia With Love: the strings are really wonderful, and I actually prefer this version than the original.3. Goldfinger: probably my favorite track on the CD. The brass section is really powerful.4. Thunderball: not one of my favorites, but still OK to listen to.5. You Only Live Twice: this track is really classical in structure. Listen to the 3 different melodies that are added upon each other in the brilliant finale.6. Diamonds Are Forever: an OK track, but not one of my favorites7. Live And Let Die: it's a pretty good track, but why in the world did they have a solo of electric guitar in the opening??8. The Man With The Golden Gun: I didn't like the song in the movie, but here it's actually a totally different experience. The opening is nice and gentle, until the very end when the whole orchestra goes in for the finale.9. Nobody Does It Better: one of my favorites Bond songs. I really like the opening solo violin, which sounds really Mozartish.10. For Your Eyes Only: the arrangement is well done, and it can also be found on a CD by Erich Kunzel ( Bond & Beyond ).11. Living Daylights: although I think the bass guitar is a little annoying in the beginning, it's a pretty dynamic song. Just like track 8, I prefer this song played by the orchestra.12. Golden Eye: another great arrangement which concludes the CD, but caution! The melody will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Excellent

This is an incredible CD of James Bond film music from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Carl Davis. These recordings rival those issued by others. All the John Barry compositions are excellently orchestrated and are true to John Barry's distinctive style and sound. GOLDFINGER is powerful and majestic while THUNDERBALL has a dramatic yet endearingly romanticized and nostalgic quality about it. These are beautiful recordings. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS arranged for orchestra is a real powerhouse full of drive and momentum and delivers a real punch. Monty Norman's JAMES BOND THEME sounds similar to the orchestration used in MOONRAKER and is another powerhouse. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is beautifully performed and will have you yearning for those good old days when there was a certain mystique for foreign places and international intrigue. All considered this is one of the best collections of James Bond music I have heard outside of the original soundtracks.

The earlier Sean Connery movies are better arranged on this disque than, say... The Living Daylights or Live And Let Die (oh, that horrible 'rock' guitar used along with orchestra!).The best pieces of all on this disque are those that do try to differ from the original - From Russia With Love is brilliant and the dreadful original Lulu rendition of The Man With The Golden Gun is given new life, respectablity, and hope - but it still keeps the snazzy feel.However, some tracks, such as Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and Diamonds Are Forever - whislt all great songs - do sound rather bland because they are so close to the originals and like every other 'remake' made before this disque.Goldeneye, For Your Eyes Only, and Nobody Does It Better are fairly good. Goldfinger is great because it reminds me more of the soundtrack score used in the movie.

Guter Klang über SACD, mal ein andere Stil, mit interessanten Nuancen. Man kann die einzelnen Instrumente auch gut raushören. Für Klangfanatiker, die Experimente mögen, mal ein schöner Ausflug.

Magnifico

just Awesome

encore un orchestre préféré et c'est pareil que le LSO les interprétations sont magnifiques et Carl Davies est un super chef orchestre.

原曲のイメージを残したオーケストレーションです、好感。願わくば、James Bond第一作から最新作までのテーマソングを網羅して頂きたかったです。