Top 7 Bond Music Scores

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  • (001) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    (002) Goldfinger
    (003) You Only Live Twice
    (004) The Living Daylights
    (005) Casino Royale 2006
    (006) Live and Let Die
    (007) Thunderball
  • Aziz_FekkeshAziz_Fekkesh Royale-les-Eaux
    Posts: 403
    FRWL
    TB
    YOLT
    OHMSS (THE best)
    MR
    AVTAK
    TLD

    Also, I love DAF, TND, TWINE, CR, and even TSWLM scores as well.
  • Posts: 2,402
    Gonna put a bit more than seven here. Barry alone deserves credit for pretty much all of his. I'm really just gonna put every score in that I feel deserves mention amongst the best.

    From Russia With Love (Barry): Barry's first and a great score. Really the birth of the better scores that Barry would go on to do (especially Thunderball). Rocky at times, and the Bond theme is completely overused, but the introduction of the 007 Theme makes up for any flaws in the score.
    Goldfinger (Barry): Despite the lack of the 007 Theme, this was a much more polished score than FRWL. You won't get any argument from me concerning any of the pieces, this is the most classic Bond score.
    Thunderball (Barry): Richest Bond score and I would say the best. There's just so much epicness and kickass music in here, from the return of the 007 Theme (absent from Goldfinger) to the Chateau Fight, to all of the underwater fight music and the cues from the theme song itself. Just brilliant. Barry on top form from start to finish. The score alone improves Thunderball heavily; I really feel that without it, Thunderball would be my worst non-DAF Connery film, whereas Thunderball currently sits in my top ten. The score improves so many mediocre, even bad scenes in the film.
    You Only Live Twice (Barry): Oh, the things Barry did with that theme song! The rooftop fight during the docks scene is just so good with that rendition of YOLT blaring, I can't get enough of it. Nothing to hate here, at all. And by God, that Capsule in Space theme! Just magnificent!
    On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Barry): Need words even be said? The theme song alone puts this on the list, nevermind the rest of the EXCELLENT score for an even better film.
    Diamonds Are Forever (Barry): I despise this film. Complete opposite to be said for the score. I'd say the best version of the 007 Theme is on here. Wint/Kidd's theme and the return of the Capsule in Space piece, along with all the other bits of score that exist. Thrilling soundtrack to listen to, I've got it going right now actually.
    Moonraker (Barry): Why is it that some of the worst Bond films have some of the best scores? Really just a testament to the job Barry did for this series. EON will forever owe him for the gifts he gave to the Bond franchise, and I hope every composer, past, present, and future, who scores Bond (or any film, for that matter) understands how important John Barry was to music in cinema. One of the greatest composers of all time. Beautiful music.
    The Living Daylights (Barry): Barry makes a very comfortable 80's score, complete with synthesizers, without it ever becoming cheesy or bad. His richest, most varied score since Thunderball, full of great pieces and leitmotifs taken from the theme song, Where Has Everybody Gone?, and If There Was A Man. The Ice Chase score deserves many a mention as well. Superb, Mr. Barry, superb!
    Licence To Kill (Kamen): You can tell throughout that Kamen was a man who adored Barry's work. Yes, it's got that Lethal Weapon sound to it, but Kamen was extremely capable as a composer and when he brought the Bond theme out, it blew you away. Has everything here aged well? No, but we've definitely had worse cases of that (I'm looking at you, Conti, you bastard).
    GoldenEye (Serra): Yes, there are bad pieces in this. But the entirety of the PTS/GoldenEye Overture, the Severnaya Suite, Whispering Statues, and the fight theme used in Archives and Cradle are all brilliant. Especially the GE Overture, which is one of the greatest pieces of music ever put in a Bond film. Different doesn't mean bad. I wish people would appreciate that.
    Casino Royale (Arnold): Two words: Vesper's. Theme. Arnold is hit-and-miss for me, though I love how loyal he is to Barry, always crediting him for his success and his compositions. Casino Royale is where he flourished. Beautiful music from start to finish, and I especially love how YKMN is incorporated into the score. Not to mention the Bond Theme cue at the end of the film. David Arnold for Bond 24, please and thank you.
  • No particular order

    - OHMSS
    - For your eyes only
    - The Living Daylights
    - Moonraker
    - You only live twice
    - Thunderball
    - Goldfinger
  • Posts: 135
    FRWL
    TWINE
    TND
    QoS
    CR
    SF
    DAD
  • Posts: 418
    These are in no particular order, but these are the 7 that i enjoy listening to the most..

