For me there is no "worst" or "best" score. There is something good in all of the scores to find.
Overall if I must choose, I'd say TLD is the best and Skyfall is the worst.
Skyfall because it could be ANY common action movie score, nothing in there that identifies Bond.
And I am saying this as a fan of Thomas Newman in general.
Here is a list of some of my favourite tracks from the 24 soundtracks:
007-John Barry (FRWL & TB)
Capsule In Space-John Barry (YOLT)
OHMSS-John Barry (this is the best piece of instrumental music ever and even one of the best tracks ever and I absolutely LOVE the Propellerhead's version of it)
Bond Meets Solitaire-George Martin (LALD)
Bond77-Marvin Hamlisch (TSWLM)
The Palace Fight-John Barry (OP)
Snow Job-John Barry (AVTAK)
Necros Attacks-John Barry (TLD)
Ice Chase-John Barry (TLD)
The GoldenEye Overture - Eric Serra
Backseat Driver-Propellerheads (TND)
Come In 007, Your Time Is Up-David Arnold (TWINE)
Ice Bandits-David Arnold (TWINE)
Hovercraft Chase-David Arnold (DAD)
Night At The Opera-David Arnold (QOS)
Grand Bazaar Istanbul-Thomas Newman (SF)
Backfire-Thomas Newman (SP)
Furthermore I absolutely love:
Where Has Everybody's Gone & If There Was A Man-The Pretenders (TLD)
James Bond Theme-Moby (TND)
James Bond Theme-Paul Oakenfold (DAD)
I'm going to update mine after Spectre, since it deserves to be amongst the worst.
Top 5:
1. The Living Daylights
2. Moonraker
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. Octopussy
5. Diamonds Are Forever
Bottom 5.
20. Dr. No
21. Licence to Kill
22. Skyfall
23. GoldenEye
24. Spectre
Ranking the scores is much easier than ranking the films! To complete them:
6. You Only Live Twice
7. A View to a Kill
8. Thunderball
9. Goldfinger
10. For Your Eyes Only
11. From Russia with Love
12. The Man with the Golden Gun
13. Live and Let Die
14. The Spy Who Loved Me
15. Tomorrow Never Dies
16. The World Is Not Enough
17. Quantum of Solace
18. Casino Royale
19. Die Another Day
The bottom five are far below the rest. FYEO is a tricky one because I love the music but I don't like it in the context of a Bond film.
I'm going to update mine after Spectre, since it deserves to be amongst the worst.
Top 5:
1. The Living Daylights
2. Moonraker
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. Octopussy
5. Diamonds Are Forever
Bottom 5.
20. Dr. No
21. Licence to Kill
22. Skyfall
23. GoldenEye
24. Spectre
Ranking the scores is much easier than ranking the films! To complete them:
6. You Only Live Twice
7. A View to a Kill
8. Thunderball
9. Goldfinger
10. For Your Eyes Only
11. From Russia with Love
12. The Man with the Golden Gun
13. Live and Let Die
14. The Spy Who Loved Me
15. Tomorrow Never Dies
16. The World Is Not Enough
17. Quantum of Solace
18. Casino Royale
19. Die Another Day
The bottom five are far below the rest. FYEO is a tricky one because I love the music but I don't like it in the context of a Bond film.
I'm going to update mine after Spectre, since it deserves to be amongst the worst.
Top 5:
1. The Living Daylights
2. Moonraker
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. Octopussy
5. Diamonds Are Forever
Bottom 5.
20. Dr. No
21. Licence to Kill
22. Skyfall
23. GoldenEye
24. Spectre
Ranking the scores is much easier than ranking the films! To complete them:
6. You Only Live Twice
7. A View to a Kill
8. Thunderball
9. Goldfinger
10. For Your Eyes Only
11. From Russia with Love
12. The Man with the Golden Gun
13. Live and Let Die
14. The Spy Who Loved Me
15. Tomorrow Never Dies
16. The World Is Not Enough
17. Quantum of Solace
18. Casino Royale
19. Die Another Day
The bottom five are far below the rest. FYEO is a tricky one because I love the music but I don't like it in the context of a Bond film.
