3 replies to this topic

[O.H.M.S.S.]

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (John Barry) ****
2. The Living Daylights (John Barry) ****
3. You Only Live Twice (John Barry) ****
4. GoldenEye (Eric Serra) ****
5. The Spy Who Loved Me (Marvin Hamlisch) ****
6. Goldfinger (John Barry) ****
7. Diamonds Are Forever (John Barry) ****
8. Tomorrow Never Dies (David Arnold) ***
9. Moonraker (John Barry) ***
10. From Russia with Love (John Barry) ***
11. A View to a Kill (John Barry) ***
12. The Man with the Golden Gun (John Barry) ***
13. For Your Eyes Only (Bill Conti) ***
14. Thunderball (John Barry) ***
15. Casino Royale (David Arnold) ***
16. Quantum of Solace (David Arnold) **
[ Never Say Never Again (Michel Legrand) ] **
17. Live and Let Die (George Martin) **
18. Octopussy (John Barry) **
19. Die Another Day (David Arnold) **
20. Licence to Kill (Michael Kamen) **
21. The World Is Not Enough (David Arnold) **
22. Dr. No (Monty Norman) *

° = awful; * = mediocre; ** = good; *** = excellent; **** = perfect

Edited by O.H.M.S.S., 09 June 2009 - 11:21 AM.

[Fiona Volpe lover]

1/On Her Majesty's Secret Service ****
2/You Only Live Twice ****
3/The Living Daylights ****
4/Thunderball ****
5/Diamonds Are Forever ***1/2
6/Moonraker ***1/2
7/From Russia With Love ***1/2
8/Goldfinger ***
9/The Man With The Golden Gun ***
10/A View to A Kill ***
11/Octopussy ***
12/For Your Eyes Only ***
13/Live and Let Die **1/2
14/Tomorrow Never Dies **1/2
15/The World Is Not Enough **1/2
16/Casino Royale **
17/Die Another Day **
18/Quantum Of Solace **
19/Never Say Never Again **
20/The Spy Who Loved Me **
[*** for score,* for the awful CD,so ** overall]
21/Goldeneye **
22/Licence To Kill *1/2
23/Dr No *1/2

Obviously I rate the Barrys above all the others. Many of the other soundtracks are really quite flawed,and no other composer has really 'got' Bond in my opinion,Arnold only really does when he takes bits from Barry!

Edited by Fiona Volpe lover, 10 July 2009 - 07:43 PM.

[MattofSteel]

I'm ranking them as a sort of hybrid re: personal preference vs. qualitatively the best.

1) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2) Goldfinger
3) You Only Live Twice
4) Tomorrow Never Dies
5) Thunderball
6) Casino Royale
7) The Living Daylights
8) Quantum of Solace
9) For Your Eyes Only
10) Diamonds are Forever
11) From Russia with Love
12) Live and Let Die
13) Moonraker
13.5) Insert because I forgot it - The Spy Who Loved Me
15) Die Another Day
16) The World is Not Enough
17) Octopussy
18) A View to a Kill
19) The Man with the Golden Gun
20) Licence to Kill
21) Dr No
22) GoldenEye

Wow, that was kind of enlightening. Never done that before. I've obviously got a classical Barry preference leaning toward the top.

OHMSS unquestionably the best. Thunderball is underrated, especially for the kind of sound Barry creates with his ambient tracks. Goldfinger is one of the precious examples of a film and score both simultaneously nailing the EXACT tone and spirit required - almost made a push for #1, but OHMSS wins for being musically superior. YOLT is sweeping beauty.

Arnold's best 3 works deserve to be up there. TND is pure fun to listen to, CR is the closest to Barry we've had from non-Barry, QOS is the most mature, developed, and intrinsic score we've ever had. TLD gets placed up here with the second tier as well - I think I may be underrating it. Lot of sweeping melody and some great action work. Perfect note for John to go out on.

I revisited DAF recently, musically, and was surprised by how awesome it can be at times. It shot up higher than I thought. FRWL might be underrated, my copy isn't the best quality and thus I never enjoy it quite as much. The one-time Barry subs Hamlisch and Conti both did serviceable jobs, I'm especially fond of FYEO.

DAD as a score is underrated, another case of trying to be Goldfinger - score perfectly fits the film. It IS better than TWINE, just much more entertaining and listenable. OP, AVTAK, and TMWTGG have some beautiful moments but all ultimately sound either rushed or tired.

LTK is unfortunately a mix of beautiful pieces and sonic cacophony bereft of a central idea, which drops it. Dr No perhaps will never receive a fair shake as the Bond "sound" didn't exist at the time, and there's really not all that much score to go on.

And say what you will about boldness or taking a chance, but the score for GoldenEye, outside of getting points for originality and complexity, is rubbish. Completely unbefitting of the film in front of it, not all that entertaining on its own (outside a couple moments), and - outside of the Bond consideration - one of my least favourite scores of all time.

[jrcjohnny99]

1) Moonraker
2) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3) You Only Live Twice
4) Goldfinger
5) The Living Daylights
6) Thunderball
7) Diamonds Are Forever
8) Live And Let Die
9) Octopussy
10) Casino Royale
11) From Russia With Love
12) Tomorrow Never Dies
13) The Spy Who Loved Me
14) Die Another Day
15) A View To A Kill
16) The Man With The Golden Gun
17) Quantum of Solace
18) The World Is Not Enough
19) Licence To Kill
20) Dr No
21) For Your Eyes Only
22) Goldeneye