19 replies to this topic

[00Nothing]

Bought the CD soundtrack to The Living Daylights. Some wonderful music here from John Barry. It's one of my favourites, along with Moonraker and OHMSS. I love the emphasis on more electronic music in some cases in TLD and the romantic themes are beautiful. What are other fans favourite Barry scores from the Bond series?

PS-I love the music in these films. I also have the Best of Bond, James Bond CD. Can someone point me to other great CDs I can buy featuring music from these films.

Edited by 00Nothing, 19 March 2004 - 01:55 AM.

[Johnboy007]

I love Barry's The Living Daylights, excellent blend of every element.

[Onyx2626]

Wow, I just bought TLD too! I own OHMSS, FRWL, GF, Licence To Kill. I grew listening to TB and GF, my parents are fans. It hard to pick just one but I've heard that the critics consider DAF pretty great. It's been sampled for some electronica as well, the Satellite theme.

The Moonraker gravity music is effective too, though I haven't seen that film in over 15 years!
I like TLD, for the love theme/song and OHMSS for the same reasons. All the Time in the World is an underrated song that should be more remembered... Barry writes great counterpoint in his themes.

[00Nothing]

I adore his romance/love themes. TLD has some beautiful compositions as does OHMSS. All the Time in the World is the most listened to song on my Best of Bond CD. Do you know if the Moonraker soundtrack is available to buy. I love the music in it too, one of Barry's best. So haunting and sweeping, you would never think it came from a film like Moonraker.

[Triton]

I think that is a very tough question to answer. John Barry was in top form when he composed the Bond soundtracks and he also contributed great non-Bond motion picture scores in the 1960's.

I think that his BEST score is for The Lion in Winter (1968) starring Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn. This film was also the screen debut of Timothy Dalton and Anthony Hopkins.

I prefer Barry's scores for the early Bonds. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is probably his best Bond score. From Russia with Love is probably my second favorite Bond score, although even the Remastered version sounds like a forty-one year old recording.

[Onyx2626]

John Barry fans are TRUE Bond fans! But i forgot to mention THE IPCRESS FILE! I showed that film to a girlfriend once, she didn't dig spy movies, but she said "good music" in the first 10 minutes.

I heard Barry on NPR once and he said he admired Russian composers and their love of minor keys. He said it fit the suspense theme "If I wrote Goldfinger in the key of C, it would've sounded like the Mickey Mouse theme."

[00Nothing]

Has anyone else heard his music from the film Indencent Proposal. The film itself is not a masterpiece by any means, but the music is so lovely and romantic, it's almost sweeping.

[Onyx2626]

I didn't know he scored Indecent Proposal. "Sweeping" is the perfect word, how about Out of Africa? Wow. I didn't even see that movie, but the score is something else.

[Triton]

I never really cared for Barry's music for an Indecent Proposal, it always sounded to me like a retread of his work from Somewhere in Time.

The same goes for his soundtracks to Enigma and The Scarlet Letter. It seemed like Barry was content to recycle the same musical themes instead of creating themes for the particular motion picture.

Based on the quality of his recent work, I am kind of reluctant to say that I wish that he would return to the James Bond series and score Bond XXI.

[00Nothing]

I haven't heard his music to The Scarlett Letter or Enigma, but his music to Somewhere in Time is exquisite.

[Qwerty]

Moonraker for me, a top notch score in my opinion, love everything about it.

[00Nothing]

Moonraker for me, a top notch score in my opinion, love everything about it.

For a film that is criticised for bring over the top and cartoonish, it has one of the most beautiful scores composed for a Bond film.

[Qwerty]

And I think many of us have proven on CBn that Moonraker is a magnificent film, much priase for it here.

[00Nothing]

And I think many of us have proven on CBn that Moonraker is a magnificent film, much priase for it here.

Rightly so, I say. I think it's terrifically good fun.

[Agent 76]

John Barry ruled has Bond composer! he did a fantastic job with the music , bringing so much into the movies , tension and action , he should return to what he does best! Bond soundtracks!

[Qwerty]

After his disagreements with a-ha, it seemed he tired of it, Agent76, that's one of the reasons I've heard that he took a break from the Bond series.

[xesquire]

For the Barry score fans, these three are a must have:

The Ipcress File
The Lion In Winter
King Rat

They were all written around the same time Barry was doing the early Bond films.

Other composers of the era worth a listen:

Edwin Astley (The Saint, Secret Agent)
http://www.amazon.co...=glance&s=music

Henry Mancini (Charade, Experiment In Terror)
http://www.amazon.co...=glance&s=music


Compilations Worth Having:

Count Basie (Basie Meets Bond) - Best version of From Russia With Love
http://www.amazon.co...5868621-1477713

Ultra Lounge (Vol. 7 Crime Scene) - Lots of Bond tracks here
http://www.amazon.co...=glance&s=music

Cheers,
X Esquire

[Genrewriter]

For me it's a tie between AVTAK and TLD.

[Triton]

After his disagreements with a-ha, it seemed he tired of it, Agent76, that's one of the reasons I've heard that he took a break from the Bond series.

This is a better explanation of why Barry hasn't come back to the Bond series.

I have also read that the reason he didn't compose the music for Licence to Kill was that he ruptured his esophagus in 1988 from an allergic reaction to a drink. From what I have read, Barry almost died from this injury and he had to go through several surgeries. Since this injury, Barry is prone to pneumonia.

The articles that I have read have stated that Barry didn't return to the Bond series because he couldn't reach agreement with the producers over his fee. But I have always been skeptical of this explanation, since Barry seems to be on good terms with the producers and agreed to appear on documentaries that were a part of the Special Edition DVDs.

Can't blame John Barry for wanting to work on something else besides composing Bond pictures.

[Moore Not Less]

My favourite amongst numerous great John Barry scores is You Only Live Twice. For me, he perfectly captures the look, the mood and the essence of Japan. The title song by Nancy Sinatra has been a big favourite of mine for many years. The Wedding Music is my favourite piece of the entire Bond series, it's totally inspirational.