Yes, that is a brilliant track! It's reminiscent of some of Barry's best tracks.
Best (Not from best to worst)
GF
TB
OHMSS
TMWTGG
AVTAK
TLD
LTK
GE
TND
DAD
CR
QoS
Worst:
Sp
Just because it's so lazy, I do think the others are fine.
Don't confuse me with the other DutchBondFan, but be sure to follow his YouTube account. You can read my articles on James Bond Nederland: www.jamesbond.nl/author/gosse/
Gotta say, Newman has absolutely done it for me, and my two favorites for the whole series are Skyfall and Spectre. Love every track, I have played every track on Skyfall more than a hundred times, and Spectre will soon have the same effect. Skyfall has consistently been my most listened to score for any movie in my life, the movie is my all time favorite and the score has as profound an impact on me as the film does. The Spectre score is just a cut below it, probably only because its a month old, but it stacks up real well. Here's my full ranking:
1. Skyfall - Thomas Newman
2. Spectre -Thomas Newman
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - John Barry
4. Tomorrow Never Dies - David Arnold
5. Goldfinger - John Barry
6. Quantum of Solace - David Arnold
7. Casino Royale - David Arnold
8. Thunderball - John Barry
9. Goldeneye - Eric Serra
10. A View To A Kill - John Barry
Only score I really dislike is Michael Kamen's Licence to Kill. Love his work on Die Hard, but his score for Bond, as well as the movie, belonged in a franchise. Any other 80's action movie trying to rival Die Hard.
Best:
The Living Daylights - John Barry
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - John Barry
A View to a Kill - John Barry
You Only Live Twice - John Barry
For Your Eyes Only - Bill Conti
Worst:
Dr No - Monty Norman
The Spy Who Loved Me - Marvin Hamlisch
Licence to Kill - Michael Kamen
Guilty Pleasures:
The Man With the Golden Gun - John Barry
Goldeneye - Eric Serra
I was driving to work yesterday and turned on the radio to hear "Nobody Does It Better" on Smooth FM. So I listened to it until it finished before switching to Heart FM (my preferred morning station).
They were discussing the best Bond themes!!!! What are the chances?????
So my top 5:
1. OHMSS
2. LALD
3. Goldeneye
4. Nobody Does It Better
5. You Know My Name
Worst:
1. Dr No
2. Moonraker
3. Die Another Day
4. Diamonds Are Forever
5. You Only Live Twice
I was driving to work yesterday and turned on the radio to hear "Nobody Does It Better" on Smooth FM. So I listened to it until it finished before switching to Heart FM (my preferred morning station).
They were discussing the best Bond themes!!!! What are the chances?????
So my top 5:
1. OHMSS
2. LALD
3. Goldeneye
4. Nobody Does It Better
5. You Know My Name
Worst:
1. Dr No
2. Moonraker
3. Die Another Day
4. Diamonds Are Forever
5. You Only Live Twice
Gotta say, Newman has absolutely done it for me, and my two favorites for the whole series are Skyfall and Spectre. Love every track, I have played every track on Skyfall more than a hundred times, and Spectre will soon have the same effect. Skyfall has consistently been my most listened to score for any movie in my life, the movie is my all time favorite and the score has as profound an impact on me as the film does. The Spectre score is just a cut below it, probably only because its a month old, but it stacks up real well. Here's my full ranking:
1. Skyfall - Thomas Newman
2. Spectre -Thomas Newman
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - John Barry
4. Tomorrow Never Dies - David Arnold
5. Goldfinger - John Barry
6. Quantum of Solace - David Arnold
7. Casino Royale - David Arnold
8. Thunderball - John Barry
9. Goldeneye - Eric Serra
10. A View To A Kill - John Barry
Only score I really dislike is Michael Kamen's Licence to Kill. Love his work on Die Hard, but his score for Bond, as well as the movie, belonged in a franchise. Any other 80's action movie trying to rival Die Hard.
Too bad its been nearly a year since his last post. Would love to know how the SF score had a profound impact on him. I love the score too but I don't think its transcendent or anything.
What I love from Barry' scores, is that when you hear them, it really distinguishes the theme/location of the films.
If I hear YOLT (my favourite) I really see Japan, it has such a strong Japan vibe
When I hear DAF, the sounds he uses, I cannot help to think of Diamonds
MR, another classic, you think of space and Sci-Fi
even his worst one, TMWTGG, you totally picture yourself in Asia.
That is a gift, to really have such a strong connection between music and the movies. All the other sountracks in comparisson are quite generic in my eyes. That said, I do like some of them: TND ranks as one of the best soundtracks out there. I love the LALD soundtrack also, as well as the CR soundtrack and even the TSWLM soundtrack is good.
But Barry is a class of his own. The best ones are YOLT, OHMSS and DAF I think. MR and GF complete the top 5.
Good summation Mr_Osato. Although I'd disagree with you if you think TB is generic but as you say in your eyes.
For mine TB is the best Bond soundtrack and when I listen to it I always think of the Bahamas and the underwater scenes and Café Martinique is simply magnificent. Similarly with DR. No I always think of Jamaica. Not a great soundtrack by any means but is OK on a summer's night. -{
"Everyone knows rock n' roll attained perfection in 1974; It's a scientific fact". - Homer J Simpson
What I love from Barry' scores, is that when you hear them, it really distinguishes the theme/location of the films.
Arnold achieves this also, particularly in the qos score ( which I think is his best work) if you listen " Talamone" you'll hear a mandolin in the background, both the Haiti and Bolivia tracks have that same Barry location feel, in fact when I heard the Spectre soundtrack " Los muertos vivos estan" I thought it sounded familiar almost like " Bolivian taxi ride"
Good summation Mr_Osato. Although I'd disagree with you if you think TB is generic but as you say in your eyes.
For mine TB is the best Bond soundtrack and when I listen to it I always think of the Bahamas and the underwater scenes and Café Martinique is simply magnificent. Similarly with DR. No I always think of Jamaica. Not a great soundtrack by any means but is OK on a summer's night. -{
I think the other composers that were not mentioned to be generic. Not other Barry soundtracks. They are all brilliant in it's own way. Apologies for the confusion.
I think Barry and Arnold both did a great job. I thought of the scores I wanted to point out and then I thought that well: actually I love almost all the Bond scores. Even GE has a score that's great IMO. All the movies have such a specific vibe around them. If I must choose one Bond film that I think that hasn't such a great score then would that be DN. Too loud, don't really like that one. CR is my favourite.
Don't confuse me with the other DutchBondFan, but be sure to follow his YouTube account. You can read my articles on James Bond Nederland: www.jamesbond.nl/author/gosse/
Does anyone know what Nicholas Dodd s involvement with the casino royale score was? Was this soundtrack a true collaboration between Arnold and Dodd as the copy I have pretty much credits Dodd with most of the pieces.
Does anyone know what Nicholas Dodd s involvement with the casino royale score was? Was this soundtrack a true collaboration between Arnold and Dodd as the copy I have pretty much credits Dodd with most of the pieces.
Arnold composed the music and Dodd orchestrated and conducted it. I believe he did the same for all of Arnold's scores.
Does anyone know what Nicholas Dodd s involvement with the casino royale score was? Was this soundtrack a true collaboration between Arnold and Dodd as the copy I have pretty much credits Dodd with most of the pieces.
Arnold composed the music and Dodd orchestrated and conducted it. I believe he did the same for all of Arnold's scores.
Does anyone know what Nicholas Dodd s involvement with the casino royale score was? Was this soundtrack a true collaboration between Arnold and Dodd as the copy I have pretty much credits Dodd with most of the pieces.
Arnold composed the music and Dodd orchestrated and conducted it. I believe he did the same for all of Arnold's scores.
Thanks Matt -{
I was curious why Dodd essentially shares credit for the soundtracks but is never really mentioned.
Arnold composed the music and Dodd orchestrated and conducted it. I believe he did the same for all of Arnold's scores.
Thanks Matt -{
I was curious why Dodd essentially shares credit for the soundtracks but is never really mentioned.
But he doesn't share credit. His name is not on the album covers for the soundtracks. I just looked at the CR soundtrack and Dodd is neither mentioned on the front nor the back.
I was curious why Dodd essentially shares credit for the soundtracks but is never really mentioned.
But he doesn't share credit. His name is not on the album covers for the soundtracks. I just looked at the CR soundtrack and Dodd is neither mentioned on the front nor the back.
Well when I originally downloaded the album it was filed under " David Arnold and Nicholas Dodd " my cd makes no mention of Dodd but a new Download has Dodd under every track.... Unlike qos.
Dodd is the conductor, so technically can classify as the performer. Kind of like Star Wars music was written by John Williams but performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. It's not like in pop music where only the performer matters. Film scores typically place the composer as the artist, and conductors (when not the score composer) don't typically get this much credit. Whoever wrote the metadata for these tracks thought to credit the conductor more prominently than what is usually done. Downloads can credit things in odd ways that don't really make sense. Look at the CD album for how things should properly be credited.
I've loved TMWTGG since I bought it on vinyl in 1974! Nowadays I listen to the CD. It's not Barry's best OST, it isn't even his best Bond OST, but there's plenty to enjoy here:
Comments
Overall if I must choose, I'd say TLD is the best and Skyfall is the worst.
Skyfall because it could be ANY common action movie score, nothing in there that identifies Bond.
And I am saying this as a fan of Thomas Newman in general.
Here is a list of some of my favourite tracks from the 24 soundtracks:
007-John Barry (FRWL & TB)
Capsule In Space-John Barry (YOLT)
OHMSS-John Barry (this is the best piece of instrumental music ever and even one of the best tracks ever and I absolutely LOVE the Propellerhead's version of it)
Bond Meets Solitaire-George Martin (LALD)
Bond77-Marvin Hamlisch (TSWLM)
The Palace Fight-John Barry (OP)
Snow Job-John Barry (AVTAK)
Necros Attacks-John Barry (TLD)
Ice Chase-John Barry (TLD)
The GoldenEye Overture - Eric Serra
Backseat Driver-Propellerheads (TND)
Come In 007, Your Time Is Up-David Arnold (TWINE)
Ice Bandits-David Arnold (TWINE)
Hovercraft Chase-David Arnold (DAD)
Night At The Opera-David Arnold (QOS)
Grand Bazaar Istanbul-Thomas Newman (SF)
Backfire-Thomas Newman (SP)
Furthermore I absolutely love:
Where Has Everybody's Gone & If There Was A Man-The Pretenders (TLD)
James Bond Theme-Moby (TND)
James Bond Theme-Paul Oakenfold (DAD)
LALD
TSWLM
FYEO
AVTAK
LTK
GE
TND
DAD
CR
Worst:
TMWTGG
SP (Purely for its lack of originality)
Top 5:
1. The Living Daylights
2. Moonraker
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
4. Octopussy
5. Diamonds Are Forever
Bottom 5.
20. Dr. No
21. Licence to Kill
22. Skyfall
23. GoldenEye
24. Spectre
Ranking the scores is much easier than ranking the films! To complete them:
6. You Only Live Twice
7. A View to a Kill
8. Thunderball
9. Goldfinger
10. For Your Eyes Only
11. From Russia with Love
12. The Man with the Golden Gun
13. Live and Let Die
14. The Spy Who Loved Me
15. Tomorrow Never Dies
16. The World Is Not Enough
17. Quantum of Solace
18. Casino Royale
19. Die Another Day
The bottom five are far below the rest. FYEO is a tricky one because I love the music but I don't like it in the context of a Bond film.
Yes, that is a brilliant track! It's reminiscent of some of Barry's best tracks.
GF
TB
OHMSS
TMWTGG
AVTAK
TLD
LTK
GE
TND
DAD
CR
QoS
Worst:
Sp
Just because it's so lazy, I do think the others are fine.
1. Skyfall - Thomas Newman
2. Spectre -Thomas Newman
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - John Barry
4. Tomorrow Never Dies - David Arnold
5. Goldfinger - John Barry
6. Quantum of Solace - David Arnold
7. Casino Royale - David Arnold
8. Thunderball - John Barry
9. Goldeneye - Eric Serra
10. A View To A Kill - John Barry
Only score I really dislike is Michael Kamen's Licence to Kill. Love his work on Die Hard, but his score for Bond, as well as the movie, belonged in a franchise. Any other 80's action movie trying to rival Die Hard.
The Living Daylights - John Barry
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - John Barry
A View to a Kill - John Barry
You Only Live Twice - John Barry
For Your Eyes Only - Bill Conti
Worst:
Dr No - Monty Norman
The Spy Who Loved Me - Marvin Hamlisch
Licence to Kill - Michael Kamen
Guilty Pleasures:
The Man With the Golden Gun - John Barry
Goldeneye - Eric Serra
8. TMwtGG 9. AVtaK 10. TSWLM 11. SF 12. LtK 13. TND 14. YOLT
15. NTtD 16. MR 17. LaLD 18. GF 19. SP 20. DN 21. TB
22. TWiNE 23. DAD 24. QoS 25. DaF
1. A View To A Kill
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. GoldenEye
4. Tomorrow Never Dies
5. You Only Live Twice
Good overall everything else.
Top 5 Worst
1. Never Say Never Again (Just going by scores it's the absolute worst.)
2. Spectre.
3. Dr. No.
4. The Spy Who Loved Me.
5. Skyfall.
"You forgot the first rule of Mass Media Elliot! Give the people what they want!!!"
"I never miss..."
"Time to face gravity!"
They were discussing the best Bond themes!!!! What are the chances?????
So my top 5:
1. OHMSS
2. LALD
3. Goldeneye
4. Nobody Does It Better
5. You Know My Name
Worst:
1. Dr No
2. Moonraker
3. Die Another Day
4. Diamonds Are Forever
5. You Only Live Twice
Wrong thread. This is for scores, not themes.
The worst: Goldeneye
1. Connery 2. Craig 3. Brosnan 4. Dalton 5. Lazenby 6. Moore
If I hear YOLT (my favourite) I really see Japan, it has such a strong Japan vibe
When I hear DAF, the sounds he uses, I cannot help to think of Diamonds
MR, another classic, you think of space and Sci-Fi
even his worst one, TMWTGG, you totally picture yourself in Asia.
That is a gift, to really have such a strong connection between music and the movies. All the other sountracks in comparisson are quite generic in my eyes. That said, I do like some of them: TND ranks as one of the best soundtracks out there. I love the LALD soundtrack also, as well as the CR soundtrack and even the TSWLM soundtrack is good.
But Barry is a class of his own. The best ones are YOLT, OHMSS and DAF I think. MR and GF complete the top 5.
1. Connery 2. Craig 3. Brosnan 4. Dalton 5. Lazenby 6. Moore
For mine TB is the best Bond soundtrack and when I listen to it I always think of the Bahamas and the underwater scenes and Café Martinique is simply magnificent. Similarly with DR. No I always think of Jamaica. Not a great soundtrack by any means but is OK on a summer's night. -{
Arnold achieves this also, particularly in the qos score ( which I think is his best work) if you listen " Talamone" you'll hear a mandolin in the background, both the Haiti and Bolivia tracks have that same Barry location feel, in fact when I heard the Spectre soundtrack " Los muertos vivos estan" I thought it sounded familiar almost like " Bolivian taxi ride"
I think the other composers that were not mentioned to be generic. Not other Barry soundtracks. They are all brilliant in it's own way. Apologies for the confusion.
1. Connery 2. Craig 3. Brosnan 4. Dalton 5. Lazenby 6. Moore
Arnold composed the music and Dodd orchestrated and conducted it. I believe he did the same for all of Arnold's scores.
But he doesn't share credit. His name is not on the album covers for the soundtracks. I just looked at the CR soundtrack and Dodd is neither mentioned on the front nor the back.
Well when I originally downloaded the album it was filed under " David Arnold and Nicholas Dodd " my cd makes no mention of Dodd but a new Download has Dodd under every track.... Unlike qos.
Some people dont like this soundtrack..... but ive always loved it....... a bit of vinyl on a sunday chill out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKNPRAGQANM is always fun!
And this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39i8dqlg7Mw
was my introduction to the notion of lietmotif!