Published on Dec 1, 2000
In
my review of
Bond Back In Action, I suggested that possibly the reason
composer John Barry’s material for some of the films didn’t have
the emotional pull other scores did was that he wasn’t finding
himself challenged by the material. If this was indeed the case,
then the films featured on
Bond Back In Action 2, the latest disc in this series,
proves that the excitement was back for Barry and the other
composers.
You want to talk about excitement? Just listen to the three
selections pulled from “The Man With The Golden Gun,” the second
film of the Roger Moore era. (Why “Live And Let Die,” the first
film to feature Moore, is not included I don’t know.) Simply put,
these selections bring a level of excitement back to the music that
wasn’t there at this intense of a level since “Goldfinger”. The
liner notes brutally savage the film itself – but speaks high
praises for the score. After listening to these selections, there’s
no doubt they’re right about the music. (As I admitted, I have yet
to see an entire James Bond film… though this may change
soon.)
Maybe one reason that Barry rediscovered the excitement was that
other composers were chomping at the bit to work on a James Bond
score. The liner notes don’t speak too kindly of Marvin Hamlisch’s
one attempt to score a Bond film – 1977’s “The Spy Who Loved Me” –
but if the rest of the score is like the two selections included
here (“Ride To Atlantis” and “The Tanker”), I’d dare to say their
criticisms are incorrect.
The only non-Barry score that didn’t really float my boat came
from Bill Conti, and the main theme from “For Your Eyes Only”.
Conti is capable of much better work, and this just doesn’t feel
like it was the pinnacle of what he can do. The other film not
composed by Barry, “Goldeneye,” does manage to capture and
captivate the listener. The Eric Serra and John Altman adaptation
of Monty Norman’s theme in the track “Tank Drive Around St.
Petersburg” seems to breathe new life into the concept of Bond film
music.
This isn’t to say that the remaining four film scores composed
by Barry are poor. The suite of tracks from “Moonraker” all have a
spacy feel to them – appropriate for the film, of course – but it
seems to throw Barry a curve which he’s able to hit out of the
park. Likewise, the one portion pulled from “A View To A Kill”
shows that Barry is able to adapt with the times, and the music he
creates is able to follow those patterns as well.
The remaining two films – “Octopussy” and “The Living Daylights”
– aren’t quite as exciting musically, but they hardly represent the
Bond films poorly.
If I had to choose between the two discs of this set, I’d
quickly pick
Bond Back In Action 2, just for the sheer energy level of
the music in general. Just like filmgoers demand more action for
their dollar, they want more excitement in the music for their
time. On this disc, most of the composers are able to deliver the
goods well.