    You Only Live Twice
    For Your Eyes Only
    Moonraker
    License to Kill
    Casino Royale
    Goldfinger
    A View to a Kill
  • Posts: 135
    Zorin61 wrote:
    These are in no particular order, but these are the 7 that i enjoy listening to the most..

    You Only Live Twice
    For Your Eyes Only
    Moonraker
    License to Kill
    Casino Royale
    Goldfinger
    A View to a Kill
    Can you number these, so that I may compare my list to your own?
  • Posts: 6,396
    1. OHMSS
    2. YOLT
    3. CR
    4. TSWLM
    5. FRWL
    6. AVTAK
    7. SF
  • Posts: 418
    Richardo wrote:
    Zorin61 wrote:
    These are in no particular order, but these are the 7 that i enjoy listening to the most..

    You Only Live Twice
    For Your Eyes Only
    Moonraker
    License to Kill
    Casino Royale
    Goldfinger
    A View to a Kill
    Can you number these, so that I may compare my list to your own?

    Ok, if i numbered them, they would be in this order..

    1. You Only Live Twice
    2. For Your Eyes Only
    3. Casino Royale
    4. Moonraker
    5. Goldfinger
    6. Licence to Kill
    7. A View to a Kill
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    It s a bit one sided:

    FRWL; GF; TB; YOLT; OHMSS; DAF and MR.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    It fluctuates with me but as of today:

    1 TLD
    2 OHMSS
    3 QOS
    4 TND
    5 TMWTGG
    6 GE
    7 DAF
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,120
    1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    2. The Living Daylights
    3. GoldenEye
    4. You Only Live Twice
    5. A View to a Kill
    6. Thunderball
    7. Quantum of Solace
  • Not Ordered
    OHMSS
    AVTAK
    TLD
    CR
    GF
    LTK
    FYEO
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    I'm thinking:

    001. Moonraker
    002. You Only Live Twice
    003. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    004. The Living Daylights
    005. A View To A Kill
    006. From Russia With Love
    007. Thunderball

    Honourable mentions to LALD, LTK and CR.
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    edited October 2017 Posts: 7,021
    Ranking them would be difficult for me today. In my mind, the Barry scores are blended into a single remarkable auditory experience.
  • NSGWNSGW London
    Posts: 299
    1. OHMSS
    2. YOLT
    3. AVTAK
    4. TLD
    5. MR
    6. GF
    7. FRWL


  • BondAficionadoBondAficionado Former IMDBer
    Posts: 1,889
    (Random order)
    YOLT
    TB
    CR
    TSWLM
    TLD
    OHMSS
    LALD
  • edited October 2017 Posts: 11,189
    In chronological order:
    FRWL
    OHMSS
    YOLT
    MR
    CR
    GE (controversial I know!)
    SF

    Honorable mentions to LALD, AVTAK, LTK and QoS
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 3,996
    In no particular order

    FRWL
    OHMSS
    GF
    YOLT
    TLD
    CR
    TB

    Other good ones are, MR, LALD, TND, QoS, FYEO and OP
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,120
    001. The Living Daylights
    002. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    003. Thunderball
    004. From Russia with Love
    005. GoldenEye
    006. The Man with the Golden Gun
    007. The World Is Not Enough

    Honourable mentions: YOLT, AVTAK, LTK, TND and QOS.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 3,996
    Seeing a lot of love for GE on here which is surprising since its pretty derided on here a lot of the time...

    I quite like most of it.
  • Posts: 11,189
    Seeing a lot of love for GE on here which is surprising since its pretty derided on here a lot of the time...

    I quite like most of it.

    Me too. Not all of it works admittedly, but there's some cues that are really good.
  • Posts: 12,466
    1. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
    2. Thunderball
    3. Quantum of Solace
    4. Casino Royale
    5. You Only Live Twice
    6. Goldfinger
    7. The Living Daylights

    Honorable mentions: From Russia with Love, Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, A View to a Kill, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, Skyfall. Honestly I like almost all the Bond sountracks pretty well. But some definitely are greater than others!
  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,534
    OHMSS
    DAF
    LALD
    AVTAK
    TLD
    GE
    QOS
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    OHMSS
    TB
    YOLT
    DAF
    FRWL
    GF
    TMWTGG
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    I gave this matter some further thought. Here's what I came up with after greatly struggling with myself.

    1. AVTAK: the pinnacle of the stately but stirring Bond score. Fantastic romantic and action themes, supported by some magnificent secondary cues, alternatively gentle, portentous or utterly sinister.

    2. Gf: the pinnacle of the jazzy, brassy Bond score. Terrific use of the Gf theme in a variety of ways to great effect. Hypnotic harp ostinatos played against sustained string chords; slightly superior to --or at least, slightly more compelling than-- similar cues of prolonged mystery/tension in other scores.

    3. TMWTGG: A gorgeous orchestral sound with, once again, great use of the title theme in different guises-- action theme, love theme, exotic location theme. Orchestral instruments with some exotic touches courtesy of zither and finger cymbals, and with a pleasantly reverb-heavy sound.

    4. FYEO: John Barry might be the master of stirring, dramatic music, but even he can't beat the sheer energy and musical exhilaration of William Conti. The most fun Bond score. The fact it's so clearly of its time is irrelevant.

    5. TLD: Another fine late Barry score, with ingenious and well-integrated use of drum machine to give it a boost of energy. An embarrassment of riches in terms of the amount of solid recurring themes present in the score.

    6. Tb: Shrieking brass, eerie woodwinds and harp create a wonderful musical portrait of being underwater. Terrific and most intense renditions of the 007 theme for the action sequences.

    7. TND: It takes two great themes and milks them for all their worth. Great fun.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited November 2018 Posts: 7,120
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    001. The Living Daylights
    002. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    003. Thunderball
    004. From Russia with Love
    005. GoldenEye
    006. The Man with the Golden Gun
    007. The World Is Not Enough

    Honourable mentions: YOLT, AVTAK, LTK, TND and QOS.

    A year ago. Some changes:

    001: The Living Daylights
    002: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
    003: Thunderball
    004: Quantum of Solace
    005: GoldenEye
    006: For Your Eyes Only
    007: Goldfinger

    Honourable mentions: FRWL, TMWTGG, LTK, TWINE, CR.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    mattjoes wrote: »
    3. TMWTGG: A gorgeous orchestral sound with, once again, great use of the title theme in different guises-- action theme, love theme, exotic location theme. Orchestral instruments with some exotic touches courtesy of zither and finger cymbals, and with a pleasantly reverb-heavy sound.
    It's good to see the TMWTGG love. It's an unusual score for Barry in some ways (I remember reading somewhere that it was unfinished), but I like it a lot too. Very distinctive. I always hear bits of the main riff (borrowed from Lulu's title track) in the action scoring for OP & AVTAK for some reason too.

    Mine would tentatively be as follows (this is as difficult to do as the best actor performance in a Bond film choice):

    001. OHMSS
    002. TB
    003. FRWL
    004. LALD
    005. DAF
    006. TSWLM
    007. TMWTGG
  • DCisaredDCisared Liverpool
    Posts: 1,329
    Let Die
    Golden
    Raker
    Eyes Only
    Pussy
    Daylights
    Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    edited November 2018 Posts: 7,021
    bondjames wrote: »
    mattjoes wrote: »
    3. TMWTGG: A gorgeous orchestral sound with, once again, great use of the title theme in different guises-- action theme, love theme, exotic location theme. Orchestral instruments with some exotic touches courtesy of zither and finger cymbals, and with a pleasantly reverb-heavy sound.
    It's good to see the TMWTGG love. It's an unusual score for Barry in some ways (I remember reading somewhere that it was unfinished), but I like it a lot too. Very distinctive. I always hear bits of the main riff (borrowed from Lulu's title track) in the action scoring for OP & AVTAK for some reason too.

    It's a terrific score, though I think its appeal is low key compared to the more usually praised soundtracks. There is great orchestral beauty but in some ways it's more subtle than in other scores; it demands a bit more from the listener. It took a while for me to get to enjoy the score as much as I do now. And the fact the album is missing so much music doesn't help matters, since many of the best cues (some quite brief) are missing.

    Three of my favorites:





    bondjames wrote: »
    005. DAF

    In the early days of my Bond music fandom, DAF was number one for me but other scores have surpassed it since. Still great, though. I remember when I first got my hands on the expanded album, I knew exactly which cue I wanted to listen to. I selected it, listened to it, smiled and started following the beat with my hand.